The Dealer Impact Blog

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

Barry Diller: “We Spend Every Nickel We Can On Facebook” [Video]

If you need to know how Facebook is performing among large brands, look no further than some of the leading brand marketers who are singing praise about Facebook’s ad platform. In an interview with CNN Money, Barry Diller couldn’t speak highly enough about Facebook’s advertising offering. Diller stated, “Facebook’s great advertising. My company, which spends a huge amount on advertising, we spend every nickel we can on Facebook. They’re effective. The targeting of the audience is precise enough.”

While Diller doesn’t believe that Facebook will be able to replace traditional advertising, he also didn’t believe that Twitter would be able to attract brand advertisers, so it just goes to show that Diller doesn’t know everything. You can view the full interview posted below.

Via: AllFacebook

Advertisers to Spend $1.7 Billion on Social Networks in 2010

The latest numbers from eMarketer project that advertisers will spend nearly $1.7 billion in the U.S. on social networking sites in 2010. Worldwide, spending will hit $3.3 billion according to the report.

The numbers represent a significant bump up from estimates published by the research firm at the end of last year, when it projected $1.3 billion would be spent on the space in the U.S.

Not surprisingly, eMarketer sees about half of that money (in the U.S.) going to Facebook, with MySpace continuing to see a smaller share of the pie. Separately, the firm estimated that Facebook’s 2010 revenue would hit $1.2 billion in a report published last week.

Earlier this month, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg said that some of the social network’s biggest advertisers had boosted ad spending by 10x this year; a trend that’s apparent in the eMarketer report.

Via: Mashable

Dominos UK Social Media Initiatives Help Increase Profits by 29%

According to Domino’s UK financial earnings report, the company has increased its pre-tax profit by nearly 29%, which equates to roughly $26 million. The UK pizza retailer attributes social media initiatives and its Foursquare promotion for the gains.

In the earnings statement, CEO Chris Moore points to the rise in online orders — which now account for 32.7% of all orders — as proof that their web and social media efforts are paying off.

Moore reports that when it comes to the web, “Our main Facebook site now has in excess of 36,000 fans In addition, we have led the way with social media initiatives such as affiliate marketing, our superfans programme and the development of a link up with Foursquare.”

Via: Mashable

5 Tips for Managing Your Companys Brand on the Web

Brand management in the current era means not just keeping an ever-present eye on the social web, but also engaging in meaningful ways with brand advocates and detractors. Professionals in the field have come to accept social media as crucial to their jobs, but most know that managing a company’s brand on the web is so much more than setting up shop on social sites like Twitter and Facebook.

Here we’ll give you an inside look at the strategies of avant garde industry leaders who’ve spent years figuring out how to move beyond social media hype and implement practical management practices into their daily work routines.

Brad Nelson, Jeremy Thum, Joel Price, Joel Frey and Bowen Payson are all marketers behind big brand names. They’ve done the dirty work. Their lessons and words of wisdom range from finding ways to unify digital assets to knowing your niche, and each tip should be heeded by those looking to follow in their footsteps.

1. Let Someone Else Say It
2. Unify Digital Properties
3. Leave Your Ego Behind
4. Know Your Niche
5. Don’t Wallow or Gloat

Via: Mashable

Just setting up a Twitter and Facebook accounts isn’t enough on today’s social internet honest customer engagement is key to any company’s brand.

Facebook says ad spending is rocketing

The very same advertisers who were once skeptical that buying up inventory on social networks could possibly do any good are now, apparently, going completely nuts about ads on Facebook.

Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg, the company’s most prominent liaison to Madison Avenue, said in an interview with BusinessWeek published Wednesday that the company’s biggest advertisers have boosted their spending on Facebook by tenfold, or even 20-fold, in the past year.

“Two years ago the big brands were experimenting with us,” Sandberg told BusinessWeek. “They started buying with us a year ago. Now, they’re going big.”

Via: CNET

We Must Protect This Brand

In order to create one solid image throughout your customer base, and continue to maintain that image, consistency is critical. A brand will only fracture itself by introducing new “personalities” in each of the spaces it occupies a presence.

If you’re not consistent then your customers have to meet you and get to know you all over again. Not to mention finding you in these spaces turns out to be a lot harder. It turns into a game of ‘50 First Dates’. But trust me – unlike romantic comedies, all does not end well.

Now this is not to say you shouldn’t evolve your brand over time. That is not what I’m talking about. What I am talking about is at one point in time is your brand presenting a united front to its customers in a platform agnostic way? A company’s brand is a very valuable asset and as a social media practitioner it is your responsibility to protect it in the social space. Here are three ways to do just that.

Via: Social Fresh

Protecting your dealership’s brand is paramount in this social networking era. A clear, consistent message will demonstrate to your customers that you are listening making them that much more likely to share their experience.

CardStar connects loyalty cards to Foursquare check-ins

The check-in game as popularized by location-based services Foursquare, Gowalla, Loopt and others, desperately needs something more tangible than just the mere exclamation of a user’s location. One way to bring more value – and thus more interest – to the check-in is tying it to a real-world deal, like getting a cheaper beverage at a coffee shop in return for frequent check-ins. Now, a company specializing in digitizing the loyalty cards people carry in their wallets, CardStar, is integrating its service with Foursquare check-ins in an effort to make checking in more relevant.

Via: VentureBeat

Location based services are something every dealership should be exploring.

5 Social Media Trends to Watch Right Now

“With social media itself an exponentially growing trend that’s here to stay, many companies both small and large are keeping tabs on new social technologies as they emerge. With new sites, services, apps and practices that help businesses connect more directly with customers coming online at a rapid pace, it’s often helpful to zoom out a bit and keep an eye on upcoming trends on the cusp or just over the horizon.

Whether or not particular individual services succeed, the following trends are likely to stick around in the near-term future. Some may not be immediately relevant to your company or industry, but being aware of oncoming movements in the social media landscape can help keep you and your business out ahead of the curve when a new trend holds promise for your organization’s growth.”

1. Location, Location, Location
2. Group Buying
3. Mobile Ads
4. Mobile Payments
5. Having a Social Media Policy

Source: Mashable

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