Steve Widen, US marketing manager for 3M, shows how the company’s denibbing system can make small work easier, saving shops [Read more…] about 3M Demonstrates Denibbing System
Women and Social Media Marketing Trending Up In 2011
At AskPatty.com we are very committed to educating the auto industry that women are not a diversity or niche market and how to build relationships with women offline and online, including social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. Women are the vast majority of aftermarket customers, yet that message in the Aftermarket falls on deaf ears.
Is the jury still out in your mind as to whether social media matters in business? If so, a recent survey might make you change your mind. In fact, it may cause you to re-think your entire marketing outreach, especially if you do market to women.
A recent study found that 42 million women in the United States (roughly 53% of the 79 million adult women in the United States who use the Internet) participate in social media at least weekly. As they spend more time with social media, women are spending correspondingly less time with traditional media: 39% less on newspapers, 36% less time reading magazines, and 30% less time watching TV.
That’s according to a recent social media survey by BlogHer, the women’s blog network, along with iVillage and Compass Partners.
To understand her power to influence review the entire study from BlogHer.com and Partners on what women are doing in social media , online and the power of blogs in women’s purchasing decisions.
It’s should be no shock that men and women act differently online, just as they do in everyday life. The Web is an extremely social medium, and Web 2.0 is all about being social. Traditionally, men are the early adopters of new technologies. But when it comes to social media, women are at the forefront. Rapleaf conducted a study of 13.2 million people and how they’re using social media. While the trends indicate both sexes are using social media in huge numbers, their findings show that women far outpace the men.
Social media marketing is mostly uncharted territory for most aftermarket companies and an untapped opportunity to grow your business with women who are the most influential and powerful brand ambassadors in social media.
Jody DeVere
President and CEO
http://www.askpatty.com
http://www.certifiedfemalefriendly.com
About Jody DeVere
Jody DeVere is the CEO and President of AskPatty.com, Inc. Visit www.askpatty.com to learn more about how to become an AskPatty.com Certified Female Friendly® Dealer.
QUICK- what’s your elevator pitch?
Picture this: By luck or chance you run into someone who you think could be a prospect or future customer for your business – do you have a rehearsed and perfected 30-45 second reply to the question:
“so – what do you do?”
Your answer to this chance-encounter could either unremarkably answer the question OR your answer could build a lasting impression of you and your business; resulting in either a longer conversation of your remarkable company or a prospect/referral opportunity.
Reality is that most businesses don’t have an Elevator Pitch and just wing-it when faced with this opportunity (notice I said opportunity), so click on the box below and give it some thought. It took me no less than 3 tries to get it right – so don’t be disappointed if the first few go-around don’t sound good (like mine).
By: Chris Sheehy – Auto Body Consultant at Autobody Consulting Group LLC www.AutobodyConsultingGroup.com
Autobody Consulting Group, a business operations, administrative, production, estimating, management, marketing, and social media consultancy serving auto body collision repair businesses and vendors to the autobody industry.Twitter | FaceBook | LinkedIn
photo and tool credit: Harvard Business School Alumni: http://www.alumni.hbs.edu/
Building A Strong Social Media Presence While Increasing Search Engine Ranking
Building A Strong Social Media Presence While Increasing Search Engine Ranking
So – you have a website – GREAT – now how to you get people to find it?
Unless someone types in your website address (URL), they are most likely to find your business online by using a search engine. Getting your website recognized on these search engines and thus be found by your prospects and customers is not rocket science – but neither is replacing a quarter panel. Both however require unique tools, some forethought (strategy), ingenuity (innovation), and a person with the right skills to get the job done.
Replacing a quarter panel isn’t a job for the inexperienced; similarly marketing your business online isn’t kids play.
These steps are sure to get you headed in the right direction – this isn’t article fluff, this is the same tactic I use for my clients.
- Start with your website! A website that scores high in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Compliance – yes, there is a tool for that – is the foundation for social media because all your online and social media profiles should point here.
- Content and Compliance are king when it comes to ranking on search engines. What you say; and how you say it – makes all the difference between ranking #1 or #101 on the search engines. The art of crafting word-content that increases your search engine ranking (and thus more people see your site) is referred to as Search Engine Optimization – SEO for short.
- Constantly source and link-to online networks like LinkedIn, profile pages such as Yahoo!, maps including Google, and directories – MerchantCircle and YP to name a couple. This is referred to as link-building. The more online connections you have, the greater visibility your business will have to search engines. There is a direct and well-published correlation between social media activity, and link-building that will improve your ranking on the big three search engines – Google, Bing, Yahoo! (listed in order of influence) and thus elevate your website exposure to more prospects and customers.
- Engage with people who engage with you – simply stated; if someone comments, likes, or shares your post; at the very least send them a thank you.
- Inter-link all of your online activity. FaceBook allows you to link to Twitter and several other communication sites – take advantage of this, it will make it easier for your viewers to connect with you and hear your message. Many social media channels have this inter-connectivity – look for it. Also, don’t forget to add your social media badges to your website home page (also called a landing page).
- Be consistent – schedule time to commit to social media and stick to it! If you post two posts each week, stay resilient.
- Reaching Business-2-Business (B2B) through your vendor partners is a great way of extending your social media audience. Combine this with your Customer-2-Business (B2C) activities to increase your chance of your social media affecting your search engine ranking.
- Lastly – share other people’s stories if it is in-line with your strategy and make sure to give them ample credit, as you would expect to receive. (try it out with this story)
Sometimes having all the answers still isn’t enough – applying the theory is often more difficult and complicated than it seems on paper. If this sounds like your situation, or if the article above might as well have been written in Navajo, consider hiring a pro – it’s an investment that could be a game-changer for your business.
By: Chris Sheehy – Auto Body Consultant at Autobody Consulting Group LLC www.AutobodyConsultingGroup.com
Autobody Consulting Group, a business operations, administrative, production, estimating, management, marketing, and social media consultancy serving auto body collision repair businesses and vendors to the autobody industry.Twitter | FaceBook | LinkedIn
Marketing and Innovation – the Drucker theory
I was doing some reading recently when I came across a quote in Forbes magazine that I haven’t heard of in a long time . . .
Because the purpose of business is to create a customer, the business enterprise has two – and only two – basic functions: marketing and innovation. Marketing and innovation produce results; all the rest are costs. Marketing is the distinguishing, unique function of the business.” Peter Drucker – 1973
I frequently meet people who are at a quandary of whether their business will be better off with more marketing (traffic to their door) OR with better operating efficiencies and standard procedures. Drucker reminds me in his quote that it is both and as a consultant, my job is to find the balance of implementing marketing innovation and business innovation in a manner that brings the quickest and most quantifiable ROI to my clients – from a financial as well as results perspective.
Here’s a quick breakdown on what Marketing and Innovation means for our autobody industry – from my point of view.
Marketing, creates brand awareness, trust in the brand, and top-of-mind awareness of your business (brand being your business name). In other words, marketing makes people aware of your companies name, logo, and location. When done well, people will have trust and confidence in doing business with you – even if they haven’t met you before. Social media usage coupled with the recent search engine changes (for your website – you have one – right?) online marketing vastly extends your word-of-mouth marketing. Marketing is certainly one area where you don’t want to put all your eggs into one basket – a solid strategy could consist of online, face-to-face, paper, radio, television, social media, community, cause, or guerrilla marketing tactics. The first thing to do is to allocate an annual marketing budget (3% of overall revenue is a good goal) and to put a strategy together. The second step is to stay true to this commitment. Lac k of commitment is one of businesses biggest failures – motivation is the multiplier to success though, so try your hardest to stay focused and on-task.
Innovation is, by definition; “the introduction of something new”. Nearly everyone will have their own interpretation for what is innovation – but to me, it’s the willingness to continually try something new to better your business results or to provide a greater customer experience – Kai-zen in Lean terms. This term also loops-back to the first – Marketing, in having the willingness to try different ways of marketing your business. To many, innovation represents Lean, Mobile-Estimating, or Blueprinting –reality is, that it’s usually more simplistic than that. Realistically, having firm business processes alone defines innovation for the majority of the businesses. No matter – innovation is innovation, and as long as it’s centered on your business needs; then you’re headed in the right direction.
In the big picture, marketing brings customers to your door and innovative approaches to customer service, repair quality, and meeting consumer expectations (i.e. cycle time) will bring them back.
No doubt about it, Drucker was right on the mark way back in 1973 with his statement, and nearly 40 years later it’s still true that marketing and innovation need to play a pivotal part of your daily operations.
By: Chris Sheehy – Auto Body Consultant at Autobody Consulting Group LLC www.AutobodyConsultingGroup.com
Autobody Consulting Group, a business operations, administrative, production, estimating, management, marketing, and social media consultancy serving auto body collision repair businesses and vendors to the autobody industry.Twitter | FaceBook | LinkedIn