Ford Motor Co.'s use of social media is creating greater awareness of new vehicles and proving to be money well spent, a marketing executive for the automaker said today.
Ford has tried to position itself in the forefront of social media with experiments such as the Fiesta Movement designed to create a buzz for the subcompact car before it went on sale in the United States and the use of Facebook to introduce new models such as the redesigned Ford Explorer.
The automaker has also used the adventures of a puppet named Doug to try to connect with consumers.
It can be hard to measure the return on investment of social media, Matt Van Dyke, Ford's director of Marketing Communications, said today in a live webchat.
But there is empirical evidence, said Van Dyke, who oversees all U.S. advertising for the Ford and Lincoln brands.
Ford was able to credit the Fiesta Movement, which picked people to test drive Fiestas around the world in 2009 and post their experiences and videos, for the growing awareness of the new car because the automaker had not yet begun mass media advertising.
"In that case, we were able to generate proven awareness, favorable opinion and consideration that we are able to assign dollar values to," he said.
The Fiesta Movement represented an investment of millions of dollars to bring over 100 vehicles from Europe as well as the production costs of the six-month project, but Van Dyke figures Ford generated five times as much exposure as a traditional advertising campaign. And by the time the car went on sale, many U.S. consumers were familiar with it. The car continues to post strong sales, selling more than 42,000 in the first half of the year.
The decision to unveil the new Explorer as part of a Facebook campaign rather than at an auto show also is considered a success. On the day of the Explorer reveal, Ford went from 7,000 visits on its Explorer home page to more than half a million.
Ford does not have a social media department; the automaker wants its use to be pervasive across the company.
The focus has been on using social media to generate buzz before a new vehicle hits the market.
"We need to broaden that approach," Van Dyke said. "For example, we are experimenting with user reviews of current customers on our Fusion vehicle homepage."
And the marketing executive will consider live chats with consumers months after a new car or truck has been on the market.
Additionally, at the front end of the process in vehicle development, "we think there's untapped potential in getting early feedback on features, style, design and more," he said. "Ultimately, the 3,000 moving parts will have to be assembled by our engineers."
And the automaker does not rule out the use of traditional print advertising. But Van Dyke sees print as having a strong supporting role within the marketing mix.
"The challenge for publishers is better and better integration, not "special advertising" sections," he said.
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