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In the Trenches

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Micro sites, Blogs, Social Media, Oh My!!

Monday, February 1st, 2010

A micro site, blog, social media strategy is not a set it up once and forget about it process.  It requires nurturing just as the Green Pea does when they are shown their new desk.  You need to identify the strength and weaknesses from your efforts and look for ways to capitalize, improve or move on from.

The End is Where it Starts

800lb-gorillaThe easiest way to identify trends in what consumers are looking for in your market area is with a well planned dealership blog.  A great way to dominate your local market area online is through an aggressive micro site strategy.  Its fool proof that a well optimized social media presence will deliver consumers to the showroom and service lane.  When the three are working together it is an army of 800lb marketing gorillas.

Set a mission goal.  This is the most critical step.  Determine your objectives before determining what assets you are going to deploy.  For some dealers it may be just to protect their online reputation, the easiest effort, it could be to draw traffic on their competitors’ names to their website, an advanced marketing strategy you have to be very careful with, others raise the awareness of the products they represent in their local market or to pull traffic from outside of their primary marketing area to increase their online saturation.

Deploy Assets

Setting up assets is the heavy lifting.  The real planning starts, this is where you build your blog, launch micro sites or get everybody in the store involved in social media.  You can do all three at once.

To manage your online reputation is could be as simple as deploying a dealership blog and a specials micro site and setting responsibilities for a publishing schedule and updates to the asset.

You can’t track what you do not measure

A blog will help you identify trends in what consumers are looking for in your marketing area with properly installed measurement tools, such as Google Analytics.  A micro site that is getting national traffic may not be in your best interest if your process cannot convert that traffic.  Make sure every click and every call is measured and properly sourced.

Capitalize on Trends

If your analytics show that consumers are looking for F150 Bedliners Houston then you have an opportunity to create content to show them that your dealership is the only place in Huston to buy bedliners from by deploying inner pages on your dealership website, a fresh micro site or a blog page showing you mean business as far as bedliners go.

Managing it All

A blog that has not been updated in two months is a waste of bandwidth and expectations.   Great content about how to set a clock on a 1995 Dodge Durango with a well optimized video on how to do it could drive leads via your online appraisal form.

Using these mediums requires hands on management so you don’t miss opportunities you would not otherwise have.  Set it and forget it is no longer a valid online marketing strategy. Once the expectations are set, trends are identified and deployment is streamlined the puzzle comes together and you have bred 800lb gorilla that your competition will never conquer.

About the Author-

Paul Rushing is the owner of SEGA Systems, LLC with over two decades of high ticket retail experience.  He can be reached at 912-266-1629, paul@segasystems.com, or www.dealerbytes.com.

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Posted in Email Marketing, In the Trenches, Marketing, SEO | 1 Comment »

Three Biggest Take Aways from the Drivingsales Executive Summit

Saturday, October 17th, 2009

There were three underlying themes that all that presented in the social media and search space brought forward at the Drivingsales Executive Summit.

Content -

Dealers that wish to aggressively market themselves online need to be publishing as much content as possible in a myriad of locations that the dealer does and does not control. This content will help drive traffic from search engines and social media. With changes in the works at Google content is going to mean even more for dealers.

Listening -

Arron Strout and Chris Brogan both tuned in on this in both of their presentations and reemphasized our belief. Dealer’s need to keep up with what is being published about them online and in social settings and listen for ques from prospective customers. Chris even brought forward an idea of how a dealer could increase fixed opps revenue and an awesome prospecting tool for sales. I will publish on this later.

Engagement -

This is the one that dealers will struggle the most with in the social media space. If you are going to use any of the social media sites and look to generate sales from them after you learn to listen you need to be ready to engage consumers in these settings. This will take active participation for dealers and their staff, it cannot be automated!! When dealers are getting started especially if done in-house they are better off to concentrate on one location and do really well than in many locations with little more than just a presence.

If you were in attendance please add what you felt was the most important topics covered or if you were not ask you questions below.

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Posted in In the Trenches, Vendor Process | 6 Comments »

Generic Nothingness - Stop it

Monday, October 5th, 2009

Dealers have started demanding more and more from their vendors from advertising sources to inventory providers, rightfully so. For years they have paid for products and services which they may not always completely understood or they did it because their competitors were doing it too. Ever heard an Autotrader pitch after being black there?

The web has increased their knowledge because there is tons of great content to help guide them to make better decisions, Jeff and Alex’s DealerRefresh, Ralph’s ADM, Jared’s DrivingSales and even a few of my rants. It is too bad industry publications and institutions have not followed suit by providing great content to help dealers and people on the ground improve their performance.

We all are in this business to make money and drive revenue. If it was not for the money none of us would be doing it, from NADA to minimum wage lot guys, everybody is trying to grab their share. It’s too bad that some do not try to provide value to their target audience and lead with the dollar signs in their eyes and publications.

The quality of content found in industry publications is pitiful if not demeaning to it’s readership and they wonder why they are having trouble selling conference tickets. Now they are polluting the web with it.

When you see a publication that calls itself “Digital Dealer” go to an all-online publication; in this day and age it is to be expected. Too bad they don’t try to develop a web presence that is all encompassing in relation to digital marketing first. Digital Dealer does not have an A-game online so how can anybody possibly take their publication seriously? The ezine format has long been dead and content online should be structured so it can be accessed at anytime not stuck in a downloaded pdf or reader that does not let you access back articles. Not to mention the audio greeting with hype from large vendors is not only bad form it’s ineffective. Talk about increasing bounce rate!

Another recent entry into the land of online nothingness was brought by a powerhouse at all levels and provider of consumer content from cars to alarm clocks. I read a post titled “Another Look at RQF” on the JD Power and Associates blog “Online Automotive Review” (I only linked to it because I am referencing it). It says a whole lot of nothing about how big name vendors structure their lead gen forms. If they just needed some content to fill some space to keep their advertisers happy they should of use a Lorem Ipsum Generator. Then there would be some value to those that have never seen that type of text before in trying to decipher it.  Not to mention I think I am the only person to have ever commented on that blog and it did not even receive an acknowledgment from the author.

If you are on the Automotive News email list and try to stay current in the Industry you will realize they have yet to break a real story.  It’s sad to see the “Alerts” hit my inbox when the information that is important to me has already been delivered via a Google news alert through another source.  They don’t even do a good job of aggregating old information.  Want to see an old article?  Pay up sucker or just use Google.com to get it from the original source.

I picked out these resources because they were the easiest to find quick examples of how the big names are dropping the ball online.  They already have built in audiences that would be easy to transfer to competent online enterprises.  Right now it appears to be out of necessity because of dwindling advertising revenue and they need another ad spot to sell.  It is overflowing at all levels.

Sure a few people are going to be upset about this rant, but many will not take dig down deep and put it out.  Those reading this are in the top 1% of the top 1% of automotive executives and dealership employees or they got a phone call and email from someone crying foul.  You know where you fit in.

If you are a dealer or provider please don’t follow these bad examples.

Dealers if you want to learn more about online marketing and reaching customers look to sources that do a good job in their own presence and provide you with actionable content without asking for a credit card.  The reason some of us provide content here and other places is to give you value and maybe you will reach out to us to engage our companies’ services if you like what we have to say.

Providers if you are going to do it, do it right or not at all.  Stop publishing Generic Nothingness and at least give readers something to think about.  Press releases that open up with, “(Insert Vendors Name) the industry’s leading provider of (product} ….” are getting tiresome and we are laughing at you. People also know that just because your PR firm says you are the best it does not make it so.  Make them work for their money and stop using fill in the blank forms.  Stop publishing the same content is six different spots. “Participants” are cross-pollinated at the valuable online resources. Some may have a bigger reach than others due to broadcast features or search engine presence. If you contribute to all, do it in a way that talks to that individual audience.

Stop talking about hot topics if you know nothing about them.  Just because you have read a few books or talked to a few people out of the industry it does not mean you can transfer it to others via the services you offer.  Take criticism and look for ways to improve don’t bolster up to call and threaten lawsuits or make personal attacks, it just draws unwanted ire and damages your brand.  When somebody shows you how to improve your product give them a call and say thanks. Maybe you can establish a good working relationship.  It may lead to some referral business.

If you have made it this far thanks for staying through the rant.   I look forward to seeing many of you at the Drivingsales Executive Summit next week.  If you have not registered please do so now, chances are you will have a great opportunity to hear a few more rants and take something back to your dealership you can actually use versus an armful of pamphlets and pitches about the “Industry leading widget…” or even worse, untested bad advice.

Paul Rushing
912-266-1629
www.dealerbytes.com
SEGA Systems, LLC
“Without Traffic Everything Fails”
Chat Google Talk: parushing Skype: parushing
Contact Me LinkedinFacebookTwitter

* Disclaimer - The views and opinions expressed here are that of Paul Rushing. The comments made are not endorsed or condoned by this site or SEGA Systems, LLC

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Posted in Email Marketing, In the Trenches | 12 Comments »

Registration denied: “Industry experts REVEAL THE POWER of 1st Party Leads”

Tuesday, March 31st, 2009

Screen cap of the email I got from Dealer.com after registering for their webinar.

Email I recieved from Dealer.com after registering for their webinar

I get in the next day…

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Posted in Email Marketing, In the Trenches, Networking, SEO | 2 Comments »

Stop Watching - Go Sell Something

Friday, November 21st, 2008

We cannot hide from it. The negatives surrounding the economy and the biz right now, but how much of it is self imposed? Sure it makes big news when a congressman tells the big three executives they are being irresponsible when they ask for a had out.

“There’s a delicious irony in seeing private luxury jets flying into Washington, D.C., and people coming off of them with tin cups in their hands,”It’s almost like seeing a guy show up at the soup kitchen in high-hat and tuxedo. . . . I mean, couldn’t you all have downgraded to first class or jet-pooled or something to get here?” Rep. Gary L. Ackerman (D-N.Y.)

That is like begging for food as you open a fresh pack of cigarettes It just does not appear to be genuine.

Sure the media is talking it up, in and out of the auto industry. Why? Because you are participating. It sells advertising and even worse it distracts you from looking for ways to better your business.

The big three did not get in the shape they are in overnight. Now with all of the press the begging is getting it cannot possibly help consumer confidence or lend any credence to their products. How reliable is the Chrysler “Lifetime Warranty” now? For that matter how about the 12 month / 12,000 mile adjustment warranties?

We can blame the press all we want, but the problem lies with the ones who choose to participate. The ones who are glued to all of the updates, from all sources, and the ones who fly in corporate jets.

Get over it and get on with your business. Stop Participating!!

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Posted in In the Trenches | No Comments »

Make life easier for your customers

Tuesday, November 18th, 2008

Yesterday was my fathers birthday, the big 60, and I had the perfect gift idea for him.  A copy of Seth Godin’s new book Tribes, which my son and I are featured in. (Get a copy see for yourself)  The problem was I left the nicely wrapped copy I had for him at my home and did not realize it until after we traveled thirty miles to his.

I was not going to let that stop me from putting a copy in his hand on this day.  The boys and I visited the local big chain book retailer to pick up a copy and it reminded me why I prefer to shop online for certain things.  It also proved how much more efficient it is as a consumer to do so.

We trotted to the business book section and started scouring the books to find our coveted copy.  It appearded that there was no rhyme or reason to how the books were shelved and after 10 minutes we visited the kiosk to see if there was even a copy in the store.  Theirs was not self serve so we had to wait 3 or 4 more minutes for someone to come help us.

After giving the name of the book to the clerk and then having to spell both the authours name an the title to here  and being informed that there was 12 copies in the store in the business section I wanted to scream.  After explaining to her that we did not see it there and her insistence that it was the manager came to our rescue.  She informed her and us that it was on display by their coffee shop and went and grabbed us a copy. 

The price was around five dollars more than I could of bought it for online and the process took around 25 minutes longer even if I had to type my credit card number in at checkout, which I don’t.  This process explains why online book retailers are more successful than their brick and mortar counter parts.

To state the obvious that is why consumers visit dealers online before stepping into the showroom.  They want to make sure you have what they want before they waste their time visiting you.  They want what they are after even if that is now what they buy in the end.

It could be a specific used car or new car color trim selection.  It could be competent secondary financing to make up for their credit short falls.  It could be to just window shop to see what is available.  For what ever reason they want what they came for before they decide to engage you.

The longer you can hold them on your site giving them the information they want the more likely they are to reach out to you buy either submitting a lead or visiting your showroom.  Anything you can do to sell them on doing business with you while they are there will let them win and you win.

Make it easy for the consumer to get what they want should be your first goal.  Keeping them on your site longer, with an effective call to action is your second.  Here are some things that you may want to try to increase conversions.

  • Turn the pop ups and pop unders off.  One website site I recently visited causes a pop under on every navigation from a single inventory item even back to the search feature.  A customer experiening this may leave and never come back.
  • Make sure your cars are priced even if it is list price.  Think if you visited a store that did not display prices until you were ready to check out would you go there often?
  • Keep all sections of your site updated.  If you have a specials page make sure something is there or turn it off.
  • Give them more than one way to contact you.  Is your phone number on every page and each inventory item?
  • Tell your story.  Let them know what makes you different from “Down the Road Motors”.
  • Get rid of the auto played audio.  Let the customers decide if they want to hear about you virtual showroom.  If they are looking at work and that comes on they may bounce to never return.

These are just a few starting points to help your average time on site and conversion ratio.  I am sure some will disagree or even have more tips.  Please tell us about it in the comments.

By the way, my dad liked his gift and now I have two copies of Tribes in my vehicle for back up.  It is doubtful I will ever buy another book in a brick and mortar store.  I told them there was no reason to renew the discount card that was given to me for Christmas last year even though they had a “Special” the cost of books online is cheaper without discounts and I can find exactly what I want when I want and even get a few recommendations in the process.

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Posted in In the Trenches, Marketing | 3 Comments »

Big Rebates - A losing proposition

Friday, November 14th, 2008

“Mr Customer press firmly and sign here your payments are only $538 per month for 6 years, not bad considering we had to give up most of rebate to pay off your negative equity.”

How many times have you heard these words in a dealership?

These types of transactions are not a solution for the customer or the dealer long term and it wont be long before lenders realize this is just bad business for all parties concerned and change their lending guidelines.  A car or truck with a large rebate as a tool to move them and cover negative equity is soon to be part of the “good ole days”.

It is these type of transactions that inflated home values and brought around the inevitable market correction and now is the time for the automotive industry to wake up to the fact that this is not financially sound for any party.

Large rebates on vehicles held by the manufacturer can cripple cash flow for a dealer and cause them to pay interest on their own money.  Basically dealers are giving the manufactures loans and they are paying the interest for them, in their floor plan cost.

A customer who dumps a vehicle they are upside down in by using a large rebate has only gotten a shiny new ride with the same negative equity problem they had before thus removing them from the market for a longer protracted period of time.

The lender who makes a loan structured on invoice price before taking into account a rebate is way under collateralized and is making large personal loans disguised as secured loans.

Not a win for any of the participants.  If the customers and the dealers will not put an end to the madness chances are the lenders will be the first ones to do so, especially now that the federal government is getting into the banking business.

Is this bad for the future of the car business?  Not at all.  It will cause a distress for the short term and stop the shell games and the industry will win when the dust settles.

I may be wrong and would love to hear your opinion.

These are my personal views and are not the opinion of www.drivingsales.com

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Posted in In the Trenches, Sales | No Comments »

Traditional Marketing is not Antiquated

Tuesday, November 11th, 2008

Every Internet consultant in the automobile business is wrong when they tell dealers that they need to divert advertising away from traditional marketing to Internet marketing.  The problem is they are using the wrong terminology!!

Today’s traditional media is online.  Radio, cable tv, direct mail and print are antiquated forms forms of marketing.  To call those forms of advertising “traditional marketing” is like telling your kid to go to the record store to get a needle to play the new 45 you just bought.

Dictionary defines traditional as:

tra⋅di⋅tion⋅al   [truh-dish-uh-nl]  – adjective

1.     of or pertaining to tradition.

tra⋅di⋅tion  [truh-dish-uhn]  –noun

1.     the handing down of statements, beliefs, legends, customs, information, etc., from generation to generation, esp. by word of mouth or by practice: a story that has come down to us by popular tradition.
2.     something that is handed down: the traditions of the Eskimos.
3.     a long-established or inherited way of thinking or acting: The rebellious students wanted to break with tradition.
4.     a continuing pattern of culture beliefs or practices.
5.     a customary or characteristic method or manner: The winner took a victory lap in the usual track tradition.

Sure if you are in a conversation with a third generation dealer those forms of advertising may be considered “traditional” according to the definition.  Traditional could also mean generations of bad habits like smoking and overeating.  Not real good examples to follow.

However the second part of the phrase “marketing” is defined as:

mar⋅ket⋅ing /ˈ[mahr-ki-ting] –noun

1.     the act of buying or selling in a market.
2.     the total of activities involved in the transfer of goods from the producer or seller to the consumer or buyer, including advertising, shipping, storing, and selling.

What resonates the loudest in the definition of marketing is “the transfer of goods from .. seller to consumer.”  Antiquated marketing does not accomplish that, traditional marketing does. 

So to use the definitions to define “traditional marketing” I would say “A continuing pattern of practices to transfer goods from seller or buyer.”  I don’t think antiquated mediums suffice to fill those shoes.

It is the buyers tradition of research to acquire goods and services you must market in their form of tradition.  With over 70% of buyers researching vehicles online before making a purchase decision it should tell dealers and consultants that the “tradition” for the buyer is to start online.  Even if they do not make their final purchase there.

If customers by habit use a medium to collect information before signing on the dotted line, they have created the tradition that you must embrace.  They don’t care about your traditions or habits they only care about theirs. 

You market to people by reaching them, you need to go to where they are.  No amount of money is going to get them to listen to your radio ad when they are using their iPod and Sirrus, they won’t watch your commercial if they TiVo or DVR and when was the last time you really read a paper front to back or sorted through sales slicks in your mail box.

Just as we have become immune from advertising so have our customers.  I guess the weekly print ad is still an effective closing tool for sales people and weak managers and provides them with a tool to discourage other forms of marketing because they do not want to be responsible for encouraging something different than the status quo.

Today’s consumers traditionally go online, most car dealers traditionally spend money marketing in the wrong places.  Be an innovator if you are not to late and own a market area before your competition wakes up by using traditional marketing, let them keep wasting their money.

Customers are changing their traditions we must change our vocabulary.

Paul Rushing
Community Development
912-266-1629
www.drivingsales.com
paulr@drivingsales.com

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Posted in In the Trenches, Marketing | 1 Comment »

Founded in 1909 is a Liability

Friday, October 31st, 2008

I received my copy of Tribes by Seth Godin it is a must read for anyone serious about marketing their business, trying to bring about change or build a loyal customer base. It is not about advertising hooks, gimmicks or gorilla marketing it is about adapting to today’s market environments and gives many real life examples of people and companies that get it.

Customers do not care how long you have been in business. How many times have you heard a new broom sweeps good? There is a certain amount of stodginess that comes with being the old faithful, a certain amount being the man and a lot of complacency by having the status of the landmark.

Think of businesses we have seen rise and fall because of their unwillingness to adapt.

Remember when AOL was the internet?
Remember when you waited in anticipation for the Holiday Sears catalog?
How many vacant Blockbusters Stores in your area?

And now the big three are holding on by a thread.

Think about companies that are almost nothing more than a memory today because or their unwillingness to change or take a risk into uncharted waters before you deny a new idea or fail to try to embrace new things. If you are the one lobbying for it remember many times it is easier to beg for forgiveness than to ask for permission.

Get a copy of Tribes.  If nothing else you will go from paralysis to comatose.

Paul Rushing
Community Development
912-266-1629
www.drivingsales.com
paulr@drivingsales.com


Contact Me: LinkedinTwitter

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Posted in In the Trenches, Marketing | No Comments »

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