Michigan auto dealership sees benefits of blogging

Despite the name, LexBlog doesn’t only market blogs to lawyers. Our client base includes a diverse group of businesses, with specialties ranging from medical transcription technology to children’s hand soap.

Or cars, as happens to be the case for Redford, Michigan’s George Matick Chevrolet, operators of the Corvette Blog. Still going strong after forty years, the dealership calls itself “Detroit’s Corvette Leader.”

It’s more than just a catchy slogan. Known in the Detroit auto world for having the largest indoor showroom in Michigan, the already successful dealership was looking for a way to increase interest in their Corvette market. It soon became apparent that to do this, an Internet presence would be necessary.

“We originally got the idea from our attorney, who is extremely progressive when it comes to technology and blogging especially,” says Ryan Esler, director of marketing & technology at George Matick Chevrolet. “Instead of trying to reinvent the wheel and learn about blogging or set something up on our own, we decided to team up with Kevin after meeting him at an Introduction to Blogging meeting in Chicago.”

Soon, the Corvette Blog was born.

As LexBlog’s first and only auto-related blog, the Corvette Blog deals with almost anything pertaining to ownership of the Chevy Corvette, a sports car that has been an American symbol of the road since first rolling off production lines in 1953.

The Corvette Blog isn’t just an advertisement. Rather than hyping up the latest Corvettes to find their way onto the showroom floor at George Matick Chevrolet, it acts almost like an interactive Corvette newspaper. Blog posts deal with issues ranging from Corvette events to noteworthy racing news to safety reports. As an added treat for enthusiasts, all this content is supplemented with photos and videos of Corvettes in action.

Though other Corvette blogs exist – both as fan sites like the Corvette Blogger, and as dealership marketing tools (see the Rick ‘Corvette’ Conti blog, representing Wisconsin’s EVS Chevrolet) – few have been successful at utilizing George Matick Chevrolet’s so-called “newspaper approach.”

Bill Connell, fleet sales consultant and the voice behind most content published in the Corvette Blog, is aware of this. He sees the blog as a tech-savvy twist on the company’s longstanding commitment to professionalism.

“We continue to establish our dealership as a progressive entity,” Connell says. “So many dealerships throughout the United States have rejected technology and the Internet in hopes that it was a fad, which clearly it is not.”

The company took a gamble by developing a blog in a market where – unlike the legal realm – blogging technology has yet to become established. But after a year in operation, it seems George Matick Chevrolet came out on top. Readership numbers have been steadily increasing since the launch: there were just over 1000 visitors in August 2006, but by December that number had tripled, and March of this year saw 13,165 page visits. Since then numbers have been strong and have remained above 10,000, topping off at 15,469 in April.

In the auto industry, heads are also turning.

“We are unaware of any direct commentary from other [auto] dealers,” Connell admits. “[But] on the flip side, we have gotten great response from many high-ranking officials at General Motors. They have applauded our efforts and unique approach to grow our Corvette business.”

Esler shares the enthusiasm.

“While we may be one of the only ‘non-legal’ blogs that you manage, you can be sure that we are one of your most satisfied customers and biggest advocates to anyone that is looking at blogging to grow their business,” he says.

So what’s next for the Corvette Blog? For starters, Connell says, he plans to develop a more client-centered feel for the site.

“We are about to launch a campaign with all of our Corvette sales and service customers to invite them to take part in the blog,” he says. “We plan to write short customer profiles explaining stories about their Corvettes, the history they have with the car…anything to grow the readership and interest in the blog.”