Tweeting to Success

Ford Motor Company is tweeting its way back to solid ground, thank goodness. Ever since I moved to Atlanta, I’ve had a Ford so I feel as if I have a stake in their success. I’ve had two Ford Mustangs – a 1965 ragtop (I could go on about V8s) and then I inherited my mom’s 1976 Tahoe Turqoise hardtop. Now my husband and I have a Ford Ranger that we can’t seem to part with. So we have an emotional investment as well as a financial one.

It’s been great to see Ford marketing its brand and products aggressively, and particularly building buzz and support through creative social media use. I followed the Ford CEO on twitter during the Fusion Hybrid promotion, and other Ford tweets have produced all manner of interesting items, e.g. an invitation to check out their beta website – http://bit.ly/bnY8g – and give feedback. They use twitter to direct people to their products (with photos on flickr) and post company news and car reviews.

Additionally, they have Facebook pages for employees, dealers, car owners and buyers. It must be rewarding for employees to read positive notes from consumers, and the company’s smart to be open about complaints and issues. All of this strengthens and builds a company’s brand loyalty. Ford, like all other American car companies, has its issues, but it’s smart strategy to get out and stay out in front of the people who make up and support the company, now and especially in the future. Other companies could learn a lot from them.