The Dealer Impact Blog

Buick Is Creating Brand Ambassadors Via Twitter

In this article from Social Fresh. Automaker Buick is doing its best to create brand advocates in order to revamp and redefine its mature image. Just a quick disclaimer the author of the post is currently working as a Buick Brand Ambassador in Chicago on behalf of the brand.

In an effort to reinvent the brand, Buick knows they have a lot of work to do. They want to trade in the old fuddy-duddy grandpa image that has plagued the brand for the last decade for a hipper more modern brand impression.

In August, AdAge reported Buick was the fastest growing car brand in the US, but they are still struggling to rid the brand of their dated image. It is a large effort that General Motors has undertaken to broaden the appeal of Buick. And just as they have been doing with Chevrolet, they are reaching out to social media to help change the public’s awareness of the brand.

Via: Social Fresh

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HOW TO: Avoid a Social Media Disaster

If there’s one thing that keeps social media marketers up at night, it’s the ever-present threat of a PR disaster. By now, every marketer is well-aware of how quickly dissatisfied consumers can turn to the social airwaves to vent about a brand. Nestle, BP, Domino’s, Southwest Airlines, and many other brands have witnessed the unbridled power of social media as a platform for disgruntled consumers to rally around an anti-brand cause.

1.) Create a Social Media Policy/Community Management Plan
2.) Have an Escalation Plan
3.) Plan for the Worst – Expect the Best
4.) Respond Quickly, Personally and Directly
5.) Don’t Play the Blame Game

Via: Mashable

Marketers are NOT spending their money where users are spending their time

Earlier this week, Nielsen released their latest report on where U.S. Internet users are spending their time online. Social media dominated all other categories at more than twice the time spent on the next closest category. It occurred to me after reading that report that social media is not where marketers spend most of their money. So, I wanted to look further into the difference between where users spend their time online and where marketers spend their budget. Here is what I found.

1.) Marketers are not fishing where the fish are
2.) Search dominates the marketing budget
3.) Email is used a third less than it was last year
4.) Destination not Acquisition

Via: Social Fresh

Why Some Companies Don’t Get Social Media

1. Senior executives don’t use or get social media. If you’re an older, hard-working senior executive, you probably don’t have the time to really check out social media.

2. There is no simple way to measure ROI. If companies are trying to apply traditional ROI metrics to social media, it’s a lot like trying to fit a round peg into a square hole. Social media is a different beast with “hard” and “soft” metrics.

3. Many companies cling to belief that if something ain’t broke, don’t fix it. With the global economy appearing to be in recovery mode, many companies have been able to stick with traditional marketing and advertising tools.

4. As Lee Oden also pointed out, many companies have a difficult time trying to understand that social media means they have to change their behaviour.

5. The social media ecosystem has done a pretty lousy job of putting the spotlight on social media “success”.

Via: Sysomos blog