Googles Competition - Search 2.0

Im not talking about Yahoo or even MSN. (They still exist ya know...)

What I am talking about are the new batch of search engines cropping up which might just offer something better. Thats right. Something BETTER than the all mighty Google...

From the attached CNN article:

"Some sites, like Twine and hakia, will try to personalize searches, separating out results you would find interesting, based on your Web use. Others, like Searchme, offer iTunes-like interfaces that let users shuffle through photos and images instead of the standard list of hyperlinks. Kosmix bundles information by type -- from Twitter, from Facebook, from blogs, from the government -- to make it easier to consume.

And Lets not forget Twitter itself... who is trying to capitalize on the warp-speed pace of online news today by offering real-time searches of online chatter -- something Google's computers have yet to replicate.

Facebook and FriendFeed also are experimenting with real-time searches, according to news reports. But each of these searches operates only within its own social network. Scoopler is another real-time site that's trying to aggregate info from all of these sites.

And all of these are seeing more competition, as two new sites -- TweetMeme and OneRiot -- launched new or updated real-time searches recently."

If you care, or have ever used a search engine... check out this CNN article... New search engines aspire to supplement Google

Just when you start to figure it out........ Read more!

Twitter for Dealerships

Ahh Twitter…

Getting past all the excitement I really think the best use of Twitter is real time interaction with existing customers.

Sure you can “market” with relevant tweets about your industry but “selling” will probably do more harm than good.

Think of Twitter as a real time search engine. Find out what people are saying about:

1. Your Store and their experience. Reach out to those people and thank them or assist them with their concerns. Not only does the customer appreciate the attempt but others may see your proactive approach to issues.

2. Your brand. Point people to correct information, relevant topics, news and the like about your brand. Never assume people just know the 3g Prius is available. Never assume people know the benefits of one product over another. If you can point people to an unbiased review or the like, that goes a long way.

As a rule, Twitter and the like are but one small piece of the puzzle. Dealers must grasp the concept and seize the opportunity to capitlize on all social networking platforms.

In reality, dealers have missed a HUGE part of the puzzle to make this work for them. The foundation. The process of handling this customer and prospect should be prioirty one. Until that is in place and running on all cylinders, then using Twitter and the like will do more harm than good. Read more!

In Dealership Marketing Manager?

Is Twitter really where I should be?

Does Facebook have value for your business?

Do I need a Blog?

The answer is YES. That's the easy part.

The hard part is figuring out how to manage all of these social media outlets.

Most dealerships I have been too have computers for salespeople. And that's great - you've come a long way. The problem is, dealers have these computers so locked down that internet access is usually only allowed to access the dealerships website.

Sales people are one the most underutilized resources in a dealership for social media / alternative marketing. Imagine if 50% of your sales floor had twitter and facebook accounts and used these avenues to work for them to help sell more product?

There has not been a single dealer who has given me a valid reason why they block these sites. Most dealers tell me "I don't want them sitting around all day surfing the internet". Um.... HELLO ?!?!? This leaves me speechless....

88% of the people that walk through your front door started their shopping online. You need to leverage this.

With all these sites and marketing possibilities, you might want to start thinking about a new position at the dealership. Alternative Marketing Manager or the like.

A person responsible for not only your SEO / VSEO (and all the things that come with that... way too many to list here - call me) but social networking and managing your online identity.

It appears dealers have no problem spending BIG BUCKS to buy ineffective third party leads (when they don't have the capacity to even handle them properly) yet that money may be better spent on a full time dedicated marketing manager.

Whens he last time you searched twitter for anything related to your dealership or your product in your area? Twitter is full of people reaching out. Its a tremendous opportunity to not only speak to the masses but to speak to a single person while the masses watch.

And that's HUGE.

RETHINK EVERYTHING Read more!