Automotive Marketers looking to push out the most effective messages to social media using opt-in recipients must understand how automotive consumers differ across social media channels and what causes them to connect with dealers and their employees. As it turns out, not all social media sites are the same! Each Social Media Marketing venue that seems similar to another, may actually differ strongly if their automotive internet users (AIU) have different needs and motivations.
Emarketer recently published their summary and analysis of the final edition of ExactTarget's "Subscribers, Fans and Followers" report, which explores the differences between Email, Facebook and Twitter, including each media channel's suitability for influencing automotive consumer loyalty.
The eMarketer analysis of ExactTarget's research shows that Twitter users who followed a dealership's Twitter profiles were more than twice as likely as Facebook users who "liked" a dealer's Facebook page to respond that they were more likely to purchase from the dealership after becoming a social media follower.
In an even more telling sign, a dealership's Facebook fans were the most likely group to actively disagree with the question's assumption that a "Fan" was someone more likely than a non- fan to do business with the dealership.
The third group, Email Subscribers to opt-in dealership marketing emails fell in between the study's Facebook Fans and Twitter Followers...
The pattern among dealership Twitter Followers, Email Subscribers and Facebook Fans was similar when asked about whether they would recommend a dealership to friends, family and coworkers. A third of dealership Twitter Followers said they were more apt to make a recommendation now that they followed a dealership, compared with 24% of Email Subscribers and 21% of Facebook Fans. Again, those who "liked" a dealership on Facebook were most likely to actively disagree with the statement that they would recommend the dealership they "Liked" on Facebook in any way! When looking at the high number of so-called Facebook Fans who obviously don't like the dealership they "Liked", it is fair to ask if the ease of which a Facebook user can click the "Like" button in a Facebook Widget installed on any third party website, or in a Facebook ad may actually be diluting the original "Fan Page" concept...
In the same eMarketer report, mention is made of the February 2010 survey by Chadwick Martin Bailey which also found that Twitter followers were more likely than Facebook fans to say they had an increased chance of buying or recommending the brands they connected with in social media. When we look at the different social media mechanisms for "Liking" a dealer's Facebook Fan Page compared to "Following" a dealer's Twitter profile, and factor in the much higher income demographics of the average Twitter user, the increased value of Twitter Followers over Facebook Fans becomes more apparent.
These factors make Twitter followers attractive to automotive marketers, but as the ExactTarget report notes, because of Twitter's much smaller user base just 3% of US internet users follow a brand through the Twitter microblogging service. Those who do follow brands on Twitter are more likely to be high income automotive consumers and purchase influencers in general, while Facebook users are more like the average consumer. eMarketer concludes that since Facebook users often become automotive brand fans on the site because they are already fans in real life and want to use the make or model's brand as part of their Facebook "personae", it may be more difficult for them to report any increase in their spending at the dealership or advocate for the dealership any more than they already were doing before hitting the "like" button.
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