Toyota has joined the ranks of automotive giants like GM, Ford, and others who are already on social platforms and are getting a lot of good visibility from them.

Toyota announced the launch of their Social Media Program where Toyota will be engaging with customers, suppliers, dealers, and other stakeholders and facilitating communication through these online channels.

How much money they plan on spending online is unclear but if there's one thing that we can learn from the Japanese, it's that they may start slow but they'll catch up speed pretty quickly and race past the early adopters. So GM and Ford, I'd say should beware of Toyota's online presence. They have a way of "taking over" fast and furious.

Oh but I forgot to mention the whole purpose of my discussing Toyota's online foray. Here it is!

If larger brands can do it and they have plenty of money to spend on their marketing initiatives, smaller brands can do it too. When larger brands move to online media for marketing, they end up saving money by not paying for those expensive TV, billboard, and other campaigns. Smaller brands can move online and capture the market that they never had access to in the past. So what's stopping you smaller brands? Get online and if you need help,  you know who to call! (NET of course!)