Friends Reunited, often credited as the first true social network, was founded in Great Britain in 1999 to enable people to reconnect with former school friends. This effort to create online reunions was followed by the development of Friendster in 2002, MySpace in 2003 and Facebook in 2004.¹ As online social networks became part of people’s day-to-day lives, marketers realized the potential value to listen to and connect with customers.

Although nearly one in four people worldwide, or 1.73 billion, used social networks in 2013 and the number of social network users is projected to reach 2.55 billion users by 2017,³ marketers’ expectations for these networks to engage customers have not been met.

Brands have invested heavily in Facebook, but new restrictions on content and the requirement that advertisers “pay to play” have resulted in organic reach of between 1 and 2 percent for businesses that don’t pay, said Susan Frech, chief executive officer of Social Media Link, a social media influencer and advocacy activation company. Facebook, Twitter and other social media are still viable as part of an overall media campaign, but companies do not have the control over their customer communities that they thought they would, she explained.

The same loss of control has happened with online ratings and locator services, such as Yelp and Yahoo! Local. While the services initially seemed like a good idea to promote small businesses, small business owners have found that they don’t work well because they don’t include up-to-date information, they are difficult to manage and customers don’t always post reviews.

Choosing a car wash is a “marriage of convenience,” so customers need easy access to information such as location, hours and price, said Nathan Ewing, president of Transchem Inc., a car wash chemical manufacturer based in Cambridge, Ontario. Knowing that location and price are the two most critical factors in a consumer’s choice of car wash, Transchem is launching a new business — CarWash Finder, a mobile application that allows consumers to easily locate and compare car washes and gives car wash operators the ability to market their location.

“People have changed the way they make decisions about where to do business,” said Matt Spalding, chief strategic officer for CarWash Finder. For example, OpenTable, a restaurant-focused website and mobile application, enables diners to see what restaurant is nearby, read reviews, view the menu and prices, and make a reservation. “CarWash Finder will enable people to search for nearby car washes, compare prices, hours or special promotions, and get directions,” he says.

While the application is free to consumers, and all car wash operator accounts and locations are included for free, owners can upgrade accounts for a fee. Information such as type of car wash — touchless, full-service or self-service — along with hours and prices are some features in the upgraded accounts.

MARKETING MOVES TOWARD BRAND-OWNED COMMUNITIES

As marketers look for ways to gain more control of interactions with consumers, brand-owned communities provide a good option. Because social networks remain viable through active participation of both the business and members of the community, this approach requires an ongoing commitment to interaction. The greatest barrier to this approach for small businesses is the cost of building and maintaining the platform, Frech pointed out. The advent of third-party providers, such as Social Media Link, is making this option feasible for more companies.

“A car wash owner can use a software solution to create a community, manage it and gather data that provides insight into customer demographics and behaviors,” Frech said. Offering coupons, meaningful content and an opportunity to share reviews with their own social networks creates a higher level of engagement because it is focused on one brand. “A car wash can use the community to survey advocates for service ideas and feedback or incorporate games as part of the content.”

Games have become an integral part of Facebook, with Zynga’s Farmville reporting 83 million users at its peak, but games have a place in promoting a business online, Frech said. Social Media Link’s Smiley360 platform is a community comprised of influential consumers who enjoy sharing their purchasing experience with others in their network. “Businesses use our platform to reach influencers who complete ‘missions’ using client products and share their experience with their social networks to provide word-of-mouth marketing.”

The approach is effective for a variety of businesses, not just retail, she said. “Renting” influencers through the Smiley360 Program resulted in 348 reviews and 762,000 impressions for a popular auto service and supply business. The mission was to make an appointment for a free oil change. “A total of 85 member influencers and 15 bloggers responded to the offer and booked appointments online.” Influencers received a “gift bag” that contained the oil change voucher, along with a store-branded air freshener, brochure and pen once the online appointment was made. While the promotion created 100 immediate customers for the store, the reviews that went to each person’s social media network produced the real value — word-of-mouth promotion, she pointed out.

Some businesses are taking gaming in a different direction, Frech said. “Trader Joe’s does not advertise that they have a cow hidden in their stores, but store associates will mention it to children to keep them entertained,” she said. Once a cow is found, selfies and photos of children with cows make it onto social media sites — not only promoting the fun experience but promoting the store itself.

CUSTOMERS OFFER SUPPORT AND INPUT

Another growing form of engagement is crowdfunding, the process of presenting an idea for which investment funding is required through an online platform. For example, Smoking Apples Theatre Company in London raised funds to refurbish Studio 22, located in Kingston-on-Thames, through WeFund, a United Kingdom-based crowdfunding platform. Different levels of investment garnered different levels of rewards — £10 donations received a public mention on the theater website, and £200 or more meant free tickets to upcoming productions and other gifts.

While a car wash owner is unlikely to fund an expansion or new site through crowdfunding, the use of crowdsourcing platforms to lead the effort to raise money for not-for-profit organizations is growing. The Treviso, Italy-based Benetton Group, a fashion company with a worldwide network of over 6,000 stores, turned to crowdsourcing to raise awareness of youth unemployment throughout the world. The 100 top projects, as voted by the more than 42,000 participants, each received €5,000 in funding. Even on a smaller scale, businesses can engage consumers who are interested in local, community projects that tie into the business’ social philosophy.

Crowdsourcing can also help a company develop products. Barclaycard US offers the Barclaycard Ring® MasterCard® card — the first credit card to be designed through crowdsourcing. Not only did community members’ input result in an 8 percent rate, regardless of balance, no fees and easy-to-understand terms, but card members can continue to offer feedback and suggestions. Car wash owners could solicit input on car wash packages, hours or new services and offer discounted prices or special-level loyalty club memberships for participation.

Although there is no crystal ball for what will come next for customer engagement, Frech pointed to mobile as the next critical area for all types of engagement. “The most valuable mobile applications will give owners a way to capture and keep their customer information,” she said. Loyalty programs will be a logical first step, she said.

Rather than punching a card, the customer can just download the loyalty app, scan it each time a car wash is purchased and track how many washes are needed to get a free wash or service. “The cost of building an application is no longer in the hundreds of thousands of dollars; in fact, some can be built for $10,000 to $15,000,” Frech said. Investing in a way to share information, coupons and gifts of appreciation will keep customers using and sharing reviews. “The future of customer engagement is to take control of your community and not rely on others to own data,” Frech said.