I suspect you’ve heard it’s a good idea to blog for your store. Your SEO guy is bugging you. People like me, social media coaches, tell you how valuable it is to become the “likable expert.” Nearly every customer service evangelist preaches the value of blogging. You see others blogging about their business and generating leads. So what’s stopping you?

The number one excuse I hear dealers and their staff say is, “We don’t know what to write about.” That’s expected. Blogging is all new and writing witty content has never been in the job descriptions of any dealership personnel. Grab a cup of coffee. Let’s talk about changing that.

You have, at your fingertips, a gold mine. An untapped reservoir of not only outstanding stories and content but people to do it for you! It’s your own employees. They’ve been right under your nose all along.

Almost no dealership has a shortage of raw material for blogs. It’s channeling the material that’s the hurdle. In the dealerships of the future (read: 2013), every front line employee will be trained and be regularly submitting blog content.

In a recent post from Marcus Sheridan (www.thesaleslion.com), he spotlights US Waterproofing and their team of bloggers, otherwise known as their salespeople. You think blog content is tough for a car dealership? It seems like a walk in the park compared to a waterproofing company!

In just a short few months, US Waterproofing, by using their sales staff, has produced more blog posts than most companies will produce in a year. Furthermore, their web traffic is spiking, leads and sales are up, and the blog has already become the most trafficked page of the website. It’s hard to argue with that.

For automotive social media marketing to reach its full potential, there are four success factors (in this order) you must have present:

• Culture
• People
• Process
• Technology

In the dealerships of the future (read: 2013), every employee will be trained on how to use social media and produce content. The importance of those two factors will be recognized within the daily dealership operation. It will mean the difference between failure and success in your social marketing.

Changing culture is hard work. The shift began with the customer and we must adapt. Some of your salespeople will love the idea of creating content and you’ll get major push-back from others. Many will say, “I can’t write.” but writing is actually just writing down what’s in your head. Start with customer FAQs—answer each one with a blog post.

Help your people remain aware of content opportunities. Stories happen on the front lines where the customers are – in your showroom and service drive. Education and training are in integral part of creating awareness. Knowledge helps your people recognize an opportunity and not be afraid to use the tools to publish it.

Capture content in their format of choice. Make it easy for your people to be inspired. Some employees prefer writing, others prefer video. Some might just want to write you a long email. Along the way, they’ll get accustomed to searching for content and with so many of them doing it, your blog will soon be generating traffic and leads in ways you never imagined.

What’s preventing you from shifting to this “all in” culture and getting more participation and results from employees?

Kathi is also doing another webinar on July 19th on Twitter Marketing 2012 + Best Practices for Your Blog – ‘How to Increase Your Reach on Twitter.’ plus ‘How to Create Influence & Win with Your Dealership Blog.’

Click here to find out more about that webinar.