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.

But there are numerous applications of automotive blogging which pose a choice for car dealers today. You have guys like Alex Snyder effectively blogging for dealership awareness with his Checkered Flag blog. You also have guys like Paul Rushing of ISM in Training who blog for what I would call personal branding, which is the idea of branding yourself in alliance with a dealership, but ultimately building brand equity in yourself more so than for the dealership.

I see this as the future of a dealership sales professional, much like is done in the real estate industry where the Realtor builds a clientele that can be carried along from agency to agency. The Internet gives automotive sales professionals the possibility to do this. I don’t see the purpose of blogs to sell cars. That’s what your website is for.

I think it’s important to know and respect the basics of blogging. For one, blogging is about conversation. It’s not about shouting and yelling, or selling and soliciting. It’s an easy pit to fall into because it’s so effortless and enticing to do so.

But this doesn’t mean you can’t promote yourself with a blog. Quite the contrary because that’s really the purpose of a blog – to promote yourself. The key is you have to go about it differently from what you might be accustomed to.

Blogging requires a balanced blend of research, listening, testing or experimenting, and then in the end some execution. The nature of blogging does not stipulate the need for a business model, but if you set out to blog for your business then you need to identify the role your blog, or blogs, will play in enhancing your product.

How often have we all heard that question come out of someone’s mouth? Usually uttered at cocktail parties where few people know each other, this question establishes a framework for the relationships we have with everyone around us.

When we find out what people do for a living, we can determine what they can do for us and what we can do for them, creating networks that can last a lifetime. And who doesn’t want a friend who sells cars?

Except there are only so many people you can invite to a cocktail party, and only so many cocktail parties you can attend. So how do you turn this handy piece of information into more car sales without spending the next 30 Saturdays at cocktail parties?

- Utilize social media to make local contacts -

Social media has changed the way the internet — and the world — works. People are connecting with other people in ways they never could before. They would never have the time or ability to meet before this new technology became available. Now they’re not only meeting, but becoming friends.

To use social media to forward your business goals, the first thing you have to understand is who it is that buys your product. In the auto salesperson’s case, those people are local. Focus your energies on meeting new online contacts that you know are within driving range of where you are. There are local communities on all of the major social networks, most prominently Facebook. These are where you’ll meet the people who can come out and buy your cars.

- Make them aware of what you do -

Don’t hide your occupation. Make it easy for them to find out that you sell vehicles, either by putting something simple in your forum signature line or making sure to fill in the occupation and employer categories on Facebook and LinkedIn.

- Don’t sell anything -

Social media is just what it sounds like — social. This is not a way for you to sell cars. It’s a way for you to meet people to whom you may eventually sell cars. Do not try to sell through your social media profile, ever. Just be social.

- Go about your business -

Probably the most important thing to remember about building a personal social networking profile is that you have to be yourself. You can be yourself on your best behaviour, but you have to be honest about who you are and what you’re doing. Don’t pretend to be a churchgoer or a Democrat or a kite-lover, just to sell cars. Do what you would do anyway and meet like-minded people. That will be the secret to your success.