Increasingly, the internet is becoming an influential factor for potential buyers in the automotive industry. As of 2012, in Germany alone 70 percent of automotive customers said the internet the most influential factor in their decision. This number has been rising steadily since 2000 when only 15 percent of automotive customers said the internet was their most influential factor. Now, at 70 percent, it can only grow.

In order to be successful in the Automotive SEO, you need to take advantage of the online world and all the tools that are available. Marketing automation is ideal for the automotive industry because it allows you to engage clients and potential buyers personally while keeping communications organized and streamlined. Read on to learn about the benefits of marketing automation in the automotive industry.

Web tracking

As previously mentioned, the internet is a huge factor for potential automotive buyers. As a result, you need an effective method to make sure this works in your favor and an engaging website it a great place to start. By using web tracking software on your website you can see which aspects of your website visitors engage with most. This will give you an idea of how to improve and optimize all aspects of your website in order to drive traffic. Web tracking will also allow you to see what each individual visitor views on your website.

When you use this software in conjunction with an all-in-one platform, you can store this information to later use to personalize individual communications. An all-in-one platform will allow you to create individual profiles for all of your website visitors, known and unknown, and store any interactions they had on your website.

In order to make the most of web tracking software, make sure to include a signup from that visitors can use to get more information from you. Including this form will allow you to gather contact information, link profiles to web tracking histories, and send personalized content.

Personalized content

The main advantage of using marketing automation is that it allows you to deliver personalized content to your clients and potential buyers. The information that is taken from your web tracking software, and any other interactions you have had with your clients, is stored in the marketing platform and can now be used to personalize communications with your clients. This means if a known visitor was viewing particular car details on your site, you would be able to follow up with them with more information about that particular car.

Being able to do targeted marketing like this automatically will allow you to save time and resources while boosting client engagement. In fact, over 80 percent of consumers said they felt more positively about a business after reading custom, personalized content.

Multi-channel communication

How are you communicating with your clients? Is it only through automotive email marketing or do you have a multi-channel approach? If you’re only sending communications through one communication channel then you are not fully engaging your clients. Everyone has a preference when it comes to communication. Some of your clients check their email constantly while other preferred phone calls or even fax. Guarantee clients are getting your messages by sending them through a multi-channel platform.

A multi-channel marketing automation platform ensures that your personalized content is delivered to clients through their preferred method of communication. By using both personalized content and multiple communication vehicles, you increase the likelihood of your messages being opened and engaged with.​

Find the platform that matches your needs

Marketing automation will help your boost client engagement and, in turn, customer loyalty. Most marketing automation platforms offer a free trial. Take advantage of these trials and see how marketing automation can benefit your dealership.

Increasingly, the internet is becoming an influential factor for potential buyers in the automotive industry. As of 2012, in Germany alone 70 percent of automotive customers said the internet the most influential factor in their decision. This number has been rising steadily since 2000 when only 15 percent of automotive customers said the internet was their most influential factor. Now, at 70 percent, it can only grow.

In order to be successful in the Automotive SEO, you need to take advantage of the online world and all the tools that are available. Marketing automation is ideal for the automotive industry because it allows you to engage clients and potential buyers personally while keeping communications organized and streamlined. Read on to learn about the benefits of marketing automation in the automotive industry.

Web tracking

As previously mentioned, the internet is a huge factor for potential automotive buyers. As a result, you need an effective method to make sure this works in your favor and an engaging website it a great place to start. By using web tracking software on your website you can see which aspects of your website visitors engage with most. This will give you an idea of how to improve and optimize all aspects of your website in order to drive traffic. Web tracking will also allow you to see what each individual visitor views on your website.

When you use this software in conjunction with an all-in-one platform, you can store this information to later use to personalize individual communications. An all-in-one platform will allow you to create individual profiles for all of your website visitors, known and unknown, and store any interactions they had on your website.

In order to make the most of web tracking software, make sure to include a signup from that visitors can use to get more information from you. Including this form will allow you to gather contact information, link profiles to web tracking histories, and send personalized content.

Personalized content

The main advantage of using marketing automation is that it allows you to deliver personalized content to your clients and potential buyers. The information that is taken from your web tracking software, and any other interactions you have had with your clients, is stored in the marketing platform and can now be used to personalize communications with your clients. This means if a known visitor was viewing particular car details on your site, you would be able to follow up with them with more information about that particular car.

Being able to do targeted marketing like this automatically will allow you to save time and resources while boosting client engagement. In fact, over 80 percent of consumers said they felt more positively about a business after reading custom, personalized content.

Multi-channel communication

How are you communicating with your clients? Is it only through automotive email marketing or do you have a multi-channel approach? If you’re only sending communications through one communication channel then you are not fully engaging your clients. Everyone has a preference when it comes to communication. Some of your clients check their email constantly while other preferred phone calls or even fax. Guarantee clients are getting your messages by sending them through a multi-channel platform.

A multi-channel marketing automation platform ensures that your personalized content is delivered to clients through their preferred method of communication. By using both personalized content and multiple communication vehicles, you increase the likelihood of your messages being opened and engaged with.​

Find the platform that matches your needs

Marketing automation will help your boost client engagement and, in turn, customer loyalty. Most marketing automation platforms offer a free trial. Take advantage of these trials and see how marketing automation can benefit your dealership.

Since dealers have vehicles coming in for routine maintenance they are also doing inspections on each and every vehicle that enters the shop, with the customerspermission - we are doing that, right?

WIth that being said, not every customer can or will do the recommended fixes to their vehicle while it is in the shop, we know that as well.

Dealers track the declined services and know customers will leave, perhaps think about the item(s) that were recommended but they most likely aren’t going to be proactive to contact the dealership and book an appointment to visit again.

With the data of declined services - it can allow for building custom engagement to customers based on their very specific requirements on their vehicle, while building trust at the same time.

What if 24 hours after a friendly reminder was sent from the service manager to thank them for their business and includes a little additional information on the recommendation? A link to the web site, a YouTube video or other information.

Based on that send an additional campaign can be sent out to build trust with the customer. If the customer opens the email, then 12 hours after perhaps send a savings for having the work done at the dealership and build loyalty in the process. If they don’t open the email perhaps set up a text message that goes to the customer with a thank you and coupon code to offer a savings, or email them to a specific landing page with personalized messaging and savings offered.

There can be a full blown process of follow up based on the declined service and how the customer interacts (or doesn’t) with the messaging provided. However, using automation the key is that it is “set” and “forget” features. NOW, this doesn’t mean don’t adjust message or monitor but as we know the easier the better and building out a process that can run itself can certainly benefit the service department at the dealership. It can be sent from the service manager (or advisors) and build the communication to the customer on their behalf.

Every service customer needs a good follow up process on declined service - how well does your dealership do with building trust and providing benefits to getting the work done at your location?

Since dealers have vehicles coming in for routine maintenance they are also doing inspections on each and every vehicle that enters the shop, with the customerspermission - we are doing that, right?

WIth that being said, not every customer can or will do the recommended fixes to their vehicle while it is in the shop, we know that as well.

Dealers track the declined services and know customers will leave, perhaps think about the item(s) that were recommended but they most likely aren’t going to be proactive to contact the dealership and book an appointment to visit again.

With the data of declined services - it can allow for building custom engagement to customers based on their very specific requirements on their vehicle, while building trust at the same time.

What if 24 hours after a friendly reminder was sent from the service manager to thank them for their business and includes a little additional information on the recommendation? A link to the web site, a YouTube video or other information.

Based on that send an additional campaign can be sent out to build trust with the customer. If the customer opens the email, then 12 hours after perhaps send a savings for having the work done at the dealership and build loyalty in the process. If they don’t open the email perhaps set up a text message that goes to the customer with a thank you and coupon code to offer a savings, or email them to a specific landing page with personalized messaging and savings offered.

There can be a full blown process of follow up based on the declined service and how the customer interacts (or doesn’t) with the messaging provided. However, using automation the key is that it is “set” and “forget” features. NOW, this doesn’t mean don’t adjust message or monitor but as we know the easier the better and building out a process that can run itself can certainly benefit the service department at the dealership. It can be sent from the service manager (or advisors) and build the communication to the customer on their behalf.

Every service customer needs a good follow up process on declined service - how well does your dealership do with building trust and providing benefits to getting the work done at your location?

Announcing: Dealer Engage Sonar

Dealer Engage 360 is an automated solution that allows dealers to reach their clients on different modes of communication with highly personalized services campaigns and targeted promotional messages.

Dealers can sign up for a managed service, which allows them to save time and reach customers more effectively without hiring extra staff. Dealer Engage 360 makes it possible for dealers to nurture new leads and online leads into loyal customers while also helping to attract return business and build current customer engagement.

Sackville, Nova Scotia, July 16, 2014 – Dealer Engage (http://www.dealerengage.com) is excited to announce the launch of Sonar, a powerful lead tracking tool that provides complete behavior and activity tracking to enable businesses to create highly effective targeted campaigns. 

Sonar is highly customizable and allows businesses to track almost any online interaction. Dealers will know exactly where each lead comes from and which pages the lead visits on their website. Dealers can also assign an automated lead score based on each page visited by the lead, in order to help identify qualified leads. Leads can also be tagged based on their activity. This process helps learn about leads’ preferences and personalize each campaign, making messages more effective and shortening the sales cycle. 

It connects with our email sending platform, sends an automotive email, then contacts visit your web site and you easily know who they are, what they look at on the site and in turn build a profile that can be used for contacting them with relevant information. Sonar is highly effective when used with Dealer Engage 360. Collected lead information dynamically feeds into automated campaigns, making it possible for small teams to run complex personally targeted campaigns with maximum efficiency. 

We are now offering complimentary accounts of Sonar - please contact me if interested in learning more about the leads that visit your dealership web site. 

About Dealer Engage

Dealer Engage (http://www.dealerengage.com) is the dealership engine for easy and efficient automotive communication. The platform responds to the constantly growing need for integration among the many different communication methods of today’s online environment. Actions performed by customers trigger relevant and timely reactions from the marketing automation manager through the entire life cycle of a client.

For More Information Contact

Shawn Ryder
shawn@shawnryder.com
902-488-4107
www.dealerengage.com

###

Announcing: Dealer Engage Sonar

Dealer Engage 360 is an automated solution that allows dealers to reach their clients on different modes of communication with highly personalized services campaigns and targeted promotional messages.

Dealers can sign up for a managed service, which allows them to save time and reach customers more effectively without hiring extra staff. Dealer Engage 360 makes it possible for dealers to nurture new leads and online leads into loyal customers while also helping to attract return business and build current customer engagement.

Sackville, Nova Scotia, July 16, 2014 – Dealer Engage (http://www.dealerengage.com) is excited to announce the launch of Sonar, a powerful lead tracking tool that provides complete behavior and activity tracking to enable businesses to create highly effective targeted campaigns. 

Sonar is highly customizable and allows businesses to track almost any online interaction. Dealers will know exactly where each lead comes from and which pages the lead visits on their website. Dealers can also assign an automated lead score based on each page visited by the lead, in order to help identify qualified leads. Leads can also be tagged based on their activity. This process helps learn about leads’ preferences and personalize each campaign, making messages more effective and shortening the sales cycle. 

It connects with our email sending platform, sends an automotive email, then contacts visit your web site and you easily know who they are, what they look at on the site and in turn build a profile that can be used for contacting them with relevant information. Sonar is highly effective when used with Dealer Engage 360. Collected lead information dynamically feeds into automated campaigns, making it possible for small teams to run complex personally targeted campaigns with maximum efficiency. 

We are now offering complimentary accounts of Sonar - please contact me if interested in learning more about the leads that visit your dealership web site. 

About Dealer Engage

Dealer Engage (http://www.dealerengage.com) is the dealership engine for easy and efficient automotive communication. The platform responds to the constantly growing need for integration among the many different communication methods of today’s online environment. Actions performed by customers trigger relevant and timely reactions from the marketing automation manager through the entire life cycle of a client.

For More Information Contact

Shawn Ryder
shawn@shawnryder.com
902-488-4107
www.dealerengage.com

###

Lots of automotive shops and car dealerships use email marketing to run special promotions, increase repeat customers and advertise new vehicles. But when everyone else also uses email marketing, and uses the same old email techniques, how do you make your messages stand out?

Marketing automation is one very effective way to make your emails the best ones in your customers' inboxes. Marketing automation enables you to personalize email campaigns for each customer based on their own needs and interests. It allows you to save time, build customer loyalty and increase revenue.

Email marketing is one of the most cost-effective ways to promote your shop and vehicles, and it also has one of the highest potentials for ROI. If your emails are deleted before they are even read, however, it is pointless to send them out. Let's examine the benefits of marketing automation.

Email Marketing is Impersonal

Mass email is about as appealing to customers as any other form of mass advertising. It will appeal to some customers, but many will simply overlook it as irrelevant to their needs. If you continue sending customers mass emails that simply push all your vehicles and seasonal sales, over time you will notice that many email subscribers drop off. Many will unsubscribe and some may even report your emails as spam. If you're not personalizing, it's almost impossible to build a lasting connection with your customers.

Marketing Automation is Highly Personal

A marketing automation solution tracks each customer based on which emails they open, which links they click, which website pages they visit and more. This builds up a detailed customer profile with each customer's interests, activity, personal information and other relevant data. Using this information, you can create automatically personalized automotive campaigns for your customers. Personally targeted emails get much higher open rates and response rates. They also build customer loyalty and generate consistently higher ROI than mass emails.

Using marketing automation, you can also provide personalized customer service. Your solution will send emails to customers for maintenance notifications, appointment reminders, birthday automotive service specials and more.

Email Marketing Takes Up a Lot of Time

With automotive email marketing, if you want to send ongoing automotive campaigns you have to manually organize each mass mailing. Your email solution will send the messages and will then stop. If you want to send more emails to each customer, you must create and organize another campaign. This takes time, and by the time you send the messages the customer may not even be interested any more.

Marketing Automation is Very Efficient

With marketing automation, you can create a whole automated ongoing email process that you can set and forget. Customers will receive additional personally relevant emails based on which links they click, which actions they take and which emails they open. This functionality enables you to save the time of organizing new emails to be sent. Emails are selected and sent automatically based on each customer's unique interaction with your automotive marketing campaigns.

Email Marketing Doesn't Necessarily Show You the Best Leads

Automotive Email Marketing will show you reports of who has opened your emails, who has clicked through and so on. But not all email subscribers who interact with emails are good leads. Not all these subscribers purchase vehicles and accessories or download your automotive resources. You don't know which email subscribers are leads that you should focus on and which ones are just curious window shoppers.

Marketing Automation Helps You Find Qualified Leads

A marketing automation solution not only tracks email subscribers' opens and clickthroughs. It also tracks every interaction they have with you and your website so you can build up a detailed personal profile. This helps you learn exactly what services your customers are looking for, what vehicles they are interested in, whether or not they are truly thinking about making a purchase and so on. You can then focus your attention on these hot leads. Make a personal connection with them through an email or phone call to provide them with more information and answer questions.

Email Marketing Only Includes One Communication Channel

Some customers don't use email. How can you connect with these customers through messages, advertisements, promotions and service specials? If you only use email for your automotive marketing, you are missing out on communicating with a lot of your clients. Even if they do use email, this may not be the most convenient way to reach them.

Marketing Automation Includes Multiple Communication Channels

Many marketing automation solutions include a wide variety of communication channels such as text messaging, voicemail, surveys, Twitter and Facebook. This enables you to connect with customers who prefer to communicate through other ways besides email. Text messages, in particular, are an extremely effective way to send out your automotive promotions. Unlike emails, text messages are likely to be opened within five minutes of being received.

Try Automotive Marketing Automation for Free

Most marketing automation solutions offer a limited time free trial. Try as many as you can! Testing a variety of solutions enables you to learn which one is right for your needs. Make a list of tasks you want to be able to accomplish and don't hesitate to contact customer service representatives and ask questions. If you find the ideal marketing automation solution for you, it will save your staff hours of time every day. It will also enable you to connect with your customers on a more personalized level, leading to higher revenue and less customer churn.

Lots of automotive shops and car dealerships use email marketing to run special promotions, increase repeat customers and advertise new vehicles. But when everyone else also uses email marketing, and uses the same old email techniques, how do you make your messages stand out?

Marketing automation is one very effective way to make your emails the best ones in your customers' inboxes. Marketing automation enables you to personalize email campaigns for each customer based on their own needs and interests. It allows you to save time, build customer loyalty and increase revenue.

Email marketing is one of the most cost-effective ways to promote your shop and vehicles, and it also has one of the highest potentials for ROI. If your emails are deleted before they are even read, however, it is pointless to send them out. Let's examine the benefits of marketing automation.

Email Marketing is Impersonal

Mass email is about as appealing to customers as any other form of mass advertising. It will appeal to some customers, but many will simply overlook it as irrelevant to their needs. If you continue sending customers mass emails that simply push all your vehicles and seasonal sales, over time you will notice that many email subscribers drop off. Many will unsubscribe and some may even report your emails as spam. If you're not personalizing, it's almost impossible to build a lasting connection with your customers.

Marketing Automation is Highly Personal

A marketing automation solution tracks each customer based on which emails they open, which links they click, which website pages they visit and more. This builds up a detailed customer profile with each customer's interests, activity, personal information and other relevant data. Using this information, you can create automatically personalized automotive campaigns for your customers. Personally targeted emails get much higher open rates and response rates. They also build customer loyalty and generate consistently higher ROI than mass emails.

Using marketing automation, you can also provide personalized customer service. Your solution will send emails to customers for maintenance notifications, appointment reminders, birthday automotive service specials and more.

Email Marketing Takes Up a Lot of Time

With automotive email marketing, if you want to send ongoing automotive campaigns you have to manually organize each mass mailing. Your email solution will send the messages and will then stop. If you want to send more emails to each customer, you must create and organize another campaign. This takes time, and by the time you send the messages the customer may not even be interested any more.

Marketing Automation is Very Efficient

With marketing automation, you can create a whole automated ongoing email process that you can set and forget. Customers will receive additional personally relevant emails based on which links they click, which actions they take and which emails they open. This functionality enables you to save the time of organizing new emails to be sent. Emails are selected and sent automatically based on each customer's unique interaction with your automotive marketing campaigns.

Email Marketing Doesn't Necessarily Show You the Best Leads

Automotive Email Marketing will show you reports of who has opened your emails, who has clicked through and so on. But not all email subscribers who interact with emails are good leads. Not all these subscribers purchase vehicles and accessories or download your automotive resources. You don't know which email subscribers are leads that you should focus on and which ones are just curious window shoppers.

Marketing Automation Helps You Find Qualified Leads

A marketing automation solution not only tracks email subscribers' opens and clickthroughs. It also tracks every interaction they have with you and your website so you can build up a detailed personal profile. This helps you learn exactly what services your customers are looking for, what vehicles they are interested in, whether or not they are truly thinking about making a purchase and so on. You can then focus your attention on these hot leads. Make a personal connection with them through an email or phone call to provide them with more information and answer questions.

Email Marketing Only Includes One Communication Channel

Some customers don't use email. How can you connect with these customers through messages, advertisements, promotions and service specials? If you only use email for your automotive marketing, you are missing out on communicating with a lot of your clients. Even if they do use email, this may not be the most convenient way to reach them.

Marketing Automation Includes Multiple Communication Channels

Many marketing automation solutions include a wide variety of communication channels such as text messaging, voicemail, surveys, Twitter and Facebook. This enables you to connect with customers who prefer to communicate through other ways besides email. Text messages, in particular, are an extremely effective way to send out your automotive promotions. Unlike emails, text messages are likely to be opened within five minutes of being received.

Try Automotive Marketing Automation for Free

Most marketing automation solutions offer a limited time free trial. Try as many as you can! Testing a variety of solutions enables you to learn which one is right for your needs. Make a list of tasks you want to be able to accomplish and don't hesitate to contact customer service representatives and ask questions. If you find the ideal marketing automation solution for you, it will save your staff hours of time every day. It will also enable you to connect with your customers on a more personalized level, leading to higher revenue and less customer churn.

Staying in touch with each customer throughout the year can help you increase business, by keeping your dealership in customers‘ minds and by providing them relevant information when they need it. It could take many hours each day to do this manually, but if you have an automated marketing and communication solution it can take as little time as a few hours at the beginning of every month.

With automation, once you create the basic messages and decide how you want them to be sent that’s really all you need to do. Your customers receive messages that are relevant to their needs and also you are able to maintain consistent contact with hundreds, even thousands, of customers easily. So what types of messages should you create?

Promotional Offers
You knew this had to be the first one. Seasonal sales and special promotions help drive business more than almost any other kind of message. Customers love a good deal, especially if it’s exclusive. You can offer special deals to customers who choose to sign up for your email newsletters, as an incentive. Your promotional messages can go out to all your customers or you can have personalized promo messages sent to each customer based on their type of vehicle and maintenance and purchase history.

Maintenance Notification
Whether it’s an oil change, tire rotation or just overall maintenance, often customers need a friendly reminder. Auto maintenance is not the first thing people think of, and they will be much more likely to book an appointment on time if they receive a message letting them know that their vehicle is due for maintenance. These notifications are sent out automatically to each customer based on the vehicle history and data that is stored in your DMS. Each customer receives a message exactly when they need it.

Appointment Reminder
Once they book the appointment, you still need to ensure that they don’t forget about it. Too often, dealerships lose time and money due to customers not showing up for their appointments. Rather than taking the time to contact each customer manually, let automation take care of all the tedious details to ensure that each customer knows exactly when to show up.

Customer Survey
A survey is a great way to find out what customers really think of your dealership and see if there are any areas that could be improved in order to grow your business. Surveys can be sent out automatically after customers come in for service or to make a purchase. With the click of a button, customers can submit valuable feedback that is automatically organized for you to review.

Safety and Maintenance Tips
Automotive marketing that focuses solely on promoting new vehicles and upcoming sales is becoming a thing of the past. More and more, customers want educational resources that they can actually use. Sending out tips that can help customers learn about their vehicles and how to take care of them builds credibility in your dealership, and increases customer loyalty. Customers learn that your dealership cares not only about selling them vehicles and parts but also wants to help them maintain their vehicles for a long time. A friendly text message or email now and then providing you with helpful information that you can use every day cements the belief that the dealership is focused on you as a long-term customer.

Staying in touch with each customer throughout the year can help you increase business, by keeping your dealership in customers‘ minds and by providing them relevant information when they need it. It could take many hours each day to do this manually, but if you have an automated marketing and communication solution it can take as little time as a few hours at the beginning of every month.

With automation, once you create the basic messages and decide how you want them to be sent that’s really all you need to do. Your customers receive messages that are relevant to their needs and also you are able to maintain consistent contact with hundreds, even thousands, of customers easily. So what types of messages should you create?

Promotional Offers
You knew this had to be the first one. Seasonal sales and special promotions help drive business more than almost any other kind of message. Customers love a good deal, especially if it’s exclusive. You can offer special deals to customers who choose to sign up for your email newsletters, as an incentive. Your promotional messages can go out to all your customers or you can have personalized promo messages sent to each customer based on their type of vehicle and maintenance and purchase history.

Maintenance Notification
Whether it’s an oil change, tire rotation or just overall maintenance, often customers need a friendly reminder. Auto maintenance is not the first thing people think of, and they will be much more likely to book an appointment on time if they receive a message letting them know that their vehicle is due for maintenance. These notifications are sent out automatically to each customer based on the vehicle history and data that is stored in your DMS. Each customer receives a message exactly when they need it.

Appointment Reminder
Once they book the appointment, you still need to ensure that they don’t forget about it. Too often, dealerships lose time and money due to customers not showing up for their appointments. Rather than taking the time to contact each customer manually, let automation take care of all the tedious details to ensure that each customer knows exactly when to show up.

Customer Survey
A survey is a great way to find out what customers really think of your dealership and see if there are any areas that could be improved in order to grow your business. Surveys can be sent out automatically after customers come in for service or to make a purchase. With the click of a button, customers can submit valuable feedback that is automatically organized for you to review.

Safety and Maintenance Tips
Automotive marketing that focuses solely on promoting new vehicles and upcoming sales is becoming a thing of the past. More and more, customers want educational resources that they can actually use. Sending out tips that can help customers learn about their vehicles and how to take care of them builds credibility in your dealership, and increases customer loyalty. Customers learn that your dealership cares not only about selling them vehicles and parts but also wants to help them maintain their vehicles for a long time. A friendly text message or email now and then providing you with helpful information that you can use every day cements the belief that the dealership is focused on you as a long-term customer.