As Google continues to glean display advertising expertise through their acquisition of DoubleClick, the hits just keep on coming… Google has added several MORE new features to the Google AdWords display ad builder recently launched in September 2008. Dealers and their Managers can use these new capabilities to easily create and self-administer their website targeted display advertising placements… Google says that there most recent upgrades to the Adwords display ad creator application are based on user feedback, but I personally suspect some of the DoubleClick gang at work. Google has increased functionality in a way that provides greater dealer customization capabilities and even makes building website display ads easier.

 

For example, the new image picker feature lets dealers choose from a library of previously uploaded images, such as dealership and brand logos, when creating new ads. I especially like the real-time editing display that lets users see ad copy and text, along with any other custom edits without having to repeatedly click the "update preview" button.

 

The Google Adwords display ad builder updates give dealers a quicker way of seeing the various sizes the ad can run in each ad template without having to complete the ad creation process. There is a preview mode that provides a view of how customization choices affect each size. The tool also offers additional website display advertising templates. Dealers can get started right away with website and geotargeted local display advertising by entering their offer or promotional text, uploading vehicle images, brand badges and dealership logos. Dealers can then select their favorite ad format from more than 40 professionally designed display advertising templates.

 

In fact, these new Google Adwords display advertising capabilities make it exceptionally easy to quickly create ads with different offers and then run A-B testing to see which offer has more appeal to car buyers by simply comparing click-through rates from the same websites. One of the more enlightening insights I was able to see in a matter of one week was that some offers that work better on certain types of websites, actually underperform on other sites. For example, special lease offers seem to work well on financial news sites, whereas an offer for free upgrade to 22" Wheels and low profile tires out-pulled the lease payment offer on enthusiast sites.

All of this brings to the forefront another advantage of digital advertising versus offline advertising… The ability to target the right message to the right audience at the right time in their online research process.

 

You can see Google’s own step-by-step process for creating, distributing and tracking online display advertisements at the following site: http://www.google.com/adwords/displayadbuilder/

 

Google Display Advertising How-To Video

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcMPRU0b24E&eurl=http://www.automotivedigitalmarketing.com/profiles/blogs/google-adwords-launches-new&feature=player_embedded

Technorati Tags: Adwords, automotive digital advertising, Dealer Advertising, Digital Advertising, Display Advertising, Google, Ralph Paglia

Video has become the new Eye Candy of the web… Car buyers are attracted to it and many dealers have leveraged low cost or free video distribution sites to their business advantage… Let’s take a look at how some of these sites stack up.

Many Automotive Digital Marketing professionals have asked me "How do I get started with using Video to attract customers?"… There are a lot of ways to leverage the car buying public’s seemingly insatiable appetite for online video clips. Certainly the whole industry has by now been pitched on using video clips created by vendors like Unity Works Media and SiSTer Technology from your used vehicle images sent in by DealerSpecialties or CDM Data or any one of several used and new vehicle photo taking services… However, what about the kinds of videos that the Jeff Wyler Family of Dealerships uses to enhance communications with customers? Or, how about what Alvin Newton does with his team at Courtesy Chevrolet in San Diego?

Both of those innovative dealership teams have used fairly low cost technology in the form of a video recorder, which can be bought from as low as $199 plus tax. Now, I am not saying that everyone can become the Francis Ford Coppolla of dealership videos, but it does not take graduating from UCLA Film School to record a compelling message that connects with car buyers on a much more emotional and heartfelt level than the terse unemotional use of text in an email. What many of these dealers have discovered is that when car buyers watch your homemade video clip where you are personally addressing them and their needs, the development of a relationship between the people working in the dealership and the person shopping for a car online is greatly accelerated… And, as most of us know, when your relationship with a prospective car buyer grows… Kapoweee! You just sold a car!!!

So… How do you get started. Well, first of all, get yourself a video recorder and start having some fun with it. Make some videos that you can use to start building your library of video assets. I personally love the way that Kevin Frye and his team at the Jeff Wyler Automotive Family, and a few other dealers, have used videos that address issues like:
- We’ve been trying to reach you by phone, please give us a call
- Thank you for buying a car from us, and we would like to get some referrals
- Thank you for sending us your inquiry, we are working on getting your information right now
- There’s nothing quite like taking an actual test drive to really learn if the vehicle is right for you
- Are you still in the market for a new vehicle?

Once you have some video clips stored on your PC, you are ready to put them online… But, where do you put them? There are dozens of video hosting and file sharing sites to choose from. YouTube is probably the most famous, and is one of the best for people to just come across your video and find it by accident. But, if you are going to be proactively pushing your video clips out to customers, then you should take a look at a few other video sites and their potential for making it real easy to email video clips and plug them into blogs, social networks and your own dealership websites as well. When I was researching all these video hosting sites, I came across an evaluation of them from a purely user perspective. How well do they work? Are they easy to use? Do they let me email videos to my clients and customers? All these and many, many other qualities were evaluated and the list below was created to showcase the ten best video hosting sites at the time. This list makes a great place to start, and all things being equal, the more sites you upload your video clips to, the greater the liklihood of them being discovered and becoming a "viral marketing" phenomeno! Who knows, maybe YOU really are the Francis Ford Coppolla of dealership video clips, and you just need to be discovered!

Video-Sharing Sites Comparison based on technical competence, video resolution quality, storage capacity, ability to distribute and share, as well as other features related to the service and not related to how popular they are…

1. Blip.tv - http://www.blip.tv/
2. DivX Stage6 Beta - http://stage6.divx.com/
3. Brightcove (Personal) - http://www.brightcove.com/
4. Revver - http://www.revver.com/
5. Veoh - http://www.veoh.com/
6. MSN Video - http://soapbox.msn.com/
7. YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/
8. Vimeo - http://www.vimeo.com/
9. Jumpcut Beta - http://www.jumpcut.com/
10. MySpaceTV Beta - http://vids.myspace.com/

Listed below are evaluation rating summaries and a few notes on highlights of the features offered by each of these 10 video hosting sites used to determine the above rankings… Each image of their logos is linked to the video hosting site and opens their home pages up in a new browser window for you. I wanted this blog posting to be something you might want to bookmark because it gives you single click access to 10 of the most popular video sites. This could be used to quickly upload a dealership veido to all 10 hosting services from a single jump page, this one!

1. Blip.tv

 

• Price when rated: Free

 

• Video/Audio quality: Superior/Very Good

 

• Ease of upload: Very Good

 

• Embedded player design: Very Good

 

• File size/length limits: 100MB/none

 

Web video connoisseurs will like Blip.tv?s superior video feed quality and optional revenue sharing.

 

2. DivX Stage6 Beta

 

• Price when rated: Free

 

• Video/Audio quality: Very Good/Very Good

 

• Ease of upload: Good

 

• Embedded player design: Superior

 

• File size/length limits: 2GB/none

 

Though its use involves a few extra steps, Stage6 supports high-def video and has a well-designed Web video player.

 

3. Brightcove (Personal)

 

• Price when rated: Free

 

• Video/Audio quality: Good/Very Good

 

• Ease of upload: Very Good

 

• Embedded player design: Superior

 

• File size/length limits: 100MB/none

 

Brightcove provides professional video management tools and a variety of revenue-sharing programs beyond opt-in advertising.

 

4. Revver

 

• Price when rated: Free

 

• Video/Audio quality: Good/Very Good

 

• Ease of upload: Very Good

 

• Embedded player design: Superior

 

• File size/length limits: 100MB/none

 

Using Revver is one of the easiest ways to make money from your video content. Its compact QuickTime files look better than its Flash conversions.

 

5. Veoh

 

• Price when rated: Free

 

• Video/Audio quality: Good/Very Good

 

• Ease of upload: Very Good

 

• Embedded player design: Very Good

 

• File size/length limits: none

 

Veoh impressed with a large and easy-to-use embedded player and its useful VeohTV desktop software.

 

6. Microsoft Soapbox on MSN Video

 

• Price when rated: Free

 

• Video/Audio quality: Good/Very Good

 

• Ease of upload: Very Good

 

• Embedded player design: Very Good

 

• File size/length limits: 100MB/none

 

Well designed and syncs with MSN Messenger. Unlike rival embedded video players, it has no full-screen mode.

7. YouTube

 

• Price when rated: Free

 

• Video/Audio quality: Fair/Very Good

 

• Ease of upload: Very Good

 

• Embedded player design: Good

 

• File size/length limits: 100MB/10 min.

 

Its video quality isn?t the greatest, but YouTube can’t be beat for drawing the widest possible audience.

 

8. Vimeo

 

• Price when rated: Free

 

• Video/Audio quality: Good /Very Good

 

• Ease of upload: Very Good

 

• Embedded player design: Very Good

 

• File size/length limits: 250MB/none

 

Easy-to-use Vimeo lets you make your original file–sized up to 250MB–available for download along with a streaming Flash version. Unfortunately, 250MB is also your weekly upload limit.

 

9. Jumpcut

 

• Price when rated: Free

 

• Video/Audio quality: Good/Very Good

 

• Ease of upload: Very Good

 

• Embedded player design: Good

 

• File size/length limits: 100MB/none

 

Uniquely remix- oriented, Jumpcut makes it fun to mash up videos, music, and photos from yourself or others.

10. MySpaceTV

 

• Price when rated: Free

 

• Video/Audio quality: Good/Very Good

 

• Ease of upload: Very Good

 

• Embedded player design: Good

 

• File size/length limits: 100MB/none

 

Best for those seeking video uploads to their MySpace blog or profile without the need for other sites. Others are better served elsewhere.

Dealers can enhance their Digital Marketing activities, build a better connection with their customers and sell more cars without spending more money!

 

 

Technorati Tags: Evaluated, Video Distribution, Video Hosting, Video Hosting sites Ranked, Video Sharing, Video Sites

 

NADA Supports Tax Break for Auto Buyers, Offers Dealer Hotline November 13, 2008 - Sen. Mikulski Introduces Tax Deduction Bill to Put Economy ‘Back on its Wheels’

WASHINGTON (Nov. 12, 2008) – The National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) supports proposed legislation announced today by U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., which seeks to stimulate the struggling economy by boosting retail automobile sales.

Today at a suburban Maryland dealership, Sen. Mikulski proposed granting a tax incentive for consumers who purchase a new car or truck. New vehicle owners would be able to temporarily deduct sales and excise taxes as well as interest on auto loans from their income taxes. (View the arguments in favor of tax incentives for car buyers from Sen. Mikulski).

“Credit is available again but lagging consumer confidence is still depressing new car and truck sales 25-30 percent,” NADA Chairman Annette Sykora said. “Now is the time for Congress and the White House to implement a stimulus package that is focused on ‘Main Street.’”

Sykora, a dealer from Lubbock, Texas, noted that since auto sales make up almost one-fifth of the nation’s retail economy, a boost in new vehicle sales would create a wave of economic activity, which would be felt through every level of the economy, from Main Street to the factory floor. (Read Sykora’s full remarks here.)

"Congress and the President must consider leveraging the incredible economic engine of the automobile industry to jump-start our shaky economy," added Sykora.

The "Auto Ownership Tax Assistance Amendment" would make interest payments on car loans temporarily tax deductible for the remainder of 2008 through the end of 2009. Congressional leaders have indicated that consideration of a post-election stimulus package is possible to provide emergency assistance to the struggling auto industry. Prior to the 1986 tax reforms, taxpayers were able to deduct auto, credit card and other types of debt from their annual tax bill.

Additionally, NADA suggested a "cash for clunkers" program to create an economic and environmental benefit by getting older model vehicles off the road permanently. Up and successfully running in several states, the initiative offers cash incentives for people to trade in older vehicles and purchase new cleaner and more fuel-efficient cars and trucks.

"With great deals and incentives on vehicles, credit is available for consumers through a network of local banks and with some of the highest quality and fuel-efficient vehicles available ever, we just need to give the consumer the motivation and the confidence to visit their local dealership to see that a new car purchase is in reach," Sykora added.

NADA, founded in 1917 and based in McLean, Va., represents about 20,000 new-car and -truck dealers, with nearly 43,000 separate franchises, domestic and import.

Contacts:

David Hyatt
Vice President
NADA Public Affairs
(703) 821-7120

Bailey Wood
NADA Legislative Affairs
(202) 547-5500
(202) 557-1674 (mobile)

 

 

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Technorati Tags: Auto Buyers, Automotive Professionals, Support NADA, Tax Breaks

Since this is my first blog posting to be published on DrivingSales.com, please let me introduce myself…

My name is Ralph Paglia and I joined the ADP Dealer Services Division, headquartered in Hoffman Estates, IL as their corporate  “Director – Digital Marketing” responsible for business development with OEM and National Accounts in April, 2007.  Prior to joining ADP, I was the Director of CRM and eBusiness Operations at Courtesy Chevrolet in Phoenix, AZ.  Courtesy Chevrolet’s Phoenix dealership is the largest total sales volume Chevrolet dealership in America… For the first 6 months after leaving Courtesy, I maintained an ongoing consulting relationship with Bill Gruwell, the owner of Courtesy Chevrolet and his sons Mark and Scott Gruwell.

I first became familiar with AskPatty.com while working for Courtesy Chevrolet in the Spring of 2006.  Since most of the people reading this blog posting have probably heard about AskPatty.com, I would like to have this posting reflect Courtesy Chevrolet’s experience with AskPatty.com while I was employed at Courtesy Chevrolet.  I would also like to comment on the lessons we learned and the ways we were able to get value from our participation in the AskPatty.com program.

When we initially signed up with Askpatty.com our motivation was to receive leads from women we anticipated would enquire about new and used vehicles through the AskPatty.com web site that was constructed for us at www.askpatty.com. Since we were the first dealer in a relatively large metropolitan area (Phoenix) to sign up for the program, we had several Internet Sales Specialists chomping at the bit to receive these leads.  Of course, we did not know then what we know today…

First of all, we were amazed that the people at AskPatty.com insisted that we train our staff and assign specific people to the AskPatty.com program.  We were initially put off by that whole approach as we were at that time a bunch of guys who thought “hey, we gives you da’ money and you gives us da’ car buyers… right?”. Well, we were initially mistaken as the program turns out to be a genuine and legitimate example of a group of people who mean what they say.  So, I went back to square one and hired a couple of women to be our AskPatty.com Internet Sales Specialists.  Now, I don’t have enough time in this posting to share all the stories around the women we hired and the trials and tribulations we went through as an organization that was traditionally dominated by testosterone fueled, mega-ego, high pressure car salesmen, but let it be known that for the first time in over 20 years of my automotive career, I turned to my wife for advice on what to do at work. 

My lovely bride happens to be a professor within the Women’s Studies program at Arizona State University (ASU), and is an accomplished feminist author… Her name is Dr. Elizabeth Archuleta.  Based on her guidance, I set up a separate area just off the showroom floor and then configured it with office cubicles and workstations for our AskPatty.com team of Internet Sales Specialists.  After taking the AskPatty.com required training, passing the tests, then setting up the “About Us” page at www.askpatty.com we were ready to get started… Katie, bar the doors!

What we soon learned is that AskPatty.com is not a third party lead provider, nor do they say that they are… What they are is an endorsement and certification provider.  Think of them as the Good Housekeeping seal of approval for a dealership that wants to serve the automotive needs of the female consumer.  Until we realized this value, we were under whelmed by the volume of leads we received directly from AskPatty.com, and we suspect that other dealers expecting them to be a lead source would discover the same thing.  Eventually, we figured it out… AskPatty.com is a franchise, a brand that we could use to market Courtesy Chevrolet as a “Female Friendly Dealership”.  But wait, there’s more…

Like many dealerships, we had traditionally not done a great job of hiring and retaining female sales professionals.  We discovered that the AskPatty.com program is a great way to attract, recruit, hire and train women sales professionals.  We did this within our Internet Sales Teams, but there is no reason why it would not work for the showroom sales teams as well.  And, to our delight we discovered that when we hire AskPatty.com Internet Sales Specialists, and then market this role using the internet, we started selling more cars to women car buyers than we had in the past.  Think about it, a whole new category of sales professionals selling new and used cars to customers who we previously missed because of the way we treated them… Sound like incremental business? 

Working with the truly exceptional management team at Courtesy Chevrolet, we were able to implement the use of AskPatty.com as a marketing campaign that was tied to a unique sales process executed by a dedicated team of women who truly believed in the concept of a female friendly car buying experience. Their passionate enthusiasm shows through to the customers.  Under Scott Gruwell’s leadership, the AskPatty.com Internet Sales Specialists helped us grow by over 30% during the second half of 2006 and going into 2007, becoming a key part of the store’s focus on maximizing sales volume through the use of niche marketing campaigns..  In 2006 Courtesy Chevrolet sold over 7,700 new Chevrolet cars and trucks, which was over 1,000 units ahead of the next closest Chevrolet dealer. Courtesy’s success in using the AskPatty.com franchise as part of their Digital Marketing strategy to grow sales worked exceptionally well for increasing used vehicle sales.  Courtesy’s total sales, not including wholesale, went over 11,000 vehicles in 2006.  Of those 11,000 sales, over 3,000 were used retail sales and over 4,000 of the 11,000+ total sales originated from Courtesy’s BDC and Internet Sales Teams, including our AskPatty.com female friendly sales professionals. 

The development of interactive marketing campaigns that make use of a dealership’s participation within the AskPatty.com female friendly car buying program combined with the implementation of multi-channel marketing strategies using a blend of new technologies and traditional media is a great way for dealers to capitalize on the AskPatty.com franchise.  Using the highly competitive and fast paced Phoenix market as a backdrop, we developed Digital Marketing practices around the AskPatty.com certification and branding that were successful and contributed to our overall success. Recognizing this, I was selected to receive the “Hardest Working Internet Sales Professional” award by the non-profit Association of Automotive Internet Sales Professionals (AAISP) for 2007.  

 

Ralph Paglia\
Director – Digital Marketing
ADP Dealer Services
Corporate Email: Ralph_Paglia@adp.com
Personal Email: RPaglia@GMail.com
Cell: (505) 301-6369

 

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Technorati Tags: AskPatty.com, franchise, women friendly car selling