Social Media: Detroit Gets On Board To Drive Success of New Cars

screenshot from FiestaMovement.com website

Social media is a term that has spread like a California wildfire, especially over the last 6 months or so. Social media websites or applications such as Facebook, Twitter, Digg and the waning MySpace have now become the “it” place to be for promoting people, places and things. However, for the auto industry I would argue that Twitter has been one of the steadiest influencers lately. Given that observation and opinion, who is really utilizing it?

Ford, Chrysler and GM all have a pretty vocal presence on Twitter and their tweets can be followed by anyone. However there is one Detroit player that seems to be pushing slightly ahead of others in the social media realm—Ford. Ford has recognized the importance of getting the word out about their products and has launched some very strong social media campaigns that include blogs, Twitter updates and Facebook groups. One of the most notable is the activity around the new 2011 Ford Fiesta.

Camaros Staged for Caravan to Houston (Photo: @GMTexas via Twitter)

There are a number of people who were chosen by Ford to blog and tweet about the new 2011 Ford Fiesta and as part of the gig they were given Fiestas to drive. You can check out some of the more interesting audition videos via the Fiesta Movement post on TheCarConnection.com. You can also see all of the social media personalities via the Fiesta Movement website. In addition to this the 2011 Ford Fiesta also has its own Twitter handle @FordFiesta on Twitter. This new interactive method of engaging potential customers is the way of the future for advertising and marketing. It is quick and if done right impactful (has to be with 140 character max on Twitter).

Ford isn’t the only one however; GM is hot on their heels especially around the new 2011 Chevrolet Volt and the 2010 Chevrolet Camaro. In fact, a group of Texas dealers got together and had a caravan of new 2010 Camaros from Dallas to Houston—yep you guessed it, they Twittered about it the whole way with pictures included (@GMTexas). What better way to reach the consumer public than to get them into a conversation with something like 50 Camaros invading the Houston city limits. Besides the product specific applications, GM has also had the CEO on The GM FastLane Blog to answer questions about the state of the company live with the answers pushed out to Twitter.

Bottom line—As the need for efficient and environmentally friendly cars grows, reaching the consumer and engaging them is going to become more and more important. Whether Twitter is a fad or a long-term media solution, the results for the moment is a wealth of first hand information from people you would have probably never heard from before.

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