Mercedes Benz Embrace Social Media As A Tool For Boosting Sales

How would you feel about purchasing a car via a social media platform? Most people would prefer to have a test drive, or at least sit in a similar model at a showroom before they write a cheque. However, Mercedes-Benz is pretty confident that the customer base in China will respond well to the sale of their new Smart Car on the Chinese version of Twitter, Sina Weibo. China Daily has reported that Mercedes will be retailing the limited edition version, designed to celebrate the upcoming ‘Year of the Snake’, using the popular media platform. A recent study by Sam Flemming, founder and Chairman of China’s leading social business intelligence provider, has found that a diverse and dynamic media landscape has allowed Chinese consumers to outperform the west in terms of their social media interaction.

The little car has proven extremely popular in China, with sales growing to a whopping 45% in 2012. Mercedes-Benz has recognised the potential of using social media to engage customers and launched this innovative sales strategy to reach out to Sina Weibo’s 400 million strong users. The company has set out to sell 666 units (possibly a bad idea for the superstitious consumer) at the reasonable price of $12,700, yet given the overall size of the Chinese automobile market and consumer base, they may find themselves short of stock.

After their previous creative sales techniques, we excited to see how this goes for Mercedes.