TWEET THIS!!

TWEET THIS!!

Those words, delivered “Goodfellas – Joe Pesci-like” as the body shop owner grasped himself below the belt, had everybody chuckling … pretty funny initially … this guy also does a pretty good Di Nero, but in retrospect, it was quite sad … let me explain.

Now I’m not going to reveal who said it, or even what State the body shop owner is from (It was on the East coast … ). I wouldn’t want to besmirch an entire State by contributing to an old stereotypical stigma that we in collision repair would like to overcome. But the fact is, as funny as the guy was trying to be … he really does think that tweeting, FaceBook, digg and any other social media applications are (in his words …) “a fad”.

It’s a fad alright … like television, cell phones and Al Gore’s invention … the Internet, were fads. Come on people (you know who you are … ) I can’t believe I still have to say this … but those of you out there that either want to wait and see, or don’t trust the technology, or thinks it just something kids do … Guess Again! E-Marketer.com just released a new digital intelligence study showing that more than half of social network users consider shared info when making a purchase decision. More than half! That would be over 150 million people on FaceBook alone! You can see the whole study, if you like looking at that stuff, at http://bit.ly/asI69 but trust me, I just gave you the most important factoid … 50% of social network users consider what others on their networks say before deciding to use … YOU.

And don’t just take my word for it. If like me you are a visual person … go to YouTube and watch this amazing video on where we are today with social media http://bit.ly/24qNSS.

I’ve said it before … we have almost 2,800 twitter followers at Evans Media Group and if I have a great experience at a restaurant (like yesterday at Pei Wei Asian restaurant) we can, and do tell 2,800 people instantly … by the same token when we are poorly serviced or feel taken advantage of, those same 2,800 people will know. Our followers have networks too of course, and word (good or bad), re-tweets (that’s RT’s for those in the know) and FaceBook wall posts spread at the speed of light today. And by the way, the thinking that social media is just for kids is so far off base it’s laughable. The fastest growing segment on FaceBook today is the 55-65 year old female!

My advice to body shops is simple. Get out in front of this thing … to some of you it may seem like herding cats or managing chaos … it’s not. It is the future of advertising, and it should be part of your marketing initiative now. Don’t just trust your social media effort to that guy in your shop who’s always texting his girlfriend either, there is plenty of qualified help out there and it is important enough to do it right!

To my friend on the East Coast who would rather make fun and be dismissive … Martin Scorsese called … he said “TWEET THAT!”

Of course, that’s just my opinion … I could be wrong!

Comments welcome, call if you like 203-512-0250

http://www.evansmediagroup.com

Paul Evans is the President and CMO of Evans Media Group, a boutique agency located in Overland Park, KS that specializes in traditional marketing, social media marketing, online marketing, and public relations.