How to get the word out?

Lately, I have been seeing A LOT of 2011+ WRX's and STI's rolling around the north Atlanta area. A lot of those are modded as well. Do we have any way of trying to increase awareness? Maybe cross post with other local forums where they might be?

It just seems like this forum only represents a small number of the growing Subaru population in the Atlanta area.

 

I'm thinking online exposure or dealership cooperation might be better. I don't see myself throwing cards out the window at people as I drive by.

 

Start a Tuesday night meet thread on NASIOC in the SE section? Just trying to start a thread to come up with ideas...

 

This going to be taken entirely the wrong way but here goes......most of these people probably do lurk on here if they even do. A vast majority of owners I have met in my area know about the various site but have no desire to get on and 'waste' their time on forums. Now I am not saying waste in a negative way.....I'm saying like I have been told several times. Many just do not have time to stay on forums and only use those forums for research. They have no desire to join the 'culture' or 'community' so to speak.

Just speaking from experience from the many I have met in my area when I ask/encourage them to visit wrxatlanta/iwsti/nasioc, etc.

 

Someone stuck one in my old WRX while I was at SoG.....waiting to get tuned....WAAAAY back in the day....lol!

I think it was Milo.

 

I still have a few of the "spotted" cards left.

 

OMG wagunz liked a post I made.

 

An increased Facebook presence would probably help a lot. Facebook has essentially replaced a local MTB forum that used be really active. Typical "go where the people are" scenario. I have also ran into people that didn't want to be a part of a community in other areas that eventually became great members. So I am not sure if I buy that.

 

Or the other option is to say nothing will work and we shouldn't try. Sounds like that is the route most of you want to go right now...

 

Much depends on what is going on with folks at that time in their life. But FB would be a start however I don't see it replacing this site....maybe for chit chat but technical info and such I doubt it.

And leaving cards and such on vehicles would/could deter people. I say that mostly because I can not STAND for anyone to leave anything on my wipers or in the window seal esp if it's wet out.

Perhaps more of the small 2"x6" window logos with wrxatlanta.com? People will see it and go hmmmm maybe I'll check that site out?

 

There is absolutely no reason to not try if you are that passionate about it.

 

I agree that it won't replace the site...rather attract more people to it that wouldn't have known otherwise. But you can't accomplish that without having a real presence on FB to begin with.

TOTALLY AGREE on the card deal. Don't put crap on my car. That will just make me irritated.

 

I think this all really came to light for me this past weekend. Alex had said that almost everyone that saw my car (a lot of Subaru owners) didn't even know it existed and asked if the car ever went to Marietta meets. Not that my car is something super special...but in contrast...everyone at Wicked Big Meet in CT knew about it.

I just think that we might be sitting here happy on our little forum just talking to each other and having our little meets while not thinking of ways we can attract more local Subaru owners. Part of me is jealous of the guys up north that get together so much in large groups. It isn't that we don't have the numbers...just not the organization.

 

Oh crap...this thread made me go over 1,000 posts.

 

SoK would be a good one to try. They are really receptive to the community as a whole and I believe they have done some in the past.

 

You can but as of right now that person has to then be approved by an admin. That might be changed though...

 

Changed the permissions up some. Any member can invite and approve another member. As long as there are no issues, it will stay there.

 

FB group is definitely a good idea. Also, like someone mentioned earlier, the window decals are pretty slick too. I remember seeing one when I first moved to the area a year ago, thought it was cool that people were representing the community.

 

get a big highlighter colored banner on the side of your car to promote the site

 

Coming from an SoK stand point I don't think it would hurt us really.. lately our sales have been through the roof but out service department has honestly lacked in advertisement. Granted Most owners with STIs and WRXs that come in get sticky noted. (because I don't have fancy cards) :rofl:

I mean most owners that shoot questions my way I try to send them here, because most of us have probably experienced something they have as well.. I mean I got yelled at the other day at work for having WRXAtlanta up on my laptop at work. Yet the search function for a problem was fixed because of the thread I found so go figure.

Would I like to see SoK get more credibility and service in...? Yeah, I could use the money for more go fast parts Will I think Steve at work go for it?? That would be something Matt and I would have to coax Steve into. If it came down to my decision I'd like to see it happen.. The other part of it is though. How many of y'all besides Matt show up to SoK and want to approve of there service and sales. It works both ways you can't represent and ask a place if you've never been there or trust it.

 

I thought that's what the WRXAtlanta stickers were for??

 

Robb needs Bigger.

Speaking of stickers, I need some

 

First, Kudos for starting the brainstorm session.

I've been a member for a long time, I kind of stopped coming to the forum because it turned into a pissing match on every thread. The admins have done a great job putting out the fires recently. This is important. The vibe of the community needs to be excitement about your car, however you went about getting it to the point it's at. I feel it's becoming a more welcoming environment.

We use to do a lot with SoG. The 555 party was there. We did a giant group get together at RA for photos of our community. I think I had to organize over 100 cars, all grouped by like color, in one shot. It was hard work setting these up, but in the end it was a blast.

FB is a must now in marketing. Someone else mentioned this, but forums are where you go for more complicated research, FB is more little, jovial conversation. I have 5 min to kill, I'll look on FB and see what's up. I read forums at work when I'm bored and have a random question in my head. I'm guilty, I didn't even think to look up WRXatl on FB.

Motorsports is another great resource. You already have people who are passionate about cars in one place. I've tried to get folks on here out to an Auto-X event. 5% have probably made it out. I rock the the WRXatl.com stickers on my car, I think 1 person in the last 2 years has come over and introduced themselves as a member. I tell every person I see with a Subaru about the site when I see them out at an event. What else can I do to help promote the site? Maybe we try and do a sister event with another car group. This year's season is almost over for the SCCA auto-x, but next year, maybe we can get a discount with them if we show up as a Club, or friendly competing clubs. Or, at the next big local race, like Petit [again, too late], we try and organize a corral for just Subarus. We get a banner made, if we don't already have one, and advertise to a larger group of people who are car nuts like us. Some of them are surly looking to get into a new car soon, why not show them we have an established club they can be a part of, too.

All just brainstorm ideas. I love that we have some folks trying to make this a stronger forum. Keep the creative juices flowing.

 

The problem I think with a lot of the dealerships is due to Subaru of North America's involvement. I don't know how much was fluff but WJM told me a LOT of things.....Subaru of North America pays attention to a lot of things. They had a large part in shutting down the performance division that was at SoG. They don't like dealerships having parties and groups esp when it comes to the WRX/STi crowd. Why? Because that crowd is a very very small percentage of the customer base. And sadly the typical customer base looks down on modified 'street' racers.

I think the best route would be to leave the dealerships out of it. The motorsports venues and shops are where it's gonna gather the most interest. Car shows, autox, shop events, etc.

 

I haven't been a part of the community very long as you all know, but I have done my best to be as active as possible since discovering it (hopefully that is a positive thing!)

I can only speak for myself and not others, so i'll just say what works for me. Hazing, Flaming, Trolling.... simply not good, period. Even if this isn't done to every newcomer (and it isn't always) if they see it being done to someone else, they may not understand, or might form an opinion based on it that we are a "Just Another NASIOC" or a clique of some kind that you are either on the "in crowd" with, or you aren't and stay away as a result. I have met lots of guys along the way since picking my car up in February who come to talk to me at Gas stations or what-not, and some of them are very soft spoken, timid if you will, and simply aren't the personality types to pursue a community if they feel it's full of point-proving alpha's who love the sound of their voice or the look of their text.

With that said, the meets serve to squash a lot of that since once you meet everyone it's usually no longer the case, but getting folks to the meets is tough if they write off the site from the get-go.


Another thing I think that has tremendous value is smaller meets like install-days, oil change days, and garage days in general in the different pockets of the city. I for one plan on having one as often as possible on Saturdays at my house in Norcross for anyone in the area willing to drive over.
This is a super relaxed way for guys who might be a bit of introverts to get plugged in without it having to be a purely "social" setting. From that they might feel more involved in the community, and as a result participate more both on the site and coming to regular meets.

I think also drawing on a bit of the "Team" element, and painting the site as THE subaru resource for the Atlanta area is also a draw. If WRXAtlanta is what's happening with subies in atlanta, folks will want to be a part of THAT team. Who wants to be left out?

Advertising things on the FB Group such as group buys, group discounts, site-sponsored discounts and such is another great plug. Also advertising VIP appearences at meets is a huge attraction (folks like Doug for example) who can share priceless info and great stories of racing.

These are just some thoughts from the hip.
Flame away.

 

Also,

HAVE STICKERS TO GIVE OUT

 

Ehh i dunno if we want those...IA people over here lol.

 

What worked very well over this way was the yearly warehouse meets we had in Columbia. Sadly the guy that hosted those meets got laid off therefore lost the warehouse location. However a local shop took up and held one that next year and it was a complete blast....even showed up with the M3 and had fun helping others even though I had a broke arm.

The big install day meets with the seasoned veterans offering help is a great way to get started.....however you still have to get the word out.

 

My $0.02

I know it has already been said, but the dinner meets is all we have. We need local shops to get involved...have cook-outs, install days and Dyno days.

We need to have more community outings. There are enough of us with cameras, that we could have a meet-up just to take photos of each others cars.

Just something...using social media to spread the word.

I think, part of the problem is...until this community is sponsored and is actively hosting events, with merchandise available to be sold to generate revenue...it will stay exactly like it is.

 

Yeah so what shops do we have on here? TopSpeed? AllPro? both have tried to have open house type days but none of them were that successful. It was always just the current people on the board that showed up.

 

I miss the install days where we took over a parking lot and working on eachother's cars