Cars and Social Media
Social media should be inherent to all companies’ marketing campaigns. Consumers have come to expect a presence on social media platforms to as much a degree as they expect to be able to telephone or write in case of a problem. How simple it is to just fire off a quick tweet to a company whilst on the move. And as there will usually be someone monitoring the Twitter account, the person will usually get a timely response. So much quicker than using conventional telephone or postal mail methods.
Whilst complaints and calls for an improvement in service are perhaps the most likely use for social media, it should not always be seen in a negative light. Social media can be a valuable source of feedback and an efficient marketing tool. Take, for example, the success that Ford has seen through its social media marketing campaigns.
Ford’s Fiesta Movement Campaign was, most social media commentators agree, a triumph. On launching its new Fiesta, Ford allowed 100 members of the public the use of the new model to drive, and then review, using social media. This resulted in 700 videos being produced with over 7 million views on Youtube. It could be argued that this will make zero difference to sales figures, however Ford are using this as more of a relationship tool that a strict sales method. It has long been known in marketing circles that the more a consumer interacts with a company the better opinion they have of that company, and word of mouth is one of the more powerful marketing tools. A person is much more likely to listen to a friend if they have had a good experience than if they view an advert that has not been targeted directly at them.
‘Ninety percent of social media is just showing up’ says Scott Monty, Global Digital Communications for the Ford Motor Company. Indeed, Ford has shown up. They showed up relatively early. A large part of their success through the medium can be attributed to not only having this presence but actually having someone respond to queries through the medium in what people would consider a ‘reasonable time’. In addition, senior executives from the company have been taking part in online question and answer sessions over Twitter, another move to bring them closer to their consumer base.
Ford describe their strategy is ‘to humanize the company by connecting consumers with Ford employees and with each other when possible, providing value in the process’, another example of keeping close to the consumer. The importance of this is paramount; the average company’s awareness of social media will usually be restricted to Facebook and Twitter. These are the most popular services but a company, as in Ford’s case, should look to others such as Flickr, Delicious, Foursquare, the list goes on. Keeping on top of trends ensures longevity.
Consumers will be talking about your company, both in a good and bad light. A company needs to have a social media presence; otherwise the voice of the company comes from its customers.
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like there’s a lot of people listening and most company sites have feedback areas where you can share your frustration directly, or you can just take to the internet and rant your heart out on your blog, on Twitter, or various other places suitable for your explosion. There’s varying degrees of success when it comes to the online rant, and very rarely do you get the opportunity to directly confront those that made you upset to begin with.
