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Ford Strategic Digital Communications Strategy
Table of Contents
Executive Summary 2
Company Overview 3
Business Goal 4
Objectives 5
Situation Analysis 5
Ford Finances 5
Ford Target Audiences 6
Social Media Presence Competitive Landscape 9
Sample Text 13
Social Media Policy 14
Traditional PR Outreach 15
Recommended Tactics 16
Timeline 24
Conclusion 25
References 26

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Executive Summary
Ford is a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Michigan.
Founded in 1903, this auto company manufactures and distributes automobiles across
six continents and is committed to developing great products for customers around the
world. With a 110-year-old history, ground-breaking technology and a strong sense of
social responsibility, Ford has become one of the most influential auto brands in the
world.
Despite its long traditions, Ford has remained engaging and approachable even
in the digital era. The company has excelled in using social media platforms, such as
Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram, to better connect with its audiences.
Although Ford already has a strong social media presence, there are still improvements
that the company needs to make in order to establish itself as a leader of social media
marketing. Based on current analysis, Ford has neglected one of the most important
social media platforms that may be beneficial to the business. As well, it has failed to
utilize a number of important online engagement opportunities, which can help Ford
target a wider range of audience, and especially the millennials.
The following plan provides an evaluation of Ford’s social media presence, and a
comparison of its overall public relations strategies to two auto industry competitors,
Toyota and General Motors (GM). Based on research, several tactics to help further
strengthen Ford’s brand identity on social media have been recommended. These plans

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will help promote Ford’s brand awareness while targeting the millennial audience group
and shoppers between the ages of 45 and 65.
The recommended tactics will focus on key areas such as Pinterest
management, Facebook page monitoring, and integration of promotions in social media,
to help improve social media presence results.
These tactics have been designed with a goal of generating a more vibrant online
community for Ford. With more strategic social media operations, Ford will be able to
assume a leadership role on social media. This will also help to facilitate Ford’s efforts
in becoming the largest U.S.-based automobile manufacturer and to be competitive in
the international automotive market.
Company Overview
Ford Motor Company (Ford) was founded in 1903 by the automotive and
industrial pioneer Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan. Being the first to implement a
moving assembly line for automotive manufacturing, Ford was able to create a more
efficiently way of mass producing their products, than compared to their competitors. In
1908, the Ford Model T was introduced, which would sell in the millions. With this
achievement, Ford had gained 50% of the automotive industry’s market shares by the
1920s, and this firmly established Ford’s presence amongst its competitors in the
industry. The company went public in 1956, and has since then grown to become a
significant part of the global automotive market. While Ford operates about 70 plants
worldwide today, more than half of its sales from North America.

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Ford is currently the fifth biggest car maker in the world and based on the 2010
sales results, the second largest in the United States, behind General Motors. It
operates about 70 plants worldwide today, however, more than half of its sales are from
the North America region. Ford’s vision statement, “people working together as a
lean, global enterprise for automotive leadership.” delivers the prospective direction
of the company. The company also stressed that, “Automotive leadership is measured
by the satisfaction of our customers, employees, investors, dealers, suppliers and
communities.”
Business Goal
To uphold Ford’s vision and to achieve global leadership, Ford recognized the
importance of remaining engaging and approachable in the digital era. Ford has now
become a pioneer among auto manufacturers in social media communication. Thanks
to Scott Monty, the company’s former head of social media, Ford has successfully
learned to integrate social media into its marketing strategy, as well into its company
internal culture. Through its social media efforts, Ford has worked to humanize the
brand, and has become the most followed and influential auto brand on most social
media channels.
With its current achievements, Ford’s business goal focuses on maintaining and
reinforcing its current social media strategies. This initiative will help to facilitate the
brand in becoming the largest US-based automobile manufacturer, and a top player in
the international automotive market.

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Objectives
➢ To create relevant and stimulating social media content for the targeted millennial
audience and audience of ages 45-65
➢ To increase the audience’s awareness of Ford on social media
➢ To further raise brand awareness by improving social media platforms through an
integrated online strategy
Situation Analysis
Ford Finances
According to the 2015 year-end earnings reports, Ford generated with a record
profit of $10.8 billion and a net income of $7.4 billion in the year. “We promised a
breakthrough year in 2015, and we delivered. In 2016, we will continue to build on our
strengths and accelerate our pace of progress even further, while transforming Ford into
both an auto and a mobility company and creating value for all of our stakeholders.”
said Mark Fields, Ford’s president and CEO.
Highlights of Ford’s financial performance in 2015 are listed below:
➢ Fourth quarter pre-tax profit increased by $1.3 billion when discounting $2.6
billion of special items; net income of $1.9B, up $4.4B; after-tax earnings per
share was $0.58 in 2015, a $0.28 increase from a year ago when discounting
special items
➢ The European division of Ford returned to being profitable in 2015; the Asia
Pacific division saw the best-ever annual profit; the North American division and
Ford Credit delivered benchmark results

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➢ Ford became number one in vehicle sales in the U.S. for the year 2015; the Ford
F-Series was the best-selling vehicle in the U.S. for the 34th consecutive year;
the company also successfully completed 16 global launches
➢ Ford announced plans to invest $4.5 billion by 2020 in electrified solutions; Ford
was number two in the U.S. in electrified vehicle sales in 2015
➢ The Lincoln achieved the best U.S. sales results since 2008; the Lincoln SUV
sales gained 21 percent in 2015
In general, an optimistic outlook is warranted for the company. The biggest single
driver of Ford's bottom line is sales in North America, and particularly in the U.S., which
generated very strong numbers during the quarter. The strength of Ford's fourth-quarter
sales in European and Asia Pacific markets also add to the reasons for optimism. “We
delivered improvements in 2015 on every single driver of value in our business –
growth, returns, risk, and rewards. We look forward to 2016 and strengthening the value
proposition at Ford even further. “ said Bob Shanks, Executive Vice President and CFO.
Ford Target Audiences
According to Alexa, the targeted demographics for Ford shoppers visiting its
online website are males between the ages of 45-65, and more specifically individuals
in the higher end of that age bracket between 55-65. The online visitors generally have
a college or graduate degree, have an annual income of around $100,000, and about
half of the shoppers have children. The most predominant ethnic group was reported to
be Caucasians followed by African-American shoppers. From the online visitors,

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approximately 71.2% were from United States. The Ford website received the highest
amount of traffic in October, 2015 and has steadily declined since.
Figure 1. Audience geography of Ford’s main website
Figure 2. Audience demographics of Ford’s main website.

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Figure 3. Traffic generated by search engines to Ford’s main website.
Ford appeals to customers of a wide range of ages. However, for the purpose of
social media communication, besides the traditionally targeted audience of ages 45-65,
Ford also attempts to reach the millennials, ranging more specifically from ages 18-33.
The rationales for targeting this group is as follows:
➢ Millennials born between 1980-2000 make up around one-third of U.S.
households today. This younger demographic accounts for almost 90 million
people and is starting to exert its influence in purchasing power.

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➢ Millennials are demonstrating increased purchasing power as they age, and
represents a significant portion of car buyers in the next few years.
➢ According to Erich Merkle, the U.S. sales analyst for Ford, an 80% increase in
shoppers from the ages of 18-34 was reported in 2014. This is also the fastest
growing consumer age group among all U.S. auto brands.
Social Media Presence Competitive Landscape
The table below shows Ford’s social media presence in comparison to its two
competitors, GM and Toyota. In general, Ford has taken a leadership role on social
media, and have excelled in using social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter,
YouTube and Instagram, to better connect with its audiences. The social.ford.com
webpage was also created to integrate the brand’s different social media channels
together onto one platform, which would allow easier access for the audience.
Although compared with competitors, Ford’s integration of social media into its
marketing mix has been rather successful, the company’s engagement on the social
media can be more strategic. The following are examples for areas of improvement:
➢ Low frequency of Facebook postings was noted, and it is recommended that
more contents can be posted to increase page visits
➢ The company’s ability to respond to negative sentiments from followers are poor
➢ The company seldom uses the visual tool Pinterest for marketing
➢ There is no navigation link to lead consumers to the Ford.social page, or media
icons that link consumers to external media platforms on Ford’s main website

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Social
Media
Outlets
Ford GM Toyota
Facebook ● https://www.facebook.co
m/ford/
● 3,425,599 Total likes
● Posts per day: 0.3
● Response time: 2.0h
● Average weekly growth:
0.13%
● Popular Topics:
FocusRS/FordGT/Mustang
/MustangMonday/Explore
More/FordCAS/FordPass/
MustangGT/TruckTuesday
● The “Dubai ICYMI:
Gymkhana EIGHT” post
generated 1,408,188
views, 1.3K reactions and
80 comments
● https://www.facebook.co
m/generalmotors/
● 693,535 Total likes
● Posts per day: 0.8
● Response time: 0.4h
● Average weekly growth:
0.22%
● Popular Topics:
Chevrolet/Cadillac/GMC/B
uick//Corvette
● The “It wouldn’t be date
night without a 1955
Cadillac Series 60 Special
Sedan. Happy Valentine’s
Day, GM fans.” post
generated 3.6K views, 395
reactions, 103 shares and
23 comments
● https://www.facebook.
com/toyota/
● 2,807,500 Total likes
● Posts per day: 2.0
● Response time: 3.9h
● Average weekly
growth: 0.29%
● Popular Topics: Toyota
Grand Prix of Long
Beach/Toyota
Priusc/4Runner/RAV4/L
etsGoPlaces/TruckTues
day/Tacoma/PriusPrim
e
● 33K views, 930
reactions, 349 share
and 76 comments on
post “#PriusPrime is
reavealed! Plug in, gas
up and strap in.”
Twitter ● https://twitter.com/Ford
● 19.3K tweets, 31.9K
following, 872K followers,
10.5K likes
● Tweets/day: 3.1
● Conversation: 67%
● https://twitter.com/gm
● 12.2K tweets, 6,294K
following, 501K followers,
535 likes
● Tweets/day: 1.7
● Conversations: 2.1%
● https://twitter.com/toy
ota
● 21.5K tweets, 19.3K
following, 580K
followers, 14.2K likes
● Tweets/day: 17
● Conversations: 73%
YouTube ● https://www.youtube.com
/channel/Ford
● 250,300 subscribers
● Total number of videos:
● https://www.youtube.com
/channel/gm
● 12,533 subscribers
● Total number of videos:
● https://www.youtube.c
om/channel/toyota
● 151,576 subscribers
● Total number of videos:

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133
● Total number of channel
views: 59.9M
● Likes: 92%
549
● Total number of channel
views: 4.4M
● Likes: 100%
3.1K
● Total number of
channel views: 131.9M
● Likes: 85%
Instagram ● https://www.instagram.co
m/ford/
● 1,127 posts, 1.1m
followers, 982 following
● 448k total likes
● https://www.instagram.co
m/generalmotors/
●
● 399 posts, 143k followers
and 95 following
● 44k total likes
● https://www.instagram
.com/toyotausa/
● 1,373 posts, 390k
followers and 214
following
● 156k total likes
Pinterest ● 10 Pins
● 2 Boards
● 168 followers
● 563 Pins
● 3 Boards
● 834 followers
● 180 Pins
● 12 Boards
● 5.3k followers
Blog ● http://blog.ford.ca
● Popular age group: 65+
● http://gmauthority.com/bl
og/
● Popular age group: 35-44
& 65+
● http://www.toyotanati
on.com
● Popular age group: 55-
64
Table I. Statistics for social media landscape comparison.

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Figures 4 - 9. Facebook/Twitter content comparison between auto manufacturers.

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Figures 10 - 12. Comparison of social mentions between auto manufacturers.
Sample Text for Facebook and Twitter

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Social Media Policy
Ford’s social media policy is a one-page PDF document published by the
company, detailing Ford Motor Company’s Digital Participation Guidelines. Ford’s
policies are simple and concise, and reflected many good social media practices
including: not taking on an official position for on issues for Ford, treating others with
respect, using common sense about what is acceptable, and being mindful of the reach
of social media and representing Ford well. In addition, this policy features two other
components that are not as common in social media policies from other companies.
First, Ford asks employees to report any potential social media issues, that may require
an official company statement, to the Communications or Legal teams. Second, Ford
asks employees to refrain from discussing offline conversations in an online medium.

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Traditional PR Outreach
➢ Although traditional public relations strategies such as television, print or radio,
still remain effective for Ford, it is also clear that the company has developed a
recent preference for digital marketing based on its investments in social media.
According to an article published on Aug. 25, 2015 by AdAge.com, Ford has
allocated 30% of its estimated $1 billion marketing budget this year to “targeted”
media, half of which is for digital advertising. This is a 20% increase from Ford’s
investment in targeted media last year, and more than triple the amount from five
years ago.
➢ Ford’s traditional public relations strategies still remain effective since its public
relations campaigns tend to be creative. For example, Ford ran a series of print
advertisements in Israel that highlighted the impressive potential of printed media
when paired with smart technologies. The advertisements, which ran on three
pages of a local newspaper, employed a simple concept where scanning the
printed QR code on the page would link to digital demonstrations of the features
of the new Ford Explorer vehicle

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.
Figure 13. Ford’s traditional advertising using paper to digital media.
Recommended Tactics
Tactics 1 -- Management of Pinterest to Target Millennials and Raise Brand
Awareness
1. The “Social Media Presence” table indicated that, compared with GM and
Toyota, Ford leads in Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram social media
interactions in both the numbers of followers obtained and the level of audience
engagement seen. However, in the case of Pinterest, it was noted that Ford
seldom used this channel for PR and marketing purposes. I recommend for Ford
to start using and managing this channel for branding for the following two
reasons:

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➢ It has been shown that, in comparison with Facebook and Twitter,
Pinterest has significantly higher sales conversion rates than the other
media outlets, and resonates especially well with the Millennials when
considering social mediated purchasing. A recent study shows that 47% of
respondents with a Pinterest account reported online purchases after
“pinning” the product.
➢ Competitor Toyota has demonstrated a more superior management and
utilization of Pinterest in social advertising. Its Pinterest account consists
of 180 pins, 13 boards and 5.3 k followers and actively rely on this tool to
raise brand awareness among Millennial. Hence, the strategy should also
be adopted by Ford to generate similar outcomes.
2. To manage Pinterest, concept boards can be created to engage the audiences.
The content can focus on Ford’s performance and relaxing life topics, which has
a high resonance with the millennial consumer group. A sample content is listed
below:
New Board Name: Ford Adventures

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Game changer: 2016 Ford #Focus RS. Drift mode: engaged.
New Board Name: Ford’s Best Friends
Slick is one beautiful pony; he has great taste in #Ford trucks.
3. By sponsoring influential users on Pinterest, it is anticipated that a chain
reaction will occur, and followers of this user will be introduced to Ford thus
increasing its audience reach. Five influential users on Pinterest have been
identified below. These users have been selected based on their content focus
being relative to the auto industry. All of them also have large amounts of
followers.

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Figures 14 - 18. Candidates for Pinterest sponsorship.
4. Monthly Pinterest monitoring should focus on the following parameters for
analysis:
a. Number of pins from the Pinterest
b. Number of re-pins from the Pinterest
c. Reach of the content
d. Number of visitors and visits directed to the website from Pinterest
e. Most re-pinned content
f. Most clicked content

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Tactics 2 – Leverage the Ford Facebook Page as the Brand Monitoring and
Reflection Tool
1. The Ford Facebook page is the most important social media outreach channel
that the company has currently. However, the page often experiences low
frequency of postings and demonstrates poor reactions to negative sentiment
from followers. As the brand’s most important digital outlet, I believe Ford needs
to leverage this tool in monitoring and reflecting on the brand’s online
engagements. Ford should take the initiative to design and post more popular
topics, in which, will reinforce the public’s positive sentiments and reduce the
negative sentiments on the brand. The following steps are suggested:
➢ Monitor the Ford Facebook page weekly and find popular Ford topics
that the audience is willing to talk about. Audience engagement can
also be strengthened through contest and sweepstakes to further raise
brand awareness. The following is a sample post:
➢ Use Google alerts with the keyword “Ford” to monitor media coverage
and public sentiment on the brand. Frequent postings of relevant
positive contents on Facebook can help reinforce brand image.
Sample content:

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✓ 2020 #Ford #Bronco Concept Created by a Fan is Incredible!
Perfect Bronco Concept Designed by Ford Fans
✓ Here’s the proof that Ford is super popular in China. #Fordsales
Ford's January sales in China reached record levels
➢ While the Ford team responds well to the positive and neutral
sentiments on Facebook, the responses to negative sentiments are
poor. To maintain good customer relationship, the company should
address negative sentiments by responding with comments like “we

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hear you” or “how can we make it better?” and to be open and
constructive with the feedback that the audience has given us. Vigilant
monitoring of negative sentiments on Facebook and taking actions to
resolve them in a prompt manner, can prevent the manifestation of PR
crises. This is critical as the speed of digital communication has
enabled negative contents to spread and become viral very rapidly.
2. Target audience: Both millennials and shoppers ages 45-65
3. Measurements: Use social mentions to analyze the monthly online consumer
sentiments.
Tactics 3 -- Incorporate the Ford.Social Page and Social Icons on Official Website;
Strengthen the Awareness of Ford’s Social Media in All Communication
1. The Ford.social page (social.ford.com) was created to integrate the brand’s
different social media channels together, and allow easier and more convenient
access for the audience. However, there is no navigation link for this page, nor
are there media icons on Ford’s official website to direct the audience to the
company’s social media platforms. I believe that social icons should be
incorporated into the official website to give audiences access to other platforms
where they can communicate and engage with the company. In addition, based
on the analysis of traffic, this page does not seem to generate much activities,
and has not been thoroughly streamlined with other social media platforms to
enable an efficient flow of information. In order to drive traffic to this page, better
awareness and ease of access need to be implemented. As well, information

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regarding this page and other social media channels should be shown on all
promotional materials including TV advertisements, public service
announcements, and print materials. Improved public exposure will strengthen
the awareness of Ford’s social media presence to its existing and newly targeted
audience. This tactic can also facilitate the integrated online strategy.
2. Target audience: Both millennials and shoppers ages 45-65
3. Measurements: Examine clicks and visits to the Ford.social page; conduct
surveys to gather the public’s reactions with this website and other social media
activities.
Timeline
These 3 tactics will be implemented for Q3 starting from July, 2016 until the end of
September, 2016.
Table II. Projected timeline for implementing new social media tactics.

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Figures 18 - 20. Graphic representation of timeline to implement new social media tactics.
Conclusion
In general, based on the research obtained on Ford’s social media strategies, it
is evident that Ford is committed to listening to and engaging with their target
audiences. Although the brand has been relatively successful with social media outlet
such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram, further improvements can still be
made in maintaining and enhancing the interaction on these platforms. Ford can
continue to work with the current integrated social media strategy. However, better
results will be anticipated if the above mentioned tactics are taken into consideration.
These tactics have been formulated to help raise brand awareness by making use of
previously missing interaction platforms to target the specific audience group of the

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Millennials. Consistent brand monitoring and active facilitation of the integrated online
strategy are also warranted. Implementation of both will assist in driving more traffic to
the brand’s media outlets and ultimately raising revenues to the brand itself.
References
http://www.slideshare.net/arun_getapp/ford-social-mediaanalysisfinal
http://www.technofunc.com/index.php/domain-knowledge-2/automotive-
industry/item/automotive-industry-the-competitive-landscape
http://panmore.com/ford-motor-company-vision-statement-mission-statement
http://corporate.ford.com/content/dam/corporate/en/homepage/2015-FY-4Q-Press-
Release.pdf
http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/01/26/what-to-expect-when-ford-motor-
company-reports-ear.aspx
https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/fna/us/en/news/2016/01/05/december2015sal
es.html
http://www.skidmorestudio.com/drive-millennial-sales-like-ford-with-these-3-tips-for-
cmos/
http://time.com/money/3154086/ford-millennials-cars/
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/4-tips-from-ford-on-marketing-to-millennials/
http://corporate.ford.com/microsites/sustainability-report-2014-15/doc/sr14-ford-social-
media-guidelines.pdf
http://adage.com/article/news/ford-boosts-digital-marketing-spend/46598/

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http://www.business2community.com/pinterest/millennials-majority-pinners-love-
pinterest-01214692#CTQtmrJwwFZzBBC8.97