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Author: The Crew

The Power of Social Media!
iPitCrew- Blog
AUG 8th

I had just given my very best revolution speech on how the monologue marketing model?

THE POWER OF SOCIAL MEDIA

Does this sound familiar? You are meeting with a Auto Dealers
client and passionately explaining New advertising Strategies and the concept of Social Media. You really believe what you are telling the Auto Dealers client; I mean you are giving it all you have like you just discovered time travel or something. At the end of your pitch, this moment of true enlightenment, you are expecting the skies to part, a bright light to illuminate the faces of your clients, glorious trumpets to sound, and a choir of Angels to exclaim Gloria, Gloria, Social Media, AHHHH! NOW YOU UNDERSTAND! To your dismay, all you get are blank faces staring back at you, and defining silence that last a lifetime, followed by; hmmmmm interesting... Does anyone else have something to add?

I had just such an encounter the other day. I had just given my very best revolution speech on how the monologue marketing model was dead, how dialogue and Social Media were forcing Auto Dealers companies to listen, communicate, and engage for the first time since black and white television came to market. I went on to expound on how differentiation and customer satisfaction would make or break companies in our new market economy, how companies like Google, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Better Place were redefining how we approach company valuations, and pricing models. I basically balled up some of the best Marketing books I have read over the last two years and filled them full of holes like an OOZIE! Buyology, Brand Bubble, Six Pixels of Separation, Free The Future of Radical Price, Socialnomics, Groundswell, Whuffie, I used them all like ammo!

Once I had built the foundation for my case, I went in for the close! You could look around the room and hear what they were thinking; they were all blaming the Internet for ruining business. So I spoke up and defended the free flow of information (it was the right thing to do.) The pricing model was broke long before the Internet, I said. Then I began to explain how ludicrous the whole pricing model in the Auto Dealers industry really is, based on the availability of information, level of influence each of us has within our niche online communities, the connectivity, we have to one another through social media, etc...

I finished by saying you can fix the Auto Dealers profitability issue on new cars in one week! Think about it. Why do customers negotiate, and shop price? Could it be because the industry created uncertainty? The manufacturer post an inflated vehicle price, which they later discount by thousands of dollars, the dealers promote the inflated price MSRP, but then allow consumers to negotiate down to something called Dealer Invoice, and sometimes they even sell below the Dealer Invoice price. That's just the tip of the iceberg! I won't even go into the rest.

My point is this ONE PRICE! NO HAGGLE, NO GAMES, NO GIMMICKS, all customers want is to know they are not going to go down the road and see the vehicle advertised for less, then they paid 5 minutes ago. Just have the manufacturers drop their prices by the amount they factor in for rebates and charge one price.

SILENCE...you could have heard a pin drop...Then all at once... The ether wore off!

Nah...that would never work! Besides Social Media is just the latest buzz... Next you will tell us you can sell vehicles online without the customer ever even driving the car! I just shook my head and thought to myself, You mean like the Ford Fiesta Launch?

About the Author

Red Hot Digital Media Marketing Agency For Automotive Dealerships.