For GM the goal would be to identify those areas where either they can do damage control and spin bad publicity, or to find sites that can generate hype for new or upcoming products. By identifying those sites, maximum impact can be had by catering to those sites and giving them exclusive content.
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Measurement for Influencers & Thought Leadership
In trying to create a program that measures the amount of influence that identified sites would have key metrics need to be identified. For each site the number of Tweets, Facebook mentions, and comments on blog posts have to be included with the number of hits the site has. Using a grading tool for blogs, Twitter, and Facebook can show how much conversation the posts generate.
Finding Influencers
To identify those outlets that have a large influence on the auto industry I did several searches to get lists of top web sites. I also did a Google search of blogs and compiled a list of those sites as well. After getting a comprehensive list I evaluated the sites to identify the amount of traffic that they were receiving as well as the number of comments generated for each article.
The results of the search ended up with the following:
Some of these sites are more traditional news outlets while others are more grass roots built sites that have expanded to have a high influence in the industry.
The results of the search ended up with the following:
| Cnn.com |
| nytimes.com |
| autoblog.com |
| caranddriver.com |
| jalopnik.com |
| autoobserver.com |
| cartalk.com |
| businessweek.com |
| motortrend.com |
| edmunds.com |
Some of these sites are more traditional news outlets while others are more grass roots built sites that have expanded to have a high influence in the industry.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Competitive Intelligence
When reviewing GM on a regional basis versus its competitors both GM and Ford have a lot of traffic in Michigan. GM has a higher presence in the Midwest, while Ford has higher results in the south. Dodge on the other hand has a very high presence in the plains states and very little presence on the East coast. When including a GM sub brand, Chevrolet or Buick it shows that there is little traffic from New England or West coast.
When reviewing the related terms, bot top and rising, for the specific brands,all of the results seem to focus on whatever the brand is. There is very little cross brand related searches. Once I change the search terms to "Cars" the top hits are for used cars and related ideas such as craigslist. What did seem insightful and could use some work is when searching for "hybrid cars", those returned Honda, Toyota and Ford items and was missing any GM brands. "Electric car" returned similar results of Tesla and Nissan but missing any GM brands. The Volt however did make an appearance on the rising related list but was in the middle.
When reviewing the related terms, bot top and rising, for the specific brands,all of the results seem to focus on whatever the brand is. There is very little cross brand related searches. Once I change the search terms to "Cars" the top hits are for used cars and related ideas such as craigslist. What did seem insightful and could use some work is when searching for "hybrid cars", those returned Honda, Toyota and Ford items and was missing any GM brands. "Electric car" returned similar results of Tesla and Nissan but missing any GM brands. The Volt however did make an appearance on the rising related list but was in the middle.
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Key Competitors
In researching the key competitors for General Motors I did some searches of keywords in Google Trends. I used a variety of different key words to get a different listings. I started with "General Motors", "GM", "Cars", "Trucks", and then went through some of the individual brands that are under the GM umbrella.
The most common related term through all of the searches was Ford, or Ford related. When searching for just Cars the top competitors that showed up were Ford and Honda and GM and all of their brands were missing.
When I switched to Trucks, Ford was the highest rated brand being searched followed by Chevy and Dodge.
I didn't expect much to show up specifically for GM since they act as more of a holding company with direction than a face for the product.
One thing that GM may want to look into is how to get each of their brands to be more relevant in the generic searching.
When I switched to Trucks, Ford was the highest rated brand being searched followed by Chevy and Dodge.
I didn't expect much to show up specifically for GM since they act as more of a holding company with direction than a face for the product.
One thing that GM may want to look into is how to get each of their brands to be more relevant in the generic searching.
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Measuring Sponsorship
The event that I attended was a Lighted Pumpkin Trick or Treat Trail. For those that sponsored the event they should try to measure the impact of the sponsorship towards success.
The first thing that those involved would need to do is to create a goal of success. Since this is a community event and there were little opportunities to sell products or services they would have to rely on gaining better exposure and attitude.
To measure changes in attitude or recognition in this setting a sponsor could do simple before and after surveys. They could run a survey through parents of small children in the area to gauge interest and satisfaction in the company both before and after the event.
Another process that they could do is to pass out special coupons that are only used for this event. This would give them an idea of the number of people that they may be reaching and the interest in products they provide.
The first thing that those involved would need to do is to create a goal of success. Since this is a community event and there were little opportunities to sell products or services they would have to rely on gaining better exposure and attitude.
To measure changes in attitude or recognition in this setting a sponsor could do simple before and after surveys. They could run a survey through parents of small children in the area to gauge interest and satisfaction in the company both before and after the event.
Another process that they could do is to pass out special coupons that are only used for this event. This would give them an idea of the number of people that they may be reaching and the interest in products they provide.
Effects of Sponsorship
Effects of Sponsorship
In this assignment we are going over a recent event that we attended, discussing any changes in perception towards the company because of the sponsorship, and find other companies that would have been a good fit for sponsorship.
Recently I attended a Lighted Pumpkin Trick or Treat Trail even put on by the township parks. There were many sponsors and groups that participated. Some of the ones that caught my eye were the local credit unions. There were three different credit unions involved, one of which I currently use. The acknowledgement that they were participating made me feel better about the company knowing that they were being an active member of the community.
One company that was missing was any of the large grocery stores. Meijer, Walmart, and Kroger were all absent. I would think that any one of these stores could have made a great impression with minimal commitment to show more community involvement. By a simple donation of some candy, decorations, or similar they could have made a large impact on the event.
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Landing Page Testing
In reviewing a sample Troy-Bilt landing page for snow blowers, we are supposed to evaluate items that can be tested for improvement. We are then tasked to recommendations, actions for testing recommendations, and why.
The first item is to identify what could be tested for improvement. The first thing that would look at is layout, putting items that are across the bottom above other things. You could also look to make the snow blower selector, feature video, etc in a column instead of a row. Other things that could be tested are the wording of "Find your ideal snow blower" and the reminder text below it.
The specific items I would recommend for change are to remove or change the layout of the text in the middle of the page. It feels like too much reading to figure out what I am trying to click on.
To test the changes I would replace the wording with a highly recognizable picture with reminder text below it for each item. Placing the items in a single row could make them more consistent with the rest of the site. Once this is done a multivariate test could be conducted to place the different items in different areas on the page. This would show what items are getting favorable responses.
I would expect results of the test to show an increase of clicks on the snow blower selector or feature video, depending on which version of the elements is shown (picture vs text only).
The first item is to identify what could be tested for improvement. The first thing that would look at is layout, putting items that are across the bottom above other things. You could also look to make the snow blower selector, feature video, etc in a column instead of a row. Other things that could be tested are the wording of "Find your ideal snow blower" and the reminder text below it.
The specific items I would recommend for change are to remove or change the layout of the text in the middle of the page. It feels like too much reading to figure out what I am trying to click on.
To test the changes I would replace the wording with a highly recognizable picture with reminder text below it for each item. Placing the items in a single row could make them more consistent with the rest of the site. Once this is done a multivariate test could be conducted to place the different items in different areas on the page. This would show what items are getting favorable responses.
I would expect results of the test to show an increase of clicks on the snow blower selector or feature video, depending on which version of the elements is shown (picture vs text only).
Website Usability
For this section we are reviewing website usability and what things are difficult on a particular website.
We are supposed to be reviewing a companies web site, and since Facebook is not publicly traded they seem to be fair game.
Facebook is one of the websites that I have the most difficult time working with. If all I am doing is posting a comment or being voyeuristic and reading others posts everything is fine, it is when I try to do something out of the ordinary that things get messy. One of the biggest issue with Facebook is that they are constantly moving functionality around, or are changing what you can/can't do.
It used to be easy to upload groups of pictures, it would default to selecting a folder and choosing what you want to upload. They then changed it a while back so that you had to go to a special screen to do that. This was quite confusing for many people (in my family) and I had to walk them through it.
Another change that they made was on how you created events for business pages that you might manage. It used to be that you could quite easily open your page, click event, add people, etc. and click publish. Everything was done. With the changes they made it took me a while to figure out how to do it, but they have reduced functionality. Now you have to create an event but you can't invite people that "like" your company. It no longer shows on your timeline, so now you have to "share" your event on you timeline to produce reminders. To invite people I have to join the event personally, then invite those that I am friends with.
Finding all of the intricacies of Facebook can be quite daunting especially with the features on each security setting. I don't argue that some of these items weren't needed changes, but finding where things have moved to or how it is supposed to work is not very straight forward.
Due to the issues at hand with Facebook and not trusting them with much security, due to how obscure some of the settings are, I prefer to not post. I don't use the service much other than for specific coordination and for advertising for my company.
We are supposed to be reviewing a companies web site, and since Facebook is not publicly traded they seem to be fair game.
Facebook is one of the websites that I have the most difficult time working with. If all I am doing is posting a comment or being voyeuristic and reading others posts everything is fine, it is when I try to do something out of the ordinary that things get messy. One of the biggest issue with Facebook is that they are constantly moving functionality around, or are changing what you can/can't do.
It used to be easy to upload groups of pictures, it would default to selecting a folder and choosing what you want to upload. They then changed it a while back so that you had to go to a special screen to do that. This was quite confusing for many people (in my family) and I had to walk them through it.
Another change that they made was on how you created events for business pages that you might manage. It used to be that you could quite easily open your page, click event, add people, etc. and click publish. Everything was done. With the changes they made it took me a while to figure out how to do it, but they have reduced functionality. Now you have to create an event but you can't invite people that "like" your company. It no longer shows on your timeline, so now you have to "share" your event on you timeline to produce reminders. To invite people I have to join the event personally, then invite those that I am friends with.
Finding all of the intricacies of Facebook can be quite daunting especially with the features on each security setting. I don't argue that some of these items weren't needed changes, but finding where things have moved to or how it is supposed to work is not very straight forward.
Due to the issues at hand with Facebook and not trusting them with much security, due to how obscure some of the settings are, I prefer to not post. I don't use the service much other than for specific coordination and for advertising for my company.
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Website Usability
Reviewing the General Motors web sit for usability is our next assignment. During this review we look to see how usable the web site is by using a checklist for items found in our text. The checklist consists of 25 items that are categorized into 4 items (Accessibility, Identity, Navigation, Content).
For the most part GM did well on the scale, but there were a couple items of concern. The biggest issue was the use of flash/animations. When you first reach the site a background video plays. You are able to stop the video but it was confusing why it was running. The intro is over a minute long and plays a video with background music. After the video completes the web site rearranges and moves items from the bottom of the page to the middle. To compound the issue, when you click on each brand a different video will play.
The other issue that I had with the page may be a marketing decision, the logo or name is very subdued in the top corner of the page. The words "General Motors" blended in and the traditional blue box was nowhere on the page.
For the most part GM did well on the scale, but there were a couple items of concern. The biggest issue was the use of flash/animations. When you first reach the site a background video plays. You are able to stop the video but it was confusing why it was running. The intro is over a minute long and plays a video with background music. After the video completes the web site rearranges and moves items from the bottom of the page to the middle. To compound the issue, when you click on each brand a different video will play.
The other issue that I had with the page may be a marketing decision, the logo or name is very subdued in the top corner of the page. The words "General Motors" blended in and the traditional blue box was nowhere on the page.
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Social Media Content Analysis
The process that is being reviewed in this assignment is the creation of a social media content analysis. In analyzing the content being published about GM on social media outlets we have to review in 8 parts.
In part 1 we have to identify all of the content that is on the web making mention of General Motors. By researching the mentions on Google Alerts, Social Mention, and Twazzup I was able to make a list of top items.
Part 2 requires reviewing the content to see the type of conversation that GM was mentioned it. The majority of the content on twitter and some on news/discussion forums were focused on the automotive bailout. Other news highlighted new technology being introduced, jobs creation, and updated models at the Paris auto show.
These items would be categorized into Distributing Media, Expressing criticism, Making a joke, or Offering an opinion.
Part 3 requires a determination of visibility of the brand within the message. For the majority of the posts that GM was mentioned the were either Exclusive or Dominant. This means that GM was the only company that was mentioned in the articles or the primary focus. The prominence of the mentions were also in the top 20 percent, or in the headline. A few articles included photos of GM products.
Part 4 has us look for any quoting in the articles. Of the ones that I reviewed, there was little quoting of GM employees. This would be difficult to determine otherwise since I am not familiar with any of the actual employees of GM.
Part 5 looks at the tone of the mentions. The mentions of GM in the Twitter articles that focused on the bailout looked negative or neutral. These mentions were using GM as an example to be critical of President Obama. The other mentions in news articles were positive.
Part 6 rates the messages that were conveyed. Most of the mentions didn't include any message.
Part 7 determines the positioning on key issues or battles. The news articles were focused alternative energy and job growth.
Part 8 tries to determine the authority of the author. This was quite difficult and most of the twitter posts were of smaller individuals that didn't have many followers. The major news organizations that picked up on mentions had a high authority.
For GM, I believe that they may need to increase their social presence. The difficulty for GM is that very few of their products are actually marketed as part of the parent company, instead they are one of the sub-brands.
In part 1 we have to identify all of the content that is on the web making mention of General Motors. By researching the mentions on Google Alerts, Social Mention, and Twazzup I was able to make a list of top items.
Part 2 requires reviewing the content to see the type of conversation that GM was mentioned it. The majority of the content on twitter and some on news/discussion forums were focused on the automotive bailout. Other news highlighted new technology being introduced, jobs creation, and updated models at the Paris auto show.
These items would be categorized into Distributing Media, Expressing criticism, Making a joke, or Offering an opinion.
Part 3 requires a determination of visibility of the brand within the message. For the majority of the posts that GM was mentioned the were either Exclusive or Dominant. This means that GM was the only company that was mentioned in the articles or the primary focus. The prominence of the mentions were also in the top 20 percent, or in the headline. A few articles included photos of GM products.
Part 4 has us look for any quoting in the articles. Of the ones that I reviewed, there was little quoting of GM employees. This would be difficult to determine otherwise since I am not familiar with any of the actual employees of GM.
Part 5 looks at the tone of the mentions. The mentions of GM in the Twitter articles that focused on the bailout looked negative or neutral. These mentions were using GM as an example to be critical of President Obama. The other mentions in news articles were positive.
Part 6 rates the messages that were conveyed. Most of the mentions didn't include any message.
Part 7 determines the positioning on key issues or battles. The news articles were focused alternative energy and job growth.
Part 8 tries to determine the authority of the author. This was quite difficult and most of the twitter posts were of smaller individuals that didn't have many followers. The major news organizations that picked up on mentions had a high authority.
For GM, I believe that they may need to increase their social presence. The difficulty for GM is that very few of their products are actually marketed as part of the parent company, instead they are one of the sub-brands.
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Social Media for Marketing
For this assignment we are highlighting a company that has successfully used social media. I have chosen to look at Southwest Airlines again and assess their efforts.
Southwest Airlines has fully embraced social media. The outlet that social media gives is very much in line with the philosophy of the company. They try to make the customers feel like a part of the company and create a friendship between them. The success that they have had can be seen in comparing the followers of Southwest Airlines (1,300,000) compared to that of Delta Airlines (360,000).
Even when things go wrong with social media Southwest has been able to create a success out of it. Back in August Southwest provided a special code for reduced fares for those that followed them on social media. The deluge of people trying to use the code brought the Southwest web servers to a crawl.
The web server issues created a bunch of frustration for the users and many had grown angry. Some users were never able to get on, while others had multiple charges for their flights. After all of the dust settled, Southwest did provide vouchers for those that had issues and cleared all of the duplicate credit card charges.
This was an example on how both successfully use social media as well as how to have a failure. Southwest Airlines continues to have a high social media presence. I believe in the future they will need to make sure they are prepared for the repercussions that will occur when you are target marketing to over 1 million people.
http://smartblogs.com/social-media/2012/08/10/how-southwest-airlines-bounced-back-social-media-snag/
http://rebeccamurtagh.com/southwest-50-facebook-promo-luv3like-fail/
Southwest Airlines has fully embraced social media. The outlet that social media gives is very much in line with the philosophy of the company. They try to make the customers feel like a part of the company and create a friendship between them. The success that they have had can be seen in comparing the followers of Southwest Airlines (1,300,000) compared to that of Delta Airlines (360,000).
Even when things go wrong with social media Southwest has been able to create a success out of it. Back in August Southwest provided a special code for reduced fares for those that followed them on social media. The deluge of people trying to use the code brought the Southwest web servers to a crawl.
The web server issues created a bunch of frustration for the users and many had grown angry. Some users were never able to get on, while others had multiple charges for their flights. After all of the dust settled, Southwest did provide vouchers for those that had issues and cleared all of the duplicate credit card charges.
This was an example on how both successfully use social media as well as how to have a failure. Southwest Airlines continues to have a high social media presence. I believe in the future they will need to make sure they are prepared for the repercussions that will occur when you are target marketing to over 1 million people.
http://smartblogs.com/social-media/2012/08/10/how-southwest-airlines-bounced-back-social-media-snag/
http://rebeccamurtagh.com/southwest-50-facebook-promo-luv3like-fail/
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Economic Value
Economic Value
In trying to determine the value of web applications they will compare the amount of exposure that the web application provides compared to that of its offline counterpart. In the example of the Ford Mustang Customizer Facebook application you would be able to calculate the worth by comparing it to the cost of mailing a physical pamphlet to the customer.
To compare the costs, a pamphlet would cost 10-20 cents depending on the size, quality, and volume produced (PSPrint.com). Add to that the mailing costs of postage and an envelope, this could cost Ford nearly $1 per pamphlet mailed.
Each download and use of the Ford Mustang app is equated at $1 which could add up to several thousands of dollars, or more.
In trying to determine the value of web applications they will compare the amount of exposure that the web application provides compared to that of its offline counterpart. In the example of the Ford Mustang Customizer Facebook application you would be able to calculate the worth by comparing it to the cost of mailing a physical pamphlet to the customer.
To compare the costs, a pamphlet would cost 10-20 cents depending on the size, quality, and volume produced (PSPrint.com). Add to that the mailing costs of postage and an envelope, this could cost Ford nearly $1 per pamphlet mailed.
Each download and use of the Ford Mustang app is equated at $1 which could add up to several thousands of dollars, or more.
Critical Few Metrics
Critical Few Metrics
The critical few metrics for GM
The macro conversions for the GM site would be a customer requesting a dealer quote or building a customized car from the web applications. By engaging in these activities GM is accomplishing a major goal and getting the customer highly engaged in a sales possibility.
There are many other micro conversions that can be had as well. A customer that subscribes to the web blog, has shown interest in the company. Another micro conversion would be having the customer browsing the discounts that may be available to them, or downloading a brochure on a particular car. These activities show that the users are engaged, even if at a lower level.
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