Not only has Ford Motors faired the recession the best out of the big three auto makers, but they’ve been winning the buzz war on the social web as well. They have been seizing opportunities to generate buzz and connect with customers on Twitter and other social networks.

While Ford has had several initiatives, by far their most ambitious one has been the Ford Fiesta Movement, a grassroots social media campaign to promote the new Fiesta model by placing Fiestas in the hands of 100 social “agents” and having them promote Ford’s new vehicle through Twitter, blogs, video, and events, all without spending a dollar on traditional media.

It’s near the end of the six month campaign, so how has Ford’s experiment fared? Well, Ford shared some stats on the Fiesta campaign today, so we’ll let you decide. Here’s some of what they relayed to us:

- 4.3 million YouTube views thus far
- 500,000+ Flickr views
- 3 million+ Twitter impression
- 50,000 interested potential customers, 97% of which don’t own a Ford currently.

These are impressive numbers, although none are mind-blowing. A single viral video can alone gain over 4 million views, but those are incredibly rare. Having 8 million+ eyeballs see personalized advertising for the Fiesta is not shabby at all. All of these numbers clearly indicate interest.

The most important number though is Ford’s 50,000 “hand-raisers,” or individuals that have expressed in the Fiesta. The fate of this campaign rests on these people and whether they are willing to dish out a five digit sum to purchase a Fiesta. Ford’s Fiesta Movement has been impressive thus far – especially when you consider that it was all done with just 100 advocates nationwide – but in the end, Fiesta sales will tell us how powerful Ford’s social media mojo really is.

Do you think Ford’s initiative will succeed? Or is traditional advertising the better route? Give us your arguments in the comments.

Disclaimer: Ford and the Ford Fiesta Movement were a charitable sponsor of the Summer of Social Good campaign.

Tags: ford, ford fiesta, social media

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