Avis Budget Expands Social Media Presence in U.S. & Canada

The increasing popularity of social media among the masses has forced business firms to enter this platform in order to promote their businesses. Refusing to be left behind, leading car rental company Avis Budget Group Inc. CAR has resorted to expansion of its social media presence in the United States and Canada.

In an effort to establish direct contact with customers through social media, Avis has launched local pages on Facebook, Foursquare and Google Places for each of its Avis Car Rental, Budget Car Rental and Budget Truck Rental facilities in the United States and Canada.  This initiative not only provides a platform for interacting with customers on the local level, but also ensures easy tracking of Avis, Budget and Budget Truck locations on Google maps.

Further, local pages on the social media will help the company to lure customers with local deals such as one-way offers from a specific facility, promote contests and other special offers and provide customer service support. Additionally, the company will benefit from real-time feedback and suggestions from customers on products and services that will help grow customer loyalty as well as the company's revenue.

By using the local pages on Facebook, Foursquare or Google Maps customers can easily locate a particular Avis, Budget or Budget Truck Rental location in North America by searching for "Avis Car Rental," "Budget Car Rental" or "Budget Truck Rental" preceded or followed by the airport name, city or zip code.

Although not new to using social media, the company's latest initiative on local level is the first of its kind and magnitude in the car rental industry. Moreover, the company is already doing well with its social media presence in the United Kingdom.

Carrying a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), Avis Budget is a leading vehicle rental company in North America, Australia and New Zealand. Moreover, a formidable network of more than 10,000 rental locations and 350,000 vehicles enables the company to maintain its well-established position in a highly competitive vehicle rental industry.

Avis Budget, which competes with Hertz Global Holdings Inc. HTZ, follows a core global strategy of collaborating with leading travel brands to expand its customer reach while creating additional demand. In one such move, Avis Budget successfully acquired the world's leading car sharing network company, Zipcar Inc., in Mar 2013.

However, soem better-ranked stocks in the business services industry include ExamWorks Group Inc. EXAM with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and InnerWorkings Inc. INWK carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).