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.  Active listening requires the listener to understand, interpret, and evaluate what they hear.  To do, utilizing such tools as Twitter, industry forums and blogs can help in getting a better understanding of what people are saying about your brand.

Ideally, the next step is instituting relevant email campaigns that use the gathered data from the listening activities.  If people are saying your store has great customer service (for example), play that up.  If people are saying your store doesn’t, then be sure to emphasize service changes you may be instituting.  Using the data you accumulated via active listening in your messages shows your customers you’re proactive in meeting their needs.

One last point to consider is creating those messages and crafting them in a way that spurs a call to action.  For instance, an automotive service marketing initiative should be crafted in a way that can either serve loyal customers or ones that are unresponsive (remember active and inactive customers?).  For loyal customers, an offer of a discounted oil change or service could drive traffic into your dealership.  On the flip side, non-loyal or unresponsive customers will probably require more aggressive pitches.  Additionally, deeper discounts may be needed to entice them to use your automotive service department.

With these tips in mind, your automotive marketing campaigns can effectively reach all facets of your client database and improve your ROI.

~ Missy Jensen, Social Media Manager at DMEautomotive

Bio:
Missy designs, deploys and maintains the social media initiatives for DMEautomotive in an effort to increase brand awareness, distribute company and industry news, provide updates on products and services and promote consumer engagement. Missy enjoys the process of learning; researching and watching projects come to fruition!

Prior to her transformation into a web specialist and work with DMEautomotive, she has 10 years of experience in the marketing and communications industry. Missy served as the Director, Handicapping & Communications for a regional golf association and helped successfully launch and maintain a cutting edge technology-based ticket resale program on behalf of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Missy attended St. Lawrence University where she graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BS in Psychology. She also holds a Master’s Degree from Miami University in Oxford, OH. She can be reached at missy.jensen@dmeautomotive.com and check her out on LinkedIn.

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.  Active listening requires the listener to understand, interpret, and evaluate what they hear.  To do, utilizing such tools as Twitter, industry forums and blogs can help in getting a better understanding of what people are saying about your brand.

Ideally, the next step is instituting relevant email campaigns that use the gathered data from the listening activities.  If people are saying your store has great customer service (for example), play that up.  If people are saying your store doesn’t, then be sure to emphasize service changes you may be instituting.  Using the data you accumulated via active listening in your messages shows your customers you’re proactive in meeting their needs.

One last point to consider is creating those messages and crafting them in a way that spurs a call to action.  For instance, an automotive service marketing initiative should be crafted in a way that can either serve loyal customers or ones that are unresponsive (remember active and inactive customers?).  For loyal customers, an offer of a discounted oil change or service could drive traffic into your dealership.  On the flip side, non-loyal or unresponsive customers will probably require more aggressive pitches.  Additionally, deeper discounts may be needed to entice them to use your automotive service department.

With these tips in mind, your automotive marketing campaigns can effectively reach all facets of your client database and improve your ROI.

~ Missy Jensen, Social Media Manager at DMEautomotive

Bio:
Missy designs, deploys and maintains the social media initiatives for DMEautomotive in an effort to increase brand awareness, distribute company and industry news, provide updates on products and services and promote consumer engagement. Missy enjoys the process of learning; researching and watching projects come to fruition!

Prior to her transformation into a web specialist and work with DMEautomotive, she has 10 years of experience in the marketing and communications industry. Missy served as the Director, Handicapping & Communications for a regional golf association and helped successfully launch and maintain a cutting edge technology-based ticket resale program on behalf of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Missy attended St. Lawrence University where she graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BS in Psychology. She also holds a Master’s Degree from Miami University in Oxford, OH. She can be reached at missy.jensen@dmeautomotive.com and check her out on LinkedIn.

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 number of ways to put you in front of customers and engage them in the sales, customer service or relationship building processes.  Facebook, Twitter and automotive-branded video channels offer three potent portals for online engagement.

Book ‘em, Dano.  As of this writing, Facebook’s online community consists of over 500 million active members.  Of that number, it’s estimated that 50 percent log into their accounts every day.   With those statistics in mind, it would stand to reason that this social media platform is a critical piece in customer engagement.  Facebook provides an important and active communications portal to relate and interact with your customers on issues ranging from customer service to important dealership announcements.

Tweet, Tweet.  With over 190 million visitors per month and users generating over 65 million “tweets” per day, Twitter has become the little social media engine that can.  Despite its 140-character limit, Twitter offers both reach and immediacy to those seeking automotive information.  Moreover, its search function and active user base allow automotive marketing professionals to seek out conversations and engage potential customers in discussion, thus developing relationships and putting a product or service top of mind in the decision process.

Branded and Ready.  When not researching and reading blogs, video channels like YouTube and Hulu provide car dealership marketers with a medium that can offer terrific reach.  Having a branded video channel can offer identity and brand association.  It can also provide potential consumers reviews and relevant information in a quick, direct format that’s easily consumable.

By using these three important outlets in your direct marketing efforts, your dealership can create a high level of online engagement with your customers.  

In an upcoming blog, we’ll discuss how reach can improve sales and offers a better return on investment.

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 number of ways to put you in front of customers and engage them in the sales, customer service or relationship building processes.  Facebook, Twitter and automotive-branded video channels offer three potent portals for online engagement.

Book ‘em, Dano.  As of this writing, Facebook’s online community consists of over 500 million active members.  Of that number, it’s estimated that 50 percent log into their accounts every day.   With those statistics in mind, it would stand to reason that this social media platform is a critical piece in customer engagement.  Facebook provides an important and active communications portal to relate and interact with your customers on issues ranging from customer service to important dealership announcements.

Tweet, Tweet.  With over 190 million visitors per month and users generating over 65 million “tweets” per day, Twitter has become the little social media engine that can.  Despite its 140-character limit, Twitter offers both reach and immediacy to those seeking automotive information.  Moreover, its search function and active user base allow automotive marketing professionals to seek out conversations and engage potential customers in discussion, thus developing relationships and putting a product or service top of mind in the decision process.

Branded and Ready.  When not researching and reading blogs, video channels like YouTube and Hulu provide car dealership marketers with a medium that can offer terrific reach.  Having a branded video channel can offer identity and brand association.  It can also provide potential consumers reviews and relevant information in a quick, direct format that’s easily consumable.

By using these three important outlets in your direct marketing efforts, your dealership can create a high level of online engagement with your customers.  

In an upcoming blog, we’ll discuss how reach can improve sales and offers a better return on investment.

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 first three pages

• 39% of search engine users link search result placement to a company’s prominence

Additionally, statistics show that a user is 48% more likely to change the terms of their search (rather than sticking with their current search terms) if their search is associated with a good or a service.  The same study points out that 49% of web users continue to change their search term in order to yield better results.  Respondents also strongly indicated (91%) that they change their search terms if the results didn’t appear on the first three pages.

This data shows just how important it is for a dealership to appear in search results on the first three pages.  By utilizing content that’s properly optimized and keyword enriched, the appropriately tailored direct marketing plan can achieve organic returns on the first three pages of a web user conducted search, and therefore get the audience attention your brand needs to drive traffic.

~ Missy Jensen, Social Media Manager at DMEautomotive

Bio:
Missy designs, deploys and maintains the social media initiatives for DMEautomotive in an effort to increase brand awareness, distribute company and industry news, provide updates on products and services and promote consumer engagement. Missy enjoys the process of learning; researching and watching projects come to fruition!

Prior to her transformation into a web specialist and work with DMEautomotive, she has 10 years of experience in the marketing and communications industry. Missy served as the Director, Handicapping & Communications for a regional golf association and helped successfully launch and maintain a cutting edge technology-based ticket resale program on behalf of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Missy attended St. Lawrence University where she graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BS in Psychology. She also holds a Master’s Degree from Miami University in Oxford, OH. She can be reached at missy.jensen@dmeautomotive.com and check her out on LinkedIn.

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 first three pages

• 39% of search engine users link search result placement to a company’s prominence

Additionally, statistics show that a user is 48% more likely to change the terms of their search (rather than sticking with their current search terms) if their search is associated with a good or a service.  The same study points out that 49% of web users continue to change their search term in order to yield better results.  Respondents also strongly indicated (91%) that they change their search terms if the results didn’t appear on the first three pages.

This data shows just how important it is for a dealership to appear in search results on the first three pages.  By utilizing content that’s properly optimized and keyword enriched, the appropriately tailored direct marketing plan can achieve organic returns on the first three pages of a web user conducted search, and therefore get the audience attention your brand needs to drive traffic.

~ Missy Jensen, Social Media Manager at DMEautomotive

Bio:
Missy designs, deploys and maintains the social media initiatives for DMEautomotive in an effort to increase brand awareness, distribute company and industry news, provide updates on products and services and promote consumer engagement. Missy enjoys the process of learning; researching and watching projects come to fruition!

Prior to her transformation into a web specialist and work with DMEautomotive, she has 10 years of experience in the marketing and communications industry. Missy served as the Director, Handicapping & Communications for a regional golf association and helped successfully launch and maintain a cutting edge technology-based ticket resale program on behalf of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Missy attended St. Lawrence University where she graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BS in Psychology. She also holds a Master’s Degree from Miami University in Oxford, OH. She can be reached at missy.jensen@dmeautomotive.com and check her out on LinkedIn.

Before the age of the Internet, gathering information for a new vehicle required taking a look at the local paper or paging through a manufacturer’s booklet.  Driving down to your local dealership for a test drive it was something that was part of the norm.  In some of those cases, it may have necessitated a phone call to schedule an appointment to get a hands-on experience. 

Today’s automotive marketing efforts now open us to numerous possibilities to gather information for a new vehicle purchase, especially with access to the Internet.  With a few finger taps on the keyboard or a few clicks of the mouse, we have 24/7 access to automotive reviews (both professional and peer), reliability ratings and pricing details for any make or model that may fit into a targeted purchase.

At this point in the automotive buying process, it’s crucial that online car dealer marketing be effective.  To do so, a dealership needs to develop an online presence that stands out among a crowded landscape and gives the consumer a need to visit their sites and showrooms.

The follow represent just a handful of points to consider when putting an online plan in motion.

Engagement. As social media continues to make inroads in all facets of automotive marketing, the most important aspect is that it provides engagement with the customer.  With the emergence of Facebook as a social media dominator, it’s vitally important in establishing a presence on that medium to build a robust online brand.

Reach. As noted in previous posts, the Internet offers “active reach.” Teamed with a traditional car dealer marketing plan (mailers, collateral coupons, etc.), automotive dealers now have unprecedented reach in offering prospects information on future sales, service specials and more.  Putting more relevant details into the right hands helps enhance reach, can improve sales and offers a better return on investment.

Choice. Developing a dealership’s online presence also offers the ability to tailor messages to specific targets.  Recently, we touched upon being proactive in your automotive marketing campaigns.  Within that entry, there were four key points (control, active listening, engagements and staying on point) that give planning online some clout.  When coupled with the identification of active and non-active prospects, these plans can help improve the efficiency of marketing campaigns.

A strong, online presence should consist of many key elements that help establish the dealership’s standing and reputation amongst peers.  A plan that offers engagement, reach and choice provides automotive marketing campaigns a solid starting point and lays the groundwork for establishing an online presence.

In the future, we will delve further into this topic and explore how each of these points can prove valuable for your dealership.

~ Missy Jensen, Social Media Manager at DMEautomotive

Bio:
Missy designs, deploys and maintains the social media initiatives for DMEautomotive in an effort to increase brand awareness, distribute company and industry news, provide updates on products and services and promote consumer engagement. Missy enjoys the process of learning; researching and watching projects come to fruition!

Prior to her transformation into a web specialist and work with DMEautomotive, she has 10 years of experience in the marketing and communications industry. Missy served as the Director, Handicapping & Communications for a regional golf association and helped successfully launch and maintain a cutting edge technology-based ticket resale program on behalf of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Missy attended St. Lawrence University where she graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BS in Psychology. She also holds a Master’s Degree from Miami University in Oxford, OH. She can be reached at missy.jensen@dmeautomotive.com and check her out on LinkedIn.

Before the age of the Internet, gathering information for a new vehicle required taking a look at the local paper or paging through a manufacturer’s booklet.  Driving down to your local dealership for a test drive it was something that was part of the norm.  In some of those cases, it may have necessitated a phone call to schedule an appointment to get a hands-on experience. 

Today’s automotive marketing efforts now open us to numerous possibilities to gather information for a new vehicle purchase, especially with access to the Internet.  With a few finger taps on the keyboard or a few clicks of the mouse, we have 24/7 access to automotive reviews (both professional and peer), reliability ratings and pricing details for any make or model that may fit into a targeted purchase.

At this point in the automotive buying process, it’s crucial that online car dealer marketing be effective.  To do so, a dealership needs to develop an online presence that stands out among a crowded landscape and gives the consumer a need to visit their sites and showrooms.

The follow represent just a handful of points to consider when putting an online plan in motion.

Engagement. As social media continues to make inroads in all facets of automotive marketing, the most important aspect is that it provides engagement with the customer.  With the emergence of Facebook as a social media dominator, it’s vitally important in establishing a presence on that medium to build a robust online brand.

Reach. As noted in previous posts, the Internet offers “active reach.” Teamed with a traditional car dealer marketing plan (mailers, collateral coupons, etc.), automotive dealers now have unprecedented reach in offering prospects information on future sales, service specials and more.  Putting more relevant details into the right hands helps enhance reach, can improve sales and offers a better return on investment.

Choice. Developing a dealership’s online presence also offers the ability to tailor messages to specific targets.  Recently, we touched upon being proactive in your automotive marketing campaigns.  Within that entry, there were four key points (control, active listening, engagements and staying on point) that give planning online some clout.  When coupled with the identification of active and non-active prospects, these plans can help improve the efficiency of marketing campaigns.

A strong, online presence should consist of many key elements that help establish the dealership’s standing and reputation amongst peers.  A plan that offers engagement, reach and choice provides automotive marketing campaigns a solid starting point and lays the groundwork for establishing an online presence.

In the future, we will delve further into this topic and explore how each of these points can prove valuable for your dealership.

~ Missy Jensen, Social Media Manager at DMEautomotive

Bio:
Missy designs, deploys and maintains the social media initiatives for DMEautomotive in an effort to increase brand awareness, distribute company and industry news, provide updates on products and services and promote consumer engagement. Missy enjoys the process of learning; researching and watching projects come to fruition!

Prior to her transformation into a web specialist and work with DMEautomotive, she has 10 years of experience in the marketing and communications industry. Missy served as the Director, Handicapping & Communications for a regional golf association and helped successfully launch and maintain a cutting edge technology-based ticket resale program on behalf of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Missy attended St. Lawrence University where she graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BS in Psychology. She also holds a Master’s Degree from Miami University in Oxford, OH. She can be reached at missy.jensen@dmeautomotive.com and check her out on LinkedIn.

In the customer retention management field, automotive retention programs that allow for users to ‘opt-in’ for continuous updates on their vehicles serve as an important tool for automotive dealerships to drive customers into their service centers.

In fact, automotive dealerships use multiple channels of communication such as targeted direct mail, voice messaging and emails to make sure they’re always in touch with their customers.  By using data segmentation techniques, these solutions allow dealerships to save on costs by sending out crucial information to relevant targets.

The following are some benefits in using a set it and forget customer retention strategy to help drive traffic into your dealership and help with your overall return on investment (ROI).

• Right offer, right time. One of the primary advantages of a targeted marketing plan is delivering the right offer, to the right person, at the right time.  If a customer is coming out of a lease arrangement, a well-timed email informing them of some leasing offers can help pique your customer’s interest in a new vehicle.

• Budget appropriately. When putting together direct marketing initiatives, it’s easy to want to have grand plans and want to do anything you can to increase that ROI for your dealership.  But take a deep breath: if you’ve strategized right and used all the tools available to you (email, texting, social media and an properly maintained database), you can have a very budget-friendly campaign that delivers results.

• Be aggressive – to the right targets. With any direct marketing campaigns, there are two sets of targets: customers that actively consume offers that come their way and inactive ones that either read the offer and forgets it or simply tosses it aside without batting an eye.  It’s the latter that an aggressive, discounted promotional campaign should be directed towards.  By doing so, you’ll give them incentive to come to your dealership for such items as brake specials, services and wheel alignments.

Putting together effective targeted direct marketing campaigns that use multiple channels helps increase response rates and augments your chances of reaching customers.  It also ensures that you’re always communicating with them the way they want to receive communications.  So if you’re timely with your targeted direct mail offers, budget your plans appropriately and are aggressive in your offers with inactive customers, you’re well on the road to a rock solid ROI on your efforts.

~ Missy Jensen, Social Media Manager at DMEautomotive

Bio:
Missy designs, deploys and maintains the social media initiatives for DMEautomotive in an effort to increase brand awareness, distribute company and industry news, provide updates on products and services and promote consumer engagement. Missy enjoys the process of learning; researching and watching projects come to fruition!

Prior to her transformation into a web specialist and work with DMEautomotive, she has 10 years of experience in the marketing and communications industry. Missy served as the Director, Handicapping & Communications for a regional golf association and helped successfully launch and maintain a cutting edge technology-based ticket resale program on behalf of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Missy attended St. Lawrence University where she graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BS in Psychology. She also holds a Master’s Degree from Miami University in Oxford, OH. She can be reached at missy.jensen@dmeautomotive.com and check her out on LinkedIn.

In the customer retention management field, automotive retention programs that allow for users to ‘opt-in’ for continuous updates on their vehicles serve as an important tool for automotive dealerships to drive customers into their service centers.

In fact, automotive dealerships use multiple channels of communication such as targeted direct mail, voice messaging and emails to make sure they’re always in touch with their customers.  By using data segmentation techniques, these solutions allow dealerships to save on costs by sending out crucial information to relevant targets.

The following are some benefits in using a set it and forget customer retention strategy to help drive traffic into your dealership and help with your overall return on investment (ROI).

• Right offer, right time. One of the primary advantages of a targeted marketing plan is delivering the right offer, to the right person, at the right time.  If a customer is coming out of a lease arrangement, a well-timed email informing them of some leasing offers can help pique your customer’s interest in a new vehicle.

• Budget appropriately. When putting together direct marketing initiatives, it’s easy to want to have grand plans and want to do anything you can to increase that ROI for your dealership.  But take a deep breath: if you’ve strategized right and used all the tools available to you (email, texting, social media and an properly maintained database), you can have a very budget-friendly campaign that delivers results.

• Be aggressive – to the right targets. With any direct marketing campaigns, there are two sets of targets: customers that actively consume offers that come their way and inactive ones that either read the offer and forgets it or simply tosses it aside without batting an eye.  It’s the latter that an aggressive, discounted promotional campaign should be directed towards.  By doing so, you’ll give them incentive to come to your dealership for such items as brake specials, services and wheel alignments.

Putting together effective targeted direct marketing campaigns that use multiple channels helps increase response rates and augments your chances of reaching customers.  It also ensures that you’re always communicating with them the way they want to receive communications.  So if you’re timely with your targeted direct mail offers, budget your plans appropriately and are aggressive in your offers with inactive customers, you’re well on the road to a rock solid ROI on your efforts.

~ Missy Jensen, Social Media Manager at DMEautomotive

Bio:
Missy designs, deploys and maintains the social media initiatives for DMEautomotive in an effort to increase brand awareness, distribute company and industry news, provide updates on products and services and promote consumer engagement. Missy enjoys the process of learning; researching and watching projects come to fruition!

Prior to her transformation into a web specialist and work with DMEautomotive, she has 10 years of experience in the marketing and communications industry. Missy served as the Director, Handicapping & Communications for a regional golf association and helped successfully launch and maintain a cutting edge technology-based ticket resale program on behalf of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Missy attended St. Lawrence University where she graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BS in Psychology. She also holds a Master’s Degree from Miami University in Oxford, OH. She can be reached at missy.jensen@dmeautomotive.com and check her out on LinkedIn.