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Sometimes Social Media seems complicated, but with four simple M’s Social Media can be made simple and still beneficial to your business. The first thing you need to do with social media is monitor it. Checking your social media platforms can be time consuming, so first, connect your social media accounts to a platform that will track your traffic. This will leave you more time to monitor your competitors, to see what you can do to make your own social media platforms better.

 Next, you need to manage. After you’ve posted something on social media, manage the post according to the reactions it is receiving. Take the feedback from the post and improve your posts accordingly. After, you must measure. You must measure the amount of likes, shares, favorites, etc. It’s important to know how well your post is doing, and what you can do to make it better.

 Finally, you must monetize. Technology is growing, making social media a huge asset to sales. There is a way to sync transactions to a social media post. This will allow your business to expand, and your sales to grow.

 Social media will allow your business to expand, and allow your sales to grow. If you remember these four M’s, you are sure to make your social media platforms successful!

Do you have a defense strategy for car shoppers who leave your website? Are you losing traffic because your shoppers aren't converting? Your website is your best tool to drive people to your showroom. It's time to start capturing more of the traffic you already have. 

I explain how you can start capturing more of the traffic you already have with one simple tool on this weeks Think Tank Tuesday!

For a decade now, businesses and marketers have attempted to decipher the jumbled mess of social media and turn it into a true ROI generator. Hundreds of thousands of Ponce de Leóns have explored the social media countryside in search of the ultimate prize - tangible benefit from social media marketing.

Thankfully, it's not as mythical as the Fountain of Youth. Most are getting minor benefits from social media as long as they're sticking with it and applying some basic strategies. A few are getting real results from the branding and communication components of social media that are achievable by nearly anyone who tries hard enough and invests a little money into the endeavor.

For those who are really wanting to make a dramatic impact on their social media presence, the key is in storytelling. This is hard. That's not one of those feigned discouragements that marketers often use to dissuade businesses from trying to do it themselves. It truly is extremely difficult to take the mundane aspects of most businesses and turn them into something truly special that people are willing to passionately follow.

With social media storytelling, it's not about telling lies. It's definitely not about looking for the thunder in a bottle that some companies have been able to find through a combination of luck and some viral secret sauce that eludes the rest of humanity; how many tried to duplicate what Oreo did at the Super Bowl? Lastly, it's not about manufacturing buzz where it doesn't exist.

Storytelling requires finding those creative elements that are present in any business (regardless of how mundane the industry might seem) and forming them into a strategy that yields a path to success. It only takes one sentence to describe it but one could write a book on the actual strategy behind it. We'll try to keep it shorter here.

The story itself can be about nearly anything as long as it's relevant to the business in some way. It doesn't even have to be a direct attachment. It can be about customers. It can be about employees. It can be the journey that was taken to arrive at a particular product or service launch.

Think about it like making a movie. It isn't about the end result of the movie itself, but rather the Blue-Ray extras and behind the scenes shots. Taking us through the process can be as fun (or more fun) than watching the end result itself. As humans, we have a tendency to enjoy watching things as they unfold.

A pretty good (not great, but good) example of this was when Pepsi MAX worked with NBA star Kyrie Irving to put the Uncle Drew series together for YouTube. The reasons that it was good is because it was able to tell stories that were interesting enough to get millions of views, was sustainable for a few posts to make it a series, and gave the behind-the-scenes view that we love. The reason that it wasn't great is because it had very little to do with the product itself with only occasional views.

A much better example is a Thai Pantene commercial from a few years ago. It told a compelling story and had all of the right elements but it did not let the product get in the way. In fact, you'll have no idea it's a Pantene commercial until the end. One thing that most will definitely notice is that during the concert, the main character has absolutely incredible hair. When the Pantene logo is shown at the end with the tagline, "You can shine," it all comes together for the viewer.

These are both big productions that most businesses cannot duplicate, but that doesn't mean that you can't draw inspiration from their creativity. The key is to make it last. It doesn't have to revolve around a video, either. A friend, , did an excellent job of using social media to tell the story of her new job. She had a countdown of the top 5 reasons to be excited about her new job. It kept anticipation high, friends (and potential clients) guessing, and showed that even individuals have the ability to tell the right stories about their business.

To succeed at social media marketing, businesses and marketers must embrace the right strategies and couple them with incredible stories. This post itself is an example of this as we will be rolling out stories of our own very soon for our clients. Stay tuned!

http://www.InternetSales20Group.com 

Did You Attend #IS20G 6 In Boston? Get Your T-Shirt! 

Today we are looking at the Service Drive. This is the critical department where your female customers visit in between purchasing or leasing their vehicles. With all the touch points in the service department, it's also happens to be the highest gross margin department in your store. It's the place where retention happens - or doesn’t.

Want more information on this all-important topic? Click here to read

Want to Sell More Cars and Distinguish your Dealership to Women?
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Did you receive a Free copy of the 2014 Women’s Car Buying Report? Click here

http://www.zieglersuperconference.com
Sean V. Bradley Will Be Speaking at the Sales Management Super Conference - Nov 11-13, 2014

Sean is going to teach how a dealership can DOUBLE their sales in 30 days with these 10 steps! You do NOT want to miss Sean's presentation. 

When purchasing a new car, it is important for you to have a trusting relationship with your sales professional. You need to know that they are there to satisfy your needs, find the perfect vehicle for you and your family, and make sure you have the best possible shopping experience. Their success is based off of your happiness.  It’s important for you to know that your automotive sales professionals go above and beyond to make sure customers drive away happy, and strive to be the best of the best, and Any disputes of this are falsely advertised.

If there's one thing that gets me riled up when talking to dealers, it's finding out that there are two completely different strategies being applied to their traditional and digital marketing. It made sense a decade ago when the digital age was first coming into existence in automotive marketing. It made a little sense a few years ago when the digital spend was much smaller than the traditional spend at most dealerships. Today's modern marketing strategies combine rather than separate the messages that are put out on the different channels.

In fact, the only real difference between digital and traditional marketing is the difference in venue. Otherwise, a holistic approach is the right way to go.

This isn't a blanket statement that I'm making without understanding. I've seen the differences. Dealerships that have one message going out through television or direct mail and a completely different message on their website or through email campaigns are not seeing the level of results that are possible for dealers who are viewing marketing as a singular practice across channels.

I'm not saying that you don't have to position the messages differently. The type of messages are still venue-specific. However, that means that you don't want a "click here for more information" link on a direct mail piece. It means that you don't want to use print-ready stunning graphics and images on your email campaigns. It does not mean that you need the messages to be completely different and it definitely does not mean that you want two different departments at the dealership (or two different companies partnering with you) to develop messages that are not synced up.

There is a flip-side to this. A warning. There is a trend for traditional ad agencies to get into digital out of necessity and there's a similar trend for digital companies to start diving into traditional marketing. I only know a handful of companies doing it right out of the dozens of companies giving it a shot. Those dozens do not even included the local shops trying to get into the mix and stay relevant.

This isn't easy stuff, but it's not so hard that dealers can't tell the difference between good and bad. It really comes down to data and intent. You can see the difference. If they're using weak data, run away. If they're getting involved in their digital or traditional counterpart to stop the bleeding of business that they've been using over the years, run away even faster. Some people know what they're doing and others are just trying to keep their own business running by offering these other services.

If your instincts tell you that something doesn't jive, run away as fast as you can.

There's a disturbing trend I'm seeing in the automotive industry when I visit websites. Perhaps it's been like this for a while and I simply took my eye off the chat ball. When I see chat windows that instantly prompt for the customer's contact information, it makes me cry a little inside.

This isn't what chat is supposed to be about. I'd love to have that debate with anyone. Chat is an alternative means of instant information. In other words, it's more akin to phone calls than to anything else. If you believe in having a barrier of entry for your customers to chat, then you should have your receptionist answer the phone with, "Thank you for calling XYZ Motors. Can I have your name, phone number, and email address, please? No? Okay, thank you for calling."

Click.

I totally understand how this came about. Chat companies were pressured to generate leads and that became the only goal. If you, as a car dealer, believe this, then I would contend that you've either been misled or you've lost touch with what chat should really do. There are two parts: lead generation AND customer service. Some people call the dealership to find out when the parts department closes. You don't need their contact information in order to tell them a time over the phone just as you should not require their contact information to give them the time over chat.

Whether you believe it or not, here's a fact that common sense should tell you: you're making some of your website visitors unhappy by creating a barrier to inquiry. Some people (more than we all want to admit) will never give their contact information before coming in. Unless your leads have a 100% appointment ratio, a 100% show ratio, and your lead volume is at 90% of your total traffic to the dealership itself, this fact should be clear. Despite what the up-log says, your customers are not driving by randomly. They went online. They've probably been to your website.

With that understanding, why would a dealership want to put a bad taste in their customers' mouths before they even decide to come by the dealership?

Serve your customers the information they want online without prejudice. Don't force them to fill out a lead form first. A skilled operator should be trained to work with people during chat, determine if they're a valid prospect, and gather the information the dealership wants DURING the chat process, not before. Will volume decrease? Maybe. Maybe not. I am no expert but I would imagine that the people who come into chat that wouldn't have entered because of the lead information wall will be more likely to leave their information as their questions are being answered.

You don't just want leads. You want good leads. You want great leads. Chat should be the best of both worlds, combining the dialogue potential of the phone with the information gathering of a lead form. If you make them fill out the form ahead of time, you're pushing away many who want to have a dialogue first. This is a big mistake.

Some would say, "If they're serious, they'll fill out the form, first." BS. There are plenty of serious buyers who want information but who have had bad experiences when they fill out lead forms. There's a reason lead form submissions are on the decline. People have been burnt in the past. Get them into a conversation first, then pursue the lead when appropriate. That's the right way to handle it.

To paraphrase Ronald Reagan, "Mr. Chat Provider - tear down this wall."

http://www.dealersynergy.com 856-546-2440

Mike Udell, General Manager Of Toyota Of Grand Rapids Speaking At Internet Sales 20 Group

http://www.internetsales20group.com 856-546-2440 

http://www.bradleyondemand.com 

Is your dealership struggling to find qualified employees? The problem isn't the amount of talent in the field, but the way you're targeting potential candidates. There are a few avenues you probably haven't tried that could help you find the perfect employees for your dealership. 

Samantha discusses how to use these channels to draw in more qualified individuals for your business on this week's Hard Facts.

There is complexity in SEO. Learn what you have to do to drive valuable visitors to your website. There is an art and science. Good and relevant content is HUGE but what else does it take?  Remarkable content needs to gain engagement, how do you do both? Find out more with a video tutorial.

Many people understand that it is important to share content on the web, but do not understand the guidelines and importance of Search Engine Optimization value. Any content that is syndicated should be sourced, relevant and add value to your readers. For example if you visit a bicycle site and it has reviews about the bicycles, that is relevant and good for key word targeting for SEO purposes. Learn more about this topic from the video below and become your own webmaster! 

Many people think it's impossible to be successful in the automotive world, but I have seen so many automotive professionals that have had tremendous levels of success. Extraordinary possibilities exist in our industry, and I want to share with you the tools and strategies that will make you more successful than you ever imagined.

At the Internet Sales 20 Group 6 Workshop in Boston this week, Sean V. Bradley, CSP, CEO of Dealer Synergy, unveiled a motivational video his team created that is sure to get you thinking about your future. Success is possible in the auto industry if you know how to work hard, use your resources and stay ahead of the game.

Sean’s been in the industry for over 15 years and has perfected the strategies you need to be successful. Over the years, he has developed tools and services that you can take advantage of in order to achieve success and inspire greatness.

Dealer Synergy: Dealer Synergy is an Award Winning Training, Consulting and Digital Marketing firm that has built the most profitable Internet Sales and Business Development departments for automotive dealerships across the United States. Armed with a training team of automotive professionals with firsthand knowledge and experience in the dealership world, as well as a top of the line technology department consisting of graphic designers, video production professionals, sound engineers and animators, digital marketing professionals and content writers, Dealer Synergy is uniquely equipped to assist your dealership with the most up-to-date, technologically advanced, training and digital marketing tools.

Bradley on Demand: Bradley On Demand is the most advanced platform for sales training, strategies and professional development. The curriculum is designed with a dual approach that focuses on personal and financial success. When your team succeeds your dealership’s bottom line increases. With this tool you will sell more cars, make more money and enhance the quality of your life.

Money Mind Mapp (MMMapp): Targeted towards Automotive Sales Professional, BDC Rep and Internet Coordinators, this desktop and mobile app was developed to help automotive professionals create and achieve their financial goals. Whether they are tracking their personal finances or managing an entire dealership, the Money Mind Mapp is uniquely designed to identify your wants and needs, create action plans, and track your success. The app works with you, making sure you meet your goals. You will never achieve success by simply stating what you want to accomplish. In order to be successful, you need to actually MAP out your plan and follow it exactly. Everyone can use a little help staying accountable. Money Mind Mapp does just that!

Sean V. Bradley, CSP has the key to success. Contact him to unlock your potential!

Call his cell at 267-319-6776 or send him an email at seanb@dealersynergy.com

"Who's Your Danny" Music Video Produced By LA Dubb - Internet Sales 20 Group 

Are you just starting your career, or wondering how to improve, grow and blossom to the next step? Every good salesman knows that the key to growth is to always learn more. There are numerous ways to reach your goals, but we've narrowed it down to the three most important steps to take to ensure your success. 

I explain the three steps you need to advance your career on this week's Think Tank Tuesday!