This is largely due to the sudden rise of Social Media, which can also be described as micro-blogging. Now, MySpace.com may not call Facebook and Twitter the rise of Social Media because afterall MySpace was the biggest site of its kind at the time to go mainstream. But the point is that with Facebook and Twitter going mainstream like they have, dealers began tapping into that trend before ever taking off with blogs the way some industries had.

This is not a bad thing, it was just a matter of timing.

If you were to create a time line of the major milestones or phases for dealership and the web, it would go something like this…

Late 90′s: Autobytel breaks new ground in the car buying experience, but few dealers have good websites.

Early 2000′s: Dealers struggle with the challenge of establishing and maintaining a good web presence due to lack of good tools.

Mid 2000′s: Dealership CMS and CRM mature. Dealers take to PPC as means to attain website visitors.

Late 2000′s: Dealers abandon PPC and delve into SEO.

2008: Dealers experiment with blogging and microsties and online video.

2009: Economy hits the dump and Social Media gains acceptance. Dealers flock to micro-blogging.

2010: Dealers want to go back to basics, but realize that Social Media is here to stay.

2011: ???

So where are we going this year? Will dealers abandon Social Media or stick with it? Will PPC make a comeback or will SEO hold steady? Maybe this will be the year for inbound marketing, a term made most famous by HubSpot, which purses a permission marketing approach primarily through blogging, micro-blogging, and email.

We are big advocates of inbound marketing and believe that blogging for car dealers is primed for a second phase in its evolution, one that will be more tangible for dealers. By tangible I mean that dealers will learn to see and measure how their blog is or is not working for them. It won’t be easy but the dealerships that pull it off will have achieved something few of their competitors will.

This is not something you can take lightly at the dealership if you want to see results. There is no technology that solves this problem like an Auto Dealer CMS gives you a website and like an Automotive CRM gives you a relationship management system. A blog technologically is relatively simple but producing content, accumulating subscribers, and engaging customers over long periods of time is labor intensive process that requires vision, commitment, and determination.

You can’t expect amazing results if you treat it like a third wheel.

As you map out 2011 for your dealership, consider the role a blog can play. It’s not just a means to an end for Automotive SEO anymore. Blogs have become more than that. They play a pivotal role in the CRM process all the way from cultivating new business to drumming up repeat business. It’s time to get in the game.

Some people struggle with the idea of a single system being utilized for both personal and professional use. Many people do not understand the intricate sharing capabilities of your information on Facebook, that you can post information to be shared with only the people you choose.

For instance, you may want to post commentary on an article that only your auto industry buddies might enjoy, but your prospective customer friends might not need to see that. Maybe you want to post pictures of your kid’s birthday party but you don’t want ALL of your Facebook friends seeing it. Only family members and people that were there.

These are common situations we all have and fortunately Facebook is designed for you to share only what you want and with whom.

One way to achieve this is by using the Lists feature in the Friends section. The List feature enables you to create a variety of lists for various purposes. For instance, you could create lists for people you went to school with, people you work with, people you meet online that are prospective customers, whatever you feel the need for you can create a list for that. You can associate the same person to more than one list and you can create as many layers and combinations you like.

For instance, I have a list called “Pic Friends” which I add friends to when I am comfortable that they would see photos I post, like of my kids especially. I also have a list called “Virtual Buddies” which are people I have never met and do not know much about, but somehow became connected. I don’t need pics of my kids in the browsers of people I do not know well, but I may still want to share harmless fun with them. Lists are perfect for this.

Later this week in our AC List Builder Webinar series we will be exploring the basic use of Lists in Facebook. In this free webinar we will cover…

• How to create a list
• How to add Friends to lists
• How to share Wall Posts with lists
• How to share Photos with lists
• How to send Messages to lists

These core functions in Facebook are highly useful and with a little bit of effort can prove extremely useful, especially when you want to send a message out to more than 20 Friends. By keeping your lists limited to 20 people you can more easily send messages to large groups of the right people.

Join us LIVE this Thursday April 15 at 11:30 am EST by registering for the AC List Builder Series. If you are already registered then you will receive an email reminder from GoToWebinar with your access to the training session. If you are not registered then click here or the button below to receive your private link. By registering you will receive an email for each webinar within the AC List Builder Series which is about every 6 weeks. There is no obligation to attend this or any webinar within the series and you may remove yourself from the series email at any time.

Today, Social Media sites such as facebook and Twitter are known for their growing benefits in Search Marketing, but I don’t see blogs receiving the hype that these sites are receiving, despite the proven track record that blogs have as a tool for Inbound Marketing. And now with companies like GOSO offering an inventory solution that integrates with facebook, or MediaRevo which manages transaction-geared landing pages for auto dealer sites that are advertised with paid placement on facebook, it seems that the turbines of automotive online retail remain steadfastly drawn towards vehicle sales.

Is this the right approach for auto dealers, to be using Social Media tools such as facebook and Twitter to push their commodity?

Studies and statistics show that Social Media is more about content, conversation, and relationships and less about conversion and transaction. So how will using Social Media to solicit vehicles bid with customers in these marketplaces? Does it not seem that these communication channels may be better utilized by auto dealers to concentrate on other areas of their operation such as service, parts, & financing?

It may be too soon to say what the best practices are for auto dealers when it comes to Social Media. And I am not suggesting that the display of inventory there is a bad or good practice. Dealers respond to this type of marketing because they are accustomed to it. Dealers always want to sell more cars…TODAY.

In today’s economy, new possibilities are opening up. One of those possibilities is for this new marketing medium to offer dealers not just another place to sell autos, but also a place to expand all aspects of their operations.

Click here to view the embedded video.

First you log in to your WordPress site. BlogPro Automotive runs on WordPress so if you are in the auto industry and would like a free account on our system please sign up to receive your free account. If you are not in the auto industry you can visit our other WordPress system at www.autoburstwebs.com to to do the same.

Once you are logged in you will be at what is called the Dashboard. From there, select the blog you wish to work in by choosing the “My Blogs” link in the Dashboard menu section at the top left of your screen. Now you should see a list of all blogs to which you have access. On BlogPro, you can run as many blogs or sites that you wish with your same user account.

Now that you have select the blog on which you wish to work, look for the Pages menu section on the left side of your screen. Here you have two options – Edit or Add New.

To create a new page simply click Add New and to modify an existing one click Edit.

By clicking Edit you will see a list of all your pages on that blog. From here choose the page on which you wish to work and it will open up permitting you to make modifications.

If you want to create a new page then click the Add New link and you will load a blank page where you can insert a title and the contents of the page along with other parameters and settings related to pages. For an explanation of these things please reference the video.

Once you have completed your changes then click on the Publish or Update button to the right of your screen. You will see Publish if the page is new or saved as a draft. You will see Update if it is already published.

This pretty much covers it. Creating and modifying pages is literally that simple. For assistance with this please contact us on AC Assist. We are happy to help.