Dealerfire Blog

Overlooking the Easy Ones...

I'm often asked by clients to eternal question, "How do I drive more traffic to my website?". Now as a Internet Services vendor you might think my first response would be "Spend more money on you Internet marketing, I'll fax over a contract for you ASAP." but it is not, that's the second answer. The first one is that they not forget their traditional TV/Radio/Print advertising and how it affects consumers. Make sure that your website address is prominently displayed in your print/TV ads and is well mentioned in your radio. Most people are NOT going to see/hear these ads and go directly to your showroom in person. That was the old way, 80% of new car shoppers and almost as many used car shoppers start their search for a vehicle on the Internet. Your traditional advertising gives you the opportunity to "plant" in the consumers mind the information they need to find your website. Visiting your website could be the call to action of your traditional ads, "Visit dealerwebsite.com now and search all our inventory from the comfort of your home. You can request quotes, schedule test drives and research price, all at dealerwebsite.com Etc....". It's what Auto Trader, Car Soup and the like do. Once you've got that in place, then we'll fax over the contract for more Internet marketing to scoop all the extra traffic.

Update for "I have returned bearing gifts..."

My gift/tip on updating your business directory via one location has been slightly spoiled by an "internal server configuration" error at InfoUSA's website, thanks Michael for pointing it out. I chatted with InfoUSA's live help on the site and they were actually helpful. They gave me a number for the Data compilation Dept which I promptly called to see what could be done to remedy the error. I talked to a gentleman named Larry who couldn't help with the server issue but did give me an email address that you can use to update/change your business listing. Just send them an email with a blank subject line containing the information you would like changed/updated and they'll take care of it. The email address is contentfeedback-at-infousa.com. The server error hopefully should be fixed shortly so bookmark the link for future reference and add the email address to your contacts as a backup. Hmmm....maybe it was the 100's of thousands of my blog readers trying to use the link at once that caused the problem.

I have returned bearing gifts...

I apologize for my absence and many thanks to those who emailed me about when I would post to the blog again. I have been busy with some new clients and had a mild case of writers block. The new client has been setup and is now running smoothly. The writers block has been overcome with a stronger flavor of coffee, and the rumors floating around the office/internet that it also contains Tanqueray Gin are completely false.
Now down to business...As mentioned in the title of this post, I have a gift or more to the point a tip.
A quick and fairly easy way to make sure your dealership is showing up in online business directories and to make sure that the information is correct. Instead of tracking down every possible online business directory and filling out numerous forms, you can follow the link I'll paste below and fill out one form. I found this link while digging through Yahoo's Yellopages verifying business info for our clients. The link is to InfoUSA, who provide the bulk of data and listings for online directories. They also provide business data for in-car navigation systems as well. So follow this link and update your information in one spot, http://dbupdate.infousa.com/dbupdate/index.html

A New Approach for Auto Dealers.....Just Think About It.

The BrandingStrategyInsider.com blog has a very interesting post on the issues facing Auto Dealers. It has some unique suggestions such as hiring non-car sales people, senior citizens and more women as sales people to help build the customer relationship/brand aspect. I know...some of this stuff may seem a little out there for the avg. dealer but it has have worked for the rest of the marketplace since dirt touched dinosaurs. So read it over...and just think about it.

Adapting is Survival Skill #1

    Things change in business, new technology enters the market place and brings along a whole new dictionary of terms. Either you adapt to the new reality or your business and/or job go to the ones that do adapt. The new reality for auto dealerships is that the big three of Print, Radio and TV are fading fast as dominant means of advertising. Digital, online advertising is gaining ground at their expense. If you’re not asking “Are we spending enough in Internet advertising?” at each budget meeting then you are not adapting. Most dealers are doing the website, SEM, SEO, ILM combo but that is just the tip of the iceberg. There’s mobile, contextual, and behavioral along with numerous others that are available to the dealer looking to move up the sales chart.

 The key to gaining an understanding new technology is coming to grips with the terms or lingo it uses. Let’s start with the one central to most dealers’ online marketing, SEM and SEO.

SEM – Search Engine Marketing: This one can vary in meaning depending on the author. The strictest meaning is paying for links at the top and right hand side of results page. SEM can also be used to describe a wider array of services which include the use of graphic ads in search engines that allow them, such as Google, and SEO.

SEO - Search Engine Optimization: This can be a stand alone service or once again as part of overall SEM. It goes more toward the design of the website. SEO uses certain techniques to make sure your site is at the top of the search engine results page (SERP), just below the paid ads at the top. The ideal situation is to have your paid ad and your natural/organic listing both at or the top of the first page.

Natural/Organic Search Results: These are the non-paid search results. If you go to your favorite search engine, type in some keywords and hit search. The results, other than paid ads, are called either natural or organic search results.

Keyword Campaign: The core of Google, Yahoo and MSN’s ad models. The advertiser selects a group of keywords, then bids to be displayed when people search for those keywords. The payment method for this PPC.

PPC- Pay-Per-Click: Payment model where the advertiser only pays when someone clicks on their ad.

Geo-Targeting: Geo-targeting lets you target your ads to specific countries, states, cities and languages. When you create a new campaign, you select the regions and that campaign's ads will appear only to users who live in the areas.

Landing Page:  An active webpage where customers will 'land' when they click your ad.

These are just an extremely small sampling of the terms involved in online marketing. If they seem basic to you, then congratulations, you are on your way to success. If these terms are new to you and you are worried about your survival, then here is a great place start increasing your odds for survival.

And on with the Branding...or Not

Usually the subject of branding for auto dealers is a great way to get a look at the back of their head as they walk away from you. Well a blog post may be a good way to broach that subject since I can't seem them from here. I've included a link to hlfbrandtailers.com where you can find several articles on dealer branding that have appeared in such publications as Wards Dealer Business Magazine. Their Chief Creative Officer Scott Montgomery has also written a great article on how branding can help a dealer break from the pack. The article appears in the June 2007 issue of Dealer Marketing Magazine. I earnestly believe that the internet offers dealers a great, cost effective and targeted way to start building a brand with out leaving the techniques they are familiar with behind, yet. You can keep pounding away with the Zero Percent in your traditional media ads and use display, rich media and video to start the branding process. Well as promised here is the link, enjoy.

To Brand or Not To Brand

I found this very interesting discussion about Dealership branding at BrandingStrategyInsider.com. Auto dealers are compared to the Titanic and the iceberg is the internet or selling to women, I'm not quite sure which. Read for yourself here.

Will You be Left Behind?

I've had this one bookmarked for awhile and decided to bring it out today, it is posted on Automotivedigest.com.The highlights were sourced from Automotive News and The Auto Channel with additional input from Nielson Global AdView and Google. Some of the more interest points are copied below.
"..

2.  Google research shows consumers spending significantly less time on vehicle buying decisions

3.  2 months or less now spent on decision, compared w/ 6 months in past

4.  Dealership visits during shopping process cut from 6 to 1 or 2

5.  About 40% of respondents interviewed in CarsOnline survey said expected dealers to answer request for quote via email in 4 hours or less ..."

One or two visits and a 4 hour turnaround, you're either quick or you're behind on your quota for the month. Adrian Joseph, head of Automotive Practice at Google's London office, make a pretty straight pronouncement regarding manufacturers and the big dealership.

"Consumers have moved on in the way they research and buy cars and auto-related products. But I don't think the manufacturers and the big dealer groups have fully understood the size of this shift and/or reacted to it in a way which drives true brand engagement in the digital world."

What to you think? Are dealers and manufacturers in tune with buyers in 2007 or are they still selling like it's 1999. Read the rest of the points at Automotivedigest.com.

Update on Internet Radio Advertising

Spoke with a sales rep from Radioio.com yesterday about their advertising. They emailed me some audience stats which looked pretty good. Here's a snippet...

• 63% of listeners owns residence
• Average Time Spent Listening per listener is 240 minutes(4 hrs)

While they have a national audience, the largest blocks of listeners are in California and New York. While this would rule out most dealers, a large franchise dealer in California could certainly benefit. The 240 minutes of TSL would have them saying your auto group name in their sleep. Radioio.com is also in the process updating their geo-targeting system to provide more detailed stats on listener locations.

Google and Automobile Dealers

I found some Google supplied marketing material which is auto dealer specific in the Dealerfire archives. While it is a little old, it is still relevant. I've posted an excerpt of the material below...

• 3 out of 4 online consumers looking for an automobile dealer use a search engine to find that dealer (Insight Express Study for Google, 2003).
• More than 50% of all automotive searches on the web are now conducted on the Google ad network (StatMarket 2004).
• The Google network reaches over 80% of all Internet users every month (Media Metrix, December 2004).
• Google attracts more 2-year intenders than any auto site and ranks second in reach to 6-month intenders (Source: Allison Fisher Research, 2003)