Dealer Authority
Why It's Okay for Dealers to Abandon Social Media
For the last week, I have spoken to several dealers, a couple of vendors, and members of our team about how to position social media properly so that dealers will be able to take full advantage of it. We blogged about it, prepared a webinar, and adjusted our upcoming presentation at DSES to make sure that we're getting the word out about the tangible, measurable, ROI-based aspects of social media.
There was a lot of bad press going out and I felt the need to combat it.
The first thing that got me riled up was the infamous "nobody shops for cars on social media" post on Automotive News. Then, it was an article here on Driving Sales that got me even more excited about teaching on the subject. It was a comment, just a single sentence, that completely changed my perspective. I'm now endorsing the concept that most dealers should abandon social media.
"Shhh. Craig. Don't tell anyone about the dark posts. We don't want them to get too popular :P"
It hit me like an 18-wheeler. Robert Karbaum's comment made me realize that this isn't something for mass consumption. If too many dealers were aware of the ROI that properly targeted, masterfully crafted dark posts pointing to killer landing pages bring to the table, their effectiveness would be diluted.
The vast majority of what goes on with automotive social media is pretty much worthless. We know of one other vendor that is even remotely doing it right and I've seen a mere handful of dealers taking advantage of it. This is a good thing. It's a good thing for people reading this article. It's the reason that we're currently at 14/14 on our free trials converting into paying clients.
I now realize that this isn't something that needs to be given to the masses. It's not something that can benefit the industry as a whole. The proper social media strategy that actually does sell cars is only effective because so few dealers and vendors understand how it works.
There are many things that I'll post about in the future and many topics that we'll all discuss, but this is one of those that doesn't need to be broadcast to the general automotive industry. There's no need to let the cat out of the bag. It can't be let out. If it ever did, then it wouldn't be a cat anymore. It would lose its effectiveness.
Thank you, Robert, for making an extremely valid point. Social media has a power that cannot be matched by any other advertising venue, but only when utilized properly. If everyone knew that, then it would no longer be as strong.
In essence, I was being Syndrome from The Incredibles.
Dealer Authority
A Case for Managed or Backup Chat
It seems as if every couple of months I find another reason to hop on my soapbox and make the case for a product that we don't even sell, but I have to mention again that chat going offline is a big problem in our industry. Since leaving the world of websites, I have come across this challenge more than any other. Perhaps I had a sheltered existence, but I never knew how common it was for dealers to turn their website chat "offline" for extended periods of time.
I know there are plenty of people out there who believe that chat is a minor component of their websites. One guru even told me he thought chat was worthless. I've explored the numbers on dozens of websites with numerous chat services at play and I can say with a certainty that communication, website visitor experience, and leads are all improved with the right chat.
Why do they go offline? Why do many dealers allow the only method of real-time late night communication to go unmanned? How can dealers afford to have chat off during lunch, while on test drives, or while hanging out with the receptionist?
I believe wholeheartedly in managed chat, but I know there are plenty of dealers out there who can make a valid case for having their internal team manage the chat. However, unless they're managing it 24/7, there's still a gap that needs to be filled through chat backup services. As I've posted publicly before, I recommend CarChat24. One of the biggest reasons is because they offer both managed and backup chat services that keep the dealership's website communications online at all times.
There is plenty of evidence that people do engage in vehicle purchasing research late at night or early in the morning before work when there's nobody to call at the dealership. Chat is the only other valid real-time communication tool. We've all seen email and lead form submissions plateau or even drop in recent years. People are less likely to fill out a form than they were in the past. While a call is great to get, there are people who want instant information but who prefer chatting over talking on the phone.
I could totally understand it if we were talking about thousands of dollars to get people to cover chat 24/7, but we're not. I don't recall who was charging what for the managed or backup chat services - it's been a couple of months since I sat through all of the presentations - but I do know that it was much more affordable than I had imagined.
To me, it's a no-brainer. Making sure that someone is available on chat at all times means giving potential customers the opportunity to interact with the dealer on their own terms. When they want to chat, you have to be there for them. Turning it off for the night or during a bathroom break can be the difference between getting the sale or not.
If you aren't using chat software or services at your dealership, you're missing out. If you have your chat go offline for extended periods at a time, you're missing out.
Don't dismiss this. It's an important part of website success and it's only going to become more important as millennials continue to enter the car buying world.. I don't want to generalize and I know there are excpetions, but most millenials prefer instant yet indirect communication rather than phone or email communication. That's why they don't always answer their phone but they reply via text almost instantly.
Chat uses the same principles. It's an additional way for potential customers to contact the dealership.and a way that is preferred by many. Can you afford to miss out on the leads and sales that chat provides?
6 Comments
Blueberry Management
I couldn't agree more JD. I have seen dealers brush off managed chat in favor of a self-managed solution not understanding that they are leaving $$ on the table by not engaging with web visitors 24/7. I would add that dealers should also expect more of their managed chat solutions. Not all chat vendors are created equal. At Gubagoo, we use a proprietary behavioral algorithm to engage with dealers' web visitors. We also have many other lead types in addition to chat. As a result, we are proud to boast some of the highest lead conversion rates in the industry. I encourage you to check us out!!
Contact At Once!
Hi JD, The points you made were all valid. And, having the right team answering is key. But, are the people you trust your prospects to knowledgable, local and well trained? If you're trusting them to represent your dealership, you'll want to make sure they are not answering from India and/or are clueless about the vehicles you sell. I would also point out that while chat is popular, texting is the growing trend - particularly with Millennials, so excluding it from any conversation focused on instant messaging opportunities makes it less than comprehensive. In fact most dealers are already texting...well, the salespeople are at least. I really thought the piece Mark Winters did for DrivingSales on texting was urgent: http://drivingsalesnews.com/dealership-text-messages-will-they-lead-to-a-lawsuit/
Preston Automotive Group MD/DE
The debate about the location of chat operators is an interesting one, and valid. Questions to ask about operators include: - How is performance measured - Average tenure - Are they auto exclusive - What is their objective - sell a car through a chat conversation or get a lead / schedule an appointment. - How is the performance generating leads (different than harvesting contact info with gimmicks like 'what is your email in case we get disconnected' or 'can I send you a transcript of this chat'?" - then charging a dealership for it - How does their chat stack up in sold unit ratio compared to unique visitors - comprehensive data mining companies can tell you this As for SMS - requiring a phone number early in a chat is about as customer-friendly as asking on the lot first thing. People chat for hours on facebook and other social sites just fine without requiring a character-limiting SMS. It would be beneficial to get the opt-in, but unless they are in an active transaction, my experience texting customers is leave their phone alone.
Contact At Once!
All great points, Tom. In terms of chat, dealerships have the option of requesting information before a chat is initiated (including a phone number). Like you, I personally would not suggest this as it can be a bit of a deterrent. In terms of Texting, your post seems to focus primarily on outbound texting (salesperson to shopper). This is an area where dealers should be careful and in compliance with TCPA regulations. Checkout this post for more on that: http://www.autodealerchat.com/3-steps-before-texting-consumers But, in terms of offering a texting option on website in addition to chat - it's a no brainer in today's mobile marketplace and an essential way to converse with more mobile shoppers.
Preston Automotive Group MD/DE
Aaron - the beauty of operating in vendor space is that we all got here with different philosophies. I'll recognize your view on the inbound texting. But in an era where people got to the dealer website on a mobile browser, we believe a well-engineered mobile chat screen developed from the ground up for mobile screens is a better experience for the client :)
Auto Know
"If you aren't using managed chat software or services at your dealership 25/7 you're missing out". It still amazes me when I ask the decision maker for the reason why no managed chat ?....it falls into one of two responses. Cost or Appathy. I can prove that 25/30% of your monthly UV shop your site when you are closed. If you simple do the math of 25% x monthly UV = Lost Opportunity. Lots of lost Opportunity. If you are average in your web to sale conversions say 10% that's 2-3 potential car deals and fresh trade ins each month. At an ave GP of $1300 per unit plus the hard cost of two auction buys. $$$$!, Managed Chat clearl is the most cost effective investment that will drive new incremental sales and service dollars. Thanks JD for remaining us of the importance of Managed Chat. Elliott
Dealer Authority
A Case for Managed or Backup Chat
It seems as if every couple of months I find another reason to hop on my soapbox and make the case for a product that we don't even sell, but I have to mention again that chat going offline is a big problem in our industry. Since leaving the world of websites, I have come across this challenge more than any other. Perhaps I had a sheltered existence, but I never knew how common it was for dealers to turn their website chat "offline" for extended periods of time.
I know there are plenty of people out there who believe that chat is a minor component of their websites. One guru even told me he thought chat was worthless. I've explored the numbers on dozens of websites with numerous chat services at play and I can say with a certainty that communication, website visitor experience, and leads are all improved with the right chat.
Why do they go offline? Why do many dealers allow the only method of real-time late night communication to go unmanned? How can dealers afford to have chat off during lunch, while on test drives, or while hanging out with the receptionist?
I believe wholeheartedly in managed chat, but I know there are plenty of dealers out there who can make a valid case for having their internal team manage the chat. However, unless they're managing it 24/7, there's still a gap that needs to be filled through chat backup services. As I've posted publicly before, I recommend CarChat24. One of the biggest reasons is because they offer both managed and backup chat services that keep the dealership's website communications online at all times.
There is plenty of evidence that people do engage in vehicle purchasing research late at night or early in the morning before work when there's nobody to call at the dealership. Chat is the only other valid real-time communication tool. We've all seen email and lead form submissions plateau or even drop in recent years. People are less likely to fill out a form than they were in the past. While a call is great to get, there are people who want instant information but who prefer chatting over talking on the phone.
I could totally understand it if we were talking about thousands of dollars to get people to cover chat 24/7, but we're not. I don't recall who was charging what for the managed or backup chat services - it's been a couple of months since I sat through all of the presentations - but I do know that it was much more affordable than I had imagined.
To me, it's a no-brainer. Making sure that someone is available on chat at all times means giving potential customers the opportunity to interact with the dealer on their own terms. When they want to chat, you have to be there for them. Turning it off for the night or during a bathroom break can be the difference between getting the sale or not.
If you aren't using chat software or services at your dealership, you're missing out. If you have your chat go offline for extended periods at a time, you're missing out.
Don't dismiss this. It's an important part of website success and it's only going to become more important as millennials continue to enter the car buying world.. I don't want to generalize and I know there are excpetions, but most millenials prefer instant yet indirect communication rather than phone or email communication. That's why they don't always answer their phone but they reply via text almost instantly.
Chat uses the same principles. It's an additional way for potential customers to contact the dealership.and a way that is preferred by many. Can you afford to miss out on the leads and sales that chat provides?
6 Comments
Blueberry Management
I couldn't agree more JD. I have seen dealers brush off managed chat in favor of a self-managed solution not understanding that they are leaving $$ on the table by not engaging with web visitors 24/7. I would add that dealers should also expect more of their managed chat solutions. Not all chat vendors are created equal. At Gubagoo, we use a proprietary behavioral algorithm to engage with dealers' web visitors. We also have many other lead types in addition to chat. As a result, we are proud to boast some of the highest lead conversion rates in the industry. I encourage you to check us out!!
Contact At Once!
Hi JD, The points you made were all valid. And, having the right team answering is key. But, are the people you trust your prospects to knowledgable, local and well trained? If you're trusting them to represent your dealership, you'll want to make sure they are not answering from India and/or are clueless about the vehicles you sell. I would also point out that while chat is popular, texting is the growing trend - particularly with Millennials, so excluding it from any conversation focused on instant messaging opportunities makes it less than comprehensive. In fact most dealers are already texting...well, the salespeople are at least. I really thought the piece Mark Winters did for DrivingSales on texting was urgent: http://drivingsalesnews.com/dealership-text-messages-will-they-lead-to-a-lawsuit/
Preston Automotive Group MD/DE
The debate about the location of chat operators is an interesting one, and valid. Questions to ask about operators include: - How is performance measured - Average tenure - Are they auto exclusive - What is their objective - sell a car through a chat conversation or get a lead / schedule an appointment. - How is the performance generating leads (different than harvesting contact info with gimmicks like 'what is your email in case we get disconnected' or 'can I send you a transcript of this chat'?" - then charging a dealership for it - How does their chat stack up in sold unit ratio compared to unique visitors - comprehensive data mining companies can tell you this As for SMS - requiring a phone number early in a chat is about as customer-friendly as asking on the lot first thing. People chat for hours on facebook and other social sites just fine without requiring a character-limiting SMS. It would be beneficial to get the opt-in, but unless they are in an active transaction, my experience texting customers is leave their phone alone.
Contact At Once!
All great points, Tom. In terms of chat, dealerships have the option of requesting information before a chat is initiated (including a phone number). Like you, I personally would not suggest this as it can be a bit of a deterrent. In terms of Texting, your post seems to focus primarily on outbound texting (salesperson to shopper). This is an area where dealers should be careful and in compliance with TCPA regulations. Checkout this post for more on that: http://www.autodealerchat.com/3-steps-before-texting-consumers But, in terms of offering a texting option on website in addition to chat - it's a no brainer in today's mobile marketplace and an essential way to converse with more mobile shoppers.
Preston Automotive Group MD/DE
Aaron - the beauty of operating in vendor space is that we all got here with different philosophies. I'll recognize your view on the inbound texting. But in an era where people got to the dealer website on a mobile browser, we believe a well-engineered mobile chat screen developed from the ground up for mobile screens is a better experience for the client :)
Auto Know
"If you aren't using managed chat software or services at your dealership 25/7 you're missing out". It still amazes me when I ask the decision maker for the reason why no managed chat ?....it falls into one of two responses. Cost or Appathy. I can prove that 25/30% of your monthly UV shop your site when you are closed. If you simple do the math of 25% x monthly UV = Lost Opportunity. Lots of lost Opportunity. If you are average in your web to sale conversions say 10% that's 2-3 potential car deals and fresh trade ins each month. At an ave GP of $1300 per unit plus the hard cost of two auction buys. $$$$!, Managed Chat clearl is the most cost effective investment that will drive new incremental sales and service dollars. Thanks JD for remaining us of the importance of Managed Chat. Elliott
Dealer Authority
The Two Categories of Social Media Marketing Strategies
When it comes to marketing (and just about everything else), there are right-brained thinkers and left-brained thinkers. The right-brain thinkers are more subjective and often more creative and would not like the concept of social media having two options. It makes it too black and white. Left-brain thinkers are guided by logic and wouldn't necessarily believe that there are only two categories in social media marketing. In other words, neither type of person will likely agree with the assertion of this article, at least not at first.
One can make an argument that there are definitely multiple sub-categories, styles, and strategies that go into social media marketing, but there are really only two stances that businesses should take. These two categories can be called "outbound" and "inbound" social media strategies. They shouldn't be confused with inbound or outbound digital marketing strategies. In the case of these social media categories, we're being a little more straight forward than that.
An outbound social media marketing strategy is what most who believe in social media want to achieve. They feel that social media is a venue through which to reach people, communicate, improve branding, and expose the company's messages. Its goal is to be aggressive and take advantage of the fact that the masses are using social media regularly. In many cases, customers are spending more time on social media than any other digital activity.
An inbound social media strategy is very different from a pure inbound marketing strategy. It can be viewed as a defensive posture, a way of covering social media without much time or effort. It's about checking off the social media task box. This is the type of strategy that a business should employ if they either do not believe in social media as an appropriate marketing venue or they do not have the time and/or budget to put a true effort towards an outbound strategy.
Let's take a look at each strategy in more detail.
Outbound Social Media Marketing
This is an "all in" strategy. It focuses on the beliefs that lots of people are on social media, that sites like Facebook have the data that can be used for hypertargeting them with the right messages, and that either ideas or website clicks can be driven through an aggressive advertising component.
In the case of car dealers, for example, social media offers a venue to target people who intend to buy a certain vehicle in the near future. By taking advantage of this data and putting the right messages in front of them, dealers are able to pull people in from social media sites onto landing pages on their website.
To do it the right way requires an investment. It can take time to craft the messages, monitor the profiles, and participate in conversations. It takes advertising dollars to get the message out to the right target audience. Social media in general and Facebook in particular is a pay-to-play model. The old concepts of organic reach are dead.
Inbound Social Media Presence
You'll notice that I did not call it "marketing". With an inbound strategy, a business is simply creating and managing a presence so that they are there without putting in much effort. It's not a defeatist strategy by any means. For many, they have not found the benefits of social media or they're not ready to invest what it takes to have a strong marketing strategy, so they simply get their social media covered.
This is important because people will visit your pages and profiles. Most businesses have buttons that lead to their social media profiles right there on their website. The search engines will often rank social media profiles and pages high on search results for the business by name. Making sure that your pages have an ongoing flow of content is important while not being too time consuming or expensive.
It doesn't look good when people visit your social profiles and they haven't had anything added to them in some time. It's even worse when people are going to these profiles to converse with you or to leave a comment (such as a review) and it goes unnoticed. In extreme cases, Facebook pages can be "hijacked" by spammers leaving their links to unrelated pages. When this type of spam is found on a page, it can be worse than an embarrassment.
Why There's No In-Between
Some will balk and say that there are ways to have a good marketing strategy without going all-in. They are wrong. The benefits of a toe-dipping, low- or no-budget strategy that is trying to do more than establish an ongoing presence are no greater than a purely defensive inbound strategy. In other words, you can spend very little time and money on a basic inbound strategy or you can spend some more time and a little money on an attempted lite marketing strategy and the end results will be the same.
The gap between a basic presence and a "good" presence is minimal. However, the difference between a "good" presence and a full-blown outbound strategy is huge. If you're not going to go all-in, then you should focus on having a good presence rather than trying to work in a little marketing. It's a waste of time and money to go halfway. Either invest into it or keep it simple. There's nothing wrong with either strategy; they both have their benefits. Trying to be there in the middle, not quite bought in but more than just covering the basics, is a limbo that yields nothing more than keeping it all inbound.
It's a lot like poker. On some hands, you'll play it tight, particularly if you believe your hand is weaker than your opponents. On other hands, you'll play aggressive, even going all-in when the time is right. The fish in the middle who are trying to tiptoe through hands are the ones that end up losing their chips the quickest.
No Comments
Dealer Authority
The Two Categories of Social Media Marketing Strategies
When it comes to marketing (and just about everything else), there are right-brained thinkers and left-brained thinkers. The right-brain thinkers are more subjective and often more creative and would not like the concept of social media having two options. It makes it too black and white. Left-brain thinkers are guided by logic and wouldn't necessarily believe that there are only two categories in social media marketing. In other words, neither type of person will likely agree with the assertion of this article, at least not at first.
One can make an argument that there are definitely multiple sub-categories, styles, and strategies that go into social media marketing, but there are really only two stances that businesses should take. These two categories can be called "outbound" and "inbound" social media strategies. They shouldn't be confused with inbound or outbound digital marketing strategies. In the case of these social media categories, we're being a little more straight forward than that.
An outbound social media marketing strategy is what most who believe in social media want to achieve. They feel that social media is a venue through which to reach people, communicate, improve branding, and expose the company's messages. Its goal is to be aggressive and take advantage of the fact that the masses are using social media regularly. In many cases, customers are spending more time on social media than any other digital activity.
An inbound social media strategy is very different from a pure inbound marketing strategy. It can be viewed as a defensive posture, a way of covering social media without much time or effort. It's about checking off the social media task box. This is the type of strategy that a business should employ if they either do not believe in social media as an appropriate marketing venue or they do not have the time and/or budget to put a true effort towards an outbound strategy.
Let's take a look at each strategy in more detail.
Outbound Social Media Marketing
This is an "all in" strategy. It focuses on the beliefs that lots of people are on social media, that sites like Facebook have the data that can be used for hypertargeting them with the right messages, and that either ideas or website clicks can be driven through an aggressive advertising component.
In the case of car dealers, for example, social media offers a venue to target people who intend to buy a certain vehicle in the near future. By taking advantage of this data and putting the right messages in front of them, dealers are able to pull people in from social media sites onto landing pages on their website.
To do it the right way requires an investment. It can take time to craft the messages, monitor the profiles, and participate in conversations. It takes advertising dollars to get the message out to the right target audience. Social media in general and Facebook in particular is a pay-to-play model. The old concepts of organic reach are dead.
Inbound Social Media Presence
You'll notice that I did not call it "marketing". With an inbound strategy, a business is simply creating and managing a presence so that they are there without putting in much effort. It's not a defeatist strategy by any means. For many, they have not found the benefits of social media or they're not ready to invest what it takes to have a strong marketing strategy, so they simply get their social media covered.
This is important because people will visit your pages and profiles. Most businesses have buttons that lead to their social media profiles right there on their website. The search engines will often rank social media profiles and pages high on search results for the business by name. Making sure that your pages have an ongoing flow of content is important while not being too time consuming or expensive.
It doesn't look good when people visit your social profiles and they haven't had anything added to them in some time. It's even worse when people are going to these profiles to converse with you or to leave a comment (such as a review) and it goes unnoticed. In extreme cases, Facebook pages can be "hijacked" by spammers leaving their links to unrelated pages. When this type of spam is found on a page, it can be worse than an embarrassment.
Why There's No In-Between
Some will balk and say that there are ways to have a good marketing strategy without going all-in. They are wrong. The benefits of a toe-dipping, low- or no-budget strategy that is trying to do more than establish an ongoing presence are no greater than a purely defensive inbound strategy. In other words, you can spend very little time and money on a basic inbound strategy or you can spend some more time and a little money on an attempted lite marketing strategy and the end results will be the same.
The gap between a basic presence and a "good" presence is minimal. However, the difference between a "good" presence and a full-blown outbound strategy is huge. If you're not going to go all-in, then you should focus on having a good presence rather than trying to work in a little marketing. It's a waste of time and money to go halfway. Either invest into it or keep it simple. There's nothing wrong with either strategy; they both have their benefits. Trying to be there in the middle, not quite bought in but more than just covering the basics, is a limbo that yields nothing more than keeping it all inbound.
It's a lot like poker. On some hands, you'll play it tight, particularly if you believe your hand is weaker than your opponents. On other hands, you'll play aggressive, even going all-in when the time is right. The fish in the middle who are trying to tiptoe through hands are the ones that end up losing their chips the quickest.
No Comments
Dealer Authority
Is It Really About 'Traditional' versus 'Digital' Anymore?
For nearly two decades, most dealers have been divided in the way that they advertise. There is normally a budget for "traditional" advertising and a separate budget for "digital" advertising. While more dealers are consolidating their budgets, it's more than that. Should we be looking at it all as one holistic form of messaging?
The short answer is, "Yes". That doesn't mean mentioning your website URL in your television commercials. It's more than that. It's about finding the right message that fits your dealership and communicating in a consolidated manner across multiple channels.
It's easy for me to say these things as a CEO of a digital marketing firm because we do not do anything when it comes to traditional advertising. We do not make TV commercials, print ads, mailers, or anything that falls into that category. From our perspective, it's just a matter of marketing across a diverse range of mediums and our focus is on search and social, but it would make our jobs and the effectiveness of the efforts much easier to achieve if everything was consolidated to say the same basic things.
Take, for example, promotion of a tent sale. What we've seen happening for most dealers is that they have a television commercial produced, then they upload it to YouTube. It takes more than that. It should be a banner on the website. It should be a landing page. It means a planned out social media press for the event, including uploading and promoting it on Facebook directly rather than just sharing the YouTube video. It might even mean changing the title tag on the homepage temporarily, mentioning a shortened URL to the landing page on the television or radio commercials, or putting shortened links on mailers that are easy for the recipients to type in.
We're currently exploring the efforts of several vendors and agencies trying to do this. For example, WorldDealer employs a philosophy of "One Voice" that resonates with what we would love to see achieved with our dealers.
Are there any others that we should consider? What strategies have you employed to make this happen at your dealership? Should we still be separating the budgets and strategies out or are our reasons for wanting them separated valid?
Chime in here, please.
Dealer Authority
Is It Really About 'Traditional' versus 'Digital' Anymore?
For nearly two decades, most dealers have been divided in the way that they advertise. There is normally a budget for "traditional" advertising and a separate budget for "digital" advertising. While more dealers are consolidating their budgets, it's more than that. Should we be looking at it all as one holistic form of messaging?
The short answer is, "Yes". That doesn't mean mentioning your website URL in your television commercials. It's more than that. It's about finding the right message that fits your dealership and communicating in a consolidated manner across multiple channels.
It's easy for me to say these things as a CEO of a digital marketing firm because we do not do anything when it comes to traditional advertising. We do not make TV commercials, print ads, mailers, or anything that falls into that category. From our perspective, it's just a matter of marketing across a diverse range of mediums and our focus is on search and social, but it would make our jobs and the effectiveness of the efforts much easier to achieve if everything was consolidated to say the same basic things.
Take, for example, promotion of a tent sale. What we've seen happening for most dealers is that they have a television commercial produced, then they upload it to YouTube. It takes more than that. It should be a banner on the website. It should be a landing page. It means a planned out social media press for the event, including uploading and promoting it on Facebook directly rather than just sharing the YouTube video. It might even mean changing the title tag on the homepage temporarily, mentioning a shortened URL to the landing page on the television or radio commercials, or putting shortened links on mailers that are easy for the recipients to type in.
We're currently exploring the efforts of several vendors and agencies trying to do this. For example, WorldDealer employs a philosophy of "One Voice" that resonates with what we would love to see achieved with our dealers.
Are there any others that we should consider? What strategies have you employed to make this happen at your dealership? Should we still be separating the budgets and strategies out or are our reasons for wanting them separated valid?
Chime in here, please.
Dealer Authority
To Build the Best Landing Pages, You have to Think Mobile
You've all seen the statistics. You've read the studies. You've probably heard about it at some point on the news and you've definitely been told this by a marketing guru of some sort over the past couple of years. The car buying world has gone mobile and your ability to get your message out to potential customers must be viewed by how it's seen on mobile devices first, desktops second.
In a discussion with a client today, we were looking at the way their traffic was being distributed on their website. Present on this "power call" was String Automotive who was delivering a market analysis, Remora who handles the website and search marketing, Automark who delivers the lead generation tools for the website, and my team which handles the social media. This savvy east coast dealer likes to make sure we all meet together monthly to discuss his marketing (a best practice that I strongly recommend to all dealers - get your vendors talking to each other).
We noticed that the traffic and leads were strong going into VDPs and the homepage, but the specials pages were not getting enough action. They appeared properly on desktop and the buttons leading to them showed a 7-to-1 click rate over other calls to action on the page, but they weren't optimized for mobile devices. This needed to be fixed.
One might wonder why we would want to change something that was generating such a high percentage of clicks and a good chunk of leads. This is a conundrum for many dealers. We often think that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it," and normally I would agree. However, what we were seeing was good success. We weren't maxing out. We knew this because the pages didn't appear appropriately on mobile devices.
They weren't mobile-optimized.
The website platform had great mobile numbers until you got to the specials pages. So, the challenge became trying to figure out how to take String's data and keep the Remora website performing so well on mobile while replicating the Automark plugin success from desktop. Despite my part, social, having nothing to do with it, I am pleased to be working with this team on the solution because, well, that's how things should be.
We now have a solution in the works. In essense, this should really be a blog post about how getting your vendors talking to each other regularly is a key to finding the solution, but I'm going to stick with the solution itself on this one. We're going to build mobile-awesome landing pages. This is a key to success as I originally stipulated. The question is, what do they look like?
Here you go. Clear. Concise. If your landing pages take these qualities into account, you'll win the internet (whether it's being surfed on a desktop or a smartphone):
8 Comments
MicrositesByU.com
Well JD you're definitely right nothing you have in this post has anything to do with mobile or evidence that mobile has any significant impact on a dealerships marketing. The landing page example at the bottom is a good one but has nothing to do with mobile. They are using standard lead conversion tactics that should be used on any page mobile or not. I have outlined these in many blog posts here is the most recent on Inbound Marketing. http://www.theonlinedrive.com/inbound-marketing-how-to-win-customers-by-influencing-people/ Headline – Tells you where you are and should be designed to pull you into the copy. I would argue the one they have here “2014 ELEANTRA” isn't that great but, it gets the job done because the constraints of a mobile screen have forced the page design to keep the other elements above the scroll and easy to scan. I would have used “ELANTRA FOR $4 PER DAY” Offer – The 3 C’s of an offer… Clear, Compelling and Credible. The offer here $109 per month lease and the price of $17200 are placed well BUT why “Offer” a customer MSRP? That is not much of an offer, even though this is BASE MSRP and they are using the “starting from” as a disclaimer and you can see the 2 next to MSRP that is where the rest of the disclaimer comes in. This detracts from the offer all together. I would have gone with a discounted price over a base MSRP offer. Call-To-Action – What do you want the customer to do? In this case The “Call for Details” button is a good CTA and it’s big and clear. I’m not sure how compelling it is. Will the customer really want more details on a car they can buy for MSRP? Maybe on how they get it for $109 per month. In any case it is the right call to action, really the best call to action for mobile… a call and it makes it easy with click to call. The problem is that even if that goes to a call tracking number the dealership will have very little information to go on to follow up this lead if the salesperson doesn't collect it and less than 15% of the time does a sales person do that or is able to. That is why show rates from calls are 22% (no follow up) your only shot at the appointment is the initial call. See slide 20 of the “It’s Called a Marketing Mix For A Reason” Digital Dealer 16 Keynote. http://www.theonlinedrive.com/its-called-a-marketing-mix-for-a-reason/ A REASON to convert – why should the customer make the call or submit the form? Here “Call for Details” is good. It implies low anxiety with some value in the details of the offer. I would have gone with “Call And Get a $50 Test Drive” same low anxiety (no commitment to buy) but the value to the customer and the dealer is much higher and it gives the salesperson a reason to collect good contact information from the customer for the $50 test drive reservation allowing the show rate to go way up. The secondary CTA’s (View Inventory & Hours and Directions), I would have put below the scroll. A landing is designed to get a lead giving the customer the ability to get lost in the rest of the site isn’t ideal. HOWEVER that really depends on how the traffic got to this page: IF FROM TARGETED PPC TRAFFIC “Special + Prices + Elantra” Keywords & “Drive an Elantra for $109 per month, Prices start at $17200” – the ad, I would have eliminated the View Inventory & Hours and Directions buttons all together. You have given the customer everything they were looking for and everything you promised… DON’T CONFUSE THE CUSTOMER ESPECIALLY IN MOBILE. IF FROM THE WEBSITE AS A SPECIALS PAGE the secondary CTA’s of View Inventory & Hours and Directions buttons are appropriate. However in both of the above cases I would have used the JD power social proof for the car in place of the View Inventory & Hours and Directions buttons and either eliminated the buttons all together in the case of PPC or pushed them down in the case of a specials page. Putting social proof that close to your CTA has proven to increase conversion in every instance we have tested it. In the end of all the suggestions I have made here you must test them, if my track record holds up in any of the tests above I’ll be 50% right. Testing is the only way to really know if your hypothesis is correct. This is an example of good landing page design regardless of the device nothing more if you really want to get to the bottom of mobile and whether it’s relevant to AutoMarketing or not then you should read this post #AutoMarketing? Mobile Is Last. http://www.theonlinedrive.com/automarketing-mobile-is-last/ Multiple times we have tested mobile traffic and responsive design with similar conclusions… MOBILE DESIGN HELPS CONVERSION BECAUSE IT FORCES THE DESIGNER TO BE MORE DELIBERATE WITH GOOD LANDING PAGE DESIGN, BUT FOR MOBILE TRAFFIC THE INTENT IS NOT THERE TO CONVERT THEREFORE NO PAGE DESIGN MAKES IT EFFECTIVE. In our testing mobile traffic actually saw a relative DECREASE in conversion of -17.7% JD sorry for the long comment didn't mean to hijack your post. For the record what this post is really about collaboration between marketing providers to the dealership I absolutely agree with if all the parties can put their egos aside for the good of the dealer.
Dealer Authority
No worries, Larry. You can hijack my post any time. I've held off on replying to the "mobile is last" post because, even though I disagree, it's the type of opinion that should be discussed in person. See you at DSES?
402.427.0157
I have to note JD, I've been impressed by Ken Kolodziej and his team for a while now. I'm really intrigued by the String Dealer Positioning System - http://stringautomotive.com/string_DPS
MicrositesByU.com
JD won't be at DSES this year, just Digital Dealer. Will catch you there if you going to be around if not call anytime.
Overtake
Great Post JD.. it's all about the mobile experience for our dealers and their prospects or service customers. Visiting this page from an iPhone, will give you really close to a exact copy of the example you reference. http://www.mattford.com/clp-2015-ford-mustang-kansas-city-mo
AutoStride
If you're operating on a responsive website platform, allowing you to create custom landing pages, with the proper testing tools (A/B, Multivariate, etc.) in place (forget subjective thinking), you're moving in the correct direction. When a dealership doesn't have the correct ROI measurement mechanisms in place, it's their fault or their vendors'. We offer responsive website design for automotive and have for some time, with the ability to shape landing pages that are known to convert, based upon testing. http://www.worlddealer.net/digital-marketing-services/responsive-automotive-websites, as well as RWD landing pages / microsites @ http://www.worlddealer.net/digital-marketing-services/microsites/
String Automotive
JD, It was refreshing to be on a call with four different vendors working together to interpret the data toward the best outcome for the dealer. No finger pointing, just collaboration around vendor neutral data. With insight rather than accusations, everyone is pushing forward with an agreed upon next step and actually getting things done for the greater good, instead of leaving the dealer to wrestle with the question, "Who do I believe?" Two favorite quotes along those lines… “In God we trust. All others must bring data.” – attributed to statistician W. Edwards Deming “If we have data, let’s look at data. If all we have are opinions, let’s go with mine.” – Jim Barksdale, former Netscape CEO Thank you for the mentions here, JD and Ed. Here's to many more stories about insights bringing about actionable opportunities and change for dealers, with all parties left standing. Alex and Christian - nice work, as always. We delight in knowing that responsive design and mobile best practices are becoming more and more pervasive in the industry.
AutoStride
I've found the use of http://www.leadpages.net/products, to be incredibly useful.
Dealer Authority
To Build the Best Landing Pages, You have to Think Mobile
You've all seen the statistics. You've read the studies. You've probably heard about it at some point on the news and you've definitely been told this by a marketing guru of some sort over the past couple of years. The car buying world has gone mobile and your ability to get your message out to potential customers must be viewed by how it's seen on mobile devices first, desktops second.
In a discussion with a client today, we were looking at the way their traffic was being distributed on their website. Present on this "power call" was String Automotive who was delivering a market analysis, Remora who handles the website and search marketing, Automark who delivers the lead generation tools for the website, and my team which handles the social media. This savvy east coast dealer likes to make sure we all meet together monthly to discuss his marketing (a best practice that I strongly recommend to all dealers - get your vendors talking to each other).
We noticed that the traffic and leads were strong going into VDPs and the homepage, but the specials pages were not getting enough action. They appeared properly on desktop and the buttons leading to them showed a 7-to-1 click rate over other calls to action on the page, but they weren't optimized for mobile devices. This needed to be fixed.
One might wonder why we would want to change something that was generating such a high percentage of clicks and a good chunk of leads. This is a conundrum for many dealers. We often think that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it," and normally I would agree. However, what we were seeing was good success. We weren't maxing out. We knew this because the pages didn't appear appropriately on mobile devices.
They weren't mobile-optimized.
The website platform had great mobile numbers until you got to the specials pages. So, the challenge became trying to figure out how to take String's data and keep the Remora website performing so well on mobile while replicating the Automark plugin success from desktop. Despite my part, social, having nothing to do with it, I am pleased to be working with this team on the solution because, well, that's how things should be.
We now have a solution in the works. In essense, this should really be a blog post about how getting your vendors talking to each other regularly is a key to finding the solution, but I'm going to stick with the solution itself on this one. We're going to build mobile-awesome landing pages. This is a key to success as I originally stipulated. The question is, what do they look like?
Here you go. Clear. Concise. If your landing pages take these qualities into account, you'll win the internet (whether it's being surfed on a desktop or a smartphone):
8 Comments
MicrositesByU.com
Well JD you're definitely right nothing you have in this post has anything to do with mobile or evidence that mobile has any significant impact on a dealerships marketing. The landing page example at the bottom is a good one but has nothing to do with mobile. They are using standard lead conversion tactics that should be used on any page mobile or not. I have outlined these in many blog posts here is the most recent on Inbound Marketing. http://www.theonlinedrive.com/inbound-marketing-how-to-win-customers-by-influencing-people/ Headline – Tells you where you are and should be designed to pull you into the copy. I would argue the one they have here “2014 ELEANTRA” isn't that great but, it gets the job done because the constraints of a mobile screen have forced the page design to keep the other elements above the scroll and easy to scan. I would have used “ELANTRA FOR $4 PER DAY” Offer – The 3 C’s of an offer… Clear, Compelling and Credible. The offer here $109 per month lease and the price of $17200 are placed well BUT why “Offer” a customer MSRP? That is not much of an offer, even though this is BASE MSRP and they are using the “starting from” as a disclaimer and you can see the 2 next to MSRP that is where the rest of the disclaimer comes in. This detracts from the offer all together. I would have gone with a discounted price over a base MSRP offer. Call-To-Action – What do you want the customer to do? In this case The “Call for Details” button is a good CTA and it’s big and clear. I’m not sure how compelling it is. Will the customer really want more details on a car they can buy for MSRP? Maybe on how they get it for $109 per month. In any case it is the right call to action, really the best call to action for mobile… a call and it makes it easy with click to call. The problem is that even if that goes to a call tracking number the dealership will have very little information to go on to follow up this lead if the salesperson doesn't collect it and less than 15% of the time does a sales person do that or is able to. That is why show rates from calls are 22% (no follow up) your only shot at the appointment is the initial call. See slide 20 of the “It’s Called a Marketing Mix For A Reason” Digital Dealer 16 Keynote. http://www.theonlinedrive.com/its-called-a-marketing-mix-for-a-reason/ A REASON to convert – why should the customer make the call or submit the form? Here “Call for Details” is good. It implies low anxiety with some value in the details of the offer. I would have gone with “Call And Get a $50 Test Drive” same low anxiety (no commitment to buy) but the value to the customer and the dealer is much higher and it gives the salesperson a reason to collect good contact information from the customer for the $50 test drive reservation allowing the show rate to go way up. The secondary CTA’s (View Inventory & Hours and Directions), I would have put below the scroll. A landing is designed to get a lead giving the customer the ability to get lost in the rest of the site isn’t ideal. HOWEVER that really depends on how the traffic got to this page: IF FROM TARGETED PPC TRAFFIC “Special + Prices + Elantra” Keywords & “Drive an Elantra for $109 per month, Prices start at $17200” – the ad, I would have eliminated the View Inventory & Hours and Directions buttons all together. You have given the customer everything they were looking for and everything you promised… DON’T CONFUSE THE CUSTOMER ESPECIALLY IN MOBILE. IF FROM THE WEBSITE AS A SPECIALS PAGE the secondary CTA’s of View Inventory & Hours and Directions buttons are appropriate. However in both of the above cases I would have used the JD power social proof for the car in place of the View Inventory & Hours and Directions buttons and either eliminated the buttons all together in the case of PPC or pushed them down in the case of a specials page. Putting social proof that close to your CTA has proven to increase conversion in every instance we have tested it. In the end of all the suggestions I have made here you must test them, if my track record holds up in any of the tests above I’ll be 50% right. Testing is the only way to really know if your hypothesis is correct. This is an example of good landing page design regardless of the device nothing more if you really want to get to the bottom of mobile and whether it’s relevant to AutoMarketing or not then you should read this post #AutoMarketing? Mobile Is Last. http://www.theonlinedrive.com/automarketing-mobile-is-last/ Multiple times we have tested mobile traffic and responsive design with similar conclusions… MOBILE DESIGN HELPS CONVERSION BECAUSE IT FORCES THE DESIGNER TO BE MORE DELIBERATE WITH GOOD LANDING PAGE DESIGN, BUT FOR MOBILE TRAFFIC THE INTENT IS NOT THERE TO CONVERT THEREFORE NO PAGE DESIGN MAKES IT EFFECTIVE. In our testing mobile traffic actually saw a relative DECREASE in conversion of -17.7% JD sorry for the long comment didn't mean to hijack your post. For the record what this post is really about collaboration between marketing providers to the dealership I absolutely agree with if all the parties can put their egos aside for the good of the dealer.
Dealer Authority
No worries, Larry. You can hijack my post any time. I've held off on replying to the "mobile is last" post because, even though I disagree, it's the type of opinion that should be discussed in person. See you at DSES?
402.427.0157
I have to note JD, I've been impressed by Ken Kolodziej and his team for a while now. I'm really intrigued by the String Dealer Positioning System - http://stringautomotive.com/string_DPS
MicrositesByU.com
JD won't be at DSES this year, just Digital Dealer. Will catch you there if you going to be around if not call anytime.
Overtake
Great Post JD.. it's all about the mobile experience for our dealers and their prospects or service customers. Visiting this page from an iPhone, will give you really close to a exact copy of the example you reference. http://www.mattford.com/clp-2015-ford-mustang-kansas-city-mo
AutoStride
If you're operating on a responsive website platform, allowing you to create custom landing pages, with the proper testing tools (A/B, Multivariate, etc.) in place (forget subjective thinking), you're moving in the correct direction. When a dealership doesn't have the correct ROI measurement mechanisms in place, it's their fault or their vendors'. We offer responsive website design for automotive and have for some time, with the ability to shape landing pages that are known to convert, based upon testing. http://www.worlddealer.net/digital-marketing-services/responsive-automotive-websites, as well as RWD landing pages / microsites @ http://www.worlddealer.net/digital-marketing-services/microsites/
String Automotive
JD, It was refreshing to be on a call with four different vendors working together to interpret the data toward the best outcome for the dealer. No finger pointing, just collaboration around vendor neutral data. With insight rather than accusations, everyone is pushing forward with an agreed upon next step and actually getting things done for the greater good, instead of leaving the dealer to wrestle with the question, "Who do I believe?" Two favorite quotes along those lines… “In God we trust. All others must bring data.” – attributed to statistician W. Edwards Deming “If we have data, let’s look at data. If all we have are opinions, let’s go with mine.” – Jim Barksdale, former Netscape CEO Thank you for the mentions here, JD and Ed. Here's to many more stories about insights bringing about actionable opportunities and change for dealers, with all parties left standing. Alex and Christian - nice work, as always. We delight in knowing that responsive design and mobile best practices are becoming more and more pervasive in the industry.
AutoStride
I've found the use of http://www.leadpages.net/products, to be incredibly useful.
Dealer Authority
The Key to Social Media is Storytelling
For a decade now, businesses and marketers have attempted to decipher the jumbled mess of social media and turn it into a true ROI generator. Hundreds of thousands of Ponce de Leóns have explored the social media countryside in search of the ultimate prize - tangible benefit from social media marketing.
Thankfully, it's not as mythical as the Fountain of Youth. Most are getting minor benefits from social media as long as they're sticking with it and applying some basic strategies. A few are getting real results from the branding and communication components of social media that are achievable by nearly anyone who tries hard enough and invests a little money into the endeavor.
For those who are really wanting to make a dramatic impact on their social media presence, the key is in storytelling. This is hard. That's not one of those feigned discouragements that marketers often use to dissuade businesses from trying to do it themselves. It truly is extremely difficult to take the mundane aspects of most businesses and turn them into something truly special that people are willing to passionately follow.
With social media storytelling, it's not about telling lies. It's definitely not about looking for the thunder in a bottle that some companies have been able to find through a combination of luck and some viral secret sauce that eludes the rest of humanity; how many tried to duplicate what Oreo did at the Super Bowl? Lastly, it's not about manufacturing buzz where it doesn't exist.
Storytelling requires finding those creative elements that are present in any business (regardless of how mundane the industry might seem) and forming them into a strategy that yields a path to success. It only takes one sentence to describe it but one could write a book on the actual strategy behind it. We'll try to keep it shorter here.
The story itself can be about nearly anything as long as it's relevant to the business in some way. It doesn't even have to be a direct attachment. It can be about customers. It can be about employees. It can be the journey that was taken to arrive at a particular product or service launch.
Think about it like making a movie. It isn't about the end result of the movie itself, but rather the Blue-Ray extras and behind the scenes shots. Taking us through the process can be as fun (or more fun) than watching the end result itself. As humans, we have a tendency to enjoy watching things as they unfold.
A pretty good (not great, but good) example of this was when Pepsi MAX worked with NBA star Kyrie Irving to put the Uncle Drew series together for YouTube. The reasons that it was good is because it was able to tell stories that were interesting enough to get millions of views, was sustainable for a few posts to make it a series, and gave the behind-the-scenes view that we love. The reason that it wasn't great is because it had very little to do with the product itself with only occasional views.
A much better example is a Thai Pantene commercial from a few years ago. It told a compelling story and had all of the right elements but it did not let the product get in the way. In fact, you'll have no idea it's a Pantene commercial until the end. One thing that most will definitely notice is that during the concert, the main character has absolutely incredible hair. When the Pantene logo is shown at the end with the tagline, "You can shine," it all comes together for the viewer.
These are both big productions that most businesses cannot duplicate, but that doesn't mean that you can't draw inspiration from their creativity. The key is to make it last. It doesn't have to revolve around a video, either. A friend, , did an excellent job of using social media to tell the story of her new job. She had a countdown of the top 5 reasons to be excited about her new job. It kept anticipation high, friends (and potential clients) guessing, and showed that even individuals have the ability to tell the right stories about their business.
To succeed at social media marketing, businesses and marketers must embrace the right strategies and couple them with incredible stories. This post itself is an example of this as we will be rolling out stories of our own very soon for our clients. Stay tuned!
20 Comments
Kijiji, an eBay Company
Storytelling is all well and good, but social media doesn't run on listening. Social runs on engagement. Without engagement, your story is hidden away where no one can hear it. Making references to multi-million dollar advertising campaigns is just a tease.
CBG Buick GMC, Inc.
Robert....What good is a book if no one reads it, Right?
Kijiji, an eBay Company
Lauren, I almost wrote "If a tree falls..." in my original response. :P
Dealer Authority
As I've written about many times in the past, engagement is one of the main components. However, many seem to be focused so hard on engagement that they'd rather post a cat picture to get hundreds of likes than something that's actually engaging and useful for the business.
Kijiji, an eBay Company
Without engagement the content is irrelevant. It's not likes either, it's comments and shares that matter. Posting low engaging content actually hurts your social profile long term. Your "EdgeRank" suffers meaning higher social advertising costs and less eyeballs. Cat pictures with massive engagement are far better than well thought out stories that no one sees. It requires a delicate balance. My suggestion: kittens inside/on top of your inventory. Tactical advertising with engagement guarantee. Whatever delivers engagement first, and advertising second.
Dealer Authority
Ah, but now you're talking about storytelling. Cats on top of your own inventory, properly worded in the description, is a story. Also, let's stop calling it EdgeRank. I've been fighting against this misnomer for a long time.
CBG Buick GMC, Inc.
I understand that a story needs to be told so that your not turning your social into a "used Lot" so to speak. But the story needs to be able to create engagement with your followers. It has to be something that they can relate to. I'm an avid reader, but when I read a book I like it to be engaging and pull me in. I like to be reading and look up from my book and feel like it's happening around me. Customers are the same. They see dealerships everywhere. When driving down the road, online, on facebook, twitter, they get mail from them. Be the stand out Story book that let's your customers help you write it.
Kijiji, an eBay Company
It may not be called "EdgeRank" anymore but the News Feed Ranking Algorithm Facebook governs with is very real.
Dealer Authority
Love this post JD! This line really stood out to me "The story itself can be about nearly anything as long as it's relevant to the business in some way." RELEVANT! Hopefully nobody I work with ever has to resort to cat pictures to fake engagement. The people only concerned about engagement numbers rather than the quality of engagement can stick to contest, giveaways, and cat pictures.
Kijiji, an eBay Company
Jeff, I would be concerned with your engagement numbers. Your DealerOn Facebook page has had 7 comments since May 30th. How engaging is your quality content? I'm not being literal about cat pictures, but every dealer has to strive for engagement first. Without engagement, Facebook limits your reach. Limited reach = less eyeballs + more $ to advertise within Facebook.
Dealer Authority
Ah, making it personal huh? At least DealerOn was smart enough to know they should build a page and not a profile. https://www.facebook.com/weinscanadainc?fref=ts
Dealer Authority
How do you "reach" with a profile? Engage? Do you measure that manually because you don't get insights from a profile. When you get a "friend" request does that figure in to your engagement numbers? Advertise? How does that work?
Dealer Authority
Your Hyundai store engagement = 0.00751879699 National average around 1.75Your Lexus store engagement = 0.00793650794Your Markville Toyota store = 0.00549450549 DealerOn = 0.0596428571 I would definitely chill out on the rock throwing :)
Kijiji, an eBay Company
Jeff, Let's calm down. I'm just making a point about engagement. Weins Canada is the Corporation. We use the account you mentioned to connect with our own staff. We do have other pages for our dealerships. I've spent the better part of the year studying Social Media and how it has failed in the Automotive industry. It's no ones fault, we were all just lead in the wrong direction. Myself included. I will be presenting my findings soon. Can't announce details yet. The social direction we are heading in moving forward: is to focus on engagement and sales. Yes sales. Our industry needs to get rid of the idea that social is something special, some magical bean filled with happy stories and smiling customers that makes people buy cars.
Kijiji, an eBay Company
Jeff, Again, let's calm down. I was only making a point about engagement. JD's Dealer Authority Facebook page actually has less engagement than yours (DealerOn). I agree. Our engagement is terrible. Your engagement is terrible. JD's is terrible. We are all terrible. We are all looking for a solution to social, and we are all focusing on the wrong things. Bottom line, no one sees your content if it doesn't get engaged with. If cat pictures get engagement, then so be it. Look at BuzzFeed. They currently are ranked 109 in the WORLD by Alexa. They LOVE posting cat pictures. Use your social engagement tool on their site, what is their #?
Dealer Authority
Thats funny. You are comparing National companies to local dealerships. Its a very different strategy and much more difficult. You don't need a tool to measure engagement. Its a pretty simple math problem. JD has dealerships averaging 25% engagement when the national average is less than 2%. You chime in dumping all over his post like you are some kind of an authority and everything I see you doing is a cluster. Preaching reach when you have none. It felt to me like you just wanted to argue. Fact is anyone can poke holes if they look hard enough. JD is highly respected in our industry...show some.
Kijiji, an eBay Company
Trust me, I think JD is a fantastic individual. I have nothing but respect for what he has accomplished. However, you can respect someone and still disagree with them.My point in this thread is that storytelling is not the "KEY" to social media. Engagement is the key to social media, mixed with a heavy dose of advertising. Yes, the engagement levels on my social sites are nowhere near where I want them to be. That's because we DID focus on things like stories, and customer delivery pictures. Turns out that hasn't worked out so well. The national average being at 1.75 also shows everything we have been told about social isn't working well.Now, going forward our goal is engagement, and advertising. JD's last blog " http://www.drivingsales.com/blogs/jdrucker/2014/07/15/suckered-social-media-advertising-and-thats-not-bad-thing " was a great read on the realities of the death or organic social content.I use Buzzfeed as an extreme example of engagement. I obviously don't expect a dealer to replicate their platform. What is important however is Buzzfeed gives people what they want. Sometimes, people want pictures of cats.
CBG Buick GMC, Inc.
I do agree with Robert on this one. It doesn't need to be ALL about inventory and showing future customers that your dealership is the place to purchase. if you want engagement check out https://www.facebook.com/SouthernFriedChicsBoutique I know that it's not a dealership, but obviously they are doing SOMETHING right!
Dealer Authority
Where did you read anyone saying post all inventory. By relevant we are talking Community, Dealership, and Automotive specific content. Your chics are running 9%...not bad
CBG Buick GMC, Inc.
Jeff, it's just figurative. Nothing says that's what everyone has to do or is doing. I do believe that I said it's not all ABOUT inventory, not to POST all inventory. There is a huge difference. I do understand what your saying about keeping it relevant. The link was just to show that obviously they are doing something right by posting lots of great inventory and running lots of contest. I know that dealerships can't be giving away cars everyday just to get engagement up. But engagement is a huge key factor. I am an avid fan of the chics, and I purchase from them every so often, but I had stopped participating on their page and I all of a sudden stopped seeing their posts. I got one the other day and liked it and commented and all of a sudden my news feed is being blown up again.
19 Comments
Brent Wees
Nextup
By simply referring to "dark posts" over and over again in posts on this website won't dealers simply Google the term for tutorials? Just wondering aloud if the cat is already halfway out?
Dennis Wagner
TheDennisWagner.com
Great post, JD! You are blessed to have such an amazing team and they are blessed to have such an innovative leader. Best of luck!
JD Rucker
Dealer Authority
It is, Brent, and that's fine. If the savvy dealers on Driving Sales are the only ones doing it, we're fine. Thank you, Dennis!
Timothy Martell
Wikimotive
I couldn't agree more, JD.
Dennis Wagner
TheDennisWagner.com
Your welcome, JD! Keep Rocking!!
JD Rucker
Dealer Authority
Call me and I'll tell you who the "one other vendor" was, Tim. You might have heard of them.
Lauren Moses
CBG Buick GMC, Inc.
Great Post. Now to just figure out the secrets that these two have stumbled upon to make social work for them.
JD Rucker
Dealer Authority
Lauren, I'd be happy to show you and anyone else on Driving Sales the secrets. They're not truly "secrets" per se, but aspects of Facebook marketing that can be very effective when done right. I'm not trying to hide it and I'm pretty sure Robert and everyone else doing it is trying to hide it, but there's definitely a benefit in keeping the circle pretty tight. Anyone can contact me and I'd be happy to walk you through - just me, not one of the sales reps. Step-by-step in 10 minutes and you'll be a master.
Robert Karbaum
Kijiji, an eBay Company
I'm not trying to hide it, it was my attempt at coquettish. Perhaps my use of emoticons wasn't enough to communicate my "coquettishness". Information is free, execution is the differentiator. Here are a variety of articles & videos on Facebook Unpublished Posts (or Dark Posts): How and why to create a “Dark Post” in Facebook - http://www.smartinsights.com/social-media-marketing/facebook-marketing/create-dark-post-facebook/ Facebook Unpublished Posts: A Powerful Tool for Your Ads - http://www.onlinemarketinginstitute.org/blog/2014/04/facebook-unpublished-posts-a-powerful-tool-for-your-ads/ How to Create Facebook Unpublished Posts (And Why You Should)! - http://adespresso.com/academy/blog/facebook-unpublished-posts/ How to Create Facebook Unpublished Page Post Ads - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTfsxUfGufQ FACEBOOK DARK POSTS: IN TODAY’S VIDEO I SHOW YOU HOW TO USE FACEBOOK DARK POSTS - http://michellepescosolido.com/facebook-dark-posts-power-editor/
Robert Karbaum
Kijiji, an eBay Company
I need to brush up on my emoticon conversion. }:)
Lauren Moses
CBG Buick GMC, Inc.
JD, Thanks I would love to talk some of this over. Like most of you know I am still very new to the automotive industry and have come to find that it's a lot different than my previous internet marketing job. Jewelry to me is a much easier thing to promote and sell than a car. Robert, Thanks for the thinks. Youtube..the place you where you can find out how to do ANYTHING!
JD Rucker
Dealer Authority
And I need to work on my typing. I didn't mean to say you guys were trying to hide it. I said that I'm not trying to hide it and I meant to say that you guys were not trying to hide it either. Somehow forgot the "not'" in my previous comment, but in context it's clear that I meant that. Also, thank you, Robert, for expanding my vocabulary! Had to look up "coquettish".
Robert Karbaum
Kijiji, an eBay Company
Haha, NP JD. So no Dark Post Hide n' Seek for all! Hazzah!
Alex Lau
AutoStride
Didn't you just post something along this line Robert? This is good content, but just saying. What about his points here? Social Media Marketing is Dead http://www.psfk.com/2014/08/jeff-fromm-social-media-marketing-dead.html
Robert Karbaum
Kijiji, an eBay Company
I did, and I have a larger article coming in October.
Alex Lau
AutoStride
Agreed. J.D. wrote: "The vast majority of what goes on with automotive social media is pretty much worthless. We know of one other vendor that is even remotely doing it right and I've seen a mere handful of dealers taking advantage of it. This is a good thing. It's a good thing for people reading this article." https://www.facebook.com/business/news/Organic-Reach-on-Facebook "There is now far more content being made than there is time to absorb it. On average, there are 1,500 stories that could appear in a person's News Feed each time they log onto Facebook. For people with lots of friends and Page likes, as many as 15,000 potential stories could appear any time they log on." Plus, it's pay to play to reach the correct demographic. Just because someone is following you or has liked you, doesn't make them a customer / potential customer or give a crap about your content.
Alex Lau
AutoStride
@Lauren, if you've a budget, I can help and you WILL see impact.
Lauren Moses
CBG Buick GMC, Inc.
Alex, Honestly I DON'T have a budget. I simple find things that I think will help and then present it to our owner. He makes all of the decisions about where our money spend goes. By all means send me an email. I am always willing to listen to what vendors and others have to say and how it will help.
Alex Lau
AutoStride
Well, your bosses had better understand, it's pretty much pay to play, without spending a fortune on advertising the page itself.