Audi tackling Social Media

How should a large luxury car manufacturer utilize Social Media?

Audi has now come out with a plan.  They originally started by focusing on only 1 form of Social Media, Facebook.  Realizing that Social Media is a growing and almost necessary form of marketing, Audi has added 3 more social media sites to their marketing plan.  They have chosen to use Facebook, twitter, YouTube and Flickr not only to engage with customers, but also to communicate with them directly.

Audi most recently had over 10,000 customers sign an online petition stating that they wanted the brands TT RS to be brought to North America.  Audi, realizing that there is a desire for the car over here, decided to unveil the vehicle at the Chicago Car Show.  What was interesting, is that they contacted all the people who had signed the petition in the Chicago area, and invited them to come to the unveiling of the TT RS.

I found it nice to hear, not only that a car company will listen to its customers, but will also go out of their way to invite the petitioners to the show.

So, what else can Audi do to improve their Social Media presence?  Especially now that they have all these people at the car show, what will they do to engage them?
Well, Audi came up with a fantastic solution of using Facebook Places and Foursquare, so guests of the car show could check in at the Audi stand.  They took that even further by adding an incentive.  The first 100 guests each day will receive an enhanced calendar from the company.  They also encourage you to take a photo with your favourite Audi and post it to their Facebook page.  This is very smart, as it not only tracks people to Audi's stand at the show, but also to their Social Media pages.  That's called hitting 2 birds with one stone.  It also involves experiential marketing to a degree, in that guests will engage directly with the vehicles (taking photos etc.) and then posting and sharing them with others.  The more I think about this, the more incredible it becomes, because now Audi has hundreds or thousands of people advertising for Audi for free and enjoying it.  It is also extremely powerful as word-of-mouth advertising is the most trusted.

Social Media could have been very difficult for a car manufacturer to begin using if they didn't have a solid plan, which is why I think Audi did a fantastic job.  They started small, not out-stretching themselves, and once they had a strategy set, they went out and activated the plan in a subtle and effective way.

Audi has posted a video of their Social Media Marketing strategies surrounding the release of the Audi TT RS at the Chicago Auto Show.  I posted the video below for you to enjoy.