AKRON (July 21, 2014) — The World Cup. The Super Bowl. The Walking Dead. 24. Insert any largely talked about topic. What do they have in common? They trend on Twitter and other social media sites. Why is this important to you as an independent tire dealer? Because you can be utilizing these topics to discuss with your customers.
The World Cup set all kinds of records on social media, with the Germany vs. Argentina match being the biggest sporting event in Facebook's history, according to a CNET article, along with the Brazil vs. Germany match being the most popular sporting event ever on Twitter, generating 35.6 million tweets during the match. I think it's safe to say that at least one of your customers would have something to say about the World Cup. Did your business participate in the conversation?
Maybe you were weary of doing this because you were not sure what to say or did not have an opinion either way. However, getting in the conversation does not necessarily mean you have to say a lot,
It congratulated Germany and used three different hashtags to get the most use out of its tweet. This was retweeted nine times and favorited five times. It was just a simple shout out. However, " target="_blank">Continental Tire
consistently tweeted about the World Cup, asking its audience what they thought of certain games, etc. We talk about being on social media because your audience is there and you are trying to engage them. What better way to do that than to have conversations about things they care about? Being on social media lets you connect with your audience, and this is taking that one step farther. If people are talking about it, you can easily join in on the conversation.
Localize it
Maybe you considered tweeting about The World Cup but thought it wasn't geographically specific enough for your business. Though there are benefits, such as drawing the attention of a large number of people, creating a more localized approach can be beneficial for your business as well. I do see a lot of tire dealers participating in more localized sports talk.
Supporting your local teams is a great way to stand out on social media as a member of your community. I have seen posts ranging from little league to major league teams and I get excited every time. We are all members of the tire industry, but we are all also part of our geographic communities — and you do not want to forget that.
Our customers are part of that same community. While they may want to speak to you about big sporting events, they may physically run into you at the local ones. Their child — the one you said “Good luck” to — may be the one who hit the home run at the game. It may mean more to them for a local game. I would recommend doing a little of both and seeing the feedback you get. Just like with all social media campaigns, it's about figuring out what works best for your business.
Television
What I find really interesting about Twitter is that it is giving people a reason to watch television shows live, instead of catching it on their DVR later. People want to engage with the live chat, with other people that are watching it. With some television shows, their stars will sign on and tweet directly with the audience.
With today's technology, people are more in the “do it when they want to” mode, so having something that entices the audience to sit through commercials really sparks interest in me.
I know many people who live-tweet during television shows. I do not remember the last time I watched a TV show and it did not have hashtags in the corner, telling me what to follow. I admit it, I check those hashtags. I watch a lot of television and there are shows that I watch that none of my friends do. Or even if they do, if we disagree on what the fate of our favorite characters should be, I hit the hashtag to see how many people are on my side —they almost always are on my side.
My best tip would be to tweet about widely popular shows. Check out this tweet from Chrysler Autos
asking if Jack Bauer is the greatest hero in the history of television. The show 24 was popular and after being off the air for four years, came back to television with 24: Live Another Day this year. This was a great way to get in the conversation because people were buzzing about it all over the place.
Other real-time marketing
One other aspect I wanted to point out with real-time marketing, is that you can use social media truly as a real-time marketing tool and not just to help engage your audience and as a branding tool.
For instance, think about the time of year. What's coming up? I have already started seeing “Back to School” commercials on television. Why can't your tire shop do the same? Moms want to make sure their vehicles are in top shape for carpools; getting the kids back and forth safely. This can go the same in the rainy season. You can post to social media for windshield wipers sales, etc. You can create campaigns for the seasons very quickly and efficiently on social media.
There are always new ways to reach out to your audience and to speak to them about topics they care about, these are just some ways to start trying.