LotVantage

LotVantage Blog
Total Posts: 12    

Jim Jabaay

LotVantage

Feb 2, 2016

Dealerships Can Now Add and Switch Between Multiple Instagram Accounts

645c28182c7dcab932981b95baaf8708.jpg?t=1

In the past, anyone managing an Instagram account for a dealership, if they had a personal account, had to log out and log back in to switch accounts.

This was a tedious process. Now, that is no longer the case. Instagram announced that users can now quickly and easily switch between multiple accounts.

How to add multiple accounts

1.  Go to your profile and tap the settings button in hte top right

2.  Scorll down and tap Add Account

3.  Enter the username and password of the account you'd like to add 

To switch between accounts you've added:       

1.  Go to your profile

2.  Tap your username at the top of the screen

3.  Tap the account you would like to switch

You can add up to 5 accounts. 

Jim Jabaay

LotVantage

Vice President of Sales and Marketing

2117

1 Comment

Feb 2, 2016  

cool, i never read what is in the update. this was needed SO bad!

Jim Jabaay

LotVantage

Feb 2, 2016

Dealerships Can Now Add and Switch Between Multiple Instagram Accounts

645c28182c7dcab932981b95baaf8708.jpg?t=1

In the past, anyone managing an Instagram account for a dealership, if they had a personal account, had to log out and log back in to switch accounts.

This was a tedious process. Now, that is no longer the case. Instagram announced that users can now quickly and easily switch between multiple accounts.

How to add multiple accounts

1.  Go to your profile and tap the settings button in hte top right

2.  Scorll down and tap Add Account

3.  Enter the username and password of the account you'd like to add 

To switch between accounts you've added:       

1.  Go to your profile

2.  Tap your username at the top of the screen

3.  Tap the account you would like to switch

You can add up to 5 accounts. 

Jim Jabaay

LotVantage

Vice President of Sales and Marketing

2117

1 Comment

Feb 2, 2016  

cool, i never read what is in the update. this was needed SO bad!

Jim Jabaay

LotVantage

Mar 3, 2015

3 Reasons Dealers Should Post Inventory on Social Media

SocialCar.jpg?width=750

Social media has been a hot topic of discussion for car dealers even before Facebook overtook MySpace. There are plenty of gurus, vendors, experts, and in-store personnel who have different opinions on the topic of posting inventory. To us, the answer is very clear.

Studies show that people do not go to social media to search for vehicles, which is the primary reason that many believe it's not a good idea to post inventory there. The reasoning is sound, but there's an important flaw in many of these studies. They will ask if people go to social media to search for vehicles. They don't, just as people don't go to television or turn on their radio to search for vehicles, either. That doesn't make it any less valid.

Here are three reasons that we believe dealers should post their vehicles on sites like Facebook and Twitter. Not everyone will agree, and that's the wonderful part of social media. Nobody has a definitive answer. They only know what has worked and what hasn't worked for them. For many of our clients, posting inventory to social media works for the following reasons. These are simply opinions and we respect everyone's stance on the issue.

Relevant Content Trumps the Fluff


It is still very popular for some dealers and vendors to post content that doesn't necessarily apply to a dealership's core business. The idea is that by posting content that has an opportunity to be appreciated by the masses, that they will become more popular and visible.

We have found that the decline of organic reach has put a damper on this strategy, particularly on Facebook. We position our dealers with content that is relevant to the dealership and the automotive industry. Inventory is very relevant and people expect to see car dealers posting their cars just as they expect to see the Sears Facebook page posting information about their merchandise.

Social Signals for Organic Search Rankings


This is the most controversial of the reasons. Depending on which SEO expert you ask, they will usually either dismiss social signals based upon information given by Google or they'll embrace social signals based upon their experiences or studies by other SEO experts.

We are not SEO experts, but we have discussed the idea of posting inventory on social media and the potential benefits. Even those who were skeptical of the practice said that it definitely wouldn't hurt. Those who believe in social signals for organic search rankings tell us that it's a great idea as long as it's not overdone.

People DO Get Buying Ideas from Social Media


The people who are seeing your social media pages and profiles often do so because posts appear in their feed. Others visit the pages directly from links of the dealership's website or from search engines since many social media sites rank well for the dealership's name.

Is posting inventory going to generate a tangible bump in traffic, leads, and sales? No. Will it have a chance of doing so? Yes. As with all of our tools, it all comes down to time spent and since we believe that social media is important without being something that demands a ton of time, we believe that inventory is a great way to make the pages productive without being a hassle.

They might not be going to social media sites to search for cars, but if they're in the market and they end up seeing it, there's a chance that they will click and inquire.

As we posted on our blog, we believe that there are strategies dealers can implement to do even more with social media, but doing so requires a greater investment of time and energy. By keeping it simple, relevant, and effective, we know that an alternative to the big investment is to keep your presence strong through good content and the occasional inventory post.

Jim Jabaay

LotVantage

Vice President of Sales and Marketing

3064

1 Comment

Dave Rozek

AutoGroup / Mobile App Messaging

Mar 3, 2015  

A few here and there isn't a bad thing, but over engaging with tons cars and not relevant content or articles that do not relate to the community will get you ignored eventually. A good strategy is key for all dealers. Just need to have the right person that is passionate about the process and that is where we fail by not having the right person that can connect through different social media venues.

Jim Jabaay

LotVantage

Mar 3, 2015

3 Reasons Dealers Should Post Inventory on Social Media

SocialCar.jpg?width=750

Social media has been a hot topic of discussion for car dealers even before Facebook overtook MySpace. There are plenty of gurus, vendors, experts, and in-store personnel who have different opinions on the topic of posting inventory. To us, the answer is very clear.

Studies show that people do not go to social media to search for vehicles, which is the primary reason that many believe it's not a good idea to post inventory there. The reasoning is sound, but there's an important flaw in many of these studies. They will ask if people go to social media to search for vehicles. They don't, just as people don't go to television or turn on their radio to search for vehicles, either. That doesn't make it any less valid.

Here are three reasons that we believe dealers should post their vehicles on sites like Facebook and Twitter. Not everyone will agree, and that's the wonderful part of social media. Nobody has a definitive answer. They only know what has worked and what hasn't worked for them. For many of our clients, posting inventory to social media works for the following reasons. These are simply opinions and we respect everyone's stance on the issue.

Relevant Content Trumps the Fluff


It is still very popular for some dealers and vendors to post content that doesn't necessarily apply to a dealership's core business. The idea is that by posting content that has an opportunity to be appreciated by the masses, that they will become more popular and visible.

We have found that the decline of organic reach has put a damper on this strategy, particularly on Facebook. We position our dealers with content that is relevant to the dealership and the automotive industry. Inventory is very relevant and people expect to see car dealers posting their cars just as they expect to see the Sears Facebook page posting information about their merchandise.

Social Signals for Organic Search Rankings


This is the most controversial of the reasons. Depending on which SEO expert you ask, they will usually either dismiss social signals based upon information given by Google or they'll embrace social signals based upon their experiences or studies by other SEO experts.

We are not SEO experts, but we have discussed the idea of posting inventory on social media and the potential benefits. Even those who were skeptical of the practice said that it definitely wouldn't hurt. Those who believe in social signals for organic search rankings tell us that it's a great idea as long as it's not overdone.

People DO Get Buying Ideas from Social Media


The people who are seeing your social media pages and profiles often do so because posts appear in their feed. Others visit the pages directly from links of the dealership's website or from search engines since many social media sites rank well for the dealership's name.

Is posting inventory going to generate a tangible bump in traffic, leads, and sales? No. Will it have a chance of doing so? Yes. As with all of our tools, it all comes down to time spent and since we believe that social media is important without being something that demands a ton of time, we believe that inventory is a great way to make the pages productive without being a hassle.

They might not be going to social media sites to search for cars, but if they're in the market and they end up seeing it, there's a chance that they will click and inquire.

As we posted on our blog, we believe that there are strategies dealers can implement to do even more with social media, but doing so requires a greater investment of time and energy. By keeping it simple, relevant, and effective, we know that an alternative to the big investment is to keep your presence strong through good content and the occasional inventory post.

Jim Jabaay

LotVantage

Vice President of Sales and Marketing

3064

1 Comment

Dave Rozek

AutoGroup / Mobile App Messaging

Mar 3, 2015  

A few here and there isn't a bad thing, but over engaging with tons cars and not relevant content or articles that do not relate to the community will get you ignored eventually. A good strategy is key for all dealers. Just need to have the right person that is passionate about the process and that is where we fail by not having the right person that can connect through different social media venues.

Jim Jabaay

LotVantage

Mar 3, 2015

Hyper-Local Classifieds: The Most Important Trend in Automotive for 2015

HyperTargetedClassifiedAds.jpg?width=750

The automotive industry has been abuzz for the last couple of years with the rise of hyper-local marketing. It's a trend that has helped to bolster the importance of search and social, but most 3rd-party sites have had to use filters to localize their listings. That is changing in 2015.

Craigslist has always been a leader in hyper-localization. Their core has been to be the online equivalent of the local newspaper classified advertisement sections since the beginning. They have been the largest hyper-local website in America, coming in at #11 on the Alexa website rankings. That distinction has changed, at least in the automotive arena. eBay Motors Local is the latest variation on the hyper-local theme.

Dealers who want to take full advantage of the rise of hyper-local advertising need to embrace both of these tremendous sales platforms. We're proud to be one of the few in the industry to offer a tool for publishing to both.

With ebay Motors Local, dealers will be able to target the bulk of their inventory to local buyers within a 200-mile radius. Selling cars on eBay has always been important, but many have used it to only promote their more exotic vehicles or hard-to-find cars. Now, they can get incredible exposure to their entire inventory.

Now, eBay Motors is great for more than just shipping vehicles across the country. The rise in popularity of the hyper-local model is why eBay Motors has embraced it and it makes perfect sense for the consumer as well. As we all know, most people want to touch and feel a vehicle before buying it. The biggest challenge with eBay Motors has always been that it can only appeal to a certain type of buyer. Thanks to the new model, it can appeal to anyone.

Initial numbers have been extremely favorable and it's an exciting time for dealers who are taking advantage of all of these incredible hyper-local venues while they're still relatively wide-open.

Jim Jabaay

LotVantage

Vice President of Sales and Marketing

2121

No Comments

Jim Jabaay

LotVantage

Mar 3, 2015

Hyper-Local Classifieds: The Most Important Trend in Automotive for 2015

HyperTargetedClassifiedAds.jpg?width=750

The automotive industry has been abuzz for the last couple of years with the rise of hyper-local marketing. It's a trend that has helped to bolster the importance of search and social, but most 3rd-party sites have had to use filters to localize their listings. That is changing in 2015.

Craigslist has always been a leader in hyper-localization. Their core has been to be the online equivalent of the local newspaper classified advertisement sections since the beginning. They have been the largest hyper-local website in America, coming in at #11 on the Alexa website rankings. That distinction has changed, at least in the automotive arena. eBay Motors Local is the latest variation on the hyper-local theme.

Dealers who want to take full advantage of the rise of hyper-local advertising need to embrace both of these tremendous sales platforms. We're proud to be one of the few in the industry to offer a tool for publishing to both.

With ebay Motors Local, dealers will be able to target the bulk of their inventory to local buyers within a 200-mile radius. Selling cars on eBay has always been important, but many have used it to only promote their more exotic vehicles or hard-to-find cars. Now, they can get incredible exposure to their entire inventory.

Now, eBay Motors is great for more than just shipping vehicles across the country. The rise in popularity of the hyper-local model is why eBay Motors has embraced it and it makes perfect sense for the consumer as well. As we all know, most people want to touch and feel a vehicle before buying it. The biggest challenge with eBay Motors has always been that it can only appeal to a certain type of buyer. Thanks to the new model, it can appeal to anyone.

Initial numbers have been extremely favorable and it's an exciting time for dealers who are taking advantage of all of these incredible hyper-local venues while they're still relatively wide-open.

Jim Jabaay

LotVantage

Vice President of Sales and Marketing

2121

No Comments

Jim Jabaay

LotVantage

Mar 3, 2015

Craigslist Numbers are Simply Too Good for Dealers to Ignore

ROI

In an atmosphere where dealers are rightfully searching for demonstrable ROI, it's our task to make sure they understand the numbers behind sites like Craigslist, eBay Motors, and posts on social media. We dive into the numbers constantly and if there's one unquestionable trend we've seen, it's that Craigslist results are better now than they've ever been.

Is the site getting more popular? Did many dealers stop using it when they started charging for the listings? Are consumers relying more on classifieds today than they have in the past?

The answer to all of these questions is, "yes." The site continues to grow. Despite its age and the way that the internet tends to like newer sites and services, Craigslist has remained in the upper echelon of sites like eBay, Amazon, and AutoTrader as maintaining strong numbers regardless of age.

When Craigslist started charging $5 per listing, many dealers left. For a while, its free listings meant that many companies were able to "spam" the listings sites. This completely reversed once they started charging for it. Those who have continued to take advantage of Craigslist are realizing that the "thinning of the herd" has allowed them to get much more exposure for each individual listing. More people searching plus fewer listings on the site means a greater chance. In a way, charging for listings has made Craigslist automotive classified listings more powerful than they've ever been.

The last piece of the puzzle, reliance on classified listings, is one of those trends that ebbs and flows. It goes up and it goes down. Today, we're definitely in an upswing. For the rest of 2015 and into 2016, we expect more customers to be flocking to the classified listings rather than going directly to manufacturer or dealer websites because of the state of the market. It's currently in that uncommon situation of being both a buyers' market as well as being a sellers' market.

These three trends combine to make Craigslist the best bet for true ROI in automotive sales. Dealers that "get it" are really starting to get it.

Jim Jabaay

LotVantage

Vice President of Sales and Marketing

3118

2 Comments

Devon Jackson

Lithia Motors

Nov 11, 2015  

Ya, a lot of dealers left Craigslist when they started charging. For me it just weeded out the competition. I just use a free excel add-on called CL AutoPilot (http://clautopilot.net) so all my vehicle posts are auto-renewed for me everyday.

Jim Jabaay

LotVantage

Mar 3, 2015

Craigslist Numbers are Simply Too Good for Dealers to Ignore

ROI

In an atmosphere where dealers are rightfully searching for demonstrable ROI, it's our task to make sure they understand the numbers behind sites like Craigslist, eBay Motors, and posts on social media. We dive into the numbers constantly and if there's one unquestionable trend we've seen, it's that Craigslist results are better now than they've ever been.

Is the site getting more popular? Did many dealers stop using it when they started charging for the listings? Are consumers relying more on classifieds today than they have in the past?

The answer to all of these questions is, "yes." The site continues to grow. Despite its age and the way that the internet tends to like newer sites and services, Craigslist has remained in the upper echelon of sites like eBay, Amazon, and AutoTrader as maintaining strong numbers regardless of age.

When Craigslist started charging $5 per listing, many dealers left. For a while, its free listings meant that many companies were able to "spam" the listings sites. This completely reversed once they started charging for it. Those who have continued to take advantage of Craigslist are realizing that the "thinning of the herd" has allowed them to get much more exposure for each individual listing. More people searching plus fewer listings on the site means a greater chance. In a way, charging for listings has made Craigslist automotive classified listings more powerful than they've ever been.

The last piece of the puzzle, reliance on classified listings, is one of those trends that ebbs and flows. It goes up and it goes down. Today, we're definitely in an upswing. For the rest of 2015 and into 2016, we expect more customers to be flocking to the classified listings rather than going directly to manufacturer or dealer websites because of the state of the market. It's currently in that uncommon situation of being both a buyers' market as well as being a sellers' market.

These three trends combine to make Craigslist the best bet for true ROI in automotive sales. Dealers that "get it" are really starting to get it.

Jim Jabaay

LotVantage

Vice President of Sales and Marketing

3118

2 Comments

Devon Jackson

Lithia Motors

Nov 11, 2015  

Ya, a lot of dealers left Craigslist when they started charging. For me it just weeded out the competition. I just use a free excel add-on called CL AutoPilot (http://clautopilot.net) so all my vehicle posts are auto-renewed for me everyday.

Jim Jabaay

LotVantage

Feb 2, 2015

Quick Note: Posting in ALL CAPS Makes Your Listings Hard to Read

Caps Lock

There's something strange happening on Craigslist, eBay Motors, social media, and other inventory listings pages. More dealers seem to be trying to highlight their listings by use all caps. Let's see how that looks in the next paragraph.

THIS IS WRITTEN IN ALL CAPS. WE SEE STUFF LIKE THIS ALL THE TIME ON THESE LISTINGS SITES. IT IS MORE THAN JUST ANNOYING. IT MAKES THE LISTING HARDER FOR MANY PEOPLE TO READ. IF YOU'VE MADE IT THIS FAR, THAN YOU'RE PROBABLY NOT ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE, BUT SCIENCE HAS SHOWN THAT SOME PEOPLE HAVE A DIFFICULT TIME READING IT. EVEN IF THIS LOOKS OKAY TO YOU, IT DOESN'T LOOK OKAY TO SOME OF THE PEOPLE VISITING YOUR LISTINGS.

This isn't even as long as some of the paragraphs we see on dealer listings.

There is an argument that can be made that all-caps can be effective in headlines. For this, we have no objections because it's much shorter. In fact, it may very well have an effect, though our data shows little difference. The words themselves are what really matter.

On listings sites, having the right message is more important than how you publish it, so if you're dead set on all-caps, we won't object. With that said, we recommend against it.

Jim Jabaay

LotVantage

Vice President of Sales and Marketing

2344

1 Comment

Megan Barto

Faulkner Nissan

Mar 3, 2015  

I didn't read your part which was in all caps. Its too difficult to rea . Lol I've found that quite often on chat, customers type in all caps. Maybe its necessary for their jobs, but its quite annoying.

Jim Jabaay

LotVantage

Feb 2, 2015

Quick Note: Posting in ALL CAPS Makes Your Listings Hard to Read

Caps Lock

There's something strange happening on Craigslist, eBay Motors, social media, and other inventory listings pages. More dealers seem to be trying to highlight their listings by use all caps. Let's see how that looks in the next paragraph.

THIS IS WRITTEN IN ALL CAPS. WE SEE STUFF LIKE THIS ALL THE TIME ON THESE LISTINGS SITES. IT IS MORE THAN JUST ANNOYING. IT MAKES THE LISTING HARDER FOR MANY PEOPLE TO READ. IF YOU'VE MADE IT THIS FAR, THAN YOU'RE PROBABLY NOT ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE, BUT SCIENCE HAS SHOWN THAT SOME PEOPLE HAVE A DIFFICULT TIME READING IT. EVEN IF THIS LOOKS OKAY TO YOU, IT DOESN'T LOOK OKAY TO SOME OF THE PEOPLE VISITING YOUR LISTINGS.

This isn't even as long as some of the paragraphs we see on dealer listings.

There is an argument that can be made that all-caps can be effective in headlines. For this, we have no objections because it's much shorter. In fact, it may very well have an effect, though our data shows little difference. The words themselves are what really matter.

On listings sites, having the right message is more important than how you publish it, so if you're dead set on all-caps, we won't object. With that said, we recommend against it.

Jim Jabaay

LotVantage

Vice President of Sales and Marketing

2344

1 Comment

Megan Barto

Faulkner Nissan

Mar 3, 2015  

I didn't read your part which was in all caps. Its too difficult to rea . Lol I've found that quite often on chat, customers type in all caps. Maybe its necessary for their jobs, but its quite annoying.

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