The 7 Secrets to Ford's Social Media Marketing Success

I love Scott Monty’s quote – “If your customers are there you need to be there too” he also went on to say “You need to listen.. see how they behave and act similiarly”

I think that this sums up social media:

Social Media gives the very biggest companies the ability to listen to their customers.
->
Listening to customers is the best way to tell what customers want.
->
Knowing what customers want is essential in meeting customers needs.
->
Meeting customers needs provides competitive advantage that is essential to success.

Therefore:

Social media can be an essential element to developing unique competitive advantage, and can be an essential element to success, for any company.

Thank you for the post. I focus more on the SMB and Social Media and there are great lessons to be learned from what Ford accomplished.

Whenever a company can tie an offline brand experience to social media the better the success of the campaign. ” involved selecting 100 socially vibrant individuals who were provided with the European version of the Ford Fiesta 18 months prior to it being manufactured and released in the USA. These socially media aware fanatics were encourgaed to share their experience with the Ford Fiesta over the 6 months on their Blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and YouTube channels.” – Brilliant!

When brick and mortar business owners want to take advantage of social media to achieve their goals, finding a marriage between an offline product and social media interaction will go a long way toward success.

I don’t think every company (especially the SMB) could afford to do what Ford did. A great place to start would be being present and active on several social media platforms then finding a creative way to interact with your audience.

I am looking for creative ideas to tie a direct mail piece (snail mail) with a social media campaign. Any thoughts?

Great post, Jeff. Ford is an organic marketing case study on how corporations big and small can succeed in the conversation space.

One change I would make: move #7 on your list to #1. “Get on board the executive team and the board of directors” is the most powerful piece to their marketing success, in my opinion. Having hosted @ScottMonty here in Harrisburg last June for a social media for business seminar with @RichardEJordan2 and IABC Harrisburg, I know that a social media campaign goes nowhere without executive buy in.

Ford’s significant investment of 25% of their budget in social media marketing is only possible because Ford CEO Alan Mulally blesses it. He sees the value and now they see the ROI. Mr. Mulally is the corporation’s consummate brand agent and conversationalist! He and Scott Monty make a powerful 1-2 marketing punch with cars, chemistry, conversation! As Alan Mulally has said many times, “Scott rocks!” I agree. Thanks for your insight.

Anne Deeter Gallaher
@AnneDGallaher

Indeed, social media provides an avenue to connect more personally with customers. As what I have come across in an article I’ve read somewhere, “People don’t talk to brands, they talk to people.” Engaging with people in a personal manner generates not only high marketing potential, boosting your power to influence, and builds a trusting relationship.

[...] } My last post was about ” The 7 Secrets to Ford’s Social Media Marketing Success” which was primarily about the success of the Ford Fiesta Project’s social media [...]

[...] Bulla shares the 7 Secrets to Ford’s Social Media Marketing Success.  Really, they are not secrets.  They are merely good, solid and consistent social media [...]

[...] The 7 Secrets to Ford’s Social Media Marketing Success « Jeffbullas’s Blog – (Tags: SocialMediaMarketing Ford automotive ) [...]

[...] Ford’s social media attempt (summed p by Jeff Bullas) which is displayed like one of the best examples, here you can find a sum up by Jeff Bullas [...]

Hey Jeff, great article, thanks.

Couldn’t agree more with #1 & 2 (enabling your evangelists to speak for you). Customer decisions rely so heavily on each other’s opinions… It’s a huge waste not to take full advantage of these unsolicited testimonials. We actually think it’s a big enough problem that we’ve recently launched http://habitstream.com, helping to re-broadcast the nice things people are saying so you get maximum effect.

Ford’s doing really interesting work in social. Look forward to seeing more behind-the-scenes.

[...] media is an effective marketing tool to reach a large scale audience for minimal cost. All the top brands are doing it but who is making the most of their social presence?  When it comes to embracing the [...]

[...] Ford’s social media attempt (summed p by Jeff Bullas) which is displayed like one of the best examples, here you can find a sum up by Jeff Bullas Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)IDEO + Social Media Week: Humanizing Social MediaSocial Marketing is B2BThe new kinds of scientist in socialmedia era, Gen FA look Back at the Ford Fiesta Movement [...]

You have given me a great idea Jeff.

I will make use of that spare room at the back of facility and get a functioning model of our latest super computer in there. Then invite a few of the socially active gamers from the Whirlpool forum in for a shoot-em-up test drive.

That might get a few of the enthusiasts twitching and sharing.

Thanks.

Great idea David..involving socially vibrant participants should increase awareness about your brand….sounds like the creative juices are starting to flow.

Hi Jeff. This is really a brilliant idea. I’ve read a few social media strategies and so far this is probably one of the most succinct marketing plans that i’ve come across. It takes a little bit of ingenuity and decisiveness and this is exactly what filters the rocks from the sand. What my main concern right now is knowing, whether this has resulted into a cost benefit on ROI. That would surely be another milestone.

Hi Florante.. I think the ROI is a no brainer, several hundred million dollars to get a less than 38% awareness for one of Fords other products that has been out on the market for 2 years .. and the Ford Fiesta Project created 38% of Fiesta awareness without spending a dollar of high cost of traditional media.

[...] their target audience and letting them have their voice. One example that I covered in a recent post is the Ford Fiesta Project where 100 socially vibrant individuals were chosen from a competition [...]

[...] (and pre-orders) for a vehicle that wasn’t available to the public yet. (Great summary on Jeff Bullas’s blog) At the same time, it inspired a community to engage, create content and continue discussions about [...]

[...] (and pre-orders) for a vehicle that wasn’t available to the public yet. (Great summary on Jeff Bullas’s blog) At the same time, it inspired a community to engage, create content and continue discussions about [...]

[...] (and pre-orders) for a vehicle that wasn’t available to the public yet. (Great summary on Jeff Bullas’s blog) At the same time, it inspired a community to engage, create content and continue discussions about [...]

[...] (and pre-orders) for a vehicle that wasn’t available to the public yet. (Great summary on Jeff Bullas’s blog) At the same time, it inspired a community to engage, create content and continue discussions about [...]

[...] (and pre-orders) for a vehicle that wasn’t available to the public yet. (Great summary on Jeff Bullas’s blog) At the same time, it inspired a community to engage, create content and continue discussions about [...]

[...] (and pre-orders) for a vehicle that wasn’t available to the public yet. (Great summary on Jeff Bullas’s blog) At the same time, it inspired a community to engage, create content and continue discussions about [...]

[...] (and pre-orders) for a vehicle that wasn’t available to the public yet. (Great summary on Jeff Bullas’s blog) At the same time, it inspired a community to engage, create content and continue discussions about [...]

[...] (and pre-orders) for a vehicle that wasn’t available to the public yet. (Great summary on Jeff Bullas’s blog) At the same time, it inspired a community to engage, create content and continue discussions about [...]

[...] http://jeffbullas.com/2010/02/18/the-7-secrets-to-fords-social-media-marketing-success/ [...]

[...] in Ford and social media competitions and have written several articles about Ford including “The 7 Secrets to Ford’s Social Media Marketing Success” and its best practice of social media marketing with its Ford Fiesta Competition. So I did a [...]

[...] Y(1975～1989年生まれ)世代の認知を38%獲得しています(参考) [...]

[...] social media world as more marketers start implementing social media marketing campaigns like Ford, General Motors and Tourism Queensland (Best Job In The World). So  to protect your reputation, [...]

[...] Number Two:  The 7 Secrets to Ford’s Social Media Marketing Success (2,614 readers) [...]

[...] Set the goals ( they don’t necessarily need to be all financial in nature) – Leads, brand awareness , quality of leads, increase in dollar value of the sale  and number of [...]

[...] Competitions shouldn’t be just advertised on traditional Mass Media  but shared via social media  ..have a look at Ford’s Fiesta competition [...]

[...] Competitions shouldn’t be just advertised on traditional Mass Media  but shared via social media  ..have a look at Ford’s Fiesta competition [...]

[...] The 7 Secrets to Ford’s Social Media Marketing Success « Jeffbullas's Blog -warum Ford im Social Web erfolgreich ist [...]

[...] Check out Ford Fiesta Movement [...]

[...] his blog, Jeff Bullas gave away The 7 Secrets to Ford’s Social Media Marketing Success last month. There are some great takeaways there for any company that’s interested in social [...]

I learned a lot of your post here. Not just this one alone. You have some insighful posts. I am embarking on a new career in advertising and I have been assigned to help build up the Social Media department at a small firm, so you’re extremely helpful to those of us who are new to this world.
In my reasearch I noticed that another worthy case study is Southwest. Have you ever looked at their social media model. It appeared, to me, that they have a sound model for any company; being what I would call a ‘standard’ approach (all the basics in a cohesive way). It’s worthy looking at: company blog, youtube channel, flikr account, twitter. In the travel industry it’s the most complete use of Social Media I’ve seen.
Just a thought.
Keep up the wonderful job!

[...] of the clever strategies was the selection of socially vibrant participants in the social media [...]

[...] on social media marketing included reviewing Ford’s social media marketing in a post “The Seven Secrets to Ford’s Social Media Marketing Success“  I also had a look under the bonnet of General Motors Social media marketing forays with an [...]

[...] Read more Catégories:Grandes marques Commentaires (0) Rétroliens (0) Laisser un commentaire Rétrolien [...]

What glorious nonsense! Ford hasn’t sold a single Fiesta and its social experiment has willingly traded awareness of its vehicles for awareness of its consumers being aware of its vehicles…

They jury is so NOT in on this yet Ford is quick to write its ‘must do’ lists? Come on, this isn’t marketing, it’s fantasy.

An excellent case study – thank you.

[...] 2. Ford Motor Company’s Ford Fiesta Project [...]

JONATHAN,

Greetings from rural Australia.

It’s so refreshing to read your comment.

The bottom line is always the ‘ker-ching’, ‘ker-ching’ of money going into the till.

Marketing and sales is indeed about building relationships. And social media excels at that.

But if the use of social media doesn’t translate into measurable sales, we’re all wasting our time. And the time of our followers and fans.

I have a heightened awareness of what a Hermes bag is. Also a Porsche. And own neither.

The Ford experiment reminds me of the days in retailing when ‘loss leaders’ reigned supreme. Until retailers started looking at their figures and discovered their loss leaders were exactly that. Products leading them into loss situations.

Thank you for bursting the balloon. Someone has to do it.

All the best and take care,

Carol

Carol Jones
Director
Interface Pty Ltd
Designers of The Fitz Like A Glove™ Ironing Board Cover
http://www.SimpleSolutionsForDifficultProblems.com
http://www.InterfaceAustralia.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/@ClassyRuralGal
LinkedIn: http://bit.ly/CarolJonesLinkedIn
Facebook: http://bit.ly/CarolJonesFaceBook

[...] bola Fiesta cool a trendy. Nechal ju testovať blogerom, vznikla okolo nej mestská mobilná hra, naplno využíva social media. Ak vás absurdný štýl predchádzajúceho videa pobavil, pozrite si aj test praktickosti áut [...]

[...] his blog, Jeff Bullas gave away The 7 Secrets to Ford’s Social Media Marketing Success last month. There are some great takeaways there for any company that’s interested in social [...]

[...] you have a look at the top brands and how they are using social media whether that be Ford or General Motors or Starbucks you will find that they have CEO’s and senior executives that [...]

[...] Bullas ha querido analizar en su blog los siete elementos indispensables que han hecho posible esta visibilidad. Según ha observado él, [...]

[...] 2. The 7 Secrets to Ford’s Social Media Marketing Success [...]

[...] Deshalb empfehle ich Marketeers als Starterhappen zur neuen Woche Jeff Bullas Blogbeitrag “The 7 Secrets to Ford’s Social Media Marketing Success”. [...]

[...] …don’t be surprised if you get a tweet or blog comment in response.. I have, both from Ford and General [...]

Nice initiative and interesting figures !

RT @socialmedia247: RT @jeffbullas: The 7 Secrets to Ford’s Social Media Marketing Success http://bit.ly/culpiL: RT @jeffb… http://bit …

RT @jeffbullas: The 7 Secrets to Ford’s Social Media Marketing Success http://bit.ly/culpiL

RT @jeffbullas: The 7 Secrets to Ford’s Social Media Marketing Success http://bit.ly/culpiL

RT @jeffbullas The 7 Secrets to Ford’s Social Media Marketing Success http://bit.ly/culpiL

RT @jeffbullas: The 7 Secrets to Ford’s Social Media Marketing Success http://bit.ly/culpiL

RT @jeffbullas: The 7 Secrets to Ford’s Social Media Marketing Success http://bit.ly/culpiL

Los 7 secretos del éxito de Ford en los Medios Sociales: http://bit.ly/cOfkp5 #Brand #SM

RT @jeffbullas: The 7 Secrets to Ford’s Social Media Marketing Success http://bit.ly/culpiL

RT @sjkaur: RT @jeffbullas: The 7 Secrets to Ford’s Social Media Marketing Success http://bit.ly/culpiL

Interesting – RT @jeffbullas: The 7 Secrets to Ford’s Social Media Marketing Success http://bit.ly/culpiL

RT @jeffbullas: The 7 Secrets to Ford’s Social Media Marketing Success http://bit.ly/culpiL

[...] The 7 Secrets to Ford's Social Media Marketing Success … ch media ads in place of traditional TV and print.Scott Monty8217s advice on whether Social Media Marketing is right for your company8220If your customers are there you need to be there too8221 he also went on to say 8220You need to listen.. see how they behave and act similiarly8221So how can you apply these strategie… [...]

[...] Check out Ford Fiesta Movement [...]

[...] The 7 Secrets to Ford's Social Media Marketing Success … ch media ads in place of traditional TV and print.Scott Monty8217s advice on whether Social Media Marketing is right for your company8220If your customers are there you need to be there too8221 he also went on to say 8220You need to listen.. see how they behave and act similiarly8221So how can you apply these strategie… [...]

[...] The 7 Secrets to Ford’s Social Media Marketing Success [...]

Great post! It would be interesting to see a comparison between the TV, print and outdoor advertising campaigns versus the social media campaign – not only looking at visibility, but the conversion rate as well.

I agree with Scott Monty’s quote, which is why its important to have campaigns on several different channels. This is a good article that discusses the impact that social media has had on the marketing industry, Google and Bing…http://bit.ly/9y8XMk

[...] any of the posts)Check out their site here : Ford Fiesta Movement (Read the Great summary on Jeff Bullas’s blog) This contest and the viral mention it got across the mainstream news papers and TV channels [...]

[...] company have a ‘head of social media’ but it has pulled off a successful launch before using social media with the Ford Fiesta, which saw unprecedented results particularly with building awareness among its target audience of [...]

[...] Competitions shouldn’t be just advertised on traditional Mass Media  but shared via social media  ..have a look at Ford’s Fiesta competition [...]

[...] The 7 Secrets to Ford’s Social Media Marketing Success [...]

[...] within the new social ecosystem. Fortunately brands such as Nike, Zappos, Starbucks, Pepsi and Ford have set and example. It’s no surprise either that the top creative agencies are leading the [...]

[...] (and pre-orders) for a vehicle that wasn’t available to the public yet. (Great summary on Jeff Bullas’s blog) At the same time, it inspired a community to engage, create content and continue discussions per [...]

[...] his blog, Jeff Bullas gave away The 7 Secrets to Ford’s Social Media Marketing Success last month. There are some great takeaways there for any company that’s interested in social [...]

[...] Bullas, especialista en Social Media, analizó en su blog los siete elementos indispensables que han hecho posible la visibilidad de Ford. Según su [...]

[...] Competitions shouldn’t be just advertised on traditional Mass Media  but shared via social media  ..have a look at Ford’s Fiesta competition [...]

Great article and case study. It would be interesting to see a comparison to other car manufacturer success. Thanks

[...] The 7 Secrets to Ford’s Social Media Marketing Success http://www.jeffbullas.com/2010/02/18/the-7-secrets-to-fords-social-media-marketing-success/ [...]

Jeff, can you tell me when this campaign started on facebook and the snapshot you attached here clearly says 15,375 fans but I need to know how long it took them to generate 15,373 fans?

Jonathan, how can you make statements like that? As of February 2011, Fiesta had its best sales month ever with 6,270 vehicles and continues to gain share in its market segment — straight from the source: http://www.blueovalnews.com/index.php?categoryid=22

6,270 vehicles last month alone is a hell of a lot more than the zero you claim they sold. Speak with facts and stop fearing social media.

[...] watcher Jeff Bullas summarizes the success of Ford’s social media [...]

Which companies are most effective in their use of social media to connect with their customers?…

“Effectiveness” is a subjective metric, that differs quite a bit for different types of companies. However, there are lots of good examples out there of companies doing great work on social media – * Here are some examples of companies effectively us…

[...] http://www.jeffbullas.com/2010/02/18/the-7-secrets-to-fords-social-media-marketing-success/ [...]

[...] om den nye Ford Fiesta ved lansering til 38% i “generasjon Y”-segmentet – høyere enn Ford Fusion, som da hadde vært i produksjon i to år og mottatt flere hundre marketing-…. “Hemmeligheten”, “suksessoppskriften”, kall det hva du vil – er [...]

Great post! It would be interesting to see a comparison between the TV, print and outdoor advertising campaigns versus the social media campaign – not only looking at visibility,

[...] How long will social media hype last challenges the impact of social media on marketing, whilst this reinforces the importance of social media on marketing [...]

Hello Mr. Bullas, Thank You for sharing! I’ve shared your post on the Chief Marketing Officer – India http://www.facebook.com/cmoindia?sk=app_156218351098324 page. Best! Shakti Saran

[...] Check out Ford Fiesta Movement [...]

[...] Eric Fischgrund Google “social media case study” and what do you see? Wonderful stories about Ford, Starbucks and Coca Cola or disastrous stories about Kenneth Cole, Nestle and others. What do these [...]

[...] http://www.jeffbullas.com/2010/02/18/the-7-secrets-to-fords-social-media-marketing-success/ [...]

[...] it …don’t be surprised if you get a tweet or blog comment in response.. I have, both from Ford and General [...]

[...] Social media Marketing Success – a holistic approach across FB, twitter, Youtube & Flickr http://www.jeffbullas.com/2010/02/18/the-7-secrets-to-fords-social-media-marketing-success/ No Social Media Policy for Half of Businesses [...]

All the pictures are missing from this web page.  It would be more effective if they were there.

[...] Social media Marketing Success – a holistic approach across FB, twitter, Youtube & Flickr http://www.jeffbullas.com/2010/02/18/the-7-secrets-to-fords-social-media-marketing-success/ No Social Media Policy for Half of Businesses [...]

[...] List headlines – Example: “The 7 Secrets to Ford’s Social Media Marketing Success.” [...]