In my first series installment, I explained how QR codes are expanding in popularity. However, it is important to use them properly in order to achieve the results you want. Now that you are inspired, here are some ideas and ways to create a campaign at your dealership!

Great, they scanned; they are on the landing page, now what?

Make sure there is a single, clear and simple call to action that you want the user to take. Such as:

1. Create a Poll – Which Chevy [or insert make] vehicles do you like the most? See what vehicles are the most popular or well-liked in your community. Maybe they can teach you something new.
2. Check in Deals/Offers – Use posters and flyers around the dealership, in the service waiting room, to check in and get an offer. Perhaps a discounted oil change or free tire rotation for checking in and/or liking your Facebook page to incentivize your fan base. Another key benefit here is the ability to interact with these customers over a longer period of time.
3. Watch a Video – Perhaps it’s a cliff hanger, make them scan another one, or go to your Facebook page and like you to find out how it ends! Or put a QR code on a specific model on your lot that links to a test drive video on your YouTube channel for people who are walking around the lot before/after hours.
4. Digitize Your Business Cards – There are several ways you can set up a QR Code on your business cards. For example, you could have it just link to your company website or maybe your LinkedIn profile. The most beneficial would be the click to call function however; you could also set it up to scan to email or even download your contact info into the user’s contact list.
5. Codes on the Lot – This may take a lot of work on your part but if you have people walk on your lot after hours, it may be worth it especially for a used vehicle. Create a QR specifically for that model on the lot with the link to your website. This will allow the customer to learn more about the car and if they are interested contact you via email or voicemail.

Do’s and Don’t:

1. DO -Make sure that the landing page of the QR code is optimized for mobile and continues the user experience.
2. DON’T – Just land the user on your home page. The secret to success is landing the user on a specific, relevant page that will continue the ad experience. You’ve already set the expectation that there is something more to the ad. Landing them on the home page is like dropping someone in the middle of New York City when they asked for the Statue of Liberty!
3. DO – Add an opinion for the user to go back and look at it later, maybe they don’t have time to read the info or watch a video. Make it easy for them to like and remember your page, either by adding a “contact me,” “send me more info” or “bookmark” option to go back to.

At Cobalt, when I make QR Codes for my dealers, rather than just landing the user on the home page I try to make the QR code around a model they want to focus on. Since our Digital Advertising Package comes with built out landing pages and 1 free QR code per month for our campaigns, I can simply land the user on a form submission page for that make and model, or the current OEM aligned incentive offer with a click to call button to the dealership . The image below shows just that for the GMC Sierra 1500.

How will you plan on implementing QR Codes?

Remember a couple years back when Bluetooth earpieces first came out and you thought people were walking around talking to themselves in public? Eventually - after 3 or 4 times of glaring in a state of confusion - you caught on and now I’m sure it doesn’t even faze you to see someone walking down the street talking out loud for the world to hear. The same goes for QR codes.

Chances are you have been walking around your city and seen them on billboards, busses, bus stops, or while reading a magazine and/or newspaper.  Maybe you scanned them, maybe you didn’t. QR codes are wildly popular in Japan and India. Even though we are still catching on here in the U.S, and saw a 300% increase last year, we have everything we need to be just as hooked, our smart phone.

First Things First, Some Smart Phone Stats

How many times a day do you go on the internet on your smart phone? Probably more than you can guess. Look at your data usage the next time you get your bill. You may be in for a surprise (especially if you have unlimited data and don’t have to think twice about going over).

Almost 100% of U.S. Smartphone users use their devices to go online everyday and 20% have scanned a bar code product. More importantly, 92% of Smartphone users seek local information mostly to find and contact a business. Amazingly, 1 in 5 of those people makes a purchase after looking at local info.

Who’s Using QR Codes?

According to ScanLife, a mobile barcode solutions provider, conducted its annual “Mobile Barcode Trend Report” recently and found the following results. Scans by consumers are up 157% in Q1 2012 over Q1 2011. Android and Apple Operating Systems provide 93% of the total scan traffic. The demo graphic of users are still predominantly males, but female scan usage increased by 8%. The largest proportion of users remains to be 25 to 34 years old.

What Does this Mean for the Auto Industry?

Conversions. Would you really, as a consumer, take the time to scan a code if you weren’t even somewhat interested? I doubt someone would just go around scanning codes all day at random just because they are curious. At Cobalt/ADP, we offer our dealers one free QR Code per month with the Digital Advertising Package subscription to help drive customers/traffic to their mobile optimized websites.

Case Study: DAS AUTO

Volkswagen sought out to prove the effectiveness of QR Codes. To watch their experiment (yes it’s in German, WILLKOMMEN!) visit this link. Now if you are like me and don’t speak a lick of German, I’ll recap what just happened. In Germany, whenever a new model is released, they camouflage it and drive it around to create consumer interest via the Press. VW had the bright idea to wrap their new model in a QR Code vehicle wrap a week before the photos were unveiled and drive it around ‘the Deutschland.' They paired the campaign with social media like Facebook, blogs and so forth.

THE RESULTS:  5,500+ people scanned the QR. Was it successful?

While it certainly was a viral success, is it going to sell cars? Share your thoughts below.

Kayla Schafer, Digital Advertising Specialist, has worked in digital for the past 4 years. Her specialties include social media, search engine marketing and account management. Kayla's first car was a 1982 Datsun 280Z Turbo, 5 speed, color red.

A Mini Series: Part 4, Final Episode. 

Putting together everything we have learned in this miniseries, I created a little experiment. I created a “Car” Board on my Pinterest profile to see what kind of results I would get. I posted 2 “beefy” trucks and 2 classic cars. I added hash tags like #ClassicCars, #CustomTruck, #Chevy and #ChevySilverado to see if this would help in search visibility. The results are in-and they surprised me!

A Mini Series, Part 3

Now that we’ve gotten the creative juices flowing, here are some best practices before you start “pinning” away.

1. Do not self-promote or blatantly advertise your dealership. Keep the content light and fun. The goal is to showcase your dealership’s character so people can identify with you and/or your brand.
2. Make your images search engine-friendly by incorporating hashtags. However, avoid “overhashing!” A rule of thumb is to only use the two or three best hashtags that describe the image (any more than that and it will look like spam-gasp!) For example, some good hashtags would be: #CustomChevy #MuscleCar. #LittleRedCorvette
3. Again, I must reiterate the importance of high quality photos. Car shopping is a very visual experience, so make your Pinterest boards into virtual candy stores for your dealership. The better the quality of the images, the more your brand will stand out. In addition to high-quality photos, use vehicles with bright or unique colors, such as pink, yellow or red, as well as images with contrasting colors to help the image POP in the Pinterest dashboard.
4. If the vehicle is on your lot, place the image on your website or blog and then ‘pin it’ so you are the source and can drive traffic from Pinterest through the established link. (Note: “Pinning” directly from Facebook is not available at this time.)

Here is a great example of a Lexus dealership building their brand on Pinterest. 

This GM dealer is using Pinterest by labeling their "Boards" after their vehicle line-up such as Chevrolet Cruze, Malibu, Camaro, Volt as well as Cadillac and Buick models too. In addition to the vehicles, they are using other "Board" as creative pieces to give their dealership some local flavor and personality by including "Boards" called GM Classics, Ontario (where they are located), Travel and so forth. 

Once you have created your "Boards", users can interact and “repin” these images, thus creating greater brand equity in a fun new visual way.

Pinterest Mini Series Part 2

Meet my friend Blaine (see images below). These are his boards filled with his interests. Notice his 'Board' for 'Cars/moto love.' When clicking on that board it takes me to the pictures he has 'pinned.'

When clicking on that board it takes me to the picture he has 'pinned.' Clearly, we see he likes motorcycles and classic cars like the orange BMW.

Here is how you can find car enthusiasts like Blaine.

1) Go to the 'Cars & Motorcycle' category.

2) Look for 'Pins' that are specific to your dealership. For example, if you are a Porsche dealership, look for people who have boards that are similar such as "Porsches" or "Luxury Cars," and follow those Pinners.

3) To follow, click on the board name, in the cases below "Porsche." This will take you to their board, and click the big red "Follow" button.

4) To see who you are following and who is following you, simply go back to your profile page where it will show you your profile stats right above your boards.

Just like Twitter, a common courtesy is to ‘follow’ a user back to build your network. Over time, you will build that user/fan base. The main benefit of Pinterest is to join the conversation. Even if these ‘pinners’ are miles away from your dealership, Pinterest Boards let you connect and showcase your brand using the latest social media craze.

Can a dealership use Pinterest to build their brand? The answer is yes. Social media is all about identifying and expressing ourselves. Pinterest has taken this one step further by expressing “cool” things we find on the internet through pictures. Get your dealership in on the action with these ideas.

Five Creative Ways to Build Your Brand on Pinterest

1. Create a board for each model. For example a Chevy dealer may create boards for Corvettes, Camaros and/or Silverados. Upload your own photos (make sure they are high quality!) or find some on the internet.
2. If your dealership has a performance center, or you specialize in customization, you can take photos of the cars and place them in a board named “Our Work.” Here you can showcase all the special features you have done that you can show your customers (and have them drooling).
3. I would go one step further with the above and break it out by “Our Work: Interiors” and “Our Work: Exteriors” if that is an option that you provide the customer.
4. Make a time capsule. If your dealership has been around for a couple of decades, rustle up some old photos and make a story about your dealership through pictures. Highlight your old showcase room all lit up, special events that took place, the founders of the dealership, and/or special appearances throughout the years.
5. Host a Pinterest contest. Have users create boards of their favorite models, and raffle off a prize.

The above tips will help you activate the hidden benefit of Pinterest no one thinks about: links! Pinterest has taken this to a new level. When a user “pins” an image from a web page, it is creating a link, in a quick and easy fashion that the user doesn’t even realize that is what they are doing. This can help drive traffic to a website such as a blog, dealer website or other site where the image orginated from.

In conclusion, these are just a few ways dealers can capitalize on the Pinterest craze. Even though Pinterest hasn’t built out a “business page” like Facebook has, other brands have quickly jumped on the band wagon, most in the home décor or retail sector. After all, cars are a section of retail too, right?

Does your dealership have a Pinterest yet? If so, what are your favorite ways to use Pinterest at your dealership?

Kayla Schafer, Digital Advertising Specialist, has worked in digital for the past 4 years. Her specialties include social media, search engine marketing and account management. Kayla's first car was a 1982 Datsun 280Z Turbo, 5 speed, color red.