How GM Holden uses Facebook to connect with fans in Australia

I just wrapped up a 12-gig speaking tour of Australia that brought me to Sydney, Brisbane, and Melbourne. It was an excellent opportunity to connect with marketers to learn about their success in reaching buyers.

While in Melbourne, I interviewed Andrea Matthews, the social media & digital communications manager at GM Holden. She discussed how they use the Holden Australia Facebook page to interact with customers and build the brand.

Direct link to video here.

The 183,000+ Holden Facebook fans are an important way for Holden to communicate new products and other information as well as answer questions and provide first level customer support.

Comments

[Anne Sorensen]

Thanks David and Andrea! Great tips. Congrat's David on a terrific tour.

[Beltedradial]

After having dealt with Holden to get fleet vehicles for review on GMInsidenews.com (an American site) I thought, "wow, I never realised companies were so open to approaches from non-professional sites. We should have tried this long ago".

The truth is, not all companies are so easy to deal with. Everyone else has been an absolute pain.

I guess, therein lies the key and a critical point for any company attempting to enter the SM field.

There are plenty of e-books/whatever to give you strategy, but remember, the S is for social, so make sure you have the right person as the lead. Someone whom is naturally sociable!

[Beltedradial]

I should probably add, that I am in Australia. ;-)

[aluminium kozijnen]

Absolutely correct.. This tour was an excellent opportunity to connect with fans in Australia.. Really this is one of the great method to connect that people.. After that innovative method is very important to gather a more fans in our website.. Thanks for sharing this David.. Really this is great tips..

[Raz Chorev]

David, I don't know about you, but I have an issue with the "moderation" of facebook pages. Although I understand the need to keep the brand's integrity, and keep the page clean from profanity, abuse, etc, I believe a man is innocent unless proven guilty. The type of moderation Andrea is talking about, in my opinion, takes the opposite approach. I had a similar discussion about 6 months ago, with another Australian brand - Oporto, about the same issue (http://www.razchorev.com/2010/10/16/the-consequence-of-censorship-in-the-social-media-era/)
I would really appreciate your thoughts.
Raz

[David Meerman Scott]

Hey Raz - You are right with 99.9% of people. However there are some people who are very very negative on a certain brand and just won't let it go. They insist on posting many times. I can understand the Holden position.