One of the biggest questions I get as a social media and e-commerce manager is what are some of the benefits of what you do. That is a tough question to answer in short sentence so I want my initial answer be
A Lot..Too Many To Mention In One Sentence
That is not a very productive answer so I will focus on one of the benefits that I think would be a good starting point for any towing, wrecker, repo, or recovery operation. The area I speak of is shaping public opinion and positive publicity.
One of the emerging benefits of social media and internet marketing is the ability to provide the information consumers will use to determine their opinions and decisions. The dissemination of raw knowledge and the interaction of consumers can make or break both your industry and your business.
The key to protecting yourself is to start a social media plan before you need the benefits. Begin shaping a positive image with consumers now. This requires a disciplined, daily foray into social media sites, search engine optimization, and paid internet advertising.
While I cannot possibly go into every aspect of this here are a few possible starting points
Research your name on the web and other social media sites and see what comes up. My guess is it will bring up your companies site and not much more about you than that. Your goal will be to put a lot of positive content on the web that portrays your company in a positive light.
Have multiple social media venues including Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, Google Plus, Instagram, Scribd, Pinterest etc. that you post on almost everyday. You will begin to reach thousands of people for free.
Make sure to post consumer tips and positive towing stories on your site and blogs. These do not have to feature your firm or even towing every time, but make sure your articles offer information your consumers can use on related topics like car maintenance, driving in inclement conditions, or other things they will associate with driving, car repair or areas that connect to what your towing company does. Remember you are the information provider so get consumers to seek YOU for information. Also make sure your name or a link to your website is somewhere on your social media posts or documents if they are not already directly on your site.
Constantly submit positive customer stories both to your sites and to the web editors of your local television, radio, or print services.
Focus on optimizing your website and blogs to rank highly with keywords that will trigger your site and positive information about your site. I would consider investing in paid Google keywords that targets search terms your customers and public are likely to see. In the case of a towing company target the words that your customers are going to search for and have paid links to positive content you created. For example,you have five documents or stories on the web that feature your towing business in a positive light with links back to your main website. You will link a number of keywords to bring these stories on Google's first page when the consumer is searching for these keywords on the web.
Some words you might target are towing, wrecker, repo, towing with your city name, towing with your state name, wrecker service, or towing service. There are others but these are a good start. Driving traffic to your site with this method will limit negative exposure by steering the customer to stories about your company in a positive light. Only purchase keywords in the areas you service. Not just will they insulate your reputation, they will help you generate business as well.
Sincerely,
Michael Saks
Editor of Towedover and ECTTS.com E-commerce Manager
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