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 video on their sites today.

Video has rapidly increased in importance to the consumer and therefore to the dealer. Auto Channel reported that today, 80% of car buyers indicate that videos impact their buying decision and 80% of Internet users stated that they watch video online, reports Advertising Age. Using video on a dealer site further engages the consumer and increases overall site stickiness.

The benefits of video on a dealer website:

• Provides a comprehensive vehicle review in a rich media format strengthening the consumer’s emotional connection
• Attracts and persuades more consumers, increases the time spent on the website, increases interaction, which ultimately, drives more leads
• An important sales tool for distinguishing pre-owned vehicles in a time when more consumers are increasingly turning to pre-owned to fill their needs
• Makes the car buying process easier and more enjoyable by allowing consumers to do hours of research within minutes 

Enhancing the Sales Experience

How do you capture your customer’s attention online? You want to provide them with the best video experience that really showcases the vehicles on your lot whether they are new, used or certified pre-owned.

There are various types of video that dealers can use on their site, which can serve different sales needs. There are professional videos created by third parties that can provide a high level overview that highlights the strengths and features of a vehicle. These videos incorporate footage of the vehicle in motion, provide impressions of the vehicles performance and utilize a voiceover narration that walks the viewer through the vehicle highlights. 

Another easy option for dealers is a method of creating video that allows the dealer to leverage the photos of any new, used or CPO vehicle they have on the lot and turn those into a video with a personalized voice over narration. These videos are specific to a single car and utilize computer text-to-speech technology to generate a voice over that highlights the vehicles features and specifications.  This technology allows a virtual walk around video to be quickly generated for every vehicle in a dealer’s inventory In fact, Pictures to Video is a great sales tool when following up on a lead by allowing you to email the consumer a link to that exact vehicle’s video.

(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 dealers who had an interested buyer on the phone did not ask for an appointment. Here’s one way to ask: “Yes, we have that car in the lot. I’m here today until closing and would love to show it to you. Does either 3 or 5 pm work for you?”

2.      Suggest an alternative if the vehicle is no longer available. In over one-third of the calls (35%), the dealer did not offer an alternative vehicle to the prospect if their first choice was not available. Offer them a similar vehicle and then ask for the appointment.

3.      Keep your voicemail system up and working. With calls placed when the dealership was closed, one-fourth reached voicemail systems that could not record the call, typically due to the fact that the voicemail boxes were full. This is an easy fix: Get a bigger voicemail box and check it regularly.

 What to Look for in a Phone Lead Provider 

 Using a quality provider also plays a key role in your success. Here are some things to consider:

 1.      What is the time duration for a call to be “billed”? The vast majority of phone calls from serious prospects are over one minute in duration, while some shorter calls come from serious buyers who simply want directions to the dealership. If your provider charges for all calls, even those under 40 seconds, you should be wary.

 2.      Are calls from phone leads available as audio file for later review? Reviewing your phone calls can give you great insight into how effective your sales person’s dialogue with the prospect is, and what needs some polishing.

 3.      How does your provider ensure phone number quality? Unfortunately, toll-free phone numbers are often recycled, and you can get “junk” calls meant for the previous “owner” of the number. Make sure your provider doesn’t assign phone numbers until they are “ring free” for at least one month or longer.

 4.      Can phone leads be integrated with your LMT or CRM system for easy tracking and management? Whether they are form, email, or phone leads, you should be able to monitor all your leads in one central system. This helps with follow-up and in identifying which lead sources are high quality and which should be cut.

 5.      Does the vendor have lead “enrichment” capabilities? A provider that is able to append a phone lead with the caller’s address and send it to your LMT or CRM system is offering you a far superior lead than one who is not.

The combination of a rock solid phone lead handling process coupled with a top notch provider is the perfect formula to generate the highest closing rate from your phone leads.