Lead forms are DEAD. Done. Finished. Gone. Expired. Deceased. 

I can probably come up with a few more synonyms for the word “dead,” but I think you get it already. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with static lead forms, they aren’t working nearly as well as they used to. So really, they’re not so much “dead” as they are dying. Still, it’s a slow, painful death that you & I just don’t wanna see. I’d rather watch cheap, store-brand paint dry for several hours than look at my analytics dashboard and wonder if I’ll get any friggin’ conversions from the static form on my dealership’s website. Think about it, unless you had finally reached the point that you HAD to talk to a dealer, how interested would you be in submitting your info into a static form black hole?

The point is that there are FAR better ways to engage with car buyers and obtain their information. If you’ve kept up with my posts on DrivingSales, you know that I've spoken quite extensively about what interactive lead capture is and how it can help drive conversions on and off your website to increase foot traffic in your dealership. That said, I’m not gonna go into great detail about interactive lead capture. Instead, I’m gonna explain why I think static lead forms are dead; and why you should honestly avoid them like the plague:

Static Lead Forms Don’t Provide Direct Value to Consumers

One of the biggest problems with static lead forms is that they don’t provide direct value to car shoppers. I mean, you can technically say that submitting a form will lead to a follow-up call for more information.. but is a follow-up call they requested really that valuable? Most consumers (or people, rather), like immediate satisfaction. If they’re requesting more information on a vehicle, an offer or a trade-in, they don’t want wait for answers. They want them right now. Static lead forms don’t do that. The sole purpose of static lead forms is to obtain information from consumers in order to collect a lead. They serve the dealership, and the dealership alone. Interactive experience platforms, on the other hand, provide on-the-spot calculations, offers, and discounts that enhance lead generation for car sales. The buyer is getting something that’ll ultimately help them move their purchase along. If it’s something they’ll still need to wait for a dealer rep to respond with, then that rep better have a high quality enough lead to start off where their website left off.

They’re Boring as Hell

It seems pretty obvious, but I feel like it’s worth mentioning. Static lead generation forms are typically pretty boring… even if there are some graphics and/or logos included. The majority of static forms include an area for consumers to put the following: Their name, phone number, e-mail and maaaaybe some kind of extra message. Outside of that, that’s basically it. I think the most exciting thing that static lead forms offer is that you might be taken to a “thank you for your submission” page. Unlike many forms of interactive lead capture, there are calculators, no independent data, no assessments, no incentives, and certainly responsiveness to how the consumer is engaging with your website. Not only do these forms not provide anything of value, but they’re not generating any excitement either. I wouldn’t be surprised if half the static forms on your dealership’s website (if you even have them), don’t get any sort of traction.

Your Dealership Receives Limited Information 

With interactive lead capture, your dealership has the opportunity capture valuable information from website visitors without even asking them. Simply observing the way a consumer engages with an interactive experience can build a robust profile of who they are and how you can help them. Further more you can collect customer-entered data in a lot more creative ways than free-from text fields and drop downs. The point is that dealerships (who leverage interactive lead capture) a TON of enhanced ability to collect the information they’d like to collect. Instead of collecting the standard contact information via static lead form, they can let customer naturally build a lead profile by simply letting them share their information in a way that serves them as well. Not only does this make car shoppers feel like they’re being listened to, but also it really does allow your dealership to LISTEN. You can easily learn more about your consumer base and provide a better, more personalized customer experience right from the get-go. You can’t do that with static lead capture forms. 

They Seem Like They’re Performing Better Than They Actually Are

Historically static lead form conversions have been slowly declining for a decade now. As content in general has evolved. Consumers expect much more personalized and enhanced online experiences. Calculators, assessments, multi-media and responsiveness are the new standard. If you don’t believe me just take a look at all of the best independent websites (Edmunds, KBB, CarGurus, ect.) and check out how much interactive content they offer visitors. Dealers are constantly battling to drive higher conversions and where static forms can still show value is with customers latest in the buying journey. If I were in a position where I HAVE to make contact with a dealership, of course I would still fill out a static form. If there was a better option they would take it and that’s why the best website products out right now are deeply interactive.

So great, you strong-armed the 3% of your traffic into the “mousetrap” of a static form. What about the other 97% of traffic? I’m guessing you put quite of bit of effort into generating that much traffic to let it all go with any meaningful engagment. Static forms only work with those in a position with no other alternative. There are tons of options for how you could be serving customers in the discovery and research phases of the process through interactive assessments, quizzes, calculators and more interactive experiences. Customers earlier in the buyer journey have other options, they can leave your website.

In an age where most car shoppers already have a concrete idea of what they want before setting foot into your dealership, it’s important for you to engage with them on a deeper level. Chances are, there are several very similar dealerships within a 5-10 mile radius of yours — and the eager, but cautious car shopper is going to go with dealership that makes the most sense to go to. If you wanna be the dealership that makes the most sense to reach out to — the one that’s most relatable, and has the best customer service, then you NEED to avoid static lead forms. There are WAY too many different ways to engage car shoppers at your dealership — and lead forms are NOT one of them. 

So, I’d like to know: what are your thoughts on static lead forms?

Update:

In effort to clear up any confusion in the difference among "interactive lead form" and "static lead form" I thought this image would be helpful. "Lead forms" will always be utilized, its the difference between being static and interacitve that make a dramatic difference. A classic example is when dealers collected trade-in information for appraisals with a "static form" that eventually turned interactive by evolving into a calculator that instantly presents an estimate value, among other interactive actions. I'm proposing that this same evolution has already began to take place with even the most basic of static forms like  check availability, eprice, test drive, promotion, special offer, ect. ect. 

Hello again friends, its been a while but yet again I need your help. I've been trying to crunch down on the details of my site and how well it is optimized with correct descriptions, keywords, and meta-tags. The problem is we have a portal website that represents 5 locations and in a couple of weeks a new location that is in a different state. I want to properly represent each dealers location with keywords that include the city as well as other keywords that differ from location to the next. For example one location is primarily trucks/diesels and another is luxury vehicles. I'm having trouble coming up with a solid strategy on how best to optimize the site and specifically the portal page to reach its potential on search engines without exceeding the recommended character count for descriptions and headers. Is this just going to be the downfall to having a portal site? Our website looks great and we are doing a lot with blogging, SEO pages, and content marketing to improve our rankings with Google. I just want to ensure our keywords, headers, page descriptions, are correctly optimized. If anyone could help or give reference to a similar situation with a portal site that has it done right I would appreciate it. 

http://www.bartscarstore.com

Hello again friends, its been a while but yet again I need your help. I've been trying to crunch down on the details of my site and how well it is optimized with correct descriptions, keywords, and meta-tags. The problem is we have a portal website that represents 5 locations and in a couple of weeks a new location that is in a different state. I want to properly represent each dealers location with keywords that include the city as well as other keywords that differ from location to the next. For example one location is primarily trucks/diesels and another is luxury vehicles. I'm having trouble coming up with a solid strategy on how best to optimize the site and specifically the portal page to reach its potential on search engines without exceeding the recommended character count for descriptions and headers. Is this just going to be the downfall to having a portal site? Our website looks great and we are doing a lot with blogging, SEO pages, and content marketing to improve our rankings with Google. I just want to ensure our keywords, headers, page descriptions, are correctly optimized. If anyone could help or give reference to a similar situation with a portal site that has it done right I would appreciate it. 

http://www.bartscarstore.com

6 months ago I partnered with www.BizProps.com to bring an idea for a online promotion to life. The thought started during a "Super Sale" when I wondered with all the exposure and traditional strategy, how to take it online. With an ancient strategy that has stood so strong against time I assumed someone had already brought it online. To my amazement there was very little even coming close to the idea and those who were catching on were doing on a very small scale. 

24 hours ago we officially went live with the first version of "Spin2Win" an online promotional game that offers up prizes up to $10,000 and grantees' $1000 per month given away. To play you must register some basic information(including email/phone) and answer a few basic related questions. Each action rewards you with a spin including the opportunity to share on Facebook. A few of those actions are designed to help identify whether the participant is an "in-market" customer or not. Another question asks what you are currently driving and in return their given a estimated trade-in value, up to 125% of NADA trade-in value. 

Being the first version of the game their are a bundle of immediate features that will be coming along as well as several revisions we have already started into. We have only promoted the game via website banners and our Facebook page. We will be launching an email campaign, blog posts, 3rd party banners, and partner promotions with local large online community. In the first 24 hours we received 54 Facebook  shares, 40 Facebook page likes, 175 registrants, and over 100 website visits(76%New, 2:34time on site). We definitely plan on adding other social networks and rewarding customers 

for other actions like uploading contacts for referrals, and writing reviews.

It would be great if you could click the link below and see it for yourself. I would love any feedback at all so please post some comments. CLICK HERE>>>>  http://www.bartscarstore.com/web/spin2win

6 months ago I partnered with www.BizProps.com to bring an idea for a online promotion to life. The thought started during a "Super Sale" when I wondered with all the exposure and traditional strategy, how to take it online. With an ancient strategy that has stood so strong against time I assumed someone had already brought it online. To my amazement there was very little even coming close to the idea and those who were catching on were doing on a very small scale. 

24 hours ago we officially went live with the first version of "Spin2Win" an online promotional game that offers up prizes up to $10,000 and grantees' $1000 per month given away. To play you must register some basic information(including email/phone) and answer a few basic related questions. Each action rewards you with a spin including the opportunity to share on Facebook. A few of those actions are designed to help identify whether the participant is an "in-market" customer or not. Another question asks what you are currently driving and in return their given a estimated trade-in value, up to 125% of NADA trade-in value. 

Being the first version of the game their are a bundle of immediate features that will be coming along as well as several revisions we have already started into. We have only promoted the game via website banners and our Facebook page. We will be launching an email campaign, blog posts, 3rd party banners, and partner promotions with local large online community. In the first 24 hours we received 54 Facebook  shares, 40 Facebook page likes, 175 registrants, and over 100 website visits(76%New, 2:34time on site). We definitely plan on adding other social networks and rewarding customers 

for other actions like uploading contacts for referrals, and writing reviews.

It would be great if you could click the link below and see it for yourself. I would love any feedback at all so please post some comments. CLICK HERE>>>>  http://www.bartscarstore.com/web/spin2win

Recently I've taken a fresh new look at your classic "Super Sale" and thanks to Tri-Auto I liked what I saw. There's nothing new about a 5 day dealership event where you send out 40k direct mail pieces luring customers in to claim their prize. With people waiting to register, balloons, and of course wonderful prizes, these extremely successful sales were just what the doctor ordered for many dealerships in low times and for some a regular form of advertising.

One obstacle of these sales is the loads of customers coming in without any interest in buying car. It's up to the dealership to convert these customers into buyers and energize them with why now is a great time to buy a car. The successful sales are full of these conversions and most of the time you can easily see without these conversions a sale can come up very short. So how do you increase this conversion rate while also bringing additional value to the sale? One way to do this is registering customers, mandate all sale participants be registered for the sale giving your salesman an opening to speak to the customer and investigate their situation. Gaining their information is also valuable being you can later contact these locals for a 2nd or 3rd chance to earn their business. This is all pretty standard for most business's promoting these sales but today’s market is in need for something bigger and better.

Most competing dealerships are heavily if not completely involved online. Websites, social networks, email marketing, and Google are all a huge parts of just about every dealership and for some a real struggle. Many dealerships are so focused on these “front line” marketing efforts they don't even consider direct mail a valuable source of marketing anymore. I don't really blame them either; most direct mail marketing doesn't do much more then list a website when it comes to including the online dynamic. Customers want more than just a flier to keep them interested and finally someone decided to do something about this and developed a way of incorporating not just the internet but the whole process of how most customers are used to shopping for a car these days.

Tri-Auto took the lead with direct-mail advertising introducing us to Market Vision 7 software a data collecting and showroom traffic controlling machine. Market Vision 7 utilizes a microsite and in-showroom kiosk to create an efficient way of recording and controlling all the sale participates. Let’s take a look at their process and the strategy behind it. 

·         Attract

Tri-Auto’s direct mail pieces elicit consumer attention because they’ve been developed through years of testing.

·         Engage

Market Vision 7™ microsites feature multiple points of engagement that generate qualified leads to fill your pipeline.

·         Amplify

Social Share motivates users to share your event across their social network to amplify your marketing message and enhance its response.

·         Convert

The Market Vision 7™ in-showroom kiosk tracks responders and includes tools to help your salespeople close more deals.

·         Analyze

Real-time reporting provides actionable data during your sale and post-sale data allows you to benchmark and leverage information to improve future sales.

Sound familiar? One thing that makes me such a fan of this program is it fits today’s customer and the process they are used to using to purchase and applies it to direct-mail advertising. A whole separate category of ROI that otherwise would not be utilized or considered for ROI. A dealership looking for the classic production of foot traffic to the show-room but wants to include the rest of their marketing efforts online is the perfect type of client for this program. Whether you have a strong social presence or need a quick way to catch up, the microsite will not only get you Likes and Tweets but will actually encourage customers to share and engage your brand socially. You are still registering customers but not on a stack of unorganized registration forms. Instead customers are walked to a kiosk and assisted while they go through the registration process with the salesman. This gives your sales staff ample opportunity to convert non-buyers to buyers while collecting key information to qualify the customer. During the registration process customers are asked about their currently vehicle offering them a predetermined percentage of NADA value as well as trigger questions you train your guys to ask sparking purchasing signals. When all else fails they are presented with a friendly roulette wheel that they can physically spin to see what they have won. This takes the pressure and responsibility of the prize off the salesman and allows them to do their job.

 While the activity in the showroom is producing sales you can manage all the data being collecting through the microsite and kiosk live through Market Vision 7's online dashboard. Here you can contact leads generated from the microsite, pull credit from online credit apps, monitor salesman performance, and even collect appointment information made by microsite visitors. This would be a great time to also reflect you’re in showroom promotion on your social networks and collect even more participants. You can easily collect dozens of likes and shares throughout a 5 day event as well as begin marketing via email to your sale database. Tri-Auto has done a fantastic job of revamping direct mail advertising with a one of a kind process that includes every dynamic offered in today’s market. 

In my experience with Tri-Auto this program has been just what we were looking for when connecting with customers we weren’t currently touching with are online only marketing strategy. The bonus for us is we didn’t have to miss out on internet customers either. It allowed us to leverage our online presence and capability with customers that weren’t already aware of us online.  The fact we can continue to reap the benefits of the sale weeks later was more than enough ROI to make it a solid investment.  If your already running direct mail promotions you have to give this a try and if you’re not  I suggest you give an old but now new strategy another shot. 

I would like to offer everyone everyone Special Program Pricing and Free Market Analysis-

Mention this post and please contact:

Tonya Ingram 

317.644.5711

tingram@triauto.com

--------------------------------

I would be interested in any other similar advancements anyone has seen with direct-mail. Anyone else use a similar system before? 

Thank you,

--

Russ Chandler

russ58@hotmail.com

@russchandler2

Recently I've taken a fresh new look at your classic "Super Sale" and thanks to Tri-Auto I liked what I saw. There's nothing new about a 5 day dealership event where you send out 40k direct mail pieces luring customers in to claim their prize. With people waiting to register, balloons, and of course wonderful prizes, these extremely successful sales were just what the doctor ordered for many dealerships in low times and for some a regular form of advertising.

One obstacle of these sales is the loads of customers coming in without any interest in buying car. It's up to the dealership to convert these customers into buyers and energize them with why now is a great time to buy a car. The successful sales are full of these conversions and most of the time you can easily see without these conversions a sale can come up very short. So how do you increase this conversion rate while also bringing additional value to the sale? One way to do this is registering customers, mandate all sale participants be registered for the sale giving your salesman an opening to speak to the customer and investigate their situation. Gaining their information is also valuable being you can later contact these locals for a 2nd or 3rd chance to earn their business. This is all pretty standard for most business's promoting these sales but today’s market is in need for something bigger and better.

Most competing dealerships are heavily if not completely involved online. Websites, social networks, email marketing, and Google are all a huge parts of just about every dealership and for some a real struggle. Many dealerships are so focused on these “front line” marketing efforts they don't even consider direct mail a valuable source of marketing anymore. I don't really blame them either; most direct mail marketing doesn't do much more then list a website when it comes to including the online dynamic. Customers want more than just a flier to keep them interested and finally someone decided to do something about this and developed a way of incorporating not just the internet but the whole process of how most customers are used to shopping for a car these days.

Tri-Auto took the lead with direct-mail advertising introducing us to Market Vision 7 software a data collecting and showroom traffic controlling machine. Market Vision 7 utilizes a microsite and in-showroom kiosk to create an efficient way of recording and controlling all the sale participates. Let’s take a look at their process and the strategy behind it. 

·         Attract

Tri-Auto’s direct mail pieces elicit consumer attention because they’ve been developed through years of testing.

·         Engage

Market Vision 7™ microsites feature multiple points of engagement that generate qualified leads to fill your pipeline.

·         Amplify

Social Share motivates users to share your event across their social network to amplify your marketing message and enhance its response.

·         Convert

The Market Vision 7™ in-showroom kiosk tracks responders and includes tools to help your salespeople close more deals.

·         Analyze

Real-time reporting provides actionable data during your sale and post-sale data allows you to benchmark and leverage information to improve future sales.

Sound familiar? One thing that makes me such a fan of this program is it fits today’s customer and the process they are used to using to purchase and applies it to direct-mail advertising. A whole separate category of ROI that otherwise would not be utilized or considered for ROI. A dealership looking for the classic production of foot traffic to the show-room but wants to include the rest of their marketing efforts online is the perfect type of client for this program. Whether you have a strong social presence or need a quick way to catch up, the microsite will not only get you Likes and Tweets but will actually encourage customers to share and engage your brand socially. You are still registering customers but not on a stack of unorganized registration forms. Instead customers are walked to a kiosk and assisted while they go through the registration process with the salesman. This gives your sales staff ample opportunity to convert non-buyers to buyers while collecting key information to qualify the customer. During the registration process customers are asked about their currently vehicle offering them a predetermined percentage of NADA value as well as trigger questions you train your guys to ask sparking purchasing signals. When all else fails they are presented with a friendly roulette wheel that they can physically spin to see what they have won. This takes the pressure and responsibility of the prize off the salesman and allows them to do their job.

 While the activity in the showroom is producing sales you can manage all the data being collecting through the microsite and kiosk live through Market Vision 7's online dashboard. Here you can contact leads generated from the microsite, pull credit from online credit apps, monitor salesman performance, and even collect appointment information made by microsite visitors. This would be a great time to also reflect you’re in showroom promotion on your social networks and collect even more participants. You can easily collect dozens of likes and shares throughout a 5 day event as well as begin marketing via email to your sale database. Tri-Auto has done a fantastic job of revamping direct mail advertising with a one of a kind process that includes every dynamic offered in today’s market. 

In my experience with Tri-Auto this program has been just what we were looking for when connecting with customers we weren’t currently touching with are online only marketing strategy. The bonus for us is we didn’t have to miss out on internet customers either. It allowed us to leverage our online presence and capability with customers that weren’t already aware of us online.  The fact we can continue to reap the benefits of the sale weeks later was more than enough ROI to make it a solid investment.  If your already running direct mail promotions you have to give this a try and if you’re not  I suggest you give an old but now new strategy another shot. 

I would like to offer everyone everyone Special Program Pricing and Free Market Analysis-

Mention this post and please contact:

Tonya Ingram 

317.644.5711

tingram@triauto.com

--------------------------------

I would be interested in any other similar advancements anyone has seen with direct-mail. Anyone else use a similar system before? 

Thank you,

--

Russ Chandler

russ58@hotmail.com

@russchandler2

In a recent meeting with my Cars.com account rep we were discussing the new Google+ Local pages. I was excited to be informed that Google will soon be linking Cars.com reviews to dealer Google+ pages. "More Reviews" found both on the quick view to the right of your dealership in search results and at the bottom of your Google+ page under your Google reviews. Most commonly you will find Dealerrater or Insider pages listed with the number of reviews found in parentheses beside them. This isn't as fantastic as them actually listing them like a Google review but definitely a boost for dealers.

As a lot of you probably already know Google has also made it mandatory to create/sign-in to a Google+ account to leave a review. This complicates the already difficult task in acquiring Google specific reviews. Cars.com has done a fantastic job  campaigning for reviews for their dealerships thus bringing in a hefty amount of reviews. I wasn't given an exact date but that it would be shortly, within a matter of weeks. Since you can respond to all your reviews on Cars.com now would be a good time to make sure everything is tightened up and looking good with your reviews so your ready with the change goes in effect. 

Good luck!

--

Russ Chandler 

russ58@hotmail.com

In a recent meeting with my Cars.com account rep we were discussing the new Google+ Local pages. I was excited to be informed that Google will soon be linking Cars.com reviews to dealer Google+ pages. "More Reviews" found both on the quick view to the right of your dealership in search results and at the bottom of your Google+ page under your Google reviews. Most commonly you will find Dealerrater or Insider pages listed with the number of reviews found in parentheses beside them. This isn't as fantastic as them actually listing them like a Google review but definitely a boost for dealers.

As a lot of you probably already know Google has also made it mandatory to create/sign-in to a Google+ account to leave a review. This complicates the already difficult task in acquiring Google specific reviews. Cars.com has done a fantastic job  campaigning for reviews for their dealerships thus bringing in a hefty amount of reviews. I wasn't given an exact date but that it would be shortly, within a matter of weeks. Since you can respond to all your reviews on Cars.com now would be a good time to make sure everything is tightened up and looking good with your reviews so your ready with the change goes in effect. 

Good luck!

--

Russ Chandler 

russ58@hotmail.com

So lets jump ahead a few years into the future. Why you ask? Well first of all because we can do things like that in a blog and second because in a few years smartphones will be the only phones. We know mobile isn't only where it's at these days but definitely where its going. By "It" I mean marketing, advertising, and tracking. Tracking is something that has just hit the horizon as we start to see the value in mobile marketing and its ability to be right in front of the consumer. We are now starting to see the data rush come into play where everyone is trying to track everything, analyze it, and sell it to someone else. Well now there is an quite interesting form of that tracking via Wi-Fi.

So lets say you have already chosen to offer free Wi-Fi at your dealership. This network extends across sales, service, and all the way to the edge of your lot. Customers come on your lot and hook-up to your Wi-Fi day and night, for a number of reasons but mainly to use the internet to assist them in why they're on your lot. I think its obvious to say if they're shopping for a car, most likely there searching to compare prices and do research. If they're in service they might be double checking the service tech didn't feed them a line when some unknown sensor needed replaced for $800. Taking it a step further maybe Mr Customer getting their $800 sensor replaced is looking into replacing the whole car instead. Maybe all the researching being done on the lot are trending particular websites or competitors. Even more interesting maybe they're trending specific makes or models that you don't normally carry, causing you to lose customers. The possibilities are endless but you get the idea, I see customers using smartphones on my lot every day. Loving data like I'm sure the rest of you do, I would love to know the analytics. Even more so I would love to connect to those customers before losing them or even ask for a review.

As you might have guessed this technology is now coming available. Mostly large retailers are seeing it first like malls and shopping centers but it will quickly be available and affordable for car dealers. The list of data you can retrieve via Wi-Fi networks is a long one. Location based information specific to where customers are on your lot when using the network and what they're doing will allow you to connect different "hotspots" on your lot that customers more commonly make specific actions online. How about the ability to push coupons to them or invite them to download your mobile app? Interested yet? Yes this dynamic would best suit the most tech savvy of dealers but as dealers that is the direction we need to be headed anyway. Having the next best thing already mastered before everyone else, is going to give you the edge over the next guy.

Check out this article in The Wall Street Journal and get more in depth details on just how valuable this could be >>>> http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303379204577474961075248008.html?mod=WSJ_Tech_MIDDLETopNews

I would be interested on any other possible applications this technology could be used on your lot

Please share a comment below

Thank you,

--

Russ Chandler

russ58@Hotmail.com