Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/458425
SOLUTIONS 26 • January 26, 2015 • Powersports Business www.PowersportsBusiness.com Welcome to 2015, the year that one of the most influential companies in our nation has essentially designated as deci- sion time for you. In case you missed it, that com- pany, Facebook, has made a change that will significantly impact you and every small business out there. Facebook has effectively killed the sales post, at least in a format that many of us use. Remember the last sale you had? Remem- ber how you showed up for work that day and asked, "Did we let our Facebook followers know we're having a 25 percent off PG&A sale today?" Then somebody rushed online, used a photo of one of the products that was on sale and wrote, "Today only! 25 percent off all apparel! Just in time for your holiday shopping!" You posted that and hoped a fair percentage of your hundreds or thousands of Facebook fol- lowers would see it, come in and take advantage of the sale. Now that post won't be read because Facebook is essentially blocking it from the majority of your followers' News Feeds. The "why" of this change — Facebook says it will make News Feed content more relevant — isn't as important as the "what now?" It means you now have a decision to make: Do you start advertising on Facebook or increase your current advertising there to allow your sales posts to be read? Or do you designate Face- book as a communication channel and rely on other marketing forms (email and your website to name two) to spread your sales messages? Before you make that decision, let me explain something about which many of us simply haven't given a lot of thought. Effective marketing is pretty much the same as effective sales. The latter is comprised of a process, right? When a consumer walks into our show- room, we don't shake their hand and say, "$200 off this unit. Are you paying cash or credit?" Instead, the sales process is a conversation. There are varying thoughts on how long that conversation should be, but it's definitely a dialogue. Often, it becomes a dialogue that stretches over several weeks. Marketing is exactly the same. That's a foreign concept to many of us who started in retail when marketing was a message vs. a conversation. A message is an announcement of a sale on apparel. A conversation builds value and interest in that apparel over a period of time. The latter is much more difficult to do because it requires time and thought — something our industry struggles with regarding marketing. Why has this dynamic of message vs. con- versation changed? Because your consumer has changed. Because how we interact as retailers and consumers has changed. Simply put, we have more access to our consumer than ever before, thanks to advancements in technology. But with that increased access comes a chal- lenging reality: We as consumers aren't thrilled with marketing messages. In fact, we rarely read them in our email or click on them online. What we want is conversation. What we want is dialogue. Capture my attention, then ask me for the sale. Facebook, even with all of its changes, can provide the vehicle to do all that. You simply have to commit to starting a dialogue and add- ing to it as the conversation evolves. The nice thing is the latter is more easily accomplished with social media management tools or a tech- nology-based dealership management platform that lets us watch our social networking activity as easily as our website clicks. The question for you to ponder in 2015 is what you want from Facebook: Is it your deal- ership's communication channel, sales chan- nel or both? Neil Pascale is the industry communications manager for Dominion Powersports Solutions, the provider of the DX1 Powersports dealer management platform. He can be reached at neil.pascale@dominionpowersports.com. It's decision time for you with Facebook THE DEALERSHIP OF TOMORROW Welcome to 2015, the nation has essentially NEIL PASCALE You posted that and hoped a fair percentage of your hundreds or thousands of Facebook followers would see it, come in and take advantage of the sale. Now that post won't be read because Facebook is essentially blocking it from the majority of your followers' News Feeds.