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Fort Lauderdale, FL – November 11th, 2013 — AutoUSA Internet Sales Solutions (www.AutoUSADealers.com) today announced the results of its 2013 annual auto dealer Internet Marketing survey. Financing tools such as online credit applications and trade-in calculators deliver the most valuable website leads, according to respondents. Other significant results from the survey identify pricing and affordability as the most commonly heard sales objection from consumers, while Internet departments' biggest challenges include lead volume and staffing issues.

"We believe the most successful dealerships have effective Internet marketing strategies, and this annual survey helps to identify how well some of those strategies are performing in current market conditions," said Phil DuPree, President of AutoUSA Internet Sales Solutions.

The survey was conducted during September and October and summarizes results from 147 respondents, including Internet sales managers, sales managers, BDC marketing and senior management.

Customer Sales Objections

When asked what the most common sales objection is from customers, the top response was "our price not in line with customer expectations" (28 percent). Other responses were "customer can't get financing" (19 percent), "customer confidence with the economy" (14 percent) and "customer can't afford a new vehicle" (12 percent).

By contrast, in AutoUSA's 2011 Internet marketing survey, not meeting the customers' price expectations was the least-common objection (10 percent). Also in 2011 "didn't have desired model available" was the most common sales objection (25 percent), followed by "can't afford a new vehicle" (14 percent).

"The difference in sales objections compared with two years ago is consistent with what we see in the marketplace; consumers are finding ways to work themselves through the process and further down-funnel," said DuPree. "And while the economy may have improved somewhat, pricing and affordability are still major hurdles for many consumers."

Internet Department Challenges

Survey results indicate that dealership Internet departments are facing a new challenge in 2013. "Not enough leads" (26 percent) is the most cited challenge for Internet departments, which is quite a turnaround from two years ago, when "keeping up with lead volume" (31 percent) was the number one challenge.

According to this year's survey, Internet departments' biggest challenges behind lead volume are related to staffing. Twenty-one percent of respondents cited "not enough staff" as the biggest challenge, while 19 percent stated "quality of staff," and another 18 percent chose "staff does not adhere to processes." Additionally, 18 percent complained their "marketing budget is not large enough to meet objectives," and only 17 percent cited "keeping up with lead volume" as their number one challenge.

"It's interesting that while Internet departments appear to be spending more than ever on search optimization for their websites, they are not getting their desired lead volume compared with two years ago," said DuPree.

Lead Volume and Quality

When asked, "which website conversion tools or add-ons results in the most leads (including phone calls) from your website?" respondents ranked the following: online credit applications (52 percent); chat applications (50 percent); trade-in calculator (37 percent); coupons (20 percent); online service appointment scheduler (19 percent).

Survey participants were also asked to rate the value of leads that they received from their websites. The most valuable are "VIN-specific used vehicle leads" (76% rate as "the best" or "pretty good"); credit application leads (73% rate as "the best" or "pretty good"); new vehicle leads (66% rate as "the best" or "pretty good"); chat leads (51% rate as "the best" or "pretty good"); trade-in leads (45% rate as "the best" or "pretty good") and lastly, general contact info (27% rate as "the best" or "pretty good")

"Inventory leads and leads from financing tools appear to be the most valuable to dealers, which makes sense because once customers start engaging with a website conversion tool they are probably serious shoppers," said DuPree.

Internet Marketing Budgets

In spite of the commonly cited statistic that more than 90 percent of consumers begin their search for a vehicle on the Internet, the survey found that most dealers do not allocate a majority of their budgets to Internet marketing. In response to the question, "What percentage of your overall advertising & marketing budget is spent on Internet marketing?" survey participants shared the following:

Ÿ -50 percent of dealers spend less than 30% of budget on Internet marketing

Ÿ -37 percent spend between 30-60% of budget on Internet marketing

Ÿ -13 percent spend more than 60% of budget on Internet marketing

On the extreme ends of the scale, 10 percent of dealers spend less than 10% of their budget on Internet marketing, while only one percent of dealers spend 90-100% of their budget on Internet marketing.

However, in response to the question "do you plan to increase your Internet marketing budgets in 2014?" 59 percent of respondents responded "yes."

Survey respondents were also asked, "In which areas do you plan to allocate the majority of your Internet marketing budget in 2014?" The responses were:

Ÿ -Website SEO/SEM (54%)

Ÿ -Leads from inventory sites, i.e. Cars.com, Autotrader.com, etc. (51%)

Ÿ -Independent leads from AutoUSA, Dealix, Autobytel (33%)

Ÿ -Social Media (23%)

Ÿ -E-Mail Marketing (22%)

Ÿ -Video production and marketing (17%)

Ÿ -Reputation Management (14%)

Ÿ -Online ads (14%)

Finally, the majority of dealerships are optimistic for a profitable 2014. When asked if they believed they would sell more vehicles in the coming year, 85 percent of respondents claimed "yes, my dealership will sell more vehicles in 2014 than in 2013."

About AutoUSA Internet Sales Solutions

AutoUSA Internet Sales Solutions brings the best-in-class tools to increase Internet sales and lower costs for automotive dealerships. Leading products include Payment Pro^SM, a payment-based pre-qualification tool for dealer websites; ShowPro^SM incentive program, proven to turn more leads into shows; Leads&Listings^SM, providing the highest quality, new and used car email and phone leads from 100+ sites; PowerListings^SM 2.0, helping dealers increase traffic to—and leads from—their social media sites; and AVA Virtual Sales Assistant, helping dealerships manage more leads at a reduced cost. AutoUSA products are currently benefiting thousands of active dealers all across the U.S.

For more information, visit AutoUSA’s web site, subscribe to our blog at http://blog.autousadealers.com, follow us on Twitter @AutoUSALeads and “Like” us on Facebook at /AutoUSADealers

2013 is shaping up to be a good year for auto retailers, with sales expected to top 15 million for the first time since 2007. Several contributing factors to this success are credit-related, with more consumers qualifying for loans, lengthier terms and rising interest rates.

In its June 2013 State of the Automotive Finance report, Experian documents that subprime loans are on the rise again and that consumers within all credit tiers were able to obtain financing in Q1 of 2013. Most notably, loans going to consumers with credit outside of prime jumped to 45% percent of the overall loan market in Q1 2013, up from 44% percent in Q1 2012.

Many car buyers were taken out of the market over the last few years thanks to tight credit standards, and they may not understand that the market now provides them with options they didn’t have before.

Here’s how to leverage the latest credit trends:

1) Consumers Qualifying for Loans with Lower Credit Scores

If you track why people don’t buy from you, now is the time to go through your CRM and contact all prospects that were rejected for loans in the last few years. Create an e-mail marketing campaign letting them know that lenders are easing up on credit conditions and that your dealership may be able to help them finance a new or used car now.

2) Lengthier Loans Becoming the Norm

According to Experian, 63% of car loans in Q1 of 2013 were for more than five years, and about 20% were for more than six years. Lenders are finding that consumers are less likely to walk away from their cars than they are from their homes, and therefore auto loans are less risky.

Showing a low, teaser-style payment is attractive, but a comparative payment helps consumers make a decision. Show prospects a comparison on how extending the length of a loan may help to lower their monthly payment, and it’s both helpful to them and a “forced choice” close.

3) Rising Interest Rates Help Create Sense of Urgency

The average interest rate for a five-year new car loan is around 4.08% according to Bankrate.com, down slightly from 4.46% a year ago. That’s still very low, but recent spikes in U.S. Treasury bond rates and mortgage interest rates have sparked fears that the Fed may have to raise interest rates before their target date of 2015.

If a prospect says they may wait a while to buy, tell them it would be prudent to lock in a low interest rate auto loan sooner rather than later. The media’s your friend here since they’ve been focusing on the effect of rising interest rates on housing purchases. Provide your customers with a calculation of what their desired car will cost them with a 4% interest rate compared to 6% over the course of a five-year loan. For instance:

A difference of $20 a month may not seem like much, but over five years the higher interest rate adds an additional $1,200 in finance charges. Car buyers could use that extra money for a vacation somewhere (in their new vehicle!)

Finally, extend this philosophy to your website to increase your conversion rate. Having payment marketing tools on your website, such as Payment Pro’s Shop-By-Payment, combined with a targeted marketing campaign that shows customers their financing options will help drive buyers to your website.