GPS enabled mobile apps are changing the way in which consumers leverage social media and one fast growing application that has been discussed on DrivingSales.com is FourSquare.com.

This week FourSquare.com announced that it will be offering business owners business intelligence tools which would show them who is "checking in" to their business and how to market to their local visitors.  The data set will be very interesting to analyze.

A sample screen shot below is a teaser of what is to come.  Think of it as Google Analytics for location based digital marketing.


I'm Addicted to FourSquare.com
I've been actively using FourSquare and I have to admit I'm becoming an addict.  I don't mind that my trail of places I visit are recorded for my followers to see.  This trail can also be automatically posted to Twitter and Facebook.

Here is an example of how FourSquare.com recorded my path over the past two days:



However, I have been trying to figure out how this can ...

I was out in Southern California last week and had the pleasure of visiting a premier BMW dealer on the West Coast; Irvine BMW.

I was given the opportunity to drive a 2008 BMW M6 Convertible as well as a 2010 BMW 550 GT, also known as a Grand Turismo.   Both cars were a dream to drive and each had their distinct personality.

The M6 Convertible had an MSRP over $110,000 and the MSRP of the 2010 BMW 550 GT was around $80,000.  I was a bit nervous driving these cars on the freeways of California.

The M6 Convertible's automatic shifting technology allowed me to adjust the feel of the transmission and the associated engine roar.  The car was as fun to drive as it sounded.  The Grand Turismo is a cross between the 5 Series and  7 Series with 550 horsepower.  It was simply a moon rocket in the disguise of a luxury performance sedan.
First Year Without a BMW
I've owned BMW cars since 1994 but this month will be the first time we passed on having at least one BMW in the hou...

 

[caption id="attachment_832" align="alignright" width="282" caption="Top 10 Digital Marketing Strategies"][/caption]

DrivingSales.com members who want to get the inside line to build a strong gameplan for

their digital marketing strategies in 2010 are encouraged to participate in a webinar entitled: 
 Top 10 Digital Marketing Strategies for 2010". 
 

Be one of the first50 people to register for a webinar lead by Brian Pasch, CEO and founder of PCG Digital Marketing and get a chance to grow your skills and knowledge for free.  The webinar is scheduled for March 9th at 1:00 PM EST and will run for three hours.

Normally, a three hour webinar would cost a dealership $500 for the information that will be presented.  In a special limited time offer for DrivingSales.com members, the webinar is being offered without cost for the first 50 automotive professionals that register and attend the webinar.

After the first 50 spots are reserved,  additional attende...

On Tuesday February 9th at 4:30 in the afternoon, a Continental Airlines representative casually told me that all flights from Newark on Wednesday would be cancelled due to the pending storm.  I was in a state of shock because just hours earlier I received an email from Continental indicating that I was upgraded to first class.  In a matter of hours my vision of a relaxing flight to Orlando to get ready for the NADA Convention and the Automotive Marketing Boot Camp the day earlier was shattered.

I called select members of the PCG Digital Marketing team into my office who were heading to Orlando and told them they had two hours to go home, pack and get ready for a road trip through a blizzard.  I informed them that I had called all area airports and that all outbound flights on Tuesday evening were booked solid.  Since I was co-organizing an Automotive Marketing Boot Camp that started on Thursday Night, I told the team that we had no choice but to drive to Florida.  It was their...

The Automotive Marketing Boot Camp, held in Orlando on February 12th, one day prior to the official start of NADA, brought together top professionals from the industry that supported and sponsored the educational event.

The Boot Camp is a hands-on skills based training program which covers the most important elements of automotive digital marketing strategies: social media, blogging, video, link building, content creation, SEO and pay-per-click marketing.  The classes offered attendees hands-on classes which will deliver the abilities dealers need to understand, manage and catapult their online marketing strategy to the next level. 

The five industry sponsors included:

Thursday Dinner Sponsor - http://www.bzresults.com
Friday Breakfast Sponsor - http://www.dominiondealersolutions.com
Friday Lunch Sponsor - http://www.dealer.com
Friday Dinner Sponsor - http://www.tkcarsites.com   
Saturday Breakfast Sponsor  - http://www.dealertrend.com

Brian Pasch is the CEO o...

PCG Digital Marketing (formerly Pasch Consulting Group) introduces an advanced automotive digital advertising strategy for car dealers looking to go viral with their live inventory feeds.  Car Port AppTM connects any blog, social media site, or website to a dealer's inventory of cars for sale. 

PCG Digital Marketing will unveil the details on their new Automotive Advertising NetworkTM (AAN) and Car Port AppTM publishing tools, for the first time at the NADA conference in Orlando.  The CarPort AppTM will allow car dealers to publish a live listing of their cars for sale on popular sites like Facebook, Wordpress, Blogger, NING, TypePad and other digital websites. 

The dealer's cars that are for sale will be advertised on a large network of websites included in PCG's Automotive Advertising Network (AAN) as well as any blogs or social media websites owned by car dealers.  A click on any advertised car listing will take interested consumers to customized inventory pages on CarDea...

PCG Digital Marketing (formerly Pasch Consulting Group) is set to unveil a new automotive digital advertising platform at the 2010 NADA convention in Orlando. The Automotive Advertising Network (AAN) will allow car dealers to increase the visibility of the cars they have for sale on the Internet.

The AAN combines PCG Digital Marketing’s proven strategies in Search Engine Optimization, content marketing, social media and blogging to provide dealers with an industry leading solution for lead generation and direct sales.

The new technology will lead to many industry firsts, giving dealers the unique ability to advertise their inventory of cars for sale using popular blogging and social media websites helping car sales to go viral.

The Automotive Advertising Network created by PCG Digital Marketing will first be introduced at NADA in Orlando, where Brian Pasch, CEO of PCG Digital Marketing is co-hosting an Automotive Marketing Boot Camp seminar on February 12th, one day prior to...

The Pasch Consulting Group (PCG) announces a change in their corporate identity and branding strategy.  The company will be known as PCG Digital Marketing with their new logo and marketing strategy to be unveiled in Orlando at the 2010 NADA Conference. All of their forthcoming marketing elements will also be branded with their new tagline, 'Strategic Digital Marketing'.

According to CEO Brian Pasch, the rebranding of his formerly self-titled company reflects their rapid growth in the marketplace as well as their ability to provide a comprehensive team approach to digital marketing solutions for a very diverse range of clients.

"When we reviewed our business growth over the past four years, Search Engine Optimization and Website Design were just two of the services we've been providing. The term 'digital marketing' better reflects the scope of services and strategies we can implement for our clients which includes social media, paid advertising, branding and marketing strategies,...

I have been invited to particpate in a panel discussion during NADA to discuss automotive lead sources and the effectiveness of three types of leads:

Manufacturer Leads
Website Direct Leads
Third Party Leads

The roundtable is being sponsored by Dealix and will include:

David Kain, President of Kain Automotive, will focus on leads from OEM sites.
Brian Pasch, Owner of Pasch Consulting, will argue the merits of leads from the Dealer Sites
Anna Zornosa, General Manager of Dealix - will advocate the contribution of leads from independent sites.

In preparation for this panel discussion, I have created a survey that I would appreciate members of the Driving Sales Community to take.    If you know the close rates and budgets set aside for lead costs, please complete the survey below:

The link to the survey is here:  http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/managing-your-lead-mix...

I was naive.  I can't remember the last time I felt that way in my professional career and surely not in the past four years of active engagement in the field of Digital Marketing and Search Engine Optimization (SEO).  Looking back at a recent event I have come to understand that my naivety was supported by my unbridled passion for online marketing and the shared energy of fellow automotive professionals that engage in online blogs and forums.

Through my activity on online communities I was lulled into thinking that articles I penned on Automotive SEO, microsites, reputation management, Google Page One Management (GPOM) and keyword strategies were exactly what the automotive community needed, would actively read and engage.

Automotive professionals posting comments and opposing views made my articles take on a life of their own; elevating the perceived importance and reach into the dealer network.  I envisioned General Managers and Internet Sales Managers forwarding links for...

The Toyota gas pedal fix has been approved by the NHTSA according to fast breaking news on the AP newswires.

This could mean that Toyota dealers could get parts in the next week according to the AP newsire. I will be covering this story in full details today as soon as Toyota issues an official statement.

This would be welcome news for Toyota dealers that are panicking that sales of many of their popular models have been suspended and no current source of revenue improvements on the horizon. The service revenue generated from the accelerator pedal recall will be welcomed by dealership owners.

PCG has been forwarding thousands of free Toyota recall service leads to Toyota dealers who get in our free directory on www.toyotarecall.org.  It looks like its "Cash for Clunkers" all over again.  PCG is once again at the forefront of helping consumers and dealers connect on important national matters.

According to ABC News:

Federal regulators have cleared Toyota's plan to fix ...

BMW has a written policy for dealers outlining their rules and regulations for SEO, PPC and microsites.  In fact, their policies regarding website design and digital marketing engagement are some of the most restrictive in the business.  

Recently, BMW veered out of the restrictive lane of digital marketing and has embraced a "controlled" roll-out of service microsites for their dealers.  BMW, through a joint venture with Dealer Product Services, will offer their dealers co-op money to build a single landing page on a domain that follows a specific pattern.  This pattern could very well be the same for all BMW dealers in the county.   

I use the word "microsite" to reflect what some people would call this design but it is only a landing page with links back to the dealer's primary website.  You can check out a sample of the design by visiting:  http://www.allentownbmwservice.com .    The URL pattern looks like it will be the term "BMW service" and the city of their d...

I've been covering the Toyota recall story lately and our consumer blog at www.toyotarecall.org has some very interesting comments from consumers on the Q&A page.  I would recommend that you scan some of the comments because they show the fear, confusion and anger that is building across America.

What Toyota dealers should be doing this week in their local media is a topic for a coming post.  In the meantime....

While I was searching the phrase "Toyota Recall" in Google I saw that Chrysler was using this surge in search traffic to tell their safety and quality story.  See the screen shot below:



Obviously Chrysler is trying to leverage the search traffic to drive their brand message and to drive consumers to their website.

Do you think this is a good strategy for Chrysler to pursue?  Share you thoughts.

...

With all the coverage of the Toyota recall and the 4 million + cars that are included in the recall, it is surprising to see that no one is writing about the potential mayhem that will be created at local Toyota and Lexus dealerships service departments.

Consumers are fearful that their cars may cause them harm. As soon as the recall letters start to arrive, dealers will be bombarded with service appointments.  Our blog has already shown that consumers are panicking.

If you haven't read the most recent Toyota recall notice on January 21st, check out this post:  January Toyota Recall Notice

One dealer we contacted in Virginia said the Toyota database of consumers in their area showed that over 15,000 cars are included in the recall. Now, add to that number the thousands of Toyota owners that are not synchronized in the Toyota database. How is this car dealer expected to handle regular customer service work and a percentage of the 15,000 Toyota owners that will choose their...

I've been spending time thinking of new ways to assist car dealers brand themselves on the Internet and to promote their excellence in sales and service online. If 85% of all new car purchases start online, then dealers need to get their message in the path of consumers shopping online. Nothing could be better than strong peer reviews!

Many articles on the Internet have discussed Automotive Internet Reputation Management and the importance of checking what consumers are writing about you on the Internet. Still many dealers fail to read even what is posted or rolled-up on Google Maps.

Automotive Reputation Management must be a standard operating procedures for car dealers in 2010.
Hare Chevrolet RMP

I would like to offer some new twists on this discuss with the concept of a Reputation Management Portal (RMP). In the example shown above, we have taken a simple WordPress website and consolidated links to popular review websites. The website is skinned to mimic the main dealershi...

Calling all Toyota and Lexus dealers! The Pasch Consulting Group proved that a good microsite can draw consumer automotive leads from a national audience with our Cash For Clunkers Facts website. Over 8,000,000 visitors in 2 months came to our site and thousands participated in our forums.

Now that Toyota is recalling a few million cars, this represents a great opportunity for Toyota dealers to increase service revenue. Letters are being mailed to Camry owners next week and so it will be GAME ON for dealers who want to pump up their service bays.

I believe that customers who bought their Toyota from a local Toyota dealer will likely bring it back to the same local dealer, but what about the people who purchased a used Toyota from a private party or other brand dealer. That is where there is a great opportunity!

PCG has created a new not-for-profit, national consumer website to assist consumers with questions on the recall located at www.toyotarecall.org. If you are a Toyota or...

If your are looking for new strategies to improve your Internet Marketing visibility, Internet Reputation and your Social Media footprint in 2010,  the team at DealerRater.com has quietly been building a set of tools that can be leveraged in new ways.
I love to share great ideas with the automotive community as I find them. Since Facebook is a hot topic I thought I would write about ways to make your Facebook page more interesting.
In the past few months I have been testing and implementing some of the free tools that come from DealerRater when a dealer is signs up for the Certified Dealer  program.   There are many benefits to the program but I would like to discuss one of the new recent ways their dealer platform can be leveraged.
Facebook Inventory Classifieds

Dealers can now add their car inventory to a Facebook Fan Page tab using tools from DealerRater.com.  You can see an example of this technology on the Infiniti of Norwood Facebook Fan Page below.
There is a tab cal...

 

I am in the process of collecting data from car dealers on their 2010 Digital Marketing knowledge, strategy and budget.

From the first 120 dealer responses, I was amazed at how many dealers had a low percentage of their budgets dedicated for online spending which included their websites, PPC, SEO, IRM, social media, blogging, and microsites.

 
The Great Digital Divide
The 11 questions on the PCG Digital Marketing Survey will provide great data and insight for the automotive community.  If you have not participated in the survey, click below share you answers on this great survey. The results will be posted on DrivingSales.com. 
Take the survey

I firmly believe that dealers need to have greater than 60% of their marketing budget directed to online marketing.   Only 17% of car dealers would fall into what I would consider as being  "on the right path".

Based on the data collected so far, dealers will be faced with major changes to the marketing strateg...

Note: This is a MUST read for any Toyota dealer.

Toyota is starting the New Year with a renewed effort to go after Toyota dealers who have purchased domain names other than their registered primary Toyota domain. If you are a Toyota dealer that operate microsites on multiple domains or landing pages that include the word "Toyota" you will be asked to remove your content and hand over the domain ownership to Toyota immediately.

This popped up when we tried to run a Google Adwords campaign to a dealer microsite that had the word Toyota in the URL name. Google blocked the ad because it was not a registered dealer domain name. It appears that Toyota gave Google a list of approved primary dealer domains and locked down anyone using Toyota in the domain that was not a primary dealer.

Sub-domains are OK for now

This crackdown will reduce Toyota dealers to having one website with the option of having multiple sub-domains. Blogs hosted outside the dealer's primary domain will be...

Google Insights for Search will allow business owners to create a better local keyword strategy to increase the visibility of their brand.   Google Insights will allow online marketing managers to refine their SEO keyword list and to be more proactive in their content writing.

From a high level perspective, search engines like Google query "best matching" assets in their database of web pages, videos, images, and social media feeds when consumers type in a search phrase. When it determines what the best items to show, it creates the infamous "Google Page One" search result. (SERP)

A big question has always been: "What search phrases are consumers using in my area?"

The questions that should follow are:

What assets can I upload and tag with text that will be a good match? (SEO)


What am I willing to pay per click for that search phrase? (SEM)


How will I track if clicks from that search phrase results in a conversion or sale? (GBP )

Diversity of Best Matchi...

I have created a quick 11 question survey and would appreciate if the members of the Driving Sales community could take a quick minute to participate.

If you are employed at a dealership, and not a vendor, you can take the survey.

Here is the link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/automotive-digital-marketing

I will share the results of the survey in a future blog post.

I was copied on an email from our Internet Reputation Management (IRM) manager to one of our clients today. The email struck me how helpful a consistent monthly reputation management program can be for car dealers. 

By contacting a dealership's customers as a third party, my staff has the ability to be an agent for building customer satisfaction and also to "hear"  and document what their customers are saying.

Take a moment to read an excerpt of an email that Jessica wrote to one of our clients after her calls from the previous night:
On another note there was one customer that seems to be a loyal customer to you (purchased 3 cars from you) but mentioned a few things to me that could cause him not to write a totally positive review at this time - I did not send him details on how to post as a result. Here are the details of his comments:

I spoke to a gentleman named David, who was with Jennifer _______ during her purchasing experience - Jennifer is the name on the cu...

Part of my daily routine as an SEO consultant is to type in common automotive search phrases to see who is being displayed on Google Page One.  I also pick random car dealership names to see how their Google Page One Management (GPOM) strategy is playing out.  Not all dealers believe that they should own Google Page One for their dealership name; I do.

I do not think it is in the dealer's best interest to allow lead collection websites and websites that are filled with complaints to show up on Google Page One when a consumer types in their exact dealership name.

Sites like RipOffReport.com, ComplaintsBoard.com and PissedConsumer.com have a history of encouraging only negative posts and some have even stooped to collecting extortion money.
Your Dealership Names Is Under Attack
I was blown away today when I saw that a complaints website called "Pissed Consumer" was creating sub-domains using a car dealers name to show up on Google Page One.   I typed into Google "Midway Nissa...

I'm working on a white paper on proposed changes to  the ADF Specification and I was getting angry about my research so I decided to vent.

The ADF  (Auto-Lead Data Format) specification is an XML file that automotive website providers, CRM vendors and lead providers use to send consumer lead data to each other.  When you fill out a form on a car dealer's website or a third party automotive website, the leads eventually hit your CRM system in the ADF format.

The specification was created to make it easy for various automotive websites to pass leads to each other.  The ADF 1.0 specification was last modified in the year 2000.  As you know, much has changed since 2000 in regards to lead management and reporting.
Integrated Web and CRM Vendors Have An Edge
Dealers who have an integrated, single vendor solution for their website platform and CRM tool may be able to leverage their platform much faster to create effective Internet Sales lead source report in 2010.

Those ve...

With the advent of social media posts from Twitter and Facebook being integrated into search engine result pages (SERP), car dealers can further leverage their social media involvement. The ability to have Tweets and Facebook walls posts show in search engine results is not without its downside risks.

From what I can see, the integration in real-time data into Google has started a tweeting and Facebook posting frenzy with subjects that are clearly designed for Automotive SEO positioning. This is a big mistake for businesses thinking that their social media posts will catapult them to the top of search rankings.

Car dealers have to remember that social media platforms when used properly, should provide value and engagement to those that follow you. They should be humanized and not sound like a sales pitch. This has been repeated thousands of times but still the new "gold rush" with Google real time feeds seems to have gotten folks off track.
Nissan Dealer Tweets
I did a simple s...

A recent survey of 1,100 business conducted by Econsultancy and Bigmouthmedia found that majority of companies are planning to invest more in social media next year but are struggling to find the time and resources to manage their activity.  According to the piece written on MC Charts:
"The biggest barrier to better social media engagement for companies surveyed is a lack of resources, with more than half of companies (54%) saying this is a significant problem, the report said.  Nine out of 10 businesses (90%) say social media is taking up more time internally than a year ago."

The data collected in the survey parallels my experience as I consult with car dealers seeking to create powerful Internet Marketing strategies for 2010.  More than any time in the past, automotive budgets are being adjusted so that a majority of the funding is directed toward online advertising.  This is reflected in increased spending for Google Adwords, banner advertising, SEO, blogging, video, social...

As 2010 quickly approaches I would like to encourage automotive marketing professionals to carefully review their spending and budgets for the upcoming year.

In the past few months I have received an increase in calls from car dealer Internet sales managers asking about how they can wisely increase their online spending. I am getting a feeling that many dealers believe that the worst is over and they want to have a strong Internet presence in 2010.

I agree that dealers who aggressively invest in Automotive SEO, Social Media and carefully designed PPC will have a strategic advantage in 2010. This is not a self-serving statement; it's where the action is.
2010 Internet Marketing Wish List
So I thought I would offer five tasks for my 2010 Wish List for Internet Marketing ROI metrics and tools to help dealers. I welcome the dealership community as well as automotive solutions providers to add their own suggestions to help members who want to dominate their local PMA but also want t...

Most dealers are unaware of the "brand" leakage and revenue that is being drained away from their own pockets every day online.  A great post by Alex Snyder at www.dealerrefresh.com caught my attention. Alex is one of the few dealers that is now aware and very pissed.  He's justified in his anger because the commonplace brand "leakage" took on a new face this past week.

Alex's post is well worth reading.  Recently Alex was searching in Google for his own MINI store name (Checkered Flag MINI) and he found that Edmunds.com was running a PPC campaign, in his own backyard, for his dealer name and the Add was using his brand.  See screen shot below:


Alex did not authorize the use of their brand name nor could understand why a vendor he was already doing business with, was competing directly with his own Google Adwords campaigns.
Fight Back
This is the first time that I heard of Edmunds.com running PPC campaigns with visible dealer names and ads that target a dealers' o...

Do you know anyone that has a cold?  How about the flu?  Have you heard any news reports on the H1N1 virus?

If you are looking for a new promotional marketing item for your car dealership, let me suggest small tubes of branded hand sanitizer.

With cold and flu season in full swing, this item is a bulls-eye for positive branding of your dealership.

I've been known for my Internet Marketing articles so this may seem like a departure in my writing but keep in mind that 75% of car dealership ups still walk-out unsold.

I'm all about helping dealers make more money!

Dealers spend thousands of dollars every month to get people into their dealership and a majority leave unsold.

To keep your brand and phone number in front of consumers that leave your business without becoming a customer, give them something of value as they leave.

Ladies will drop these right into their handbags and use it every day. Guys will drop them in their briefcases, computer bags or coat pocke...

If a customer came to your dealership in the still of the night and spray painted "Liar" and "Cheat" in large letters on your street facing signage, would you leave it untouched when you arrived in the morning?
Consumers have tremendous power today to express their opinions about their experience at your business and make that voice heard.  With dozens of popular websites containing a listing of your business that allows for consumer reviews, car dealers can no longer ignore the feedback that is being shared online.
Automotive studies have confirmed that dealers who focus on good online customer service reviews see a measurable increase in calls and leads referred from review websites.  Since Google Maps is now rolling up review scores from multiple websites, the consolidated dealer "score" is front and center for any search that includes a city or state search word and the brand that you sell.

Give it a try.  Type in "Denver Toyota Dealers" and see that Google Maps is at the...