A trend is developing in the used car industry: prices on used cars are up 30% since 2008 and they could go even higher. It’s not uncommon to see a 1999 Toyota Corolla on the road and it won’t be sputtering along covered in rust spots, either. Simply put, cars are being built better to last longer. If a car buyer can’t afford a new vehicle, they know they can put faith in a used car to last them longer than just the drive off the lot. With demand (and prices) on used vehicles growing higher every year, do you have the right stock of pre-owned vehicles? What’s your plan to get these on your lot? Gas prices are at a similar high, so car buyers are looking at more fuel efficient options, like the Toyota Prius or Chevrolet Malibu. Car auctions may have been your go-to for a used Prius or Malibu in the past, but every other dealer will be there as well. So how can you get the best deals? Your customers. Use your database to specifically target which pr...

  You send out your direct mail, place newspaper ads and get radio spots all for your car dealer marketing efforts. In the end, what you really want to know is your ROI, and for a good reason. If you’re going to spend the time and money, you want to track the results that are being produced and know that your marketing plan is effective. But how do you track your clout in social media? You send out your tweets and post on Facebook on a regular basis, but is there a way to know how far this message is really reaching? Is it falling on deaf ears? Luckily, you’re not the only one asking this question. Enter Klout. Klout is one of the many means to understand how effective your online presence is. By assigning a score between 1-100, with a higher number signifying more influence, Klout can literally quantify your automotive marketing efforts and influence. One of the factors weighed heavily into Klout scores is your interaction. Are your tweets ever retweeted? Do...

  By now, we all know the value of SEO, or “search engine optimization,” and we potentially use it in our arsenal of automotive marketing.  But to many of us, including those who work with it, SEO is a big mystery. According to Google, there are over 200 SEO factors that go into search results. No one individual can know all of these. We all want our page to be at the top of the results whenever somebody does a Google search and we are likely to hire somebody in car dealer marketing to help do this. In the constantly evolving world of SEO, however, time passes a bit like dog years: a few months in SEO is more like a few years in the real world. It’s important to stay on top of the ever-changing trends. Although navigating the world of car dealer marketing and SEO can be tricky, knowing some of the most recent changes can make SEO a bit more understandable: Backlinking isn’t worth its weight in gold anymore. In the past, a backlink from one...

  75% of automotive customers use Facebook.  This should come as no surprise considering Facebook has more users than the population of almost every country in the world, including the United States.  But are these customers important for your business?  The answer is yes.  Not only are they important, but the future of your business depends on them.  In fact, active Facebook users represent your best customers – the ones who make up 60 to 80% of your revenue.   In a recent survey with U.S. automotive consumers, DMEa found that 57% of customers who spent at least $1,000 on automotive service in the past year visit Facebook at least once a day.  That is at least 27% more than lower spending groups. Despite the high level of activity on Facebook, when we asked customers about the social site’s influence on where they chose to service their vehicle, only 12% thought it was important.  Things like their vehicle owner&rsquo...

  After the creation of Facebook’s brand tagging feature, automotive marketing has a new tool at their disposal. Starting on May 11, Facebook users were able to tag more than just their friends in a picture – they could tag pages for brands, products and people. What does this mean for car dealer marketing? Many dealerships already call for users and fans to submit pictures of their vehicle; brand tagging allows this without the call to action. After the purchase of a new car, the owner can take a picture, upload it, and instantly tag the dealership from which they bought it with a message about their new car. After giving their vehicle a wash, a user might be tempted to take a picture, show it off to friends on Facebook and then tag their dealership in it. Once tagged, this photo won’t just be shared with the dealership – it will be shared with all the other fans of the page and anybody who visits it. GM has already embraced the feature, encouragin...

  With gas prices well above their average this time last year, we can’t expect the summer to bring any relief at the pump. Drivers are changing their habits to cope – driving less often, carpooling, walking, or even buying more fuel efficient vehicles. But do you have the right inventory for this response? As a car dealership, are you prepared for this shift in demand to more fuel efficient vehicles? Did you buy these higher MPG models three months ago to have in your inventory for today? It is difficult to predict gas prices, so your fleet of fuel-efficient or hybrid vehicles may be lower than public demand. If this is the case, do you then have enough pre-owned high MPG vehicles instead? Another solution to cope with the low stock of high MPG vehicles is to offer gas incentives. All dealerships have the same rebates to offer, but not all are offering a gas incentive. If you don’t have the 40 MPG model to offer, offer a gas promotion instead. With the p...

  Foursquare.  Yelp.  Facebook Places.  Gowalla.  Loopt.  Brightkite.  Some of these you may have heard of…while you may accuse me of making some of them up on the spot.  The truth is that they are geolocation applications (often synonymous with geosocial) that are increasing in popularity and should become a part of your automotive marketing mix to drive traffic to your dealership. Geo What? I’ll try not to get all technical on you but a definition may help.  “Geolocation” means that, thanks to your smart phone or other mobile device, your current (as in relative to time) physical location is identified.  “Geosocial”, on the other hand, is the publication of such information on various social channels that allows and encourages interaction with other people. Cliff Notes version: these applications allow you use your mobile device to check-in at businesses and other places of interest, while ...

When the earthquake and subsequent tsunami hit Japan on March 11, 2011, it was a disaster that took its toll not only on the physical landscape and people of the small country, but also drastically affected a number of global industries.  One of the biggest industries affected by the destruction was the automotive industry.  According to Automotive News, the tsunami wiped out over 2,000 Nissan and Infiniti vehicles that were destined for showrooms in both Japan and the United States.  It was also reported that Toyota, who held the top spot as the world’s largest carmaker, would lose its rank (which it has held since 2008) due to the tsunami’s impact on their production.  Additionally, and perhaps most importantly, other carmakers…including American carmakers that merely rely on parts from Japan…are feeling the effects. While the immediate destruction of the tsunami has passed, automakers that suffered drastic losses and/or disruptions i...

  Tired of coming back from the factory meeting just to hear that you’re not on top in your city and that your local market share is slipping?  Tired of wondering where to spend your money and finding it almost impossible to track what automotive marketing efforts actually work?  Well, you’re not alone…far from it really.  Many operators at car dealerships around the country feel the same way.  So what do they do? Typically they react to the news by hiring a new advertising agency, redoing the marketing plan; and/or by firing a general manager or sales manager!  But the real answer is pretty simple: you have to focus your automotive marketing efforts on YOUR market.  That’s right…own your backyard.  Let’s be completely honest here…stop worrying about the whole city!  If you dominate your market area, you can win the bigger war citywide.  Here’s the brutal truth…it’s...

When you retrieve your mail from your mailbox, what keeps you from throwing it in the trash when you walk inside? If you’re anything like me, depending on my mood of course, a piece of targeted direct mail (TDM) will find its way to the trashcan unless it immediately grabs my attention. As an automotive direct marketing professional, how can you keep the interest of the consumer so they do not throw your TDM in the trashcan? I’ll touch on the following concepts that are key to a successful direct marketing campaign as it relates to mail.

Several years ago, BDCs were being built in almost every successful dealership around the country.  The main reason was that operators realized the importance of handling the phone properly.  Whether it is incoming sales or service calls, customer satisfaction or renewals, teams of people were established to “focus” on this daunting task: the phone.

So, what happened?  Why are most of these BDCs now storage rooms?  The answer is simple really: we skipped over the importance of using a true call center manager to handle the operations.  The very reason the centers were built was because the typical automotive professional didn’t have the necessary training nor time to properly handle calls.  Yet we used a sales manager or a salesperson that was deserving of a promotion to handle the management of a very complex activity.  If we would have focused on setting these centers up right the first time, using the prope

Let’s face it, pre-owned vehicles are hard to find and it’s even harder to pay the price that you, Mr. Dealer, want to pay.  Pre-owned vehicles are a competitive market because every dealer wants a lot full of vehicles at $10k and under and the prices at auction continue to increase.


The best way to get pre-owned vehicles – and by best I mean the most cost-effective ROI – is to get them from your dealership’s customers though a Vehicle Buy-Back Program.  With a Vehicle Buy-Back Program, your dealership is making a conscious decision not to go to auction, pay all the auction fees and buy vehicles you know nothing about, from people who you have never met.  This should not only be part of your internal decision making process, but also teach your sales staff those exact word tracks and use them when they talk about your store’s approach to buying used vehicles.

Now you may be thinking, “I’m not just here to buy car

Automotive marketing is no really different. Every month automotive dealers (and marketing vendors) spend a considerable amount of time, effort and money manipulating various messages, calls to actions and incentives in their automotive marketing pieces…all with the intention to push traffic to the lot and service drive! Though many dealerships spend hundreds of thousands on advertising and direct marketing, most marginally know the effectiveness of it.

Your dealership’s reputation is something that has taken years and probably millions of dollars to build. It is something that your dealership likely considers to be one of the most important assets of the company. So let me ask you this…are you prepared to let someone…and I mean someone you may not even know…somewhere ruin your reputation, because in today’s world anyone with a beef about your dealership and internet access can destroy you in minutes with a few keystrokes.

A significant key to your automotive marketing success is discipline. But how does your dealership create discipline for your organization to ensure that success? The most effective way to build and encourage discipline is by establishing uniformity and responsibility across all your marketing vendors and internal marketing teams.

 

As a car dealer, your marketing department consists of many moving parts…from those who handle the direct marketing campaigns, to the media buyer who is responsible for newspaper, radio and television ads, and others who may manage your internet/digital marketing efforts. 

 

Your Automotive Marketing Game Plan

 

With all these different parties involved, it becomes increasingly important that your dealership develops a detailed game plan for each, outlining the strategy, target audience, theme and messaging, and call to action. Though the game plan itself may differ slightly for each particular niche,

Understanding that managing your dealership's reputation is tougher than ever in today's technology-driven society, DMEautomotive has addressed this very issue in the "Online Reputation Management for the Automotive Industry" white paper.  


The intent of this white paper is to help your dealership realize that the daunting task of protecting your reputation online can be done by keeping your ear to the ground (or in this case the computer monitor) with online reputation management strategies.

To obtain a copy of the white paper, please download at DMEautomotive.

 

As pointed out by JD Power and Associates, the automotive industry is continually challenged by fewer new cars sales and decreased service traffic.  In understanding the impact these two situations have on the bottom dollar, car dealerships are forced to evaluate all processes related to sales and service retention. Sales and service retention programs are critical to keeping your dealership top of mind with customers by delivering personalized, relevant and timely messages dependent on their position in the customer lifecycle.  However, let’s face it, your dealership can send direct mail piece after direct mail piece, email after email, and place newspaper ad after newspaper ad…but if your dealership fails in one critical area, no marketing effort will help.  What is that one critical area your dealership must not fail at? Customer Service.   In our recent blog, How To Improve Dealership Retention? Try Service, we mentioned the role of custom...

According to a recent cell phone study by Pew Internet, “85% of Americans ages 18 and older own a cell phone, making it by far the most popular device among adults” and a great opportunity for car dealerships to utilize for automotive mobile marketing purposes.  Not too surprisingly, the study also found that a great deal of time spent on a mobile phone has nothing to do with talking!  A large majority of people use their mobile phones to text, as well as visit social networks, surf the Internet and take/share photos.  This type of behavior qualifies for a great opportunity to engage your target market in automotive sms marketing services for your dealership.   Since it is clearly evident that Americans have rapidly embraced mobile phones – and their various functionalities – dealerships should consider how to utilize mobile technology to improve automotive mobile marketing efforts.  Here are a few recommended automotive text messa...

After reading a recent Facebook post by Hubspot “that Tuesdays at 11am is one of the worst possible times to send your email campaigns,” I started to take notice of how I reacted to emails as they entered my inbox. You see, like you, I’m not only a marketer, but I’m also a consumer. My various email inboxes are also inundated with communications from retail stores to technology and social media related newsletters to automotive industry publications. The marketer inside me wants to answer the question: Does when (specifically day of the week and time) I get an email really effect if I open it or not?

Relevancy.  All of us in the automotive industry have heard about the importance of relevancy in our direct marketing efforts, almost to the point of ad nauseam, right? (Admittedly, I’m guilty as charged.) However, this past weekend during “the biggest show on earth” we were all reminded that relevancy is equally important in the traditional marketing world…specifically the commercial.

Sure, most of us were easily entertained by the sentimental score of Star Wars and the cute pint-sized Darth Vader who tried endlessly to use the Force around his house, finally experiencing success when he starts his family’s VW Passat engine.  Others found themselves chuckling at a pug unmercifully taunted by a man holding a bag of Doritos or the dog sitter who has the dogs serve beer at the house party.  But there was one particular commercial that generated a lot of Super Bowl talk, both during the game and on Monday morning.

"Imported from

Customer retention is critical to an automotive brand’s success.  This is particularly evident during a climate of prolonged economic recovery, in which each new-vehicle sale or automotive service is vital to a dealership’s bottom line. A 2010 J.D. Power and Associates survey, conducted to measure repeat vehicle purchases within a brand, found that customer retention had remained stable from 2009.  In 2010, 16 of the 34 ranked brands improved their customer retention rates from the year prior.  Of the remaining brands surveyed, customer retention either dropped or held steady over the same period. So how can your dealership retain your customers?  Service. After the purchase of a new vehicle at the dealership the responsibility for continued interaction with that customer falls on the service department.  Their ability to continue engaging a customer in service—and whether or not these same customers will purchase from your dealership ...

f it’s not the most visited area in an automotive dealership, it’s arguably one with the most captive audiences. No, it’s not the sales floor; it’s your automotive service area. Whether it’s waiting for a vehicle to get prepped for delivery or waiting for it to get serviced, the automotive service area—more specifically the lounge—is home to the section of your dealership that has few distractions for customers, i.e. an audience that has little to do but wait. What can your dealership offer as a distraction to not only entertain them while they wait, but also become an opportunity for creating a positive experience on your dealership? Pass the Time. Time is always an issue at the dealership’s service department.  Let’s face it, no one really enjoys sitting around a cold, uninviting waiting area.  When sitting around waiting for something—anything—to happen, your customers want something to do while...

“Welcome to the dealership! How may we help you today?”   You may not think it, but a simple greeting when you first walk into a dealership can lay the groundwork for keeping a customer for life.   In today’s competitive environment, the lengths a car dealership goes with their customer service can help determine how they can keep their customers. What can an automotive dealership do to establish a long-lasting relationship with their customers?  Here are a few simple reminders to help nurture customer loyalty. Promises are more than just words. When trying to close a sale, making promises comes with the territory.  Sometimes these can go beyond the basics of quality automotive service and fuel price guarantees.  Keeping core promises simple and developing them as time goes on helps establish long-term customer loyalty. Thank you, thank you, thank you. This scenario may seem rather basic: a customer comes into your dealership...

In the highly competitive environment of automotive marketing, online search results for your car dealership can potentially make or break you.—The quality of the links, however, versus the quantity of the links is what will have a true impact on prospects making a purchase decision.  With that in mind, the following points can help give you a good start in putting together a search engine optimization (SEO) plan that can yield positive results and improved page rankings for your dealership. Map that site. In the web design process, mapping out a site for navigation is crucial.  It is that step that helps enable search engines to find your dealership’s pages.  The site map also serves a mental roadmap for online users.  Having a clear, concise map of your website serves as an important starting point in SEO planning.   Properly labeled, sized images. If you’re in the business of selling vehicles, it’s a given that you’re...

When it comes to choosing a customer retention marketing provider, car dealerships need to evaluate the technology behind the programs.  In looking at this technology, three of the following topics must be addressed: (1)   Will this technology seamlessly integrate your customer data? (2)   Will it be compatible with your operating system? (3)   Will it be able to pull current, actionable customer data? In a perfect world, you could buy a software solution and implement it without any customization necessary.  In reality, that is rarely the case.  Finding a program that provides seamless integration, therefore, is a primary selling point.  It means that you can avoid data integration glitches, keeping costs down and timelines on track. Another factor that should be considered is how compatible this new software solution will be with your dealership’s operating system.  The compliant software will save much needed t...

In the automotive service marketing realm, customer relationship programs are essential to successful car dealer marketing.  From new vehicle sales to automotive service, dealerships are always looking for ways to reach out to their customers and improve upon customer loyalty. By initiating customer relationship campaigns, a car dealership can augment their car dealer direct marketing plans and enhance their bottom lines.   To do so, automotive dealerships can utilize the following tips as a solid foundation for their customer relationship initiatives. Get back to your customer. All too frequently, customer relationship marketing can be a one-way street:  all talk and little response often leaves a dealership without a sale.  Dealerships can break through that wall and follow-up by any means available (email, direct mail or phone) to help foster a relationship. Relevant updates. The key to any campaign is to keep your customers informed on any up...

Establishing an automotive dealer’s online presence can be a difficult proposition.  There are a number of elements to think about in assembling a plan to make your dealership more visible in the online world. As part of our ongoing series on building an online presence for your automotive marketing initiatives (link to first blog here), we’ve offered a few key points that serve as a foundation for your strategy.  In this edition, we’ll delve into how making a connection with your client database serves as a vital component of those efforts.  For starters, active listening is a great way to gauge what your customers are saying about your product or service.  It requires a listener to have the ability to comprehend what is taking place and serve in the role of customer relationship manager.  In doing so, you’re establishing yourself as a knowledge leader, a person that online users go to when they’re seeking information. ...

In order to build an automotive dealer’s online presence, there are a handful of points to consider.  A recent blog on building your dealership’s online presence highlighted such tips as engagement, reach and choice as valuable techniques in establishing that existence.   In this blog, we’ll tackle the practice of engagement as a key component in your marketing efforts online.  In future blogs, we’ll delve into the other components that can help establish and maintain a dealer’s online presence.   First thing’s first: what is engagement?   By definition, engagement is the act of an encounter between two or more individuals or companies that can be a positive, negative – or even neutral – experience.  Simply put, it’s a level of interaction that can either leave a prospect satisfied or dissatisfied with a dealership’s offerings.   In the online world, there are a...

When it comes to setting up sales goals for your car dealership, there is no magic equation. Some dealers use prior sales data, consider any changes in personnel and then make a reasonable guess as to how many vehicles they should sell the next month.  Some dealers compare last month’s sales data to the same month from last year.  Others use methods that require adding the number of vehicles in stock to calculate inventory turn rates. No matter the tactic, the point is simple: there is no simple solution to project your sales goals.  Whatever equation you implement, the key to achieving those goals is to calculate the activity needed. Tracking and reporting activity is a vital aspect in understanding exactly where in your sales process each associate needs help and it will help each of your associates achieve their goals.  The equation will remain the same but the numbers in the equation must be unique to each individual.   We’ve all he...

It was once said in a popular television campaign that “image isn’t everything… it’s the only thing.”  In the landscape of online search results for automotive direct marketing, the same mantra applies: being in the top three pages of search rankings isn’t everything… it’s the only thing. With customer’s decisions becoming more and more based upon online search, bolstering campaigns that yield top returns can not only yield positives, but it can also improve the all-mighty metric: return on investment (ROI). According to a study conducted by iProspect and JupiterResearch in 2008, landing in the upper tier of search results – the first three pages of a simple search – has significant benefits. 68% of search engine users typically click on a result that appears on the initial landing page that comes up through a search query 92% of search engine users typically click on a result that appears on the ...