Toyota recently announced the Camry Effect, a social media marketing campaign aimed at evoking an emotional connection between Camry owners and the company.

Toyota will focus heavily on social media marketing as part of its campaigns trumpeting its 2012 Camry, the company announced in a release.

The initiative is called the Camry Effect, which provides a custom platform for owners to share memories related to their vehicles. While the conversation begins on the company’s website, Toyota encourages Camry owners to tweet their memories via a sharing button the Toyota website. Owners can also share the content they create on Facebook and track the attention it receives from friends and other contacts.

Social media marketing campaigns have become successful due to the brand accessibility they offer potential customers, and this a social marketing lesson companies across industries can learn from.

“We recognized the need to give Americans a smart, safe and worry-free vehicle they can rely on, and our marketing campaign communicates this message,” Bill Fay, group vice president of marketing for Toyota, said in a release.

Allowing owners to share their thoughts on the Camry will likely compel them to consider a Camry when they make their next car purchase – and perhaps it will drive their non-Camry-owner friends to do the same.

Social media marketing’s impact on the automotive industry has been well documented in recent weeks. Brafton reported on Monday that a survey conducted by BlogHer found women have been especially aggressive in their use of social media content when considering a new car.

Joe Meloni is Brafton's former Executive News and Content Writer. He studied journalism at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and has written for a number of print and web-based publications.