FRANKLIN, Tenn. -

Are you ready to “retweet” something from ServNet on Twitter or “like” its latest Facebook update?
                                                
With more business being conducted online and the vast majority of auction customers using the Internet as a business tool, ServNet chief executive officer Pierre Pons thinks adding social media to the marketing mix is the group’s next step in keeping pace with advances technology.

“The phenomenal growth of social media has captured the attention of major companies all over the country, and ServNet has determined that the time is right to make its presence known on Facebook and Twitter,” Pons explained.

Jim DesRochers, vice president at Dealers Auto Auction of the Southwest and past president of National Auto Auction Association, is an enthusiastic proponent of social media marketing.

DesRochers will moderate an International Automotive Remarketers Alliance roundtable discussion at Conference of Auto Remarketing in March, a session that’s geared to explore social media applications in the remarketing industry.

“Using social media is another extremely effective way for ServNet auctions to tell its story, to connect with our customers and to listen to what  they have to say,” he emphasized.

“Social media is no longer just the domain of our teenagers at home,” DesRochers added. “It’s the next wave, which essentially allows us to target market at a fraction of the cost of traditional methods. It has become a viable tool that complements the options we already have in place and will help us stay ahead of the curve as the new generation comes up through the ranks in the industry.”

As DesRochers explains it, social media is a substantially different mode of communication between businesses and customers, the transition to which is comparable to moving from fax to email or from a pager to a smartphone.

“Social media happens in real time with ongoing effect, and essentially closes geographic gaps between segments of our industry,” DesRochers stressed. “You no longer have to wait for a publication date for the latest news, and you can go to one place to see the whole picture.

“With links from ServNet’s Facebook or Twitter account to the member auctions, industry organizations, remarketers and dealers, we have a bold new way to monitor the pulse of industry, indentify trends and provide instant updates about important news and events to the people in our network,” he went on to say.

ServNet’s Twitter page can be found at https://twitter.com/#!/ServNetAuctions and its Facebook page can be viewed at http://www.facebook.com/ServNetAuctions?sk=wall.