Auto Dealer Monthly Magazine is the daily operations publication serving the retail automotive industry. This automotive publication serves dealer principals, officers and general managers with the latest best practices.
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OPE NING OB SE RVATIONS Facebook Ups the Ante The editor says he���d push the ���Like��� button on a new feature Facebook is testing. In fact, he believes it could change the face of social media marketing. By Gregory Arroyo As mem of As a member o the forgotten generation, otherwise known as Gen X, I can���t help but rub it in the face m of my Gen colleagues when my Gen Y knowledge trumps theirs. Truth is, I just want to know what of my Gen Y co it���s like to be pa of a generation that just about every marketer is clamoring for. ke to be part e Well, my Se l Well, my Senior Editor Stephanie Forshee was kind enough to overlook my ribbing and let me into her Gen wor r her Gen Y worl Apparently, one of her Facebook insiders signed her up to test a new feature I think will world. r tionize how o i revolutionize h we view the social media site. I know because she invited me to try it as well. Te f feature is called Graph Search. A Facebook page dedicated to the feature (which you can fnd through a quick Google search) includes a video of Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg describing it as one of the new pillars of the social media site ��� Timeline and News Feed being the others. Te video also includes interviews with the site���s product and engineering team. Most of them talk about how Graph Search will help site users fnd photos they liked, as well as friends in a particular city. Ten there���s Lars Rasmussen, an engineering director for Facebook. In the video he describes his search for a dentist. He had a toothache and was new to the area. So he gave Graph Search a try. ���Looking up dentists that my friends liked was really awesome,��� he says into the camera. ���In the past, Facebook has really been primarily about mapping and staying in touch with people you already know,��� he continues. ���Now we���re building a product that can also be used to fnd people you know, people with common interests or who you want to work with.��� Tat last part of the quote is what I wanted to talk about. See, what Facebook has essentially created is a search engine that takes you outside of your social ecosystem to fnd things, people, places or whatever you���re looking for. It���s a journalist���s dream. I can throw ���car dealerships in New York��� in Graph Search and Facebook will provide me with a list of dealerships located there. Even more exciting, I can also see if any of my industry friends are fans of those dealership pages, which allows me to get a second opinion on a dealership before I profle it. For instance, I can see that sales trainer Jim Ziegler ���Likes��� Westbury (New York) Toyota���s page, which means I can pop of a private message to ask ���Da Man��� if he can tell me anything about the dealership. Ten there���s Acura of Westchester, which shows me that compliance contributor Jim Radogna and sales consultant Bobby Compton are fans of that store���s page. Now imagine this feature in the hands of car buyers. Zuckerberg says in the video that Facebook will continue to perfect Graph Search. For instance, there are no star ratings for car dealerships right now, but one of my colleague���s other social media sources said Facebook has been quietly collecting them. As of press time, only restaurants, games and some other business categories had star ratings. Tat���s kind of cool and scary at the same time, right? And isn���t it interesting how Facebook is launching a search engine while Google is trying to become more social. Hmm, ponder that for a second. So, what���s the bad news? Well, it looks like Facebook has fnally fgured out that there���s no such thing as a free lunch. According to our insiders, if you want to be seen on Facebook going forward, you���re going to have to pay to play. Maybe that���s why only 16 percent of your followers are seeing the things you post on your dealership���s Facebook page. We got that stat from Digital Air Strike, by the way. Te culprit is Facebook���s setting for its News Feed, which defaults to ���Top Stories��� rather than ���Recent News.��� So, your fans aren���t seeing your posts unless they engage your page on a regular basis. One other thing, you know those contests you like running on Facebook? Well, the site isn���t going to allow those anymore unless you get its approval. At least that���s what we���re hearing. I guess the assumption that Gen Y���ers just don���t get it is wrong. Tey do get it, and they���re going to make us pay to get it as well. It���s an exciting time, folks, but you better get your stores geared up and your checkbooks handy, because the digital world is about to change yet again. 4 AUTO DE ALE R MONTHLY ��� APRIL 2013 Vice President Group Publisher, AutoGroup Sherb Brown 310-533-2451 sherb.brown@bobit.com Publisher, Dealer Group National Sales Manager David Gesualdo 727-947-4027 david.gesualdo@bobit.com Executive Editor Gregory Arroyo 310-533-2592 gregory.arroyo@bobit.com Senior Editor Stephanie Forshee 310-533-2496 stephanie.forshee@bobit.com Associate Editor Brittany-Marie Swanson 310-533-2588 brittany.swanson@bobit.com Art Director Vince Taroc National Sales Manager Anna Hildebrandt 888-300-8844 anna@autodealermonthly.com Sales & Marketing Coordinator Tracey Tremblay 310-533-2518 tracey.tremblay@bobit.com E-Media and Print Production Manager Brian Peach 310-533-2548 brian.peach@bobit.com Web Producer Greg Moon 310-533-2543 greg.moon@bobit.com Audience Marketing Manager Tony Napoleone Chairman Edward J. Bobit President & CEO Ty F. Bobit Chief Operating Offcer Cyndy Drummey Chief Financial Offcer Richard E. Johnson Business and Editorial Offce Bobit Business Media 3520 Challenger St. Torrance, CA 90503 Fax: 310-533-2503 Change Service Requested Return Address: Bobit Business Media PO Box 2703 Torrance, CA 90509 Subscription Inquiries 888-239-2455 BobitPubs@Halldata.com Printed in U.S.A.