From Dealer Marketing Magazine
December 18, 2007

Unlike other forms of advertising, Internet marketing is nearly 100 percent trackable. You not only know what you are getting from your efforts, but you can evaluate and adjust to improve your results. Unfortunately, there are trends that make this space an increasingly difficult place for a dealership to succeed.
1. Internet traffic is increasing which drives up the cost of Internet marketing.
2. The number of your competitors jumping onto the Internet marketing bandwagon is growing, making it more crowded and more expensive to compete.
3. Someone is doing Internet marketing better then you, generating a better ROI that is reinvested into future Internet marketing efforts.
4. Someone is collecting better data from their Internet marketing efforts than you, and gaining more knowledge to use in the future.
Dealers can address these trends, however, by recognizing the value and power of their own customer data. A strong Internet Lead Management (ILM) tool best captures data. The real benefit comes when that ILM tool works hand in hand with a strong customer relationship management (CRM) solution, to close a significantly higher number of Internet leads.
Internet marketing is maturing. Don’t be satisfied by saying, “We have a Website.” Do not confuse having a Website with having a true Internet marketing plan. Dynamic Internet marketing built on customer data is here to stay and will only grow in importance
by Bryan Anderson