Client: Fast Freddies Rod Shop

Marketing Research Project

Researchers: Logan Mackie & Mary Laube

Table of Contents

Team and Instructor Info……………………………………………………………………………………..2

Client Background………………………………………………………………………………………………..3

Objectives…………………………………………………………………………………………………………...4

Coding, Methodology, & Sampling……………………………………………………………………….5

Copy of Survey………………………………………………………………………………………………….6-8

Survey Results/Question by Question Analysis………………………………………………..9-12

Summary of Survey…………………………………………………………………………………………....13

Limitations………………………………………………………………………………………………………….14

Conclusions/Recommendations…………………………………………………………………………15

Managerial Summary…………………………………………………………………………………………16

Appendix…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….17

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Team Information

Logan Mackie

CVTC Marketing Communications Student

lmackie1@student.cvtc.edu

715-313-0009

Mary Laube

CVTC Marketing Communications Student

mlaube1@student.cvtc.edu

612-709-8689

Instructor’s InformationJohn Kleven

CVTC Marketing Instructor

Jkleven4@cvtc.edu

715-831-7253

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Client Background – Fast Freddies Rod Shop

Fast Freddies Rod Shop focuses around restoring old fashioned cars and turning them

into stylish, amazing “Hot Rods”.

“A big part of being in the car scene is the lifestyle that goes along with it and we

dedicated this part of the website as a nod to the life we have as car guys. Being a car guy in

Wisconsin has its challenges, so we make the most of our precious time we have to enjoy our

cars by getting together with our friends and family when Mother Nature allows it. We try to

live life to the fullest by putting miles on our hot rods, getting outside hunting and fishing,

boating, you name it!”

- Freddie

Their Story

Freddie worked for several years at a large restoration firm as business manager.

Seeking independence in order to operate a shop the way he felt customer's needs should be

handled, he teamed with Freddie Sr. to open Fast Freddies Rod Shop. Freddie is a hands-on guy,

working in the shop and managing the business.

Freddie Sr. has always been involved with cars, working at the local drag strip in high

school and later collecting Studebakers for many years. Freddie Sr. helps out at the shop when

time permits, and is involved with marketing the business, including attending car shows.

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Objectives

One objective of the survey was to find out what Fast Freddies Rod Shop isn’t doing adequately

on their social media to draw in their followers. The followers show support to Fast Freddies

Facebook page but according to Award Winning Marketing Speaker and Trainer, Michael

Leander, businesses’ social media should have above a 1% engagement rate to be good and

Fast Freddies on average has about a .85 - .95% engagement rate.

The other objective of the survey was to learn from the followers what they would like to see on

Fast Freddies social media pages. The survey gave options for followers to choose what they’d

like to see more/less of on Fast Freddies social media and also a section for followers to openly

share their opinions on ways to make Fast Freddies social media more engaging for them.

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Coding, Methodology, and Sampling

Coding is the process of assigning a code to something for the purposes of

classification or identification. Therefore, the research team used SurveyTool as the survey

platform because it is very helpful with the information it provides for the results.

Research methodology is the process used to collect information and data for the

purpose of making business decisions. Methodology may include publication research,

interviews, surveys, and other research techniques, and could include both present and

historical information. This enables the research team to organize efforts into one cohesive and

theoretical product idea generation task. The research team used an online survey put together

after meeting with Fred at his shop and learning where he believes the issues with his social

media are. Those who are eligible to take the survey are the followers of Fast Freddies

Facebook page.

Sampling is the process of selecting units (people/organizations) from a population of

interest so that by studying the sample we may fairly generalize our results back to the

population from which they were chosen.

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Survey Results/Question by Question Analysis

Overall, the results were kind of what the research team expected they would be. The

first question of the survey was: “Have you previously followed or are you currently following

Fast Freddie’s on their social medias?” The results the research team encountered were the

following: 15 respondents (71.4%) follow Fast Freddies Facebook page and only 6 respondents

(28.6%) follow both their Facebook AND Instagram pages.

The second question asked the age of Fast Freddies followers. Only 1 person who took

the survey said he/she was under the age of 18. There were 7 respondents (33.3%) who were

ages 19-34, followed up by 5 (23.8%) being between the ages 35-50. Last but not least, 8

respondents who took the survey were between the ages of 51-65 (38.1%). That shows the

research team that the demographic of Fast Freddies is normally older and maybe retired

customers, people that tend to have a little more money.

“How often do you check your social media?” This question was a pretty broad

question, but the research team got quite a few answers that they were anticipating to see. Out

of the 21 responses none said that they don’t have a Facebook account, or rarely check it. 2

respondents said they check Facebook every few days (9.52%). And 4 out of the 21 respondents

said that they check Facebook once a day (19.05%). 8 respondents check it 2-3 times a day

(38.10%), and 7 check Facebook hourly/too much (33.33%).

As far as Twitter is concerned, 8 out of the 21 respondents don’t have a Twitter account,

which is 38.10%, and only 3 (14.29%) out of the 21 respondents that have Twitter rarely even

check it. 1 respondent checks their Twitter every few days (4.76%), 1 respondent checks it 2-3

times a day, and 1 respondent checks it hourly/too much.

Out of 21 respondents that completed this survey 7 (33.33%) of those respondents

don’t even have an Instagram account, 3 (14.29%) rarely check it, and none check it every few

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days. 2 respondents (9.52%) check Instagram once a day, 2 (9.52%) check it 2-3 times a day, and

2 (9.52%) check it hourly/too much. Also, every respondent has a YouTube account. 5

respondents (23.81%) said that they have a YouTube but rarely check it, 4 check it every few

days, 3 (14.29%) check it once a day, 3 (14.29%) check it 2-3 times a day, and 2 (9.52%) check

their YouTube hourly/too much.

The next question that the research team followed up on was: “What turns you off

from social media?” For some reason 3 respondents decided to skip this question, so there was

only 18 responses for this question. 8 respondents (44.44%) get turned off by over-posting, 2

(11.11%) get turned off of social media from grammar mistakes, 1 said they get turned off by

too many pictures, 9 (50%) get turned off on social media for being uninterested in the topics,

and 10 (55.56%) get turned off by irrelevant posting/not related to page. 5 respondents

(27.78%) said they get turned off of Twitter from over posting, 3 (16.67%) get turned off of

Twitter from grammar mistakes, 1 said too many pictures is a turn off, 2 said being uninterested

in that topic turns them off, and 5 (27.78%) said irrelevant posting/not related to page will also

turn them away. 6 respondents (33.33%) said they get turned off from Instagram by over-

posting, 2 said grammar mistakes will push them away from Instagram, 1 said too many

pictures will push them away from Instagram, 1 said if they are uninterested in the topic they

won’t follow Instagram, and 5 (27.78%) said they are turned off from Instagram by seeing

irrelevant posting/not related to page. 5 respondents (27.78%) said they get turned off from

YouTube from over-posting, 2 people (11.11%) get turned away from grammar mistakes. 1

person said too many pictures turn them away, and 3 people said they are turned away when

uninterested in the topic. 8 respondents (44.44%) get turned away from social media by

irrelevant posting/not related to page.

Next question on the survey was: “How did you find Fast Freddie’s Facebook page?” 4

respondents (19%) said their friends recommended it to them. 10 respondents (47.6%) said

that they were Friends with Fred. Out of the 21 respondents who took the survey, 3 (14.3%)

said they found his Facebook page from past/current customers and 4 (19%) said other.

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Question number 6 was: “How would you rate Fast Freddie’s social media compared to

the social media of a business that you currently follow?” None of the respondents answered

“poor” and only 1 answered “fair”. 6 respondents answered “average”, 6 answered “good”, and

8 people answered “excellent.”

The next question consisted of: “How often would you like to see each type of post?”

Every respondent wants to see car timeline pictures and 14 (66.67%) said once a week would

be appropriate for car timeline posts on Facebook. 2 respondents (9.52%) said they would feel

it’s appropriate to see a car timeline post every other day, whereas 4 (19.05%) said daily posts

of cars would be fitting, and only 1 (4.76%) said a few times a day would be appropriate. 16

respondents (76.79%) said once a week they would like to see updated videos, 2 said every

other day would be appropriate for video posting, 2 said that daily posts of videos would be

appropriate, and 1 said a few times a day would be good to be posting videos. Daily activity

posts of Facebook was another option, 2 respondents said that they would never like to see

daily activity posts, 9 (42.86%) said once a week they would be interested in seeing daily activity

posts, 4 (19.05%) said they would be entertained if Fast Freddies posted the daily activities

every other day, 6 (28.57%) said daily would be acceptable, and 1 (4.76%) said they would like

to see daily activities a few times day. 5 respondents (23.81%) said they would never like to see

posts of funny memes, 15 (71.43%) said they would like to see funny memes once a week, 1

(4.76%) said every other day, and 1 said they would like to see funny memes on a daily basis.

“What suggestions would you have to make Fast Freddie’s social media better?” was

the next question. There were 10 responses to this particular question.

1. “It would be nice to just see before and after pictures – sometimes it gets

overwhelming to see every minute of a build. Also, the cool burn out videos are cool.”

2. “Continue to have an annual party”

3. (Inappropriate response)

4. “Love the cars and the video with sense of humor. Most fancy cars build for looks and

while yours look awesome they also burn some rubber and that’s what it’s all about!”

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5. “Freddie selfies”

6. “Just to continue updates on the ongoing projects”

7. “More posing on “in-work” projects. More completed project pictures.”

8. “You guys are awesome, just keep doing what you are doing.”

9. “None”

10. “More posts on Facebook.”

The next question asked the followers to share their annual income, but gave them the

option “prefer not to share” if they weren’t comfortable sharing that. 7 respondents (33.3%)

said they made $0 - $49,999, 5 (23.81%) said they made $50,000 - $99,999, 4 (19.05%) said

their annual income was in the $100,000 - $199,999 range, there was 1 who said that they

made over $200,000, and 4 people “preferred not to share.”

“How likely would you be utilizing Fast Freddie’s services?” was the next question. Out

of the 21 responses only 2 responded with “never”, 1 said “doubtful”, 5 were “unsure”, 6 were

“likely”, and 7 said “definitely.”

There was a follow-up question that asked, “If you answered “unsure”, “doubtful”, or

“never” to the previous question, what is stopping you or holding you back?” These were the

responses:

*“Priorities”

* “Money lol”

* (inappropriate comment)

* “I have the cars, just not the right time in life to spend the money”

* “You guys do a great job!!!”

* “Need a project car. I like tinkering on my own vehicles too. My dream would to have

a restomod late 60’s or early 70’s Chevy with a modern drive train”

* “I’m not in the market to have a car built for me. I’m unsure if you guys are

willing/interested in taking on smaller jobs like putting a clutch in a daily driver”

* “The owner is a prick.”

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Summary of Survey

Overall the research team found that more people have a Facebook account versus a

Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram. The followers tend to “follow” Fast Freddie’s Rod Shop on

Facebook more than any other kind of social media. With that being said, according to the

research team’s results 7 out of the 21 responses said that they check their Facebook hourly,

that’s more than any other social media. Every response the research team got about social

media leaned toward Facebook. Also, from recording results the research team found out that

the demographic for Fast Freddie’s were customers in the income bracket of $0 - $49,999, and

the second income bracket was $50,000 - $99,999. The research team found it pretty

interesting that there was one response saying that Fast Freddie’s should do more motocross.

The research team found this research project to be a great learning experience and enjoyed

working with their client.

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Limitations

Research team lost a team member along the way that was going to be leaned for contribution

and then another team member left the team for lack of participation

Client is very busy, wasn’t able to talk everyday necessarily

Survey was online and up to followers of Fast Freddies to take, versus direct face-to-face

Research team lacked vast knowledge of the business field their client is in

Schedule/availability outside of school was a challenge for the research team

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Conclusions

You are correct to stick to Facebook because that’s where the highest number of

followers said they follow you. The followers aren’t interested in Twitter with 52.39% of survey

takers saying they “rarely/don’t have” a Twitter account.

Instagram isn’t as strong as your Facebook presence, but it’s more important to have a

side platform for videos/pictures of your projects. YouTube may be the secret goldmine,

especially for 30 second - 1:30 long videos in this visually engaging time everyone’s living in.

42.86% of followers who took the survey said they check you YouTube channel every few days

compared to rarely or never.

Recommendations

According to sproutsocial.com 77% of adult females are on Facebook, so for you this is an

untapped market. You could do a “Pink Month” once a year where you restore a car into a pink

hot rod, then auction it off and donate half/all the money to a charity for women like Breast

Cancer Awareness. There are women around Wisconsin who are into hot rod cars as much as

men or else will now support their men spending the money for a hot rod with your business

when they see the great work you do for women with “Pink Month”

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Managerial Summary

The research team felt that this was a very good research project to do. It helps us in the

long run with the field of Marketing Communications. This helps because it was such a hands-

on learning experience that was all about getting out and meeting the client, visiting his shop,

and also seeing what works/doesn’t work for his business via social media. The research team

had a significant decrease in the team members. The group went from 4 people on the team to

2 people. The research team still didn’t stumble and fall down though, they covered it all and

basically just split the entire report in half. From the start of the semester our marketing

research team had a goal to improve our client’s social media, while finding out what was

working and what wasn’t working. The research team put together a survey and sent it to Fred

so he could launch it on his Facebook site. Fast Freddies has about 1,400 followers and out of

that the research team received 21 responses. Even though there were only 21 responses on

survey, the data told the research team that Fast Freddies Facebook page is their strongest

social media point, with Twitter being their weakest social media. The research team was very

successful on pin pointing the flaws and knowing what needed to be done to improve Fast

Freddies social media sites. The research team’s goal in the long run is to make sure this is

beneficial for our client in order for them to grow because of this research done. Doing this will

hopefully draw in more revenue for Fast Freddies. Fortunately, the research group didn’t really

have to do any face-to-face communication, besides the one time they visited Fred in his shop.

The research team didn’t have to do any phone calls or phone interviews. Fred launched the

survey the research team made for him on his Facebook page and the research team could just

simply log into their surveytool.com account to keep track of each response and report it as the

team went along.

Appendix

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Some responses weren’t worthy or helpful for the research project like one response

saying that the “owner is a prick”. Looking back and researching it, it looks as if Fred Sr. was

messing around and wrote that because it correlates with the email to the response. The

research team had a couple of inappropriate answers to some of the survey questions that

weren’t even close to being related or relevant to this research project so the research team

decided to not include that into this report.

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