Local Media Hold Dealerships Accountable Using Social Media

I just wanted to share this.  What happens when you think  you are smarter than your customer is that your entire reputation, or the little that’s  left of it,  crumbling apart like dry feta cheese on salad.

Here is a link to a Colorado based Channel 9 News story about  shady business practices against a senior citizen couple  by Heritage Ford of Loveland, CO.  This report lends example to how mainstream media can incorporate social media to report alleged questionable business practices by dealerships like Heritage Ford of Loveland, CO. 

Then check out the comments thread to read the comments left by people here. Local media would be eager to play the “elderly consumer advocate” and do a story on a dealership’s alleged questionable business practices (or elderly consumer folly depending on audience point of view).  Advertising with local media for me seems tactical in the sense that local media channels are faced with a dilemma and perhaps reluctant to report alleged/unfounded accusations made by customers. However against unhappy customer-created content published on social media, there is little a dealer can do aside from exploring legal options to prevent an unhappy customer’s message from potentially reaching thousands. Unlike with local channels with whom we spend our ad dollars, we cannot use our channel advertising spend to sway a single unhappy customer from publishing their negative review, YouTube video, or attack website.  What we can do now is be proactive in establishing an active but branded presence on social media, employing video and social networks to reach and positively engage every person willing to interact with us online.  The weight of having a positive and prolific but branded active presence will help offset any future negative sentiments or attacks made towards us that may arise across social media.