Last Thursday, Facebook launched Facebook Newswire. In partnership with Storyful, a social media content verifier and aggregator, Facebook has entered the business of delivering news to its community. This service is designed to identify hot news topics and articles. It does this…

An interesting article on the Forbes website shared the results of a recent study by Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends. The study was the result of an extensive survey of over 2,500 companies in 90 countries. Based on the survey results,…

Dealerships today are continuously seeking new ways to acquire new customers. Endless services and platforms pop up almost daily that offer businesses new ways to reach out to the world and attract new customers – whether that’s through online media, social media platforms, mobile ads or database mining. The problem is that many businesses concentrate far too much on…

The battle for customers in the automotive industry is hyper-competitive. Dealers advertise low price loss leaders and court an Internet buyer with competitive pricing that sometimes results in negative gross deals. Service departments advertise low priced oil changes to both upsell and win a new customer.  Dealers send mailers, direct mail, use traditional and digital…

Businesses are increasingly recognizing the importance of having an online presence in social networks. Consumers have come to expect it and, whether you’re there or not, they will have conversations about you. Every year sees a higher percentage of consumers turning to business’ social media accounts for a variety of reasons including praise, complaints and support. Simply…

As the fall conference season approaches for the automotive industry, many vendors miss opportunities for exposure. Owning a public relations agency, my job is to maximize my client’s exposure to their audience. Conferences offer more potential customers for my clients, concentrated in a single place at a single time, than just about any other marketing opportunity. However,…

Lady Gaga has her Little Monsters, Justin Bieber has his Beliebers, Kiss has their Kiss Army, and your dealership has ______? Where are your fans? Musicians focus their marketingon connecting with fans, that’s nothing new, but that approach is grounded in solid business sense. A 2010 Satmetrix study found that evangelists or fans, spend 13% more than the average customer, and they refer business equal to 45% of the money they…

When did you last share with someone important why you enjoy him or her? We’re fast to convey disappointment or dissatisfaction with others, but uplifting the attributes in them we like feels rather strange.

Yet when it comes to building loyalty, whether in customers, coworkers or family members, nothing will engage their attention – and draw them to us in…

"When you think of social media, what do you think of? Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest. Being the seasoned professional that you are, you know very well that’s not it at all. Social media is about engagement, no matter what set of metrics the C-suite has you chasing. Follows on Twitter, shares on LinkedIn, likes on…

Training and Attitude Are the Keys to a Smoothly-Run BHPH Operation

There are two truly valid ways to post on social media. It depends on the personality, goals, and bandwidth available within your business. Both have pros and cons. Both have chances of success and failure.

This is Part III of the series on timing. Please read…

In a retrospective presentation on the 2012 SXSW Expo, Jack Morton Senior Vice President, Liz Bigham, said that “engagement counts more and costs less than awareness.” What Bigham means by this statement, a variation on the Harvard…

The Automotive Industry has been posting and engaging on Facebook on the wrong days at the wrong time. According to Buddy Media, the automotive industry should be posting on Facebook on Sundays stating, “Engagement rates spike significantly for Posts made on Sunday, but the automotive industry is slow to capitalize on this trend, with less than 8% of all posts being made on this day.”

Don’t get discouraged dealers! I’m here to tell you how…

by Kathryn Carlson

Is your dealership blocking access to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social media sites?  If this is the case, are you frustrated with your Dealer Principal's decision to block access?

I recently came across a situation where a dealership group was divided on how…

Right now, automotive dealerships across the globe are seeking ways to sell more vehicles in a market that appears to be on the upswing.  2012 will see a majority of dealerships dedicating more resources to their …

Are leads from live chat really leads?

If you are the general manager of a dealership that has never used automotive live chat service or software, you’re probably…

You cannot manage what you can’t measure.  As more and more consumers flock to your dealership website, you must focus your attention to optimizing the ease of which your prospects obtain information about you. …

ActivEngage was honored to have its CEO and Co-Founder Todd Smith featured as a keynote presenter as the Ignite! Dealer Summit. Todd’s workshop highlighted more than 17 easy to use and powerful online tools and …