People buy from people they trust and people trust someone with whom they have made an emotional connection.  This might sound like rhetoric, but there is a lot of truth to it.

So how do you create an emotional connection with customers in this noisy age of digital media?  

One approach can be with the use of video. Video can be a powerful tool for creating an emotional connection with customers.  Creating simple but tailored video content is easy to do and makes a huge impact with the viewer.  

DrivingSales member Lehel Reeves, Director of Partnerships and Business Development at Flick Fusion Technologies, points out in a recent video:

"Shoppers get emotionally attached to something they can see. There is simply no better platform to achieve this than that of video."

Send Your Videos via SMS

In a recent panel discussion, DrivingSales member Chad Morgan, founder of Quickpage, broke it down by the numbers, emphasizing the benefit of sending your videos to customers via SMS (text message). 

"90% of texts,” Morgan says, get opened up within the first three minutes." Now throw a video on top of that and you have a combination to start engagement.  If you engage with your customer within the first five minutes you're 10 times more likely to make a connection with them and 30% of the sale goes to those that make the first engagement.  So you come in with a video, you've got a really strong chance of getting them into the showroom."

With everything video marketing can achieve, you might think that means it is a difficult form of marketing to get into and develop.  And while video marketing can be a lot of work, it doesn’t have to be. Thanks to advancements in everything from hardware and software to hosting and distribution, getting started in video is easier than it has ever been.

Using video also gives you, as the creator and host, much more information to work with when it comes to future customer engagements.  We’re not talking about Big Brother style surveillance, either. This is data customers are only too happy to share since it gives them what they want:  tailored content.  

Video is a real Win-Win

Customers get to cut through standardized and general content to get the information they want, when they want it.  They’re at home, they’re comfortable, and they don’t feel like they have to be ‘on guard’. It makes the shopping experience easier and more pleasant from the beginning.  

And Retailers get to engage with customers when they are most receptive.  They also get access to an amazing array of information that helps them to engage with their customer now and track trends that can give useful insight for the future.

Connecting with customers through video creates an instant connection in a form that today’s customers are already comfortable using.   Many people today get news through video and also are more likely to video call friends and family. Video is, simply put, the way people want to engage today. 

Customer loyalty is one of the most significant achievements for a business. It leads to repeat business, referrals, and word-of-mouth advertising. The best kind. 

Repeat business could be considered a form of loyalty. But repeat business can also be perpetuated by things like rewards and incentives. It can also be the result of convenience. 

The biggest difference between repeat customers and loyalty clearly comes down to meaningful and tangible benefits. “I frequent a local gas station because it’s right across the street … so I’m a repeat customer to that.”

Rewards programs have become mainstream in recent years with retailers. From Starbucks to Sears, retailers are finding ways to incentivize and reward customers for their repeat business.

But do rewards and incentives create true loyalty to brands? How can auto retailers incentivize and reward customers for their business? How can they create loyalty?

To explore this, DrivingSales Members Bill Playford, DJ Snyder, and Myself had an extensive conversation about what drives loyalty for retailers, and how these ideas play out for dealers in auto retail.

Get the Complete Conversation

For the complete conversation, visit the article Customer Loyalty vs. Repeat Business in Auto Retail on our blog, which features the full podcast version. You can also catch the video replay of the original live stream on our YouTube channel.

This is a preview of my recent conversation with DrivingSales Members Amanda Ryan, Terry Lancaster, and Camron Moore. During the conversation, we reflect on Nike's controversial ad campaign featuring Colin Kaepernick and how it applies to the Auto Retail business.

In the video, Amanda points out, 

"[We all have to] gamble with our brands these days due to the fact that we have to narrow in so much of what our actual brand message is. In doing so, we actually attract those customers or clients that share the same message and in doing so we have more loyal customers and less turnover.”

Terry states,

“Nike could have sat back,” Lancaster points out, “and kept running pictures of Michael Jordan for the next 40 years until he was 180 year old man you know but eventually they would lose their audience.”

Enjoy the video. If you'd like to catch the complete conversation you can view the original live streamed recording or the on our podcast on our blog titled, What we can learn from Nike's Colin Kaepernick Play, or in the episode titled, Risk, Reward, and Consequence with Your Brand in Advertising.

Last month we welcomed Jumpstart Automotive’s VP of Marketing and Strategic Insights - Libby Murad-Patel on our live weekly broadcast to discuss at length some of the surprising statistics and trends in this year’s Insights book.

This collection of annual analysis on consumer shopping patterns spans Jumpstart’s portfolio of automotive websites representing 20 million in-market shoppers.

This video provides a good preview of the show, and if you would like to listen to the complete conversation then check out the podcast. 

To help marketers better understand the fast-moving nature of the automotive industry, Jumpstart Automotive Media released its eighth annual Insights Book—a yearlong compilation of online automotive shopping trends and industry insights.

New additions included this year...

• The consumer path to purchase with a spotlight on cross-shopping trends
• In-depth shopper surveys to identify what’s driving purchase decisions
• Excerpts from Jumpstart’s 2017 luxury study
• Why SUVs and CUVs continue to dominate the market
• 2018 Industry trends and predictions

Listen to the complete conversation on the podcast: ON AIR - Review of 2017-2018 Shopper Insights

The term ‘disruption’ is increasingly being applied in conversations about what lies ahead for automotive. From buying cars online to autonomous driving features and subscribing to vehicles, players and pundits are referring to these things as disruptive. But are they really, or is the term being overused and misused? 

In this video you get a preview of my discussion with DrivingSales.com Members Bill Playford and DJ Snyder about what these things really mean and how dealers can cut through the rhetoric to make educated and informed decisions that pave the way for a bright future.

Note: This is only a preview of our conversation that aired originally on our live weekly broadcast. For the complete conversation, visit the AutoConverse Podcast.

This is a preview of our Live Weekly Broadcast from May 2, 2018 featuring DrivingSales member Ralph Paglia. Ralph is purveyor of the popular online community Automotive Digital Marketing (ADM), which he formed in 2008.

We begin with a blast from the past, well, a phone call really, from 2007, where Ralph and I were  talking about blog marketing and SEO for dealers, ideas that are commonplace today, but at the time were new to us both.

During the show, we talk about ADM and share some stories, then get into a deeper conversation about 'Tier 4 Marketing,' the term Ralph uses to explore the idea of personal branding for auto sales professionals. Ralph believes the importance of Tier 4 Marketing will grow, and be a sharp contrast to models that seek to eliminate the role that auto sales professionals play in the purchase process.

Enjoy the show, and to catch the entire conversation, get the podcast.

This is a brief overview of the conversation we had in April 2018 LIVE  "On Air" with Mike "The Car Guy" Correra and Mike Phillips from Lead the Team, as well as first-time guest Ben Adler. 

The show begins with a report by Mike P from the Innovative Dealer Summit in Denver. We then do a brief recap of NADA 2018 which was less than two weeks ago. 

Finally we get into a great discussion around the idea of personal branding for auto sales professionals, and how consumers having a growing interest in the ability to choose which sales associates they want to work with, and how a tool like Ben's, called RepConnect, are being introduced, giving auto sales professionals more incentive to focus on their personal brand, and the challenges that can lead to with dealers. 

Into podcasting? Catch the entire conversation on the AutoConverse "Future of Mobility" Podcast.

This is a preview of my interview with Simpli.fi's VP of Sales Donny Dye talking about how localized programmatic advertising can drive showroom visits for dealers at a lower cost per visit.

In today’s fast-paced, ultra-competitive marketplace, franchise marketers can ill afford to operate in a silo. A localized programmatic solution that employs a variety of tactics and operates across multiple digital channels has therefore become an essential tool in any marketing toolkit.

Get the Complete Interview Now:

• Subscribe to the AutoConverse "Future of Mobility" Podcast
• Go Here for Access to Complete Interview 

Last month, the Automotive News “Weekend Drive” Podcast team got together to have a look at the car commercials of the 2018 Super Bowl.  I gathered them all together on one of my blogs, where we break down the analysis of each commercial. 

Included in the breakdown are:

• Hyundai w/ Steven Tyler
• RAM Trucks - The Vikings
• Jeep - Jurassic Park
• RAM Trucks - Built to Serve

In the post we include the official video of each commercial, along with the podcast's analysis of each commercial as well. Would love to get an idea of which car ads you thought hit the mark or not.

This past holiday season, hundreds of dealers used e-commerce to sell more cars and reach year-end goals, even when their showrooms were closed. Leading up to the holiday season, I met with Drive Motors CEO Aaron Krane where we talked about buying trends during the holiday season. 

As expected, dealers using e-commerce saw an even smaller dip in online orders on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in 2017, than in 2016. Many buyers took advantage of great deals on Christmas Eve, with orders doubling those placed in 2016.

Surprisingly, car orders on Christmas Day itself nearly tripled year over year, even though most showrooms are closed. The final 7 days of the year were a critical time for dealers, as well. In fact, several dealers raced all the way to the finish line, making over 75% of their December online sales in the final 7 days of 2017. Not only are people shopping more during the holidays, they’re also buying. 

What can dealers take away from the 2017 holiday season? As automotive e-commerce evolves, customers are becoming more aware that they can order their next car online from their local dealerships. They're excited to buy online because it's easy and convenient. 

As a result of these buyer preferences, dealers that offer e-commerce are earning more business online. Even when their showrooms are closed, they're selling cars 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Here's the video: