Of the three social media outlets I will critique, Facebook was the only one I had any familiarity with beforehand. I have my own Facebook page and have enjoyed the benefits of easier communication with friends and family and it seemed a logical and free place to exercise my marketing abilities with little risk and a large potential reward.
I began by creating a Scott Honda Group Page and was very enthusiastic, recruited a bunch of folks to join, uploaded some photos…and then I hit a wall. I would discourage car dealers and other business owners from spending too much energy on the group page because it is very limited in form and function. You cannot import pictures or video as easily and most of all the page is nothing like a normal Facebook page, which means visitors are confused and most likely will not spend much time there.
So after a little research I decided a Fan Page would fit us just fine and 121 fans later I still agree. This type of page is more editable and has a nice wall for promoting the blog and the dealership, which are essentially one in the same. In addition to better visibility, the Fan Page provides "Insights" into page hits, clicks, posts etc., which are great for understanding your fan base. Though they are not broken down to an average per day basis like the Typepad based Sconda Blog numbers, I can still estimate about 15-20 page views a day.
People always ask, "have you had any success stories?". I would say we have had three.
In the first example I took advantage of the sites inter-connectivity to promote our "After Prom Accord Winner" Shelby Weber. Through Facebook I was able to contact Shelby, acquire pictures and promote the giveaway in a way we were never able to do before.
The second success story involved a skeptical young lady who asked on our "wall" whether or not becoming a fan could save her money, as I purported. So I immediately sent her an E-coupon for a free oil change, to which she replied with a huge thank you and let me know her lease was up in a couple months and she will be coming to us for her next Honda.
The final success story involves a positive interaction with a young lady while she was in the process of buying her new Scott Honda. She wrote on our Wall, "I am so excited! I just got my new civic today and I am picking it up tomorrow!! Thanks everyone at Scott!" We had a nice back and forth and I gave her a free Scott Honda hoodie and hat, just for being a good customer and she loved it.
Moving forward I am planning on creating Facebook specific coupons to further add real value in being a fan. I also see the possibility for contests to be based out of Facebook as well, although I have seen other dealers try to little success. There are also advertising opportunities within FB that I would like to pursue to increase our fan base as well.
In short Facebook is a free, convenient way to communicate to and interact with our ever growing customer base and according to their numbers, if Facebook were a country it would be the 4th largest in the world, why not take advantage of such a resource.
This is the kind of info and feedback that people just starting out on Facebook need. I like the way you shared your experience with the group page and then settling on the fan page. One thing that I find when I’m out discussing social media is there are so many people who really want the basics but for some reason, those who know them have stopped teaching those who don’t. Valuable post.
Angela Connor
@communitygirl