Nicole Nicolay and I discussing how businesses like Ford and JetBlue are using social media to effectively imprve their bottom line.
Ford Motors, probably the most recognizable of the US car
manufacturers, "gets" social media. And why wouldn't it? Ford "gets" a lot of
things. Let's start with this. Consider that Ford is the ONLY US automobile manufacturer to refuse government funds in the automotive bailout (impressive, right?). What does that show? It shows a responsible approach to business. Ford understands it's
business, brand, products and customers.So, it makes sense that it also understands how to market it's products to it's customers. And with a long successful history of marketing to those customers, Ford approached social media in the same way it approached offline marketing, strategically! The result is that Ford has been able to successfully
leverage social media in a way that fits its business and marketing models.
The 3 Keys to Fords Successful Strategy
1. Ford used a
marketer not a geek to craft a social media strategy that compliments the
overall corporate marketing plan
The integrated, multi-pronged approach Ford takes is not
only one of the best strategically crafted social media plans I have seen yet
but also the best implemented. Its clear to me that Scott Monty, Fords Global Digital &
Multimedia Communications Manager, is a marketer with a proven track record of
success with Fortune 500 brands. Mr. Monty's approach is multi-pronged,
segmented and targeted for the various markets and demographics Ford sells its
products to.He structured the
social media strategy in a way that compliments Fords overall marketing plans
so there is real synergy between the online and offline efforts.
2. Ford knows social
media is about people interacting with people first, and interacting with brands
and products second
People want to interact with people that is simple
sociology speaking. We seek connections with other human beings. The primary purpose
of all social networks is to connect people with people. So, when a company like
Ford jumps into social media, it needs to make their company more social by
putting people first and brand second. By creating profiles for
strategic executives on social networks like Twitter and Facebook, not only
does Ford put the "the man in front of the brand" but it gives people other humans
to connect with. The upside for executives is not only can they directly
interface with their consumer but they can create
their own personal brands and become recognized as leaders and authority
figures, AKA rock stars.Take
Robert Scoble and Matt Cutts, each were able to carve out their own fame apart
form Microsoft and Google. Or more applicably, take Lee Iacocca of Chrysler,
Donald Trump of Trump International and Richard Branson of Virgin each
built a personal brand apart from their corporate brand which
raised their overall consumer trust value, recognition and personal
equity.
3. Ford chooses a
targeted, diversified and multiple touch point approach to social media.
Consider that Ford is not just a brand, it is company that
sells many different products, each with its own individual brand, to many different types of people with varying demographic profiles. Therefore, Ford could never create a single account on
each network and expect that all their customers and potential customers would
connect with the company and products.So, Ford
wisely leveraged multiple presences targeted at specific demographics, products
and brands to really connect with people.
The cornerstone of the social media plan is Fords Digital
Snippits site. A site that
aggregates the branded blogs for each of their products, corporate press releases and other
important company and brand content.The site also allows customers interact more fully with the brand by
sharing content on social networks, joining a conversation on a special
interest blog and providing additional product and corporate information resources. This site is where the corporate brands engage with the consumer.
Ford's Twitter presence is really where you most clearly see
they just "get it." They let the executives interact as people with other
people while they give their corporate brands a more general
presence. The real beauty of this is that Ford recognizes that people want to
interact with people not with brands and social media is about people
connecting with each other and with a sales pitch. The execution is spot on and EFFECTIVE. With
accounts for each of their brands, the corporation, customer service and
strategic executives, their Twitter presence reaches a broad audience and
connects and engages on a personal level.
Ford breaks out their Twitter presence into 5 segments:
The corporate presence is pretty
generic and seems more geared towards the press and investors.It is where the press releases and the
investor information are published. There is some engagement with people, but for the most part this is a corporate account it feels that way.
Customer service is there for customers and potential
customers to ask questions and I imagine to a lesser degree reputation
management and resolution dispute. Being how together they seem, I highly
suspect, Ford's customer service is monitoring any mentions of the Ford brands
and responding through the Customer service account. This is brilliant, it
helps not just with customer retention but also with an overall brand "care"
plan that helps the disgruntled feel the "love" and attain understanding and
resolution for their problem(s). There is a lot of engagement on this account and from the looks of it - positive engagement. Now juxtapose that with other corporate brands with Customer service accounts like Comcast and AT&T and you see a marked difference in the positivity of the interactions.
Very broad accounts for the most popular
product segments and popular brands. General information and news on the brands
is disseminated through these accounts. A great touch point to place specific
content on brand but not really an interaction point. And again, they made sure there is engagement with consumers by effectively replying and jumping into conversations.
Now, heres where it gets interesting.
The special interest and racing side really begins to pick up on the
conversation and interaction with the fans. Ford knows its fans LOVE the racing side of their brand and really want to engage and connect with it. So, they created a way for fans to directly interact with something that they have an emotional bond to, racing. This is a brilliant and really useful way for the brand to stay in touch with fans and engage. These accounts have tons of engagement and lively discussion. The effective
use of the reply feature and hash tags keeps fans updated on events and the
conversations surrounding them.
Now, this is where is gets off
the HOOK. Scott Monty is da MAN. On Twitter, he IS Ford.
He puts out info on what he likes about Ford, whats happening with the brands,
shares articles he is reading on social media like this gem (Should
you update your Facebook status from Twitter?), shares personal information
about his life and what he is doing and most importantly he interacts with
people that follow him and reply to him. He even does customer service! The real beauty of his account is it shows he cares passionately about the brand yet it also shows him as a normal everyday guy. He creates engagement because he is streaming on just his business but also his life. He is relatable and because of it, people engage with him.
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Facebook
Beyond many of the Ford employees having Facebook accounts,
you find brand fan pages, discussion boards and applications pages where people
can not just interact and connect with Ford and its employees but also with
each other and that is important. They build community among not just the Ford
staff but also among the customers. This collection of customers interacting
and talking about the brand positively is like an army of foot soldiers ready to
spread the word.
While Ford has had a YouTube presence for some time, the
thing I want to focus on is the Fiesta Movement campaign. With the incumbent
2010 launch of the Ford Fiesta, Ford put together one of the most brilliant
contests imaginable! They are selecting 100 video bloggers across the nation to
win a Fiesta for 6 months before they hit the US Market and chronicle their
adventures. What's so brilliant about this? Simple, Ford gets a ton of user generated
video content, viral videos and top bloggers with large social networks to
basically be their foot soldiers in promoting this new car. This is viral marketing at it's best. The buzz has been amazing and
Sacrilicious' own @KellyOlexa
even entered the contest.
Conclusion
Ford, simply knows what it's doing. It has crafted some effective social media strategies by using solid marketing methodology, not some geek's vision of what social networking might be. They "get" that social media is just a segment of an overall marketing plan and they carefully crafted a plan that was synergistic with their existing offline and online marketing strategies. The overall plan is consistent with the brands, broad reaching yet targeted and interactive. Their key is the call for engagement with the consumer and their willingness to engage back. They "get" that social media is about interaction, conversation and engagement!
Ford's social media program is built FORD TOUGH!
UPDATE: Sacrilicious Partner Makes Ford Fiesta Cut!
If you read/watch/listen to this blog, you know Kelly (yeah, the chic that refuses to take her cowboy hat off even in bed - watch out boys... that's not a good sign for you.) Well, she applied for the Ford Fiesta Movement contest where she entered some of her totally hot vids and earned herself a free Fiesta pre-release for the next 6 months. Of course both NikNik and I knew if a Sacrilicious chic entered the contest, she's win a spot on the Fiesta Force and since Kelly is Feisty and Fiesta is all about Fiesty Fierce, we have been supporting her since the day she applied. Today, we get to tell the world how wonderful it is to know and work with such a terrific woman. And to top that off, we get a little backup from Ford. @KellyOlexa is officially a member of the Ford Fiesta Movement and will be driving a silver Fiesta for the next 6 months while filming her adventures for us all to watch.
Stay tuned to see what Ford has up their sleeves for Kelly and the rest of the Fiesta Movement crew and watch here and on YouTube all the zany things Kelly will be doing in her Fiesta!
My Special Thanks to Ford
I want to especially thank Ford for 1. being a true American company that hold true to American values and 2. proving it's continued responsibility to its business and the American people by being the OLNY automotive company to not take government funds in the automotive industry bailout. I encourage anyone seeking to purchase a new car now and in the future to purchase a Ford. My family has been doing its part, my mother and her significant other just purchased 2 new Fords bringing their Ford grand total to 4!
Find out more of what Ford is doing for America with their Payment Protection Program
Through this program, in 2008, more than 18,000 Ford U.S. employees volunteered 100,000
hours to help people in their local communities thats the equivalent
of nearly $2 million dollars of in-kind corporate contributions. To
continue the momentum, in April, Ford will introduce a program in
partnership with its dealers throughout the country to assist local
charities impacted by the economic downturn. Ford will announce
complete details of this expansive community outreach effort in April.
All Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles are covered under the Ford Advantage Plan. The program runs from today through June 1.
In addition to providing 12 months of payment protection of up to
$700 per month, customers can take advantage of 0 percent financing on
select Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles through Fords financing
partner, Ford Motor Credit.
With the incumbent
2010 launch of the Ford Fiesta, Ford put together one of the most brilliant
contests imaginable! They are selecting 100 video bloggers across the nation to
win a Fiesta for 6 months before they hit the US Market and chronicle their
adventures. Whats so brilliant about this? Simple, Ford gets a ton of user generated
video content, viral videos and top bloggers with large social networks to
basically be their foot soldiers in promoting this new car. This is viral marketing at its best. The buzz has been amazing and
Sacrilicious own @KellyOlexa is now an official part of this movement.
Mary, thanks for the promo of how Ford is way out in front of many companies in using social media to get their word out on their product. Kelly is so funny and entertaining.
Being a Realtor in Metro Detroit, I am a big interest in what the automotive does - what a great article to show that Ford is doing it right - and particularly for being able to stay out of the whole stimulus help. I have been following Scott Monty on Twitter.
Wow, Mary this is great information on Ford. I live in Michigan and had no idea they were so engaged in Social Media. I will start to follow them on Twitter and hope to get to know them.
Yea I was definately proud when they didn't take bail out money.
Mary, interesting reading about how Ford is handling social marketing, I wish I had their budget. I'm a little disappointed about your blog, it's pretty sedate compared to your normal posts.
Thanks guys. I thought this might be a good example of how to implement a really great socail media strategy. I see so many real estate professionals doing it ALL wrong. And then they complain they waste their time with it and never see any ROI - so this is an example of how it's supposed to be done. you treat it exactly like any other marketing strategy - strategically and it works wonders. Most of my new business comes from Twitter and Facebook becuase my strategy attracts the right types of people and companies and I also specifically target them with posts like this.
Since I have a Super Duty... I HAD to follow Ford and see what is going on. I am also a former Mustang owner. Now I'm going to see if they notice me bitching about the cheesy door handles on my $50k truck. Love the truck, hate the handles.
Helping Realtors learn to successfully write and promote their real estate blog. Online success is not magic, it's knowledge and most of time, it’s free. My focus is to give Realtors the tools and knowledge to affordably succeed online through search engine optimization, search engine marketing, blogging and proper RSS implementation.
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
Conclusion
If you read/watch/listen to this blog, you know Kelly (yeah, the chic that refuses to take her cowboy hat off even in bed - watch out boys... that's not a good sign for you.) Well, she applied for the Ford Fiesta Movement contest where she entered some of her totally hot vids and earned herself a free Fiesta pre-release for the next 6 months. Of course both NikNik and I knew if a Sacrilicious chic entered the contest, she's win a spot on the Fiesta Force and since Kelly is Feisty and Fiesta is all about Fiesty Fierce, we have been supporting her since the day she applied. Today, we get to tell the world how wonderful it is to know and work with such a terrific woman. And to top that off, we get a little backup from Ford. 
;)
;)
