A Big Three Automaker Wins Big with Online Reputation Management
Reputation Staff Writer
Online Reputation Management — What Happened When Dealers Started Listening to and Managing Digital Feedback
For consumers, buying a car is one of the biggest purchasing decisions they’ll ever make, second only to a home.
And it’s an emotional one, tied to both self and family. It’s the minivan that’s perfect for soccer practice and carpools. It’s the tiny two-seater for that new job in the city. It’s the pre-owned model for the cash-strapped college student. It’s the convertible that inspires a cross-country road trip.
Choosing a car is something people spend valuable time and effort considering. Which model is best? What features do they need? What can their budgets accommodate?
People need guidance to figure it all out — to be their advisor.
Why? They perceive this feedback as trustworthy, because it’s written by people just like them.
1 Automotive News, 2013: http://www.autonews.com/article/20130121/RETAIL07/301219952
2 Channel Advisors, 2010: http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2010/09/study-83-of-all-holiday-shoppers-influenced-by-reviews.html
3 Cone Communications, 2011: http://www.conecomm.com/2011coneonlineinfluencetrendtracker
The Situation
When a Big Three automaker turned to Reputation.com in 2013, it was already aware that digital feedback — online reviews and social media — can strengthen an automotive dealership’s power or utterly destabilize it.
The automaker wisely decided to take control of its Online Reputation Management.
The near-term objective? Increase review volume, improve star ratings, and boost dealer prominence in local search results.
The eventual payoff?
Long-term customer loyalty. Plus new customer acquisition, thanks to this unique method of advocate marketing.
Over time, it would be able to track and understand customer perspective on interactions from the point of the first sale through every instance of service and support.
Our platform, powered by our patented technologies, enabled each dealership to:
- See all their reviews across both automotive and mainstream review sites
- Get real-time alerts when new reviews are posted
- Understand their Reputation Score — and how their competitors are doing
- Analyze review content for trends in star rating, sentiment, volume, Reputation Score and more
- Gain valuable operational insight from customer feedback
- Use kiosks and surveys to get more real reviews from real customers
- Share interesting, relevant news stories on their Facebook pages and Twitter feeds
The Results
Here’s what happened — in just the first five months:
Our results are superior
Contact Us
The Reputation.com for Automotive platform and our patented technologies will help you drive lead volume by inspiring trust and excitement about your dealership — and by extension, the brand. You’ll understand what customers think of you, collect more reviews from real customers so what’s online reflects reality, and use data to change the consumer experience for the better. Our online reputation management platform is convenient to use and manage yourself — or our team of experts can manage your online presence for you.
You can learn more today by contacting automotive@reputation.com.