Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, YouTube: What do these names all have in common?

They are all social networking sites that attract millions of users worldwide.
In a fast-paced society that relies on such networking websites to relay
information and keep up-to-date on anything from news to gossip, it is curious
to wonder why more automotive companies have not used these websites to help
promote and market their products. This is especially important for younger
audiences.

Some progressive SEMA members are engaging in these new forms of communication.

"Turbonetics has always tried to be aggressive in emerging technologies and
various forms of marketing," says Tyler Tanaka, marketing brand manager of
Turbonetics. "It seems that social media networks have been lying in wait for
businesses to realize their branding potential and are now catching on as
excellent low-cost alternatives to traditional advertising."

Ford recently announced a competition facilitated with the use of online social
mediums. It has prepared to release 100 Fiestas—a subcompact it hopes will
energize a new generation of buyers—to chosen participants on its
http://www.Fiestamovement.com website. The competition represents a big step
forward in utilizing social networking in its marketing campaign.

Under this new venture, participants will be loaned new Fiestas to drive,
documenting the experience publicly along the way. Ford is hoping to capitalize
on the hype and press that these participants will generate on websites, such as
Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and Twitter, by having them complete objectives and
missions every month.

With the Fiesta already a successful platform in Europe, Ford hopes to bring its
success here to the United States amidst the pushes to go green and minimize
carbon footprints.

With more than 120 million users alone of Facebook and 110 million users on
MySpace, companies and manufacturers have the chance to reach millions of people
via social networking sites.

Tanaka sees potential with existing and new consumers alike.

"MySpace and YouTube started it all with a free way to communicate with
enthusiasts, and Facebook has taken it to a new level," he explains. "Our
ability to directly communicate with our product fans, enthusiasts and general
consumers is greatly enhanced by participating inside these communities."

Since 2007, SEMA has polled automotive enthusiasts about the websites they visit
regularly. Automotive and lifestyle sites have been the focus of the research
and indicate where consumers go for information and entertainment. Each year
SEMA surveys more than 3,000 enthusiasts about their online activity and one
striking statistic is the merging of these two messages; information and
entertainment often overlap within the automotive lifestyle.

With this convergence, it is important to recognize the need to abide by social
etiquette.

"Much like smart companies are finding out about forum sponsorships, users are
not there to be hard sold products, nor are they always looking to buy,"
according to Tanaka. "It's a leisure activity that they enjoy and a community of
very tight-knit people. Branding still has incredible leverage in the long term
to help generate revenue.

Tanaka continues, "We all need to be cognizant of the right times to separate
selling and branding. Do not overwhelm them. Spam in your e-mail inbox is the
same thing as getting 'Poked', 'Mob-Wars invites', 'Passing A Drink,' etc. The
list of digital garbage in social networks goes on and on. Treat people like you
want to be treated electronically. Send out good content and people will thank
you."

Of the 16-to-27 age group, nearly 90% of enthusiasts visit YouTube each month
and roughly half (48%) have a Facebook account and are active with their
profiles. MySpace, the once dominant portal, still remains the largest pool of
the sites. Usage has remained somewhat flat as enthusiasts shift their attention
elsewhere, however. As the leading automotive-focus community, CarDomain has
sustained growth year over year, especially with the younger demographic.

One tempting feature of these types of sites is their accessibility; they are
free to join. The initial costs to companies and manufacturers are minimal. As
pointed out by Business Week however, maintaining a site or launching a
successful marketing campaign can be more costly if expectations are set too
high.

To build an audience, maintain a profile, create assets and sustain interaction
with your target audience takes labor and expertise, usually in the form of a
web-savvy employee.

"We invest a minimum of 30 minutes per day," Tanaka says. "It can be answering
messages, posting pictures or videos or placing links to other cool and fun
information. There is something else that I want to make sure people understand,
however. Everything is digitally tied together to catch anyone that visits any
one of our sites and expose them to as much information and branding as
possible." — SEMA Research & Information Center

For more original market research, visit: http://www.sema.org/research.