Giving dealers the right tools — 'social media toolkits'

"Our dealers are owner-operators, and they don't have the time to stop and look at the bigger picture," Mr. Brown told Tire Business. "That's where we can play an important role."

Similarly, Edmonton, Alberta-based Integra Tire has broadened the group's general online presence with a localized Web and social media strategy for its dealer members.

"Integra Tire has used social media to promote our brand nationally since day one," said Trey Tyler, marketing coordinator. "However, this is the first year we've rolled out a social media plan that supports our dealers on a local level,"

Looking to ensure that its dealers take advantage of Facebook, Twitter and other social and digital media as much as possible, Tire Pros is helping them develop an annual marketing strategy and advertising plan that recognizes the realities of the digital age, according to Quick Chadwick, Tire Pros director of marketing.

"We don't engage in a national media campaign," Mr. Chadwick said. "We believe that social media are a very localized strategy that must be executed by individual dealers. They know their markets way better than we do."

According to Messrs. Brown and Chadwick, Tire Pros offers a comprehensive program that allows franchisees to link together under a common retail brand while maintaining their independence and local brand identity.

To help Tire Pros dealers improve sales and profitability, the organization offers not only buying advantages, but also access to retail, operations and marketing expertise, they said.

Tire Pros has 26 marketing professionals on staff, supporting dealers with the development of marketing and advertising strategies, media selection, media buying, co-op management and consultative support.

In 2012, Tire Pros managed more than $8 million in advertising on behalf of its franchisees, they said. Earlier this year ATD/Tire Pros engaged Make Me Social, a St. Petersburg, Fla.-based social media agency, to advise it on social media strategies.

Tire Pros consults with franchisees about marketing and creative content to enable them to do their own social marketing on Facebook, Twitter and other venues, according to Messrs. Brown and Chadwick.

"While some dealers are tremendous at marketing, most are not," Mr. Chadwick said. "Our team of professionals basically takes all things marketing off their plates so they can focus on what they do best—serving their customers.

"This has proved to be an incredible value to Tire Pros dealers and one of the top reasons for our growth, if not the top reason," he said.

Recently, Tire Pros distributed to its franchisees the Tire Pros Social Media Toolkit. The Toolkit gives Tire Pros dealers all the resources they need to succeed in social media, according to Messrs. Brown and Chadwick. These include a detailed month-by-month content calendar giving recommendations and creative ideas, as well as examples of what to post on their Facebook pages.

Franchisees always have a great deal of leeway on the content of their ads and Facebook posts, they said. Sometimes, however, franchisees don't see the advantage of using social media at all.

"It is challenging, and there are some dealers who do not do it," Mr. Chadwick said. "We certainly don't make them do it, but it's something we encourage them to do and try to make them see the advantage of."

Of Tire Pros' 523 stores, about half use social media and utilize the Toolkit, Mr. Chadwick said.

Because independent dealers are so often outgunned by major chains in advertising, Tire Pros has undertaken group advertising initiatives in media markets where the organization has particularly heavy concentrations of stores, Messrs. Brown and Chadwick said. There have been more than 20 such initiatives so far, and the organization plans more.

A recent Tire Pros ad — featuring affiliated dealers in North Carolina's "Triad" area — demonstrates the marketing power Tire Pros can give independent shops, they said.

Another recently announced initiative is Tire Pros' affiliation with the LA Galaxy, the Los Angeles-based professional soccer team and 2012 Major League Soccer champion.

As the official tire retailer for the LA Galaxy, Tire Pros promotes the affiliation through a multi-channel, integrated marketing mix, according to Messrs. Brown and Chadwick.

This mix includes radio broadcasts, in-stadium signage and game promotions, grassroots community events such as soccer clinics for underprivileged youth, digital ads and other promotions, they said. Also, Tire Pros customers will have the opportunity to meet LA Galaxy players during the season at five different Los Angeles-area Tire Pros stores.

The LA Galaxy initiative could potentially lead to promotions with other major-league sports teams, Mr. Chadwick said, though none is planned as yet.

Tire Pros adds about 100 dealers annually to its organization, according to Messrs. Brown and Chadwick. The brand is in 40 states, and they said they hope to have it soon in all continental U.S. states.

There are no plans to take Tire Pros beyond the Lower 48 — "though I wouldn't mind moving to Hawaii," Mr. Chadwick said.

IN CANADA, Integra Tire is working to expand its brand beyond western Canada into Ontario and the Atlantic Provinces.

Mr. Tyler told Tire Business the company no longer is just focusing on Integra Tire & Auto Centre Canada, but individual stores, such as Integra Tire Mississauga.

"Social media is obviously an important part of any business' marketing strategy," Mr. Tyler said, but it is even more important to the automotive service industry because "it's all about relationships and trust with your customers."

He said the further into the Web program the company gets, the better it becomes at determining which sites get the most interaction for each individual location.

"This allows us to fine tune our social media program for locations and give dealers a better idea of what activities may help their business or online presence," Mr. Tyler said.

"For example, based on our progress we have noted that Twitter engagement is lower in our more rural communities — as one may assume — but Facebook may still get pretty good engagement.

"In cities, we've noted that customers have engaged us on Google+ and Twitter much faster. Urban customers also view our Google+ local listings and reviews more than rural locations, so we ask dealers to encourage customer reviews."

The company plans to expand its program into more platforms — such as Pinterest, Foursquare and Instagram — once research is done to see how different sites can fit into its strategy.

"Pinterest is huge with urban women, who largely make purchasing decisions in families," he added. "This makes up a large part of our passenger (tire) market."

Social media can bridge the gap between a store and its customers by speaking to them everyday instead of just when consumers need a service.

"It's those little interactions that build life-long relationships," Mr. Tyler said. "If you don't see the value in it, your competitors definitely will!"

Integra Tire's main focus for social media is to hone its relationships and educate customers. It also uses it for sales and online coupons.

"We do things like post content, manage cover photos and profile picture, keep an eye on things," Mr. Tyler said. "The dealers are a key component because they post the local content and do the actual interacting."

Previously, Integra Tire had corporate social media pages and then any dealers interested could start their own pages. Inactivity on that front led the company to take action, however.

Integra found that as dealers became busy, they became inactive on the social media front — posting once every six months, "which can sometimes be worse than not being on social media at all," Mr. Tyler said.

With the new program the firm co-manages every dealer's social media accounts.

"This new system allows us to better manage our brand and our reputation on social media while still giving it the local feel," he said.

"We have to keep a balance and ensure our dealers are active as well, that they post and engage their audience on a local level, which is the most important aspect to building local relationships. All in all, social media can be a confusing new realm, especially to dealers who are busy running a shop but still want to build up their local presence."

Because the program is new, Mr. Tyler said the marketing group has not had a chance to do "an in-depth investigation into effectiveness," but he added Integra has seen "great results from some stores"—with some gaining almost 50 fans and followers in the program's first week.

"Our dealers who have utilized Google+ to increase their SEO (search engine optimization) ranking have all moved to first page for popular searches in their city," he said.

"We've seen an increase in views to our website and Google+ listings. We've had dealers mention that new customers come into their shop because of great reviews on Google+.

"My belief is that social media is all about building relationships, just like the automotive business. When people 'like' your page, they're doing much more than hitting a button, they're connecting with you."

The social media program is just one part of a larger Web/SEO program that Integra Tire is offering its dealers in an effort to ensure "dealers can be found online by somebody searching for their services online," Mr. Tyler said, adding: "Our plan also lays out which directories and review websites our dealers are on and how to manage all reviews and ensure information is up to date.

"Also, we have recently made available an online-coupon initiative for dealers. We are also working on plans for a possible e-newsletter initiative."

Integra Tire launched a company intranet for its dealers in late 2012 where they can order promotional items, read updates from suppliers, download important documents and info and more.

"We also have a blog-style company newsletter. In the future we are going to expand the intranet so dealers can interact with each other," Mr. Tyler said.

One aim is for dealers to possibly buy, sell or trade parts from each other and exchange advice.

"Integra Tire & Auto Centre is a young company, and we don't have the brand awareness yet to just throw our name around nationally and hope our message sticks," Mr. Tyler said.

"What counts to us right now is our customers, being in the community and building lifelong relationships locally through great service and integrity.

"For us social media is a great tie-in because it allows us to do just that — build relationships locally and interact with people."

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To reach these reporters: [email protected]; 330-865-6143; and [email protected]; 202-662-7211.