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Let's face it. Websites are becoming a commodity in the automotive world. Most quality website vendors are putting out solutions that are good enough to work well. Few are coming up with innovations that can differentiate them, and those differences are relatively small in the whole scheme of things. The difference between a good and a great website is minimal when translating it to increased sales.

The reason for this is that consumers are becoming increasingly impatient when in car shopping mode. It's not that they don't spend as much time doing it as before. It's that they are doing most of their research on websites other than a dealer's site and only visiting when they're ready to look at live vehicles. At that point, they're going straight to inventory or specials and deciding from there whether to consider doing business with a dealership or not. If you have the right inventory items that they're considering, a bad website isn't going to keep them from contacting you. Conversely, if you don't have the vehicles they're seeking, an amazing website isn't going to coax them into doing business with you.

Websites are websites. Some are better than others and have strong conversion tools, but the real arena through which dealers can move the needle is in the quality of their digital marketing efforts. One of those efforts, search engine marketing, is arguably the greatest opportunity for advancement because it translates into more visitors, more leads, and potentially more sales when done right.

The biggest challenge that dealers with OEM-mandated search marketing products face is in defining competition. From the OEM's perspective, a Ford dealer's competition is the Chevy dealer down the block and the Honda dealer around the corner. They want search exposure that can take sales from the other brands. This is a good and noble cause, but unfortunately it's not the most practical target for individual dealers and dealer groups.

From the perspective of the Ford dealership itself, their primary competition isn't the Chevy dealer and the Honda dealer but rather the other Ford dealers in the area. It's how they're graded; we all see reports every month that tell us how we're doing against other dealerships in the area that sell the same brands. It is for this reason that OEM-mandated search marketing, as affordable as it is, simply isn't the best way to improve sales. At the dealership level, the lowest hanging fruit for increased business is by taking sales from the real competition, namely the other Ford store a few miles away.

As mentioned, there is one advantage to the OEM-mandated search marketing: it's cheaper. It's often paid for in whole or in part and can act as a check box on your marketing. "Yep, we're doing SEO and PPC. The OEM is taking care of that for us."

Unfortunately, that's really the only advantage. It's designed in most cases to keep every dealership inside their own little box. Reaching outside of the direct market area is a no-no for companies that work for the OEMs. In fact, they're goal is to keep the boxes neat and tidy.

When the search marketing is focused at the dealership level, it's a completely different strategy. The goals have changed; it's not that a Ford dealer doesn't want to take market share from a Chevy dealer, but that's a heck of a lot harder than taking a deal from the Ford dealer down the road. Let's say there's a dealer in a small town a few miles from you. They're the only Ford dealer in that town. Everyone in town knows them. When they want to do business with that dealership, they'll search for the dealership by name.

Consumers who search for the dealership by city are looking for an alternative. They know about Bob Ricky's Toyota in the heart of town. If they do a search for "Somewhereville Toyota Dealers" or "Toyota Dealers Near Somewhereville", you'll want your dealership to pop up. People that do searches like that are trying to find someone else from which to buy their Toyota. If they wanted to buy from Bob Ricky's Toyota, they would have searched for "Bob Ricky's Toyota". They didn't. They want someone else. They want you. If you're ranked for that search, there's a good chance they'll check out your website to see if they can do business with you instead of Bob Ricky.

Unfortunately, the OEM-mandated search marketing products aren't designed to help in this regard. In many ways, they're designed to prevent this from happening.

If your goal is to beat the competition, your competition, then don't look to the OEM's search marketing company. Don't just check off the search marketing box and call it a day. Explore your options and see if there's a way to improve your search marketing to focus on helping your dealership the best way you can, by being aggressive and getting your dealership in as many relevant searches as possible.

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Next to computers, tablets, and smartphones, our cars are often the most technologically-challenging item that we deal with on a daily basis. Every model year brings out new gadgets and gizmos that are designed to enhance, adapt, and often-times engage with other technologies that we carry with us. Tablets are used as owners' manuals. MP3 players have become our stereos. Speakers and mics interact with our phones for hands-free driving. These are the common examples. Today's cars can do so much more.

 

The advertising on the OEM level often focuses on technology. Why do so few dealers do the same? It's not that they need to advertise the latest advancements to SYNC or show off the technology in any way. That's the manufacturers' job. They can, however, demonstrate that they have both an expertise in making these technologies work for their customers as well as an eager willingness to make it happen.

 

Many dealers do this. Few market it properly. Many of the car ads we see on television or the internet still focus on sales, price-beating, and gimmicks. What if (and think about it for more than a second) instead of promoting their dealership the same way every other dealership does, they took the path of focusing on their expertise and customer service. What if they weren't just there to sell you a vehicle. What if they were there to help you make it fit in with your technological existence?

 

It's an idea that was sparked by a friend, Jeff Cryder at Lebanon Ford, about a year ago but that didn't manifest itself in its current form until tonight. I was debating with a friend about his iPhone 5 versus my Galaxy SIII. His "winning" argument that obliterated any chance of convincing him that my phone was better than his: the Genius Bar.

 

Price is a losing battle in the automotive industry. Most dealers will be within dollars of each other when negotiated down to the bottom line on identical cars. The focus on "we treat you right" is still a powerful message but doesn't quite have the zing that it once did; the number of scandalous car dealers with poor practices has diminished dramatically in recent years and the majority do what they can to treat their customers with respect.

 

Technology. Expertise. A willingness to help customers get "plugged in" to their cars and take advantage of the tremendous technologies available to us - these are the things that might just work from a marketing perspective. It would be a welcome change from a television advertising perspective. It would be a differentiator at the website level. On social media, it could shine. Now, apply this to both the sales and service departments and I think you might have something.

 

Would it work? Is it worth trying?

 

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"Car Technology" image courtesy of Shutterstock.

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How Carfax Missed a Big Opportunity in Advertising

Over at Automotive Digital Marketing, there's been a long discussion started by Jim Zieglerabout Carfax and its place in the automotive community. I haven't chimed in because, quite frankly, I'm not needed there. The discussion is self-perpetuating and there's no shortage of opinions.

 

It did, however, catch my attention strictly from an advertising perspective as they have an ad out that misses on more cylinders than I thought was even possible. This physics-bending ad is intended to position Carfax as some sort of secret weapon to be used against car dealers. It isn't, but that's not the main reason why the ad fails so miserably.

 

First, the video itself:

Did you see the biggest problem with it?

Car salespeople are still stuck in the 80s, according to this video. The CarFax advertising team had a big opportunity to introduce the reality of today's car buying experience, and that reality is that dealers look at Carfax very closely themselves. They do not want to put out a vehicle that won't pass with flying colors. Most use it as a selling tool, a vote of confidence that they stand by their product. To position dealers as the enemy is foolish, mostly because there are plenty of people who feel that if something is considered a potential conflict point, they'll avoid it. Why would you want to make your product appear to be a point of contention during a transaction?

 

There are many challenges with the way Carfax is marketing, but this is the biggest. Be a conduit between dealers and customers. Don't be adversarial to one side or the other.

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This is Part 4 in a 5 part series. Please read the previous posts first or none of this will really make any sense.


So, you have your power accounts. You've done what was posted in the previous parts of this series and you have a strong individual presence on Facebook and Twitter at the least plus hopefully other social media sites like Google+ and Pinterest. It's time to put these accounts into action and produce a return on your investment of time and energy. Where do you start?

 

As with most proper marketing strategies, it's time to plan. Your accounts should have a strong localized following by now. The names of both the dealership and the individual influencer at your dealership (preferably the owner or general manager) are quickly becoming very well known in the community. Like the Tracy Myers and Jeff Cryders of the world, the person who is representing your dealership should be out and about talking to customers at the dealership, outside of the dealership, and online.

 

One thing that wasn't unfortunately omitted from the previous articles but that's a very important note is that this person should be there for the good AND the bad. They should be the name used when responding to online reviews whenever possible. This is one of the reasons why a person of authority is best suited for this role.

 

With that out of the way, let's talk about planning...

 

Proper Prior Planning...

...prevents poor performance. There are actually many "power accounts" that I've seen in the automotive industry that were either under-utilized or turned into spamming accounts. Your power accounts must think like Goldilocks - not too hot, not too cold, but just right.

 

Every post should be thought out with precision. Posting at the right timesis extremely important. All of the major social media sites are driven by momentum to some extent; EdgeRank on Facebook, for example, gives prominence to posts by those who have had a lot of likes, comments, and shares on previous posts. The more you're liked, the more you'll be liked. Google+ is the same way. Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr, and others work from a chronological feed, but the strategy remains the same for different reasons. You want to get retweets, reblogs, repins, etc, so that your posts are more visible to other people who may then choose to follow you. Same concept, different purposes.

 

Now that we understand that, let's talk about what to post. Just like when driving, you don't want to just look at the road directly in front of you. You drive by pointing your car towards the distant goal while keeping your peripheral vision on potential obstacles that may jump out at you. When you're in traffic, you switch lanes based upon your end goal as well as the flow of traffic in front of you.

 

Mixing up the proper types of posts isn't a random thing. You should know when to post for conversation and when to post for conversion:

  • Conversation posts are those that are designed to appeal to people's interests. These are often images or text posts that are interesting, entertaining, or useful. The goal is to use these to get the interest of your fans and friends of your fans, to increase exposure, and to set up the conversion posts that follow.
  • Conversion posts are the marketing posts. These are different from branding posts which we'll describe later. These are posts that have distinct goals in mind. It may be promoting an upcoming sale. It may be an especially intriguing vehicle that just came in on trade. It could be a contest, a charitable event, an interesting video advertisement, or simply a link to a landing page on your website.

Those two are the primary types of posts, but you'll also want to work in branding posts. These are designed to improve your standing in the community and spread a general message to increase goodwill. For example, when we post customer reviews or images of happy customers (no, not the boring types, the really awesome happy customer posts), we aren't trying to sell a car or promote a sale. We're just trying to let as many people as possible know that the dealership treats customers right.

 

This is where the planning comes in. You will need a calendar or scheduling software that allows you to get a bird's eye view of what your coming posts will say. Mix it up properly. Use conversational posts appropriately. For example, if you have a big sale coming up this weekend, you may have two or three really strong conversation posts that lead up to the first conversion post about the sale. This way, more people will see it when it does get posted.

 

Determining the personality of the posts is another important part of planning. There are too many "randomly interesting accounts" out there on social media. You are not George Takei, and but you can learn from him. He posts mostly geek-oriented humor posts. He stays within his niche and plays on it well. For your dealership and power account personality, you may want to lean towards being the ultimate vehicular genius in the area. You may want to start a mini-meme in the local area by taking pictures of the power account person taking a particularly awesome vehicle around to well-known places and businesses in the area. This part takes creativity and brainstorming, but here's a quick example of one that I truly enjoyed:

An owner would go to every baseball game when the local MLB team was at home. They would drive around and look for cars that were parking that had the dealership's branded license plate bracket. They would approach these people as they parked, ask them if they already had their tickets, and offer them use of the dealer's seats for the game. Season passes aren't that expensive, especially when they can be used for a strong social media marketing campaign. They would, of course, record the conversation with the happy customers and post it throughout their social profiles.

Remember, the goal is to make a plan that will help your dealership personality stand out. This isn't about post scheduling, though that's important as well. It's about putting together a strong action plan for today, next week, next month, and across the future. This is where the power accounts can truly start making an impact and exposing the brand to a wider audience.

 

I would be more than happy to consult with any dealership that wants to brainstorm some ideas and learn more about planning.

 

Once you have the plan, it's time to get your customers involved...

 

Getting Outrageous Support from Your Customers

Happy Customers

Having a power account makes things easier, but it doesn't change one ominous fact about social media: "It's not what you're saying about your business on social media that's important. It's what others are saying about you."

 

Power accounts are the ultimate vessel through which to get the raving fans that can truly enhance your business. It's not about getting fans. It's about getting absolutely delighted customers who are not only willing to tell others about you but are excited about spreading the word. Another article can be written about the importance of making your customers ecstatic and how the owner or general manager are the most powerful people when it comes to making this happen, but that's not for today.

 

Your power accounts need to be interacting with as many people as possible. They need to be celebrities in heart and mind. They need to participate whenever appropriate with the most amazing customers. For example, a dealership I recently talked to told me about a 4th generation buyer. A great grandma, her daughter, and the grandson brought in the great granddaughter to buy her first car. They all came in together. They told everyone in the showroom about the multiple experiences they'd had at the dealership for 5 decades.

 

I asked about the videos. There were none. I wanted to cry.

 

This is one of those rare opportunities when the owner or general manager should have done everything possible to make these people special. It was a social media story that could have carried weight for months. It was multiple photo opportunities. It was a chance for the ultimate testimonial video. The power account person should have offered to take this family to a nice dinner. So many chances here, all missed.

 

On the other side of the spectrum, I was visiting a dealership earlier this year. The GM took my team and his internet department to breakfast. A man approached as we were at the cashier and thanked the general manager for helping his son buy a car a month before. The GM didn't think twice. He shook the gentleman's hand, then grabbed the ticket from his other hand and said, "We appreciate your business, my friend. Breakfast is on Holiday Automotive this morning."

 

Had I had the chance to do it all over, I would have asked them all at the moment if they would mind if I put the experience on Facebook. From a dealership perspective, there's a fine line between bragging and making a random act of gratitude like this resonate on social media. Here's what I would have posted:

"Ran into a loyal customer at Moe's this morning for breakfast. We picked up the tab - it felt good! I'd love to do it again. If you see me at Moe's, come say hi. I really appreciate our customers and would love to buy your breakfast as well."

 

You don't have to wait around for extraordinary moments. Depending on the personality you've chosen for your power account, you can turn the boring pictures that so many dealerships take of their happy customers and turn it into something sharable. For example, the power account individual can take pictures with the customers holding up a whiteboard while standing in front of their new car. The message depends on the personality and desired message, but here are some examples. Again, imagine the buyer holding a whiteboard with the message and an arrow pointing towards the power account person:

  • "This guy just made me a deal I couldn't refuse for my new Altima."
  • "Ask for Hank and he'll tell you a joke, then make you a killer deal."
  • "The worst negotiator in the world just sold me this car. Ask for Hank!"
  • "This guy just treated us with dignity and respect. Not your stereotypical car dealer. Ask for Hank!"

There are many, many ways to get great content from your happy customers. The key is to make sure that it's something you can post, that the dealership page can post, and that the customers themselves will be willing to post on their own accounts. This is how to get conversations going. This is how to make a difference with your social media content.

 

In the past, some dealers would try to get their customers climb into the trunk of a car they were considering. It was a demonstration of control; if you could get your customer to climb into the trunk, you had control of the deal. Today, we want to get people into the "social media trunk". This is no longer about control. It's about creating an atmosphere of mutual respect and harnessing this atmosphere to take advantage of the word of mouth that social media empowers your customers to wield. Getting them to post is much more important than what you're posting. The power account is best positioned to make this happen.

 

Getting Your Message Shared

The social media power account at your dealership gains a certain power when they reach the top level within the community. They have the opportunity to go from being liked to being shared. This is the hardest part. It takes time, creativity, and cleverness.

 

This does not mean posting things such as "Share this if you believe that..." Posts that ask for likes or shares are weak. They turn people off. Never ask for a retweet, a like, a share, a +1, or anything else in the post itself. That doesn't mean that you don't ask. It means that you don't ask within the post.

 

Where the power account can get shares is often with the interaction that they have with others both in real life as well as on social media. Before getting to real life share requests, let's first look at interactions. When your power account likes, shares, comments, retweets, reblogs, or any other interaction with other businesses or individuals in the area, they are more likely inclined to return the favor. Reciprocity on social media is common. The more you like, the more you'll be liked. The more you share, the more you'll be shared.

 

There's an art and a science to understanding who will reciprocate and who will not. On Twitter and Pinterest, it's really easy, of course. Just find people who respond or retweet. Those who are only broadcasting will likely not reciprocate. On Facebook and Google+, it's more challenging but can be done. Test it out. Dedicate a little bit of time every day to engage with local pages and individuals (especially customers). Don't spam them or stalk them, but engage. If they reply, keep note of who they are and check them out from time to time.

 

In real life, it's a matter of asking and getting your staff to ask. It starts with them. If they aren't following and engaging with the power account online, they won't be willing to ask others to do the same.

 

It's not just about asking. Advertise it. Make signs and put them up around the dealership. In service, it could be a sign that says, "Hank gives customers free oil changes on Facebook and Twitter from time to time. Follow him and get something useful from social media instead of just funny cat pictures (even though Hank loves cats, too!)."

 

It could be much more blatant as well. "Receive a 10% discount on your current service. Just follow Hank and share one of his posts on your Facebook profile and get the discount immediately."

 

Again, be creative. This is your time to make your power account shine.

 

* * *

 

In the final part of this series, we will bring it all together with real world examples of power accounts in action. Your social media reputation can become the hub through which you dealership's entire reputation stems. When this happens, you'll have much more control over what people are saying and hearing about you. More importantly, you'll have an opportunity to gain benefit for your dealership in an arena where your competitors are likely failing miserably. As social media continues to grow, there are only a few who will truly succeed and a vast majority who will not. Which side of the fence will your dealership choose?

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Don't Get Sucked Into The Holiday Advertising Abyss

If you're a retailer of items that are often purchased as gifts, holiday advertising makes total sense. You're competing for a portion of the most lucrative sales season and getting the word out about the deals, products, and sales that you have going on at your store is important.

If you are not a retailer with holiday items for sale, don't try to take advantage of it all by getting "in the spirit" of the season. You can do more damage than good.

There's an anti-holiday sentiment that has been growing for a few years. Consumers are getting tired of the mess that Christmas shopping has become. It has always been stressful, but now the increase in communication and marketing styles has put it front and center whenever we're connected to media. Television, internet, mobile - all are being bombarded with holiday messages.

This negative sentiment is a dangerous realm if you aren't bringing anything real to the table. You might be having a holiday special of some sort, but if it's not directly tied to something of immediate interest - gifts, food, or travel - you're just participating in the noise.

Instead, take a different approach this year. There's a difference between being "jolly" and trying to capitalize on the season by offering trumped up specials or events that don't directly influence how people will celebrate. Here are some ideas:

  • Give - The one noble aspect of the season that most people don't mind is the need for giving. There are plenty of those who could use the help of your business and by participating in local causes and encouraging others to do the same, you'll be doing good while improving your brand image. Be careful not to latch onto the guilt notion - all too often we're bombarded with messages that are supposed to make us feel guilty for having more than others. This is another type of message that gets overdone around the holidays. Give, support, promote, but do it in a celebratory manner.
  • A Message of Relaxation - A couple of years ago I saw a car dealership create a "Holiday Triage Center". They set up their service center waiting area with snacks, drinks, comfortable chairs, and a very prominent "no holiday music allowed" atmosphere. They then advertised it as a place to get away from the holiday hustle and bustle for a while, a pit stop to recharge and relax.
  • Focus on 2013 - We might not be done with this year, yet, but it's not too early to start pushing out a message of what's to come.This is particularly effective when reaching those who are beyond their holiday hysteria, who have already done their shopping and preparing.

Just because the holidays are upon us doesn't mean that your message has to center around it. Today, there are plenty of holiday messages that are both relevant and irrelevant. If you aren't selling something that goes under a tree, into an over, or that gets people from here to there, don't get sucked into the abyss. Be different.

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A few months ago I wrote a post titled, "How Important Is Price Really?" in which I discuss how there is too much emphasis on price when it comes to vehicle/dealership advertising. If you haven't already done so, I would suggest you take a minute to read through that post as this one will really be a continuation of the topic.

This article will touch on a simple marketing strategy that you can start implementing today in order to drive more qualified traffic to your business and start selling more vehicles, service and F&I. It's one of the most vital and fundamental marketing practices that, from my observation, is grossly overlooked. 

Take a look at this dealership ad that I pulled from an AutoTrader style magazine. Look familiar?

What about this one from the newspaper? Is it similar to what you're current advertising looks like?

If so, are you able to identify what's wrong with these ads? If you guessed that they haven't identified a specific demographic, you win the prize. Picture/price, picture/price, picture/price does not drive qualified traffic. In fact, when all of your advertising revolves around price, you are only speaking to between 2-5% percent of in-market consumers which is just not large enough of a power base to grow your profits the way you'd like to see them grow. If you and every dealership in your area are advertising with nothing but picture and price, you are waging an intense battle in an effort to conquer a very small percentage of people. 

So what can you start doing today that will increase your dealership show rate through advertising?

A friend of mine once said (in speaking of firearms), "Nobody ever sees where you aim, they only see what you hit!" To take that a step further, if you don't even set your targets, how will you know where to you can improve your shooting?

Step 1: Set Your Targets

Take a moment to look back over your previous customer list in order to identify a common theme among them. It could be age, gender, most common vehicle purchased etc. This data can play a vital role in setting your targets because it can tell you about the demographics that you cater your products and services to.

Step 2: Use the trash can

If you're in the process of assembling an ad to hand to your local newspaper or niche magazine and it's going to be another one of those picture and price ads, crumple it up and throw it in the recycling! You're better off to do that now before what you actually throw in the garbage are your advertising dollars.

Step 3: Speak to your Target Demographic

Based on the data that you have acquired from looking at your past customer portfolio, take a moment to determine what the common interests and concerns are (generally speaking) for that demographic. Once you have that figured out, start assembling your ad with special offers, promotions and vehicles that they would be interested in.

For example, if you find that the majority of your sales over the passed few months (or year) have been to retired couples, start promoting seniors discounts or military vet discounts. 

In the other hand, if you identify that majority of your customers are young families or single mothers, start advertising vehicles that have excellent safety ratings, low finance rates and promotions that reward people that have children. 

The point is that you must get creative with your advertising, and you must start a dialogue between you and your target customers through your advertising.

Food for thought

Take a moment to think about all of the various promotions that your dealership offers. Do you have any for Veterans, Seniors, Students or other groups of people? If so, pat yourself on the back - lay off the picture/price and start advertising your promotions to those people.

If you don't have any of those promotions or special programs, start putting them together. Determine what you will offer to the various groups of people so that you can start having "dialed-in" conversations with the market.

In this way, you will drive more qualified traffic to your dealership without have to participate in the in-effective picture/price battle with which you are currently engaged.

What do you think? Kindly leave your comments, questions, or feedback below.

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How to Uncover Consumer Emotional Needs

Having looked back over nearly two decades of automotive advertising from newspapers to niche auto and RV magazines, I find it interesting that nothing has changed. The methodology and strategy has had no improvements which begs to ask: are the results getting any better or are they continuing to diminish?

One of the reasons I believe the strategy used for traditional advertising isn't performing as well as it used to is because, for the most part, ads haven't changed or evolved to meet modern consumer demands and expectations. Consumer expectations are continually evolving and it's vital for any dealership to take some time to figure out with laser accuracy what group of people each ad is meant to target and work to unveil their emotional needs.

An example would be to say that week one's ad will focus on attracting single mothers with small children or young families. In this instance, plastering a hundred different vehicles on a page doesn't really speak to these groups of people. Running an ad, however, that focuses on a common vehicle that these consumers would purchase (a mini-van or compact SUV), as well as the safety features of that vehicle pulls on the heart strings of the consumer and attracts them into coming up with reasons to purchase.

Picture, price, picture, price, picture, price just doesn't work any more - and let's face it, when it did; those ads were only targeting a measly 2 - 5% of in-market consumers. 

By focusing on consumer expectations, determining what target market you will try and reach with each ad, and determining the best way to uncover the consumers emotional needs, you'll pump some life back into your traditional marketing efforts and start tracking a positive return on your advertising investment.

What say you?

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John Wannamaker, often considered the father of the modern department store and modern advertising was quoted about 90 years ago as saying Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half.”

 

Unfortunately, this problem holds true for many car dealerships (perhaps not as dramatic as quoted by John Wannamaker). However, there is no question that advertising seepage and waste is one of the most pressing concerns for advertisers and reducing that ALONE should dramatically improve your advertising ROI without additional investments.

 

Therefore, as you plan your advertising strategy for 2011 what plans are you implementing to:

 

  • Reduce the percent of advertising seepage?
  • Find out which ‘half’ of your advertising investment is being wasted?
  • Measure and track your advertising channels to determine which is NOT meeting your minimum advertising ROI requirements?
  • Cost benefit analysis to determine how much say a 5% reduction in advertising seepage will mean to your bottom line?
  • What specific strategies you can put in place to reduce advertising seepage?
  • What specific strategies can you put in place to stay in touch and engage your existing customers?
  • How do you plan to increase your parts, service and maintenance revenue with your existing customer base? 
  •  Have you claimed Your FREE Google Local Places Listing and is it adequately optimized and mobile device enabled?
  • Are you still advertising in the Yellow Pages? Do you know your marketing ROI for this channel?

 

Now, before we move on, let’s discuss WHY advertising seepage occurs. Let’s assume that you advertise only in the newspapers and Yellow Pages. You place your full page ad, with pictures of the cars you want to promote, your financing options, your phone or vanity #, address and website address. While this well and good, unless you have a short code keyword  or something that tie the two channels together, you will miss the % of your potential customers who prefer to use a mobile device to communicate and you are ignoring the largest growing segment of your potential target population.

 

According to EMarketer (Nov 2009), the % of mobile phone users is expected to increase at a rate of about 20% EACH year between 2008 and 2013 and as % of total US population, increase from about 16.7% in 2008 to 39.5% in 2013. In addition, according to Center for Media Research (Sept 2009), “80% of local media execs believe mobile will be the main distribution to consumers within 3 years”.

 

The New Multi-media Environment Calls For An Integrated Advertising Strategy.

 

Fortunately, there is a way for auto dealers to adopt this trend quickly, inexpensively and seamlessly into their current online and offline advertising strategies. The use of short code text messaging is already widespread. Adding this ONE keyword to all your advertising channels will vastly improve your response, leads and conversion rates.

 

Note that widely popular television shows such as “American Idol” and “Dancing With The Stars” give their viewers the option of calling or texting a vote to their favorite performer.

 

A catchy and memorable keyword in addition to a vanity # are a powerful combination to get your dealership’s name and brand message to consumers.

 

The multi-media car dealer will use their keyword, in the words of Thomas Hensey (Rhino Marketing), to “identify, find, touch and thrill” the target customer by offering them an incentive to text to their database. The dealer will then send the customer to their mobile website ad, featuring their specials, while at the same time sending that ad to YouTube and Social media.

 

In the process, the dealership builds a text messaging database of inquiries, leads, and customers for ongoing, periodic follow up. So long as the dealer continues to “touch and thrill” their database, they will be able to increase new sales, service and maintenance revenues.

 

The key to reducing advertising seepage and increasein sales and revenue is the ability to integrate ALL your advertising channels, and the short code keyword provides the dealer an inexpensive, quick and seamless way to do so. 

 

Michael Ofori is President of MVO & Associates, LLC, a multi-media advertising agency and can be reached at 978-631-0363  email mike@multimediaadvertising.biz

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Jesse Thomas is the CEO and Founder of JESS3, a Creative Interactive Agency. JESS3 designs products and experiences for brands like Google, Nike, Facebook, MySpace, C-SPAN, Microsoft and NASA.

“Likes,” views and followers were all the rage in 2010. Despite the social media community emphasizing engagement instead of reach, media agencies quickly learned that engagement doesn’t scale easily, making it difficult to sell. Enter Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. As consumer use of social media spiked, the leading social networks retooled their advertising products to satisfy the newfound demand from brands. Instead of fizzling out like the popular online communities of yesteryear, they are driving toward profitability after several years of trying to figure out what they wanted to be when they grew up.

On the flip side, as consumers incorporate social media more into their daily lives, alternatives to the “big three” in the form of niche and location-based social networks have increased in appeal. Advertisers willing to experiment with media campaigns on these networks will have a distinct advantage moving forward as consumers become desensitized to text, display and even rich media ads. Whether they choose to go big or small, the social web equips advertisers with significantly more consumer data points than ever before to improve the targeting and relevance of online advertising.

Below are six predictions for digital advertising in 2011."

 

Read the rest of the article and watch the videos here!

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Automotive Social Media Marketing Statistics, Facts and Figures / Re-Post from Ralph Paglia of Automotive Digital Marketing...

 

Automotive Social Media Marketing Statistics, Facts and Figures published by reliable resources for December 2010

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  • Social network usage by Americans aged 65 and up grew 100% in 2010 from 13% to 26%, and is expected to continue to increase (Pew Research Center)
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  • Facebook passed Yahoo in August 2010 to become #2 video site in America (58,600,00 users) behind #1 YouTube (146,300,000 users) (comScore)
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  • Twitter now gets more visitors than MySpace, becoming 3rd most trafficked Social Network. Twitter.com had 96 million unique visitors in November 2010 up 76% from November 2009. #1 visited social network is Facebook with 598 million unique visitors. (comScore)
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  • 29% of Twitter users 18-24 years old use Twitter to follow their favorite companies and brands
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  • 60% of web users visit social networks (PC Advisor)
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  • Two thirds of comScore’s U.S. Top 100 websites and half of comScore’s Global Top 100 websites have integrated content sharing with Facebook.
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  • The average Facebook user is connected to 60 pages, groups and events (Facebook press office)
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  • Twitter adds more than 300,000 new "Tweeps" (users) every day (Twitter)
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  • There are more than 600 million searches on Twitter every day (Twitter)
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  • YouTube receives more than 2 billion video views per day (YouTube press center)
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  • 77% of Automotive Internet Users (AIU) read blogs (Technorati)
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  • 60% of bloggers are aged 18-44 (Technorati)
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  • Male/Female distribution ratio of Twitter users is 47/53%
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  • 51% of active Twitter users follow companies, brands or products on social networks
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  • Women aged 55 and up are the fastest growing Facebook demographic in America
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  • Two-thirds of bloggers are male:
  • 65% are age 18-44.
  • Bloggers are more affluent and educated than the general population:
  • 79% have college degrees / 43% have graduate degrees
  • 1/3 have a household income of $75K+
  • 1/4 have a household income of $100K+
  • 81% have been blogging more than 2 years.
  • Professionals have an average of 3.5 blogs.
  • Professionals blog 10+ hours/week.
  • 11% say blogging is their primary income source.

 

 

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http://www.internetsales20group.com  

Facebook appears to be on the verge of launching a new design of its Fan Pages. This change seems to include the site’s location-based Places checkin functionality, enabling “likers” of the page to check in to it. Although

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is said to be giving a sneak peak at the new Profile Pages design on 60 Minutes tonight, it seems that more change is in store; you can already see the new Pages design in action on select pages, such as Ellen DeGeneres’s Fan Page. On Ellen’s page, you will notice a count for the number of checkins the Page has. According to Facebook spokesperson Meredith Chin, the Ellen Page is a merged page that includes the functionality for checkins available shortly after the feature launched a few months ago. Basically, your brand page will then take on the Places page designs, which appears to be the inspiration for the new profile pages that are to be released as well.

“As long as the address of the official page and the place page match, it should show you a prompt and ask you if you want to merge them,” Chin said.

 

You can see screenshots of the new design below.

Current Pages Design -----------------

 

 

The current Pages design, similar to Profile Pages, has the Page navigation tabs (Wall, Questions, Photos) at the top.

New Pages With Checkins

The new Pages design includes checkins, profile information (which includes some basic information about the page and the Wall postings below it), a narrower left column and more.

 

New Tabs

The new Pages also feature the navigation tabs on the left-hand side.

Read more…

 

First, let’s look at the media advertising landscape for 2011; then determine how your strategy fits into that and more importantly, how you are going to maximize your advertising ROI within these parameters.

 

According to Carat, a leading independent media communications agency, total ad spend in the US is expected to increase by 1.7% in 2011. “All media are expected to return to growth, except for the newspaper sector, which, along with magazines, is expected to be the weakest performer. The two biggest areas of growth are internet and television, followed by radio, outdoor and cinema… Online continues to capture a bigger percentage of the media spend in 2010 at 11.3%, increasing to 12.1% in 2011”.

 

The trend towards mobile smart phone devices to reach people on the move cannot be over-emphasized.

 

Now, given this landscape let me ask you the following questions:

  • What is your advertising strategy for 2011?
  • Do you have a plan to minimize advertising leakage or waste?
  • Do you have an integrated multi-media advertising strategy across ALL your media channels to maximize advertising message, leads and conversion?
  • Do you have a rigorous tracking mechanism in place know which channel provided the best ROI, and more importantly, to quickly adapt to changing response, leads and conversion patterns?

 

Despite the changing demographic and ad spend landscape many automobile dealers continue to devote the majority of their ad budgets to TV, newspapers and radio. It is true that the internet is getting a larger share of today’s ad budget, however, there is NO INTREGRATED strategy yet in place to minimize advertising leakage or waste.

 

Every month, the average automobile dealership spends about $50,000 in advertising and the average dealership will use a combination of  TV, newspaper and magazines, radio, direct mail and the internet to advertise.  The critical question is WHETHER all of these channels are integrated in a way where EACH channel provides input into the other that validates the dealer’s brand message.

 

In my opinion, the most ROI effective, integrated advertising strategy MUST encompass the following and include an appropriate, affordable, easy to implement online platform to enable seamless execution:

 

  • TV: You are already spending money here so make sure you include your toll free #, website info and provide an incentive for your watchers to respond to your shortcode keyword.
  • Newspapers & Magazines, Radio & Direct Mail: A contact phone #, website and shortcode keyword are critical here. Note that a response to your shortcode keyword will allow you to direct your customers by smart phone to your mobile website, YouTube and  Social Media sites.
  • Your Online Website: Must be well planned, easy to navigate and SEO optimized. Do not forget a call to action to your shortcode keyword.
  • SMS Text Marketing Platform (Opt-in): If you do not have this, you are missing a HUGE part of your potential audience. For people on the go, you can push through instant coupons, discounts, contests and gratification.
  • Automated Submission Of Ads On YouTube & Social Media: Your presence in this space without a lot of effort and resources is key. Tie in with the other strategies produces maximum results.
  • Automated Mobile Website Capacity: This is critical in today’s smart phone environment and to reach the Y generation.
  • Tracking & Measurement: Having a separate shortcode keyword for each advertising channel will allow you to track responses, leads, conversions and ongoing customer lifetime value. This will also show you over time which channel represent you most effective ROI and potentially reduce your ad spend.

 Once you have your prospects and customers’ keycode contact #, you can now send your prospects periodic new sales specials and coupons, and for existing customers, reminders and/or coupons for maintenance and other services.

 

Now, you are wondering HOW you could do all that without substantial incremental expense. First, doing this for 6 - 9months should show you which channels have the smallest or even negative ROI for possible elimination. Second, the potential incremental sales from this strategy should more than make up for any additional expense with this strategy.

 

You can position your company today to capitalize on the new advertising landscape by incorporating these multi-media advertising strategies to improve your ROI. Many of your competition are already doing it.

 

If you want to find our how other automobile dealerships are using this strategy, please contact me.

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Every year, people start lining up on Wednesday to take advantage of $3 appliances and $1DVDs, 80% off electronics and deeply discounted appliances. I know that I comb the mail Sunday, looking for deals that can't-be-beat. If you plan on playing the Black Friday game and don't utilize direct mail, you are missing out. It gives you the perfect opportunity to showcase your deals and your merchandise; don't worry about being lost in the crowd. Focus on designing a unique piece and your mailer can be the difference between boom or bust. Check out www.blackfriday2010.com to further understand why mailers are so critical to Black Friday success; these blogs are scanning in your mailer for people so that they know what your deal is. No mailer = no awareness. However, in times where information flows freely, your mailer has an even bigger impact than the audience you targeted. It's just another example of direct mail's added value.


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Your Ford Focus Global Drive is a smartly packaged promotion, filled with altruism, goodwill, and finally tied with a great, big incentive ribbon. So, why after 3 weeks of being live, do you only have 9 videos uploaded? Reuters reports that you want to choose 100 people to participate. The December 31st deadline is fast approaching. How are you going to convert people from low-involvement likers to high-involvement evangelists?

Here’s the great mystery of social media: it’s low involvement, and no matter what anyone says, we aren’t quite sure what “liking” something means when your like is nothing more than a click. Social media marketers are constantly trying to engage those “likers” so that they become evangelists. When it works, it’s magic. But when you can’t convert your likers into people who participate with more high-involvement content, then you’re stuck with… well, the Ford Focus Global Drive.

I have some answers for you, Ford. If you’re listening – which I would bet that you are – give me a call. You made a bet on social media, you have deep investments in this project, and you need to keep momentum moving forward for your brand. Let’s do it together.

MacKenzie

972-458-2026

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