Creates Largest Automotive Digital Marketing Company Specializing in Social Media and Lead Response. 

Las Vegas, NV (February 4, 2012) – Response Logix, based in Sunnyvale, California, and Digital Air Strike, based in Scottsdale, Arizona, today announced at the National Automotive Dealers Association (NADA) convention a merger of their two companies. The combined company has  two robust business units: Response Logix offering a dynamic prospect-response digital marketing solution and Digital Air Strike offering complete social media and reputation management solutions. Both companies were co-founded by dealers and have developed innovative technology that is focused on helping dealerships improve their digital marketing efforts and response times to prospects and customers.

“I’m excited to announce the merger of these two fast-growing, ground-breaking companies,” said Tom Mohr, President and CEO of Response Logix. “I’m especially excited that we have brought together a winning team of innovators and powerful digital marketing solutions that are second to none. We are looking forward to working with our fast-growing network of over 1,100 dealers nationwide to deliver world-class marketing communications, behavioral targeting and social media solutions that give dealers a distinct advantage in today’s online marketplace.”

“This merger brings together two very dynamic companies that complement each other in many ways,” said Alexi Venneri, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Digital Air Strike, and now also Chief Marketing Officer of the combined company. “In our industry it is all about responding quickly, whether that’s to leads, online reviews or social media prospects. Our combined solution utilizes revolutionary technology and a team of strategic marketers to help dealers respond incredibly quickly and professionally throughout the entire sales and customer lifecycle.”

With the merger, dealers will now have a combined suite of digital marketing communications, behavioral targeting and social media solutions that reside in a “one-stop shop”, delivering an efficient path to a distinct competitive advantage.

The Response Logix product line features the robust automotive Internet lead management tools SmartQuote, SmartFollow and RapidTouch. SmartQuote delivers an information-rich, multi-vehicle price quote to the customer within 10 minutes of lead arrival, 24/7. SmartFollow provides continuous email and online advertising-based follow-up to prospects for up to 180 days. Through a partnership with a leading automotive call center, RapidTouch ensures that once the quote has been sent, a follow-up phone call is made to the prospect within 45 minutes.

The Digital Air Strike product line offers a complete solution to fully manage over 50 social media and review sites. Dealers can select from multiple levels of service including the Defend package for outsourced online reputation management, the Conquer package for proactive social media marketing, and the Dominate package which is a complete solution that offers the broadest combined automotive social media and reputation management solution.

“Our dealership customer base will now have the opportunity to fully engage prospects on social media networks and throughout the lead management process,” said Mohr. “The combination of professional digital marketing messaging and fast response is an incredibly powerful solution for increasing sales and improving customer retention.”

In the near-term the company will operate under both names while leveraging the strength of their combined management team. Dealers using both product lines will benefit from future integration while being able to respond quickly with professional marketing messages to all types of consumer digital engagement, which will result in selling more cars and servicing more vehicles.

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About Response Logix 

Response Logix is the leading automotive digital marketing solution that enhances sales response and engagement for both prospects and customers. It provides advanced automotive Internet lead management tools for immediate lead response and includes the capability to respond to leads with an immediate, information-rich, multi-vehicle price quote (SmartQuote®); the ability to follow up on leads with a rapid call (RapidTouch), then the ability to continue to follow prospects with ongoing email and online advertising for up to 180 days (SmartFollow®). All information is tracked and monitored in a comprehensive analytical package (SmartFacts®).The company was co-founded by dealers and technology veterans and has powerful patent-pending solutions, all tailored to meet the needs of the fast-paced, multi-tasking internet selling environment. Additional information is available at www.responselogix.com.

About Digital Air Strike

Digital Air Strike is the leading turn-key social media solution in the automotive industry. The company offers multiple social media packages, providing increasing service levels from targeted online reputation management to proactive social media coverage to the most comprehensive social and reputation management solution in the industry, including over 50 sites enhanced and fully managed.  The company’s expertise spans all manufacturer brands and it has a proven track record of helping automotive dealers, dealership groups and OEMs engage with more consumers, improve online reputations and deliver increased website traffic. Additional information is available at www.DigitalAirStrike.com  and at www.facebook.com/digitalairstrike.

Media Contact:  Charlie Vogelheim  /  cvogelheim@responselogix.com  /  949.929.0716

The following video provides additional information on ResponseLogix’s merger with Digital Air Strike and why social media and reputation management should be a top marketing priority for automotive dealers.

You can easily enable timeline by going to Facebook’s official timeline page and clicking on the green button at bottom of the screen, on the right. But before you do, it’s not a bad idea to be prepared, especially since Facebook has in the past made changes that have left people wondering if they even know what the word privacy means. Once you enable Timeline you will have a week to make changes before it goes live. So what can you expect?

Your Timeline will replace the Info tab on your old Facebook page.

As you might guess from its name, Facebook creates a timeline of your entire life–from the day you were born to your most recent status update. This is essentially a detailed scrapbook, and the effect is breathtaking–especially if you are a longtime and avid Facebook user who has posted lots of photos and videos–but most anyone will be impressed by their timeline (and those of others).

Facebook makes it easy to add life events to your Timeline.

Major milestones and other important life events such as marriage, children, new jobs, and places you’ve lived are more readily apparent than ever before. Facebook automatically decides what else is included in your timeline, typically including status updates, photos, videos, and other stories that have attracted comments and “likes” from other Facebook users in your network–the  important stuff, in Facebook’s opinion. We have found that Facebook has done a good job deciding what’s worthy of appearing in our timelines.

Starting with a panoramic headlining photograph, you can customize your timeline to your liking, including highlighting specific events so that they are placed in a more prominent position. You also get to decide who sees what, and some Facebook users will find it beneficial to put a bit of thought into this, because with timeline being so comprehensive, Facebook stalkers will rejoice (not that we would ever do that, of course!).

Remember that  photo album from your best friend’s bachelor party 5 years ago that attracted so many comments and likes? Chances are that it, along with all associated comments, will show up in your timeline–so consider for yourself whether you want it to be visible to everyone, no one, or a custom group you create that is composed of only the guys who were in Vegas with you that night. To edit what appears in your timeline, click on the Activity Log tab highlighted in the image below, it will take you to a separate page that is visible only to you.

Every fan page you've "liked" can be found in your Timeline.

In addition to business pages that a user has “liked”, information from third-party apps such as Pandora and Netflix also appear in your timeline for your friends to see, so Timeline brings new opportunities for brand marketing as well. If you’re not familiar with using apps on Facebook, they provide significantly increased functionality for Facebook user while enabling brands to insinuate themselves more deeply into social networks.

Need movie ideas? Check out a friend's Timeline.

One of Facebook’s most significant competitive advantages is that it has more data on its users than any other social site. In leveraging the massive data repository (including data from every app you’ve ever used) that makes Timeline possible, Facebook is reinforcing its position as the leading social network. How will Google+ respond? Only time will tell, but we suspect that Google+ will increasingly differentiate itself by integrating social media with search (SEO), where Google has its own competitive advantage. As these two internet giants battle it out, social media marketers will need to become increasingly SEO savvy.

What about Facebook timeline for businesses? Facebook has released very little information about this, but we suspect it will be very similar to what we are seeing on individual accounts, and we believe that is a very good thing! So, if your business has a Facebook page with plenty of highly engaged fans, you can be sure that your business will look good when timeline becomes available to business.

To see Timeline in action, watch Facebook’s official video.

Scottsdale, AZ (November 14, 2011) –

Digital Air Strike has created Google+ business pages with digital asset integration and is leveraging followers on multiple sites to help accelerate Google+ fan growth, all at no additional cost to Digital Air Strike clients.

“Our dealership relies on Digital Air Strike to help us stay ahead of the curve and their fast response to Google’s announcement exemplifies how quickly they can move to give our business an online advantage,” said Brad Mugg, General Manager of Norm Reeves Honda Superstore in Cerritos, California and the #1 California Honda dealer for the past 21 years*. “The social media landscape changes frequently and every business can benefit from working with a partner like Digital Air Strike.”

“Google’s latest foray into social media is its most ambitious to date and we are excited to add it to our extensive social media platform,” said Alexi Venneri, COO of Digital Air Strike. “With Google+, Google builds on its existing portfolio of online tools while adding powerful social media functionality that will most certainly have an impact on search engine results.”

It is expected that Google will continue to make enhancements to the functionality of their Google+ business pages and Digital Air Strike is committed to staying at the forefront of the industry by continuing to provide updates on platform changes, best practices and expanded support as changes and updates occur.

*American Honda Motor Co. 2010 data.

About Digital Air Strike                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Digital Air Strike is one of the fastest growing social media marketing and reputation management companies in the automotive dealership industry. The company pairs innovative technology with a team of digital specialists to provide a complete solution for automotive-related businesses nationwide. Digital Air Strike has expertise spanning all manufacturer brands and has direct automotive dealership experience. It has a proven track record of helping automotive dealers, dealership groups and OEMs engage with more consumers, improve online reputations and deliver increased website traffic. Digital Air Strike works with automotive dealers to give their business an advantage by leveraging new social media marketing tactics to build customer relationships while using technology to promote positive reviews. For more information visit www.digitalairstrike.com or www.facebook.com/digitalairstrike or on Google+ at https://plus.google.com/u/0/110323794783404396847

Media Contact:   Marilyn Sheedy  /  marilyn@digitalairstrike.com  /  480.320.3028

“GM is committed to helping our dealers fully utilize social media marketing and enhance their online reputations. Digital Air Strike plays a key role in helping dealers nationwide in this area, helping drive more business to the dealer and improving the customer buying and ownership experience,” said Bill Taylor, Retail Internet Strategy Manager, General Motors. “Digital Air Strike has extensive direct automotive experience and a track record of providing solutions that help dealers build lasting relationships with their customers.”

“We are delighted to be partnering with General Motors and its forward-thinking automotive dealerships,” stated Alexi Venneri, COO of Digital Air Strike. “This partnership illustrates that GM is very aware that consumers are increasingly looking to digital mediums during the automotive buying process. To remain competitive, dealers must engage consumers in online conversations on social networks and review sites.”

Digital Air Strike COO Alexi Venneri is an invited speaker on GM’s 2011 eSummit (www.gmesummit.com) conference tour, which provides GM dealers nationwide with comprehensive training on digital marketing strategies.  Attendance at GM’s eSummit conferences is available exclusively to its network of automotive dealers and tour stops this month include Columbus, Los Angeles, Phoenix and San Jose. Any GM dealer who attends Digital Air Strike’s seminar at the eSummit is eligible for a free strategic review of their social media activities and online reputation.

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About Digital Air Strike

Digital Air Strike is one of the fastest growing social media marketing and reputation management companies in the automotive dealership industry. The company pairs innovative technology with a team of digital specialists to provide a complete solution for automotive-related businesses nationwide. Digital Air Strike has expertise spanning all manufacturer brands and has direct automotive dealership experience. It has a proven track record of helping automotive dealers, dealership groups and OEMs engage with more consumers, improve online reputations and deliver increased website traffic. Digital Air Strike works with automotive dealers to give their business an advantage by leveraging new social media marketing tactics to build customer relationships while using technology to promote positive reviews. For more information visit www.digitalairstrike.com or www.facebook.com/digitalairstrike.

About General Motors Co. 

General Motors Co. (NYSE:GM, TSX: GMM) and its partners produce vehicles in 30 countries, and the company has leadership positions in the world’s largest and fastest-growing automotive markets.  GM’s automotive brands include Chevrolet and Cadillac, as well as Baojun, Buick, GMC, Holden, Isuzu, Jiefang, Opel, Vauxhall and Wuling. More information on the company and its subsidiaries, including OnStar, a global leader in vehicle safety, security and information services, can be found at http://www.gm.com.

Media Contact:   Marilyn Sheedy  /  marilyn@digitalairstrike.com  /  480.320.3028

What is Automated Tweeting?

In a nutshell, you can use a program or a service (bot) that will search for specific keywords people are using in their tweets.  Once these tweets are found, the program will send a tweet or direct message using your account to that person with a canned response.    So what could possibly go wrong?

The problem with automated tweeting is that even with 140 characters, communication is dynamic and nuanced.   It’s really hard to create a program that can understand all the idioms and complexities of human language.  For example, Mr. Henriquez tweeted about how he hates going car shopping.  A human would have read that and tailored a message accordingly.  But, a bot saw “car shopping” and triggered the mechanism to send him an automated tweet.   Needless to say, he didn’t care for this.

Even large corporations with huge marketing budgets have cut corners with automated tweets.  Take a look at the message I received after voicing a concern about one of Electronic Arts’ products.

The other problem with automated tweeting is that there is a chance that you’ll set off one of Twitter’s built in SPAM filters.   Certain behaviors can get an account suspended.  One example of this is following hundreds of profiles in a short period of time.    And, as you can probably guess, sending out a mass flood of tweets is another way.

How to Safely Use Automation with Your Business Twitter Account

A fully automated system will definitely get you into trouble and a fully manual system would take a significant amount of time.   Here is what you can automate safely:

1. Following profiles that follow your company
2. Following people based on specific keyword/geographic  criteria
   • Just make sure to do it slowly to keep from looking like a spammer
3. Direct messages thanking people for following your profile

When it comes to crowdsourcing leads based on keywords, you always want a person to make sure that the tweet is actually in context.  Sending a canned response can sour a person’s opinion of your business. Image if Mr. Henriquez was considering going to your dealership but your bot sends him an automated tweet about how he can get a great deal at your store.   Is this the type of first impression you want to make?  The bottom line is that you can save a lot of time by automating some Twitter tasks.  Just make sure the voice of your company is that of a real person not a robot.

Let’s assume that you hire someone to write a positive review for you.    Your dealership is in California and your paid reviewer is in New York.   This person submits several positive reviews about your dealership using multiple fake accounts with a combination of Gmail and Hotmail address.      So how could they possibly get caught?  Cue the Who’s “Who Are You” a la CSI…

Most likely the IP address gave it away.  An IP addresses is like a phone number for your computer.  For example your parents have the phone number 555-123-54567.  When you see that number on your caller ID you know it’s them.  IP address work in a similar same way.  And like a phone number’s area code, IP addresses are associated with geographic areas.

The first misstep of our would-be scammer was the New York IP address.    There are plenty of free and of course paid databases that will tell you what IP address is associated with what city.   Every review site uses these.  A New York IP address submitting multiple reviews about a California based business looks very suspicious.     Of course, you can get around that by hiring someone from the same city your dealership is in to write reviews.  This solves the problem; right?  Well, not exactly.

Even though the person had the forethought to use different accounts with different email address and an IP address all from the same city as the dealership, they’ve still got a problem.   Did they remember to change their IP address before submitting each review or use a proxy service that changes the IP address?  Chances are that they didn’t.  If the same IP submits multiple reviews for the exact same business it’s a huge red flag that something shady is happening.   Again, think of it as someone calling you from the same phone number over and over again.

Now say that this person was crafty enough to use a proxy service to hide their address.  Did they create their own proxy or did they use an open proxy?  A proxy is a computer that sits between you and the web site you are visiting.  It’s a way to make it look like the traffic is coming from a source other than you.  Think of it as using a stranger’s cell phone to make a call.  Imagine an open proxy as a bunch of different cell phones you can use.  So you can make one call with phone A and another call with phone B and no one will know it’s you because the caller ID’s are all different.  These open proxy lists are widely available so there is a good chance that review site knows you’re using an open proxy.  It takes a little bit of coding and a site can immediately flag or even ignore reviews submitted in this manner.  Legitimate users tend not to use open proxies so it’s a dead give way something strange is happening.

Let’s assume that you’ve found a master fake review ninja that can easily sail past the IP address filters noted above.  But, there is one last catch.  Some very smart folks at Cornell University have developed an algorithm that can tell a fake review from a real one.   Fake reviews often follow predictable patterns.  For example, a false review often mentions the exact name of the business and location as well as frequent use of the first person.  See the graphic below.

Anatomy of a Fake Review

So even after all those hoops they jumped through to submit a fake review, the submission gets caught any way because it couldn’t get past the review quality filter.

So what happens when a fake review is discovered?  Most sites will just ban the account of the person who submitted the review and remove the false reviews.    That’s the best case scenario.   You also run the risk of other users of the site and even your competitors broadcasting your use of these shady tactics thus casting doubt on all positive reviews in your profile.   Trust us when we say this news will spread like wild fire from one review site to the next as your competitors tell everyone.   If that happens, your online reputation is toast.  It’s time to consider a name change.

Needless to say, you’ve got to be downright crazy to submit a fake review.  There are so many different ways to get caught.   Even if you can hide your IP tracks and fool the fake review algorithm once, can you do it 10 times? Or even 20?  Let’s do some simple math. A site that has 100 reviews with a three star average rating needs an additional 100 five star reviews to bump up to four stars.  Do you believe your fake review ninja can sneak past the defenses one hundred times without get caught?

The bottom line is that that you may be able to sneak one or two fake reviews through, but you wouldn’t be able to do it on any sort of scale that would significantly change your ranking.   Getting caught would have a detrimental effect on your account’s credibility casting doubt on every genuine review associated with your business.   The risk to your company’s hard earned credibility isn’t worth it.  You are better off increasing the quality of your service and getting real positive reviews the old fashioned way.

The relationship between Kia and Digital Air Strike, the only 100% automotive centric social media vendor selected by Kia to support their dealerships nationwide, is further evidence of the growing importance and relevance of social media in the automotive sector.

“Kia has transformed into one of the fastest growing car companies in the U.S., and enhancing our dealers’ social media activities with the assistance of Digital Air Strike will play a key role in continuing our sales and market share gains,” said Michael Sprague, vice president of marketing and communications, KMA. “Digital Air Strike offers extensive automotive experience and has a track record of providing complete social media programs that allow dealers to engage customers and build positive relationships online.”

“We are excited to partner with Kia and their progressive dealerships,” stated Alexi Venneri, COO of Digital Air Strike. “They are a market leader in many ways, including their ability to embrace technology and respond to the needs of their customers. These needs include the increased use of social media and review sites by consumers to facilitate conversation, provide feedback and build an online community around the Kia brand.”

Starting immediately, Kia’s network of more than 745 dealers have the opportunity to participate in the complete suite of social media and reputation management programs offered by Digital Air Strike.

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About Digital Air Strike

Digital Air Strike is one of the fastest growing social media marketing and reputation management companies. The company pairs innovative technology with a team of digital specialists to provide a complete solution for automotive related businesses nationwide.  With expertise spanning all manufacturer brands and direct dealership experience, Digital Air Strike has a proven track record of helping dealers engage with more consumers, improving online reputations and delivering increased website traffic for dealers, dealership groups and OEMs. Digital Air Strike works with dealers to give their business an advantage by leveraging new social media marketing tactics to build customer relationships while using technology to promote positive reviews. For more information, visit www.digitalairstrike.com or www.facebook.com/digitalairstrike.

About Kia Motors America
Kia Motors America (KMA) is the marketing and distribution arm of Kia Motors Corporation based in Seoul, South Korea. KMA offers a complete line of vehicles through more than 745 dealers throughout the United States and serves as the “Official Automotive Partner of the NBA.” In 2010, KMA recorded its best-ever U.S. sales and 16th consecutive year of increased U.S. market share. Kia is poised to continue its momentum and will continue to build the brand through design innovation, quality, value, safety features and new technologies.

Information about Kia Motors America and its full vehicle line-up is available at its website – www.kia.com. For media information, including photography, visit www.kiamedia.com.

Media Contact:   Marilyn Sheedy  /  marilyn@digitalairstrike.com  /  480.320.3028

Google Maps search results are now starting to include “phrases” which are most frequently used to describe your business. These phrases come from sources all across the web including reviews, web pages and other online references. Google says they have added this to “help people quickly identify the characteristics that make a particular place unique”.

This could either hurt or help you – it all depends on the words selected by Google.

Here is how Digital Air Strike can help:

1. Ensure Google Place/Maps Page is set up correctly – we will be in contact with you if we require any additional information to access your Google Places account so we can update the content and respond to reviews on your behalf. Most of our clients have provided us with the information we need but if you have not, it is now more important than ever to provide this to our team.

2. Respond to Google Reviews and tag them – we will continue to respond to reviews, send you alerts and tag them. By tagging the review helpful or unhelpful Google may select keywords from the reviews marked “helpful” first. With the addition of “write a review” button, your dealership will now most likely get more reviews on this site and they are even more visible so you can rest assured that Digital Air Strike will stay on top of this for you.

3. Review Surge for Google Reviews – if you are not already participating in our new service to help you get more positive reviews, now it is the time to start. This new program surveys your customers and targets the happy customers and specific review sites like Google, where you may need more positive reviews. The results can literally occur overnight to increase the number of positive reviews, your star ratings and “positive phrases”. Ask your account manager for more details today.

Below is an example of what a page looks like with the new “phrases” added by Google:

Photo Changes

Photos are arguably one of Facebook’s most popular features as they get 250 million uploads a day.  Google+ allows users to upload images up to 2048 pixels.  In response, Facebook has upped their size from 720 pixels to 960.  Granted, it’s not Google+ big, but when you are as large as Facebook, you can’t triple the resolution size without opening another datacenter or two.

Along with the increased photo size, they have also changed the color of the lightbox from black to white.  This is a welcome modification since the contrast before was a dramatic departure from their

Status Updates Changes

The really big change is the addition of some great new Google+ like features to status updates.

These changes include:

1. Easier friend tagging
2. Location tagging without having to check-in to a business
3. Status update visibility options

<div class=”actionLinks”>

Click on it.  In the style section on the right locate this class:

.droppableNav .actionLinks {

display: none;
}

Delete the “display:none;” part and you’ll see the more link reappear.   Click on it and you can now reorder your links.   I’m sure Facebook will fix this quickly but if you are under a tight deadline like we were today this is a great work around.

Hat tip to Toni Pohl and Andi for coming up with this solution on the Facebook Developer’s forum.