Social media tips for the automotive industry
I recently posed the question of whether or not the motor industry was making the most of social media to engage with customers and promote its products.
Car buyers are doing more research than ever before spending thousands on a new or used car and that very few people are walking into the car dealer showroom without already having scoured the net.
Terry Hogan, MD of motoring.co.uk, has been working with both manufacturers and dealers on their social media strategirs, here are some of his tips (I've also added one or two of my own) on how they can improve...
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This article covers what I've learned from working with hundreds of customers on improving the results that they get from email marketing by optimising the subject line.
Whatever software you use for your email campaigns, these tips are worth reading...
Does the UK car industry not get social media?
Despite the opportunities offered by social media, the UK car industry seems to have been slow to catch onto it as a way of promoting its products and talking to customers.
In the US, brands like Ford, thanks to the efforts of its social media director Scott Monty, have placed a high importance on engaging with customers through social media, yet I can think of very few examples from the UK.
The workaround: technology strikes back
People have been finding workarounds for poorly designed systems for many years. Although both the technology and the workarounds have become more sophisticated, the problem, and its solution, remains the same.
Many years ago, before web-based interfaces, we were asked to investigate why an online ordering system wasn’t delivering the promised productivity benefits. Our research, which involved videoing staff dealing with telephone orders and then interviewing them about the process, soon revealed the problem.
Evony invites far more trouble with libel lawsuit
Online game company Evony may not like the negative attention it has garnered online recently, but the company is about to get a lot more scrutiny after filing a libel lawsuit claiming defamation by the U.K.'s Guardian newspaper and gaming marketer Bruce Everiss.
Evony recently drew media attention for a series of racy online ads. The multiplayer game may not have a lot of scantily clad women its game, but over a series of weeks, the company increasingly relied on semi undressed females in ads promoting itself online, eventually just cribbing pics out of lingerie catalogs and putting links to its site next to cleavage.
The company's methods led The Guardian to write an article titled "Has Evony become the most despised game on the web?" The company's owner took none too well to such allegations and has since sued for libel. Taking advantage of the country's favorable libel laws, Evony filed the suit in Australia. But while suing down under may have legal advantages for the company, it is only going to bring increased scrutiny on their business methods. And that is not likely to be a good thing.
Is RSS dead?
Yesterday, ZDNet's Sam Diaz called RSS a "Web 1.0 tool" and voiced the opinion that "there are better ways now". He noted a Forrester Research study showing that only 9% of adults in the US use an RSS reader monthly -- a 2% drop from 2008.
Diaz's comments were in response to a Google blog post announcing the release of the second annual Google Reader Power Readers, a collection of the sites various influential individuals call their favorites.
News Corp. enlists other newspapers in its race to lose page views
Rupert Murdoch may be leading the pack when it comes to charging for content, but he's not dumb enough to go it alone. The News Corp. chief said recently that all of his publications will start charging for content within a year. And now it appears that he's got plans to get other publications to go in with him. According to The Los Angeles Times, News Corp. execs have been meeting with major publishers to create a media consortium that collectively charges for articles across digital platforms.
Why does Murdoch want help? Because his papers will take a nosedive in readership when he starts charging for content. One way to stave off the bleeding is to make sure that other news providers are siphoning their content behind a pay wall as well.
Thinking outside the box and other bad advice
Earlier this month I opened CREATE 2009, a forum for academics and practitioners to share creative and innovative ideas for human computer interaction (HCI).
The conference's theme was ‘Creative inventions and innovations for everyday HCI’ so to start things off I outlined my four step approach to help designers find more creative solutions to their problems.
Facebook Fan Box and what it means for brands
Facebook has just launched Fan Box, a new widget. This is great news for brands wanting to grow a Facebook fan page. But it's probably going to drive traffic in the wrong direction for most brands.
3 basic ingredients for an online social community to exist and thrive
It's still happening! Brands are doing their best to manufacture social communities using the social web with varying degrees of success. The majority of 'forced' online communities would appear to be made up of family, friends and those willing to give support...but not really going anywhere.
How many such company-originated Facebook groups have you seen that are genuinely thriving and active? Most don't really go anywhere, but on the rare occasion some really do take off.
I've tried to analyse why and I think there may be a need to go back to basics; your feedback is most welcome on these thoughts.
Social media: the best and worst of 2009
Email marketing: six steps to improving customer engagement in 2010
Web 2.0
Graham Charlton
Strategy & Planning
