The Oscars are this Sunday, and as the Academy prepares to select the Best Picture, it falls to us in the automotive community to select another equally fabulous award:The Automotive Oscar, aka "best movie use of cars." This most coveted award is sure to inspire great controversy, and it's up to you, the brave readers of this article, to decide who should take home the automotive gold. The Oscar 2012 movies are full of vehicular visuals, from country romps to high-speed car chases and even time travel. Let's take a look and see which sweet ride you think is worthy of taking home the trophy for "Best Movie Car." Nominee One: "The Help." This Civil Rights centered film set in 1962 Jackson, Mississippi is a classic car candy store. In addition to a dream team of A-list actors, vintage vehicles play a starring role in the film. In fact, many classic car enthusiasts have applauded this movie's devout dedication to accurate vehicle depictions. And the nominee categories are: Best Car S...

 

Automotive websites need to offer a universal shopping experience Paul Nagy, Vice President of Core Products at ADP Digital Marketing In 2011, a sexy dealer website is one that offers prospective customers a quality shopping experience wherever they are, however they’re shopping. “Today’s dealer website has to be sophisticated enough to support the new gadget mentality,” Paul Nagy, Vice President of Core Products for ADP Digital Marketing explained. “We all know more and more consumers are shopping on their smartphones and their tablets. What we need to think about is not the technology, but its implications. Gadget shoppers are shopping on the go. They’re in the car, they’re waiting at the doctor’s office, and they’re hanging out at the mall. How can a dealer’s site cater to those particular needs?” According to Andy Largent, Senior Product Manager at ADP Digital Marketing, it’s all about cr...

  On Friday, ADP Digital Marketing/Cobalt won a 2011 Pinnacle Award at the Automotive Website Awards (AWA) hosted by PCG Marketing at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. The Pinnacle Award is the highest recognition possible, according to PCG President Brian Pasch. Pasch stated, “Pinnacle Platform winners deliver outstanding digital marketing platforms for car dealers and show an unprecedented attention to detail in live production.” Pasch elaborated on the dramatic enhancements to ADP Digital Marketing/Cobalt’s digital solution in the printed awards book, saying, “The biggest surprise of this year is the improvements delivered by the new ADP|Cobalt website platform. The design and engineering team at ADP|Cobalt made a strong investment in their website platform that we recognize and reward with their inclusion in the search marketing award list. The ADP|Cobalt digital marketing platform is rapidly expanding and includes products and services th...

Welcome to the final chapter in our sexy dealer website series.  The final quality of a sexy dealer website is that it makes online shopping as real and dimensional as the experience on a showroom floor. “Think Avatar,” Paul Nagy, Vice President of Core Products at ADP Digital Marketing said. “Think about something so rich and dimensional, the consumer could almost reach out and touch it. That’s the goal. That’s where we’re headed.” Sexy Dealer Website Checklist • In-Depth Inventory. To offer that rich consumer experience, exploit your user inventory showcase to your fullest advantage. “Don’t just put up a few perfunctory images and call it a day,” Andy Largent, Senior Product Manager at ADP Digital Marketing advises. “Get intentional about creating an immersive experience. Incorporate multiple views of each vehicle and ensure a quote request form is always displayed so consumers can take that next step...

Does this conversation sound familiar? Bob: “Hey Joe, it’s GREAT to talk to you. How are you on this OUTSTANDING day? How is the weather where you are, old buddy?” Joe: “It’s hot and humid here, thanks for asking. How is the weather in Kansas?” Six months later. Bob: Also hot. How to Ensure Your Dealership Social Media Program is a Huge Waste of Time Of course, this conversation doesn’t sound at all familiar. It’s absurd. Unfortunately, the scenario I’ve just described paints an exact picture of a common social media problem. It’s what I like to call the “popcorn approach” to social media, and its killing many dealership social media programs in their tracks. The popcorn approach goes something like this: The social media program is announced. Accounts are created. Everyone starts off hot and heavy, posting up a storm to all their new best friends for life. Two months, two weeks, even two days...

60 Ways to Upgrade Your Dealership’s Customer Experience Be honest: how many errands have you bailed on because you were cold, hot, hungry, bored, or in need of a restroom? Now turn the tables: how many “little things” in your dealership have caused you to lose a customer? Whether the person left because there was no toilet paper in the bathroom and they were too embarrassed to ask for more, or because they couldn’t get cell reception and wanted to take an important call, it only takes a little discomfort to send a potential customer out the door. So here’s the challenge: we dare you to incorporate all 60 of these dealership improvement efforts into your store in the next month. Post in the comments and let us know which ones you’ve incorporated, and also chime in with your own ideas for improvement. 1.     Make name tags mandatory for every employee (real names or fun nicknames) 2.     SNUGGIES. Keep...

Digital Automotive Marketing Maxim #2: Place First in the Fingertips Race A sexy dealer website means serving the customer the right page at the right time. To avoid, “fingertip fatigue,” minimize the number of clicks it takes for the consumer to reach their desired content. A rockstar site isn’t just about delivering the content that’s most aligned  with the customer’s desires-all your competitors are doing that. Relevance means delivering it in the least amount of time.  “ Relevance is all about making that quick  match between the customer’s goal and what your online experience delivers,” Paul Nagy, Vice President of Core Products said. “If a consumer searches for “Mazda oil change Seattle,” don’t settle for having them land on the home page and then click-through. Maximize your chance of conversion by having them land on the best-match page, the Services page, by optimizing that page for thos...

The New Digital Automotive Marketing Strategy Gets Bold About Branding In 2011, a sexy dealer website means creating a stand-up-and-take-notice brand. “It’s time to smash the cookie cutter,” Andy Largent, Product Manager at ADP Digital Marketing said. “To do that, you need to think beyond the brand foundation provided by your OEM, think outside what your neighbor dealer is doing. Be clear about why consumers should want to do business with you and really get creative about taking every opportunity to get that message out.” Sexy Dealer Website Checklist Get competitive. In order to represent your brand, it’s time to get the lay of the land. Google your top three competitors and read over their sites. What do you have that they don’t? If they emphasize speedy service, emphasize your outstanding selection. If they plug their low prices, emphasize your spectacular customer service. A sexy dealer website is one that stands out from the pa...

Paul Nagy, Vice President of Core Products at ADP Digital Marketing It’s 2011; is your dealer website holding its own? Everywhere you turn in the digital automotive marketing world, technology is evolving at a rapid clip. Search engines are going social. Flash is facing new challengers.Tablets are trendy. Mobile is a must. Tastemakers are chomping for quick-loading sites that look slick and perform even better. How does a dealer keep up? For many, it will mean that age-old New Year adage: out with the old, in with the new. But you won’t have to do it alone. Automotive digital experts Andy Largent and Paul Nagy are here to help you “bring sexy back” to your dealer website with this compelling five-part series on modern website must-haves. What does a sexy dealer website look like in 2011? According to Paul Nagy, Vice President of Core Products at ADP Digital Marketing, the answer is a mix of old and new. “As always, a sexy dealer website is o...

“May I have your attention, please: the Internet has not replaced the telephone. I repeat: the Internet has not replaced the telephone.” In the frenzy of the automotive digital marketing land grab, have you let flashing animated banners dazzle you? Has the faithful jingle of the dealership phone become a pesky buzz in your ear? If you’ve answered ‘yes’ to both questions, you’ve missed the boat. Don’t worry, though; here comes the life raft! Digital automotive marketing doesn’t replace phone leads. Digital automotive marketing CREATES phone leads. In fact, our own Cobalt research shows that over the past year, phone calls have actually outpaced email leads in a dramatic fashion. Our research shows that in March of 2010, there were approximately 7 phone calls for every 2 e-mail leads.  In March of 2011, that ratio jumped to almost 10 phone calls for every 2 e-mail leads. Now, let’s be clear: these statistics don&rsq...

  Get an “Integration Revelation” For Effortless Revenue Like bowling lanes and Bengal tigers, no two dealerships are alike. What they all have in common is that-if they’re doing it right-they’re busy as hell. That’s why an integrated digital marketing solution is a must for every one of today’s dealerships, bar none. Integrated solutions-package deals of digital marketing services-are the wave of the future in automotive marketing, yet some dealers remain unconvinced. Here are three reasons why integrated solutions are a must for on-the-go dealers. Three Reasons to Integrate A.S.A.P 1) The nature of digital advertising is increasingly “a rising tide lifts all boats.” Actions launched in unison will naturally weave together. An integrated solution provides a comprehensive strategy that will ultimately pack much more punch than investing in single, one-off efforts like just investing in SEO, or just investing in SEM. Inv...

Dealers: Don’t Count on “Fuel Additives” to Power Your Reputation Management By now, we’ve all heard about the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’S) landmark smackdown: the FTC fined Legacy Learning Systems $250,000 for unethical review practices. For the Tennessee-based company, the unethical behavior consisted of putting some “fuel additives” into their sales process by hiring marketers, disguised as customers, to plaster consumer review sites with comments about “the best home-study DVD course for guitar I have ever seen.” What a fantastic idea (NOT!!!). Sales revenues rose up into the millions, the FTC smelled something fishy, investigated, and the rest is history. Now, companies everywhere are clutching their collective hats, hoping and praying their own reputation management process is above- board. And really, who can blame them? Dealership Reputation Management: The Race for Stars After all, although Legacy Lear...

What if people were willing to fly from Brazil for your next dealership promotion? What if they were willing to wake up at 4 a.m., hire a professional “line-waiter,” or pay $900 for a first spot in line at your store? Yes, we’re talking about the launch of the iPad 2-and the opportunity vehicle launches present for automotive professionals. A Balance of Pride and Profit Many dealers are rightfully proud of the local brand they have created – this is an investment that pays back throughout the year. However, there are times when the most effective marketing strategy is simply to ride the coattails of the many millions your OEM is spending to create buzz and interest for their new product. By studying Apple’s marketing strategy, it becomes obvious that dealers can emulate this flagship brand to create similar salivating demand for their own inventory. The Most Important Product in the World Much like Apple stores, car dealers are all selling basica...

A Car Dealer Call to Arms Imagine a world where car dealers earned the same community respect as fire fighters, police officers and other local philanthropists. A world where little kids dream of being car dealers when they grow up, where you receive recognition in your local paper, where community members stop by your place of business just to chat. Maybe this is already happening at your dealership, but if so, you’re the exception rather than the rule. Why is that? Will the Perception Catch Up with Positive Industry Changes? After all, the industry has consistently marched in the right direction with a focus on professionalism, transparency and customer service.  With the advent of Monroney stickers, Regulation Z, and Certified Pre-owned vehicles, dealerships have certainly become more ethical than the days filled with stories of throwing a prospect’s keys on the roof if they wouldn’t buy a car. So why is the perception still there? Frankly, it&r...

Column: The Automotive Marketing Infobahn with Volker Jaekel Three German Proverbs for Three Common Automotive Marketing Scenarios Volker Jaekel, Digital Marketing Ambassador for ADP Digital Marketing As a German “elder” of the automotive industry, I decided to use my beloved German proverbs to illustrate common scenarios auto industry Internet Managers know all too well. By the end of this article, you may not be fluent in German, but hopefully you will at least have the chance to chuckle, nod, or smile in recognition of a classic industry situation. 1. Das Eisen schmieden, solange es heiß ist. This one may be familiar to you Americans. It translates to “Strike while the iron is hot.”  Let me catapult myself back in time. It is 2001, a younger VJ (then with no gray hair) worked as a BMW and Mercedes Benz salesman in Michigan. At this time, our dealership was confronted with an intruder of a special kind, and every salesperson wan...

How to Optimize your Dealer Website in Five Minutes a Day John Goad is the SEO Quality and Process Manager for ADP Digital Marketing We won’t mince words: If you’re a dealer still dragging your feet about keyword optimization, it’s time to jump in the game. In fact, a recent study from AutoTrader.com (you’ve heard of them, right?) just confirmed that shopping for automobiles online is less of a passing trend and more of a permanent reality. The study revealed that 71% of consumers use the Internet while shopping for new and used vehicles, more than double any other information source. It also reaffirms the importance of search engines, saying, “Search engines are…commonly used during the vehicle shopping process, with Google being by far the most prevalent. New and used vehicle buyers who visited a dealer site arrive at the site via search.” Satisfied? Good. Now since we know that keyword optimization is not the average dealer&rs...

  When it comes to Super Bowl advertising, auto marketing expert Max Steckler has one piece of advice for auto dealers: don’t forget about breakfast. What does he mean? “The Super Bowl is the dance,” Steckler, Vice President of Advertising Products for ADP Digital Marketing, explains. “That’s where the courtship between advertisers and consumers begin.  It’s a whirlwind, and it’s incredibly exciting. But what about after the excitement of the event fades? The one who’s actually going to win that customer relationship is the dealer who thinks about breakfast the morning after.” Breakfast, in this case, is the retargeting campaign that displays your ads across consumers’ favorite websites long after the dust from The Big Game has settled. “The day after is just as important as the day itself,” Steckler says. “You want to be continuing to reinforce the national ad message so you can draw...

According to comScore, Inc., 63.2 million people accessed news and information on their mobile devices in January 2009, and 22.4 million (35%) did so daily, more than double the size of the audience last year. 
In a statement earlier this year, Mark Donovan, senior vice president, mobile, comScore, said “[The] use of mobile Internet has evolved from an occasional activity to being a daily part of people's lives. This underscores the growing importance of the mobile medium to access time-sensitive and utilitarian information."  
According to the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), nearly 15% of all U.S. households were wireless-only in 2007. In addition, wireless-only adults made up 13.7% of the population. The NCHS is still calculating data for 2008, but, wireless-only households were up to 17.5% of the total in the first half of the year, and adults using only mobiles crept up to 16.1% during the same time period.
 
How Mobile Works 
Wh...

(This post is based on an article I wrote for Dealer Marketing Magazine's March 2009 issue.)
In working with thousands of dealers, delivering tens of thousands of leads, and studying 1,000 calls to dealers from used car prospects, we came up with some key findings that will help dealers optimize their success with phone leads.
Our research found that nearly half - 43% - of the callers from our study actually purchased a vehicle within two weeks of making the phone call. And according to Cobalt’s 2007 Dealer e-Business Performance Study, most shoppers want to know two simple things: “Is the car still available?” and “How much is it?” Dealers who have a good follow-up process, including answering their prospect’s basic questions, will have good odds of selling the car, and doing so quickly.
 Three Key Things to Do to Optimize Your Phone Leads
1.      Ask for the appointment. In the calls we reviewed, 72% of the deale...

The following is from an article Paul Nagy - Cobalt's VP of Core Products - wrote for Dealer Marketing Magazine's April 2009 issue.
As dealers continue to transition from traditional advertising to internet-based media, they need dynamic content to increase time spent on their website and help persuade prospective consumers to contact the dealership. 
The new trends in Video and rich media content placement have proven to increase visitor-to-purchase rates in the online retailing industry.  Many retailers have reported that when they add rich media to their site, increased conversion follows.  Online video advertising viewership is on the rise. It is expected that online video advertising viewers will increase from 129.5 million in 2008 to more than 164 million in 2011, according to eMarketer.
A new study from The Kelsey Group, 59% of auto dealers say they plan to use Internet video on their own websites during the next 12 months, up from the current 33 percent using ...

The following is based on an article I wrote for the March 2009 issue of Fixed Ops Magazine.

The Fixed Operations staff has many challenges not very different than today’s floor salesperson.  They have the same goals of building their business “funnel” to create a continuous revenue stream. They also face the challenge of maintaining relationships with previous and current customers to ensure repeat business and referral business.

Here we discuss three key ways for your Fixed Ops organization to survive and thrive in a tough economy: 

Optimize your website
You must be optimizing your website to drive traffic to both sales and service within your dealership. All marketing and sales efforts should be directing traffic to your website, including offline ads, online coupons, etc. Promote your site and tools like your website’s “Schedule a Service Appointment” through your display, e-mail and search marketing.  

If you h...