As The Tuning School’s co-founders, President Bob Morreale and his wife, CFO Mandy Morreale, help vehicles get to the next level of performance for automotive enthusiasts and shop owners. They are the worldwide leading provider of high-performance tuning knowledge for the entire automotive industry.
Additionally, The Tuning School provides educational materials in the form of learn-at-home courses, live seminars, and academic curriculum for tech schools and colleges.
In business since April 2008, The Tuning School boasts a client base that spans the globe, from the U.S, Canada, Central and South America, the Middle East and Australia.
In short, the services they provide are internationally popular – and in high demand. As such, their presence on social media was critical. But, like many other entrepreneurs, managing it wasn’t the best use of their time.
“It felt like we were always behind on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram,” Mandy shares. “And we would look at our analytics, but not really make decisions based on what the analytics were saying.
“[Bob] didn’t do anything with social media, and I didn’t either. We had kind of a marketing team – three or four people – [but social media] was not a well thought out process. They would spend maybe two hours a week on it, and [no one] really looked at the analytics and said, ‘This means we should do this.”
Thankfully, BELAY did have someone who could do just that.
And Keith, their BELAY Social Media Manager, wasted no time in diving in and getting to work.
“In listening to their discovery call, then doing some initial research and looking at where their social media stood, I started to craft the initial plan,” says Keith.
“[I] confirmed as part of the core strategy [that I] needed to really reinvigorate more storytelling. There are some great personalities and great people at The Tuning School.”
And Keith knew exactly what to do.
“Let’s find ways to have some storylines that you can follow from week to week,” he shares. “If we’re focusing on Dodge vehicles, for example, let’s talk a little bit about that. Let’s have content that’s related to that. All of it kind of leading to the same place where we can show clients and customers how we can deliver value.
“That potential is absolutely there just because it’s such an outstanding company.”
With his background in marketing communications and years of experience in social media, Keith immediately knew that while The Tuning School has specific products, it also boasts great personalities, too.
“You get fans that are just excited about Bob, Mandy and everyone else at The Tuning School, as well as the product itself,” Keith adds.
Then there was the small matter of creating a content calendar.
“That [was] probably one of the biggest challenges,” Mandy shares. “We already had a social media presence and we already had this team that was working on content.
“It’s almost like instead of being a speed boat, we’re a cruise ship. And Keith is having to turn the cruise ship – and it’s a massive turn. Our customers are used to seeing things a certain way. Our videos are super polished – and that worked two, three years ago. It doesn’t work anymore.
“Automotive industry people love off-the-cuff lifestyle – so we’re literally having to turn the ship all while putting content out.”
But after being paired with two team members, Keith is righting the ship, one post at a time.
“I think I’m starting to understand a lot of the voice,” Keith shares. “I’m starting to create content as well [as] I work hands-on with Josh, a sales manager.”
“Josh is very much in the industry,” Mandy adds. “He loves anything automotive related, he understands the customer, and he is responsible for our sales team. So he knows what our customer base is looking for. So he is very, very capable of telling Keith [that] we’re on the right track with something or not.”
“The win for me personally [is] it’s off my plate,” Mandy shares.”That’s huge.”
“In the beginning, I was heavily involved just trying to figure out how this all works. And then, as I watched Keith and saw that he knows what he’s doing, I’ve been able to almost step completely away.
“That’s the win for the company.”