Author: flickfusion

Flick Fusion Video Marketing is a pioneering video technology company, specializing in creating, managing, and distributing dynamic and cost-effective online and mobile video products on the world's largest content delivery network. Each video is designed to help our clients reach and engage their customers with richer content and greater impact that results in increased sales and ROI. Data, photos, inventory, audio, music, and special offers are automatically combined to create compelling multimedia video solutions that are fast, easy, and affordable. We look forward to serving you.

Why now is the Time To Step Up Lead Efforts

Published: June 05, 2008, iMedia Connection

With consumers tightening their purse strings, it’s more important than ever for marketers to reach out to potential customers with relevant offers they can’t refuse.

Debate continues in the media as to the fate of the U.S. economy: Are we in a recession, or merely flirting with one?

For brand marketers, it turns out, the effect is the same. Consumers, made wary by gas prices over $4.00 a gallon, the mortgage mess and less-than-stellar employment forecasts, have tightened their purse strings. And when consumers spend less, marketing — traditionally a company’s first budget-cutting line of defense — is in trouble.

Yet there is much evidence, scholarly and anecdotal, that points to the wisdom of maintaining marketing spend during a recession. In fact, a recession is an ideal time to take advantage of consumers’ comfort with familiar brands by creating web-based interactive, direct-response campaigns that offer special promotions and savings.

Why web-based? A recent report by the Pew Internet & American Life Project reveals that 81 percent of internet users research products online — for convenience (78 percent), time savings (68 percent) and the ability to find bargains (ranging from 38 percent of 50-to 64-year-olds to 62 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds).

Tough economic times not only lead consumers to do online research, they lead to more time spent researching and comparing brands and prices. A recent Prospectiv survey, which discovered that 84 percent of those polled had changed their shopping habits due to concerns about recession, gives further clues to consumer behavior in this economic downturn:

66 percent are logging more hours online researching and comparing brands and prices
74 percent would welcome more online offers, coupons and e-newsletters from their favorite brands and products
60 percent are more likely to sign up/join a website or online community that offers recipes, healthy meal ideas, cooking tips and savings they can use at home

As consumers under financial pressure ponder a switch from favored brands to generics, brand marketers must seek out ways to engage consumers online, using direct-response interactive marketing to reinforce the value of brand.

We strongly believe that marketers should consider countering the effects of the downturn by stepping up programs that build strong relationships with consumers who have exhibited interest in your goods and services. Take the opportunity to add to your in-house opt-in email newsletter list and reach out with these tips:

Consumers are eager for special promotions and savings during tough economic periods — now is the time to consider a brand-building campaign.
Consider campaigns designed to generate leads as well as near-term sales. Whether you have a brick-and-mortar store or website, use a well-timed, anti-recession campaign to drive traffic.
Provide information that’s clear, relevant and easy to find online. The Pew study found that 43 percent of searchers were frustrated by a lack of information, or the difficulty of finding information about brands they were interested in. Another 32 percent were confused by the information they were able to locate.
Be selective in your programs. Market only to consumers you identify who have an interest in your product/brand and have requested your offers and promotions.
Be aware that some 70 percent of internet users are still concerned about giving out personal information or credit card information online. Treat your customers with care — many of them are wary.
Monitor campaigns closely for performance and redirect your efforts as needed to improve results.
Consider using pay-for-performance lead-generation programs. You’ll pay only for results, versus clicks or impressions.

Don’t forget the most important metrics of a brand campaign — quality and relevance. In difficult times consumers aren’t shopping for nice-to-haves; they are focused on must-haves. Here, pay-for-performance lead-generation campaigns that build your own opt-in email lists and produce consumers who are interested in your product and brand are particularly useful because they make it easy for marketers to ensure relevance, and simple to measure lead quality at several points in the campaign, before handoff to sales.

Finally, in a down market brand marketers must maintain a laser focus on lead-generation best practices to ensure high quality leads and maintain a respectful relationship with consumers to build trust and discourage abuse of consumer privacy.

Opportunity for brand marketers comes in many forms. In these unstable economic times, it is incumbent on marketers to reach out to consumers with offers, promotions and information that reinforce brand preference, provide much-needed purchase information, and offer advice, tips and ideas for living well while saving.

http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/19521.asp

What is the future of e-mail?

From eMarketer, May 27, 2008

An old digital format still has plenty of life left

Compared with today’s virtual worlds, e-mail is solidly Web 1.0—an almost archaic communication channel.Yet e-mail works, and marketers and advertisers keep putting it to new uses. Moreover, consumers—whose opinions are the ones that matter—genuinely like e-mail. Nearly three-quarters of adult e-mail users in North America said they used it every day, according to an April survey conducted by Ipsos for Habeas.

Two-thirds of adult respondents said they preferred e-mail for communicating with businesses. Just as many—and this is the important part—said they expected to still prefer e-mail five years from now.

Mode of Communication Preferred by Adult Internet Users in North America When Dealing with Businesses, April 2008 (% of respondents)

“Far from being eclipsed by Web 2.0 and other emerging communications methods, consumer expectations suggest that e-mail will be the workhorse channel around which future online communications will revolve,” said Des Cahill, CEO of Habeas, in a statement.

That is not to say that consumers are ready for random, untargeted e-mail. Opt-in is still key. Consumers are even willing to help marketers custom-tailor their messages. More than 88% of respondents said they would like more choices in e-mail content and frequency, including options on advertisements and special offers.

So if e-mail is set to remain a consumer favorite for the next several years, that must mean e-mail ad spending will grow during that time, right?

Yes and no.

eMarketer predicts that e-mail ad spending in the US will hit $492 million this year, then increase by 55% to $765 million by 2012.

And while e-mail accounts for only about 2% of all online ad spending, eMarketer predicts that percentage will actually drop to only 1.5% of online ad spending in 2012, despite the growth in dollars spent. The amount spent on other formats will dwarf what is spent on e-mail, thanks to its low cost.

E-mail is cheap marketing. The pricing scales well, too: The cost of sending a million e-mails is little more than the cost of sending a thousand. However, this can also cause problems.

“E-mail is so inexpensive that it lulls many marketers into underestimating its influence on entire campaigns and a company’s brand,” said David Hallerman, senior analyst at eMarketer.

http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?id=1006334&src=article1_newsltr

Weekly ISM Checklist

from drivingsales.com, posted 6/3/08

Now for the weekly check list. ISMs need to be completelting these items on a weekly basis and reporting to their management on their progress of each of these items. Following this task list regularly will greatly increase your success:

Weekly Check List

Date _______

1. __ Visit dealership website. Call toll free and other phone numbers to ensure they’re working and being answered properly.

2. __ Check AutoTrader, Cars.com, UsedCars.com, and/or other third party website photos, pricing information, and phone numbers.

3. __ Blind shop competitors selling both similar and different makes and models.

4. __ Post any upcoming Events and Specials on website. Be careful about posting any future discounts or pricing – those should be only posted once they are on, or when they are about to end to instill urgency.

5. __ Schedule broadcast email once per month, at the beginning of the third week of the month. Preferably, send on Tuesday or Thursday afternoon. Always have something for the customer first and foremost â€“ give them a compelling reason to open your email.

6. __ Schedule automated targeted email campaigns to existing customers, including interests, specials, birthdays, etc.

7. __ Check with vendors to see if there are duplicate addresses they are sending leads to, to former employees, etc..

8. __ Test templated emails to see how they are arriving to customers.

9. __ Check your site for manufacturers compliance or non-compliances issues.

10. __ If you find any issues, send an email to your vendor (so you have it in writing), cc-ing your GM or ID, and immediately follow up with a phone call. If the issue is not resolved in 24 hours, re-send the email, and cc you GM or ID. They should take it from there.

Following these processes and checklists will help you maximize you efforts and success! Good luck.

http://drivingsales.com/blog/rafi/2008/06/03/weekly-ism-checklist/

No More Excuses

There are no more late adopters

For years, we’ve heard the excuses. At first it was, “most of my audience would rather shop on the lot,” and then it was, “Some my audience still doesn’t have internet access,” a short time later we heard, “There are still some people out there who don’t use the web to do their background research,” and even later we got this, “There’s still a group of consumers out there who refuse to use the internet, so we have to stay in the paper and on television.”

Well all of those excuses had merit at one time or another. And now, we’re here to say, that the time for all of those excuses has passed. The number of people who are both capable of purchasing a new or used automobile, and are non-internet users is so incredibly small as to be unworthy of your time and attention. And the same can be said for dial-up internet users… don’t you worry about them anymore either. The age of the late adopters has come and gone. And even those that came late to the online party have gone the way of the dinosaurs.

So what does that mean to your marketing? A few things…

1. No sense in segmenting your marketing into digital and non-digital formats, now. Every consumer is a digital consumer.
2. Assume that every customer is going to visit your web site. Count on it. It’s already happening.
3. Assume those customers know as much (or more) about pricing, options, financing, special offers and manufacturer’s incentives than your sales people do.
4. Don’t shy away from multimedia content, embrace it. Your audience is broadband.
5. Focus on the user experience of all your digital marketing. It’s just as, if not more, important than the experience a customer has when they visit your lot.
6. Don’t apologize for being digital. In fact, target your competition who isn’t up to date on technologically.
7. Realize that all your materials, now more than ever, need to work together.

These are just a few of the ways an all-online audience will change the way you approach identifying and reaching out to new customers. The days of the late adopter are long gone. Act accordingly.

D. Jones
Marketing Strategist/Creative Consultant
SmackDabble, LLC

Ensure That Your Web Site Pulls in Buyers

From Digital Dealer Magazine May 2008
by : Peter Batten

Your online store is just as important as your showroom, and the reason why is clear: 70 percent of new vehicle buyers use the Internet to vehicle shop, as do 61 percent of used vehicle buyers (2007 J.D. Power and Associates New Autoshopper.com & Used Autoshopper.com studies). But, as you may have noticed, simply having a web site will not increase your traffic, leads, or sales. In fact, a flaccid web site can do more harm than good as potential customers quickly ascertain that they will not find the information they want and leave your site in favor of a big portal or automaker site. But it does not have to be that way. You can make your dealership web site a best-in-class consumer destination with the features and tools that give your customers the comprehensive content, intuitive navigation, and breadth of information found on leading portals and manufacturer sites. That’s right: your site can be as impressive as any automotive site out there. And you can do it all with a minimum of development time.

Lifestyle search capabilities
With a lifestyle search, a consumer can search for vehicles that match their needs without having to know any esoteric vehicle information. For example, a customer can search by body style, like SUV, coupe, or convertible, instead of having to start searching by make and model. Many consumers do not know what exact trim they want; they just know they need an SUV because they carry cargo on slippery roads, or a compact because they want to save on gas bills. Lifestyle searches are intuitive for consumers, allowing them to find the vehicle they want with the least amount of hassle and frustration.

Powerful comparison features
A J.D. Powers and Associates study focusing on best practices on manufacturer web sites found that consumers loved powerful comparison tools that allowed them to compare multiple vehicles at one time (2006 Manufacturer Web Site Evaluation StudySM – J.D. Powers and Associates). They found that side-by-side and advantage-based comparisons are especially useful because shoppers can quickly scan the results and even print out results for future consideration. There are several companies who can equip your web site with a robust comparison tool in record time.

Vehicle images and videos
The same J.D. Powers and Associates study cited above found that consumers gravitate to vehicle images and videos, which put them immediately in the virtual driver’s seat. Videos are especially valuable for demonstrating functionality and versatility of a vehicle including: acceleration, cornering, stopping, and much more. Color changes and interior shots are invaluable for helping the consumer to experience the vehicle and for generating excitement and the desire to buy. Consider including a comprehensive equipment listing for each of your vehicles alongside a detailed photo that consumers can click to view different angles, interior shots, colors, and live-action video. Build-A-Car tool tied to your inventory
The advantages of a Build-A-Car tool on your web site have been well documented. Give consumers the opportunity to design the car of their dreams and they will stay on your site longer, return again and again, and convert into a valid prospect at a higher rate. Bump this tool up to the next level by integrating it with your inventory so customers can see what you have available.

Online credit applications
You want prospects to become buyers. An additional feature to help you meet this goal is the online credit application. By including a secure link to a credit application that a customer can immediately complete, you are saving that customer time and hassle and also converting a lead into a viable prospect. Use the credit application as a virtual shopping cart to close qualified buyers in record time.

http://www.digitaldealer-magazine.com/index.asp?article=1914

What’s With the Yelling?

I’m not sure why it took so long for me to notice, but it finally occurred to me that the preponderance of dealership radio and television spots feature aggressive, excitable spokespeople ranting at 180 mph about the great deals available at their store. Each dealership seems to be trying to out-yell the next. It’s like all dealership spots are written by a roid-raging Dick Vitale.

Why is this the prevailing tone of dealership ads? Has anyone out there tried something different and been successful? Is this the prevailing tone simply because everyone’s afraid to do something different? Or is it truly the best and most surefire way to sell cars?

One of the prevailing tenets of marketing is to set yourself apart and find a voice and position that you can own. So is there anyone out there who is whispering and being effective? Anyone?

D. Jones
Marketing Strategist/Creative Consultant
SmackDabble, LLC

7 Strategies for Marketing in a Downturn

Published: May 22, 2008, from iMedia Connection, by: Guy Maser

The following tips will carry your company through the lean times and beyond.

In a challenging economy, you must find new ways to make marketing work more effectively, get more out of marketing investments, and measure and account for marketing decisions. In short, you must make changes. Doing the same things in an uncertain economic environment and expecting the same results is, at worst, a definition of marketing insanity. At best it is a flawed strategy.

How can your company be one of those success stories that market and grow their businesses during challenging economic times? The following strategies will help you allocate marketing investments to better performing programs that will carry your company through the economic downturn and beyond.

Get targeted
A fundamental but sometimes overlooked marketing tenet is to “fish where the fish are.” In other words, invest in those specific, targeted media where you know your customers and prospects will be exposed to your message.

Research shows that virtually all engineering, technical and industrial professionals now use the internet throughout their work process. The same holds true in most B2B markets. But the internet is vast, and the fish you are looking for may be using specific websites where the content is directly related to their information needs. Work with your media partners to identify and target those sites.

Measure performance
While it’s always the right time to purge marketing programs that don’t perform, it may be time to scale back any marketing plans whose results you can’t measure or are unsure about. In other words, re-allocate and “right-size” marketing budgets to measurable programs. Online programs — which are built around delivering visibility, impressions, clicks, leads and customers — are easy to measure.

Think integration
Integrated marketing means your marketing strategy takes advantage of multiple media, resources and customer touchpoints to create a whole that’s greater and more effective than the sum of its parts. The more that marketing efforts are integrated and comprehensive, the greater impact you can achieve in gaining visibility in your market, qualified leads and sales.

Maintain frequency and consistency
The benefits of regular visibility in the market tend to compound over time as more prospects recognize your company. This improves your opportunity to get on a prospect’s short list of potential vendors and also shortens the sales cycle. A consistent online presence where your customers and prospects are looking for information — including websites, directories, search engines and e-newsletters — will help your company stay visible as well as provide measurable lead generation benefits via online contact.

Push and pull your way to success
Most marketing can be classified as either push or pull: companies push their message out through tactics such as direct mail, advertisements and e-newsletters; and they also establish a presence in online directories, websites and search engines to pull customers in real-time when prospects are searching for information, products and services like those your company offers. Rather than struggling over whether to allocate resources to push marketing or pull marketing, seek out a media partner that has your target audience captive and can offer both push and pull programs under an integrated program.

Focus on quality over quantity
If marketing efforts focus solely on quantity over quality, fewer leads will convert, more sales resources will be wasted, and sales people will begin to distrust marketing’s lead generation programs. Commit to programs in which quality is a key attribute: programs that can deliver interested prospects, provide prospect contact information and offer reports of program performance.

Seek assistance from media partners
The economy is likely forcing you to make harder and smarter decisions about allocating budgets. While you may be facing challenges, you don’t have to face them alone. Ask media partners to demonstrate how their marketing solutions help your company achieve the strategies mentioned above.

Ask them:

Do they have your target audience’s attention?
Can they keep your company visible to prospects and customers at all times?
Do they offer a variety of integrated marketing solutions aligned with your goals?
Can they provide both visibility and lead generation?
Do they deliver targeted, quality leads with full contact information?
Do they provide reports you can use to measure the performance of your marketing and justify your marketing investments?

During challenging times or when things are going well, marketers need to clarify goals and create tailored, integrated marketing solutions that complement the current media mix and extend their companies’ ability to compete and win business in the market. Utilize a wide range of digital media advertising and marketing solutions. Consider keyword ads, email marketing, searchable product catalogs, banner ad networks and industry-leading e-newsletter advertisements. Figure out the right combination and you will deliver the right message at the right time to the right audience and integrate with your traditional marketing efforts.

http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/19318.asp

Watch for Personal Bias

As marketers, we’re constantly building, tweaking and adapting our marketing plans in an effort to maximize the return on our marketing investment. In doing so, we have to make judgments about which tactics will be most effective. And that’s where, if you’re not careful, mistakes can be made.

One of the most common mistakes I see marketers make is to forget a simple truth that should be obvious. That truth is this: You are not your audience. It’s the same mistake that causes us to buy birthday gifts for our friends that are actually something we’d like, rather than something he or she would enjoy.

You are not your audience. It seems obvious, but forgetting it can have profound implications. Just because you personally don’t respond to direct mail, watch Channel 8 News or like the color red doesn’t mean that’s not the right solution to your marketing challenges. Learning what personal biases you may have is important when designed a campaign meant to influence other people.

So, trust your audience, trust past results and trust the numbers… they won’t lead you astray nearly as often as your hidden, personal biases.

D. Jones
Marketing Strategist/Creative Consultant
SmackDabble, LLC

Geo-tracking: Opportunity Knocks

Published: May 19, 2008, iMedia Connection
by: Craig Walmsley

Location-based targeting is on the verge of exploding — find out what this technology will soon enable you to do.

In 2005, Microsoft launched a Location Finder as part of its Live Maps service. The application examined the networks a person was connected to, cross checked his IP address, and then predicted where the person was on a map. It was far from 100 percent accurate, but when it was right, it was ever-so-slightly terrifying. Coupling a person’s location with 3D aerial map views, it showed the person a picture of the building he was sitting in with a big “X” on top of it — giving him the simultaneous sensation of being the CIA agent locating a target, the target expecting an incoming cruise missile, and the viewer of a sophisticated, futuristic spy-movie.

Microsoft re-assured users that no personal data was captured, and that everything was completely secure. Nonetheless, it required nerves of steel to retain this application after seeing your location determined with such apparent ease, speed and accuracy — perhaps explaining why Microsoft quietly withdrew this beta after a few months of testing.

This is a shame. Location is a very useful piece of information. Such location-based techniques are a staple of online advertising targeting. Search engines use IP address to determine geography to a very detailed level. New Yorkers searching for “PlayStation” or “Jewelry,” for example, may have much more disposable income than people in Albuquerque, and be much more likely to buy.

Display advertising networks like DoubleClick offer similar services, allowing for detailed geographical targeting down to the level of ZIP codes. So, whatever your qualms about location-based targeting, it is already a significant part of the internet experience. Brands can reach just the highest value customers, who, in turn, see ads that they are more likely to be interested in.

The usefulness of location also explains why people are very willing to share the details of where they are with others. Anyone who has worked in a multi-national company will have noticed people customizing their Instant Messenger to note their location. People who work in different offices will often note their office as part of their name, or, if they are on a trip, update their name to indicate that they are somewhere else. It’s not built into most IM applications, but people find it helpful, so they just do it themselves.

As people work remotely more often, such information becomes more and more useful. This is precisely the thought behind “Dopplr” — a Web 2.0 service that enables users to note their location and share it with friends to determine when they will overlap in a location with any one of their contacts. A smart web platform, it enables users to share location data across services, and create clever mashups. So, for example, someone could map all her trips across the world on Google Earth. Or she could enter an individual trip and then use a web service to create an estimate of the trip’s carbon foot-print.

All of this, however, is only just scratching the surface of location’s utility. Mobile phones have also long had basic location-based services, derived from the cellular networks that they use to transmit signals. These services have generally been limited in usefulness due to the inaccuracy of location, and the lack of an eco-system to support location-based services. Gradually, however, the conditions are changing and three key developments are likely to propel location-based services into the mainstream.

First, the iPhone is revolutionizing use of the mobile web. In February, for example, Google reported that it had seen 50 times more web searches on Apple’s iPhone than from any other mobile handset. People are getting much more used to using the internet from their phones. Google Maps is now available for many different mobile phones, providing a simple way to find information based around a certain location. Google’s mobile search is rolling out city by city, adding local businesses into a mobile search query, so that the results are more relevant.

Second, real-time location determination will shortly become a standard feature of all cell phones. The January iPhone software update added basic location-determination using cell phone towers and WiFi networks to place users roughly on a map. The next generation iPhone is widely expected to include GPS, providing pin-point determination of a person’s location. Indeed, GPS will become a standard feature on mobile phone handsets in the next 12 to 24 months. This plethora of location-based devices will create the opportunity to build all sorts of new location-based services on a powerful platform that people carry in their pockets.

Third, the evolution of Web 2.0 services means that there is a great deal more geographical data available for mobile phones to tap into. Location data can be integrated into available services — for example a portable version of Housingmaps.com — where Craigslist real estate listings are overlaid onto a Google Map — very helpful for anyone looking for a house in a certain area. Equally, an accurate location, coupled with a restaurant booking service like OpenTable.com, would enable someone to access all the restaurants nearby that have bookings available right that minute. Feed that information into Google Maps, and you could have a set of directions to the restaurant, with a picture of what it looks like before you get there — very helpful for the user, and perfect for driving footfall. Indeed, American Express is now launching a Mobile Concierge service, which uses a phone’s location to alert customers to Amex offers, discounts and exclusives in their immediate vicinity.

It is just such opportunity that is driving Yahoo’s new Fire Eagle service — a smart piece of cross-platform web-plumbing that enables users to securely share their location with different applications and services. It can tell any application the user permits where the user is and when, allowing the person to connect together location-based services like Dopplr with social services like Facebook and data from any Web 2.0 service like Google Maps, Flickr or Wikipedia.

Web 2.0 technologies will ensure that location can be used in innumerable different ways, enabling people to innovate to create new, previously unimagined services. By giving the user complete control of how and with whom they share their location information, Fire Eagle should also remove some of those unsettling feelings that scuttled Microsoft’s Location Finder.

Location, therefore, is going to become an increasingly important part of the connected consumer’s life. This is doubtless why Nokia has recently acquired Navteq — a location-based services provider. This is probably also part of the reason Google is looking to develop its own phone. Location will be a major determinant of advertising relevance on the mobile platform, and advertising relevance is Google’s stock-in-trade. It is only a matter of time before longitude and latitude become important variables in the keyword bidding process. In short, “location” may well be the “Next Big Thing” in digital media, technology and advertising.

There may no longer be gold in them there hills, but knowing that them there hills are where you are — that might yet be a gold mine.

http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/19283.asp

Maximizing Pre-Owned Traffic From the Internet

By: Pat Ryan, Jr.
From Digital Dealer Magazine February 2008

Every week seems to bring an interesting new study on how consumers are using the Internet in their car buying process. While all of these studies point to the importance of an evolving e-strategy for dealerships, it is not always easy for dealers to glean actionable takeaways from these studies. With all the data flying around, this presents a great opportunity to make sense of it all. Let’s start with the most dramatic headline.

The 2007 Dealer eBusiness Performance study sponsored by Yahoo revealed that 88 percent of consumers use the Internet for research prior to visiting a dealership. At the same time, dealers we hear from typically report 15 to 20 percent of their business coming from their Internet departments.

What happened to the 68 percent of buyers that used the Internet to research vehicles yet were invisible to the Internet department? Simply put, they may have shopped your “virtual frontline” but did so anonymously; some later came to visit your dealership while others bought from your competitor.

Why do the majority of buyers using the Internet choose to stay invisible to your Internet department? Because the majority of Internet shoppers are reluctant to share their personal information online with dealers or third-party web sites and therefore never become a “lead.” The result: the majority of visitors to your “virtual frontline” are invisible and untouchable for your Internet team.

How does this impact my business?
Dealers routinely work hard to engage every guest who walks their lot and shops through the traditional buying process. In the online world, if your vehicle is not competitively priced with similar vehicles in your market, a consumer will leave your virtual frontline for another dealer’s with one click, never returning and never speaking with anyone on your team. Buyers will also “vote” with their mouse by clicking away from vehicles that do not have enough pictures, have poor quality pictures, or lack compelling descriptions.
What makes dealerships vulnerable to these kinds of missteps?

Dealerships traditionally priced pre-owned inventory on a “cost-plus” basis-pricing the vehicle to ensure they have enough room to negotiate with a customer and still sell a vehicle for a strong gross profit. Since pre-owned vehicles are more varied in value because of age, condition, mileage etc., consumers were unlikely to find a similar vehicle to yours across the street, giving dealers the upper hand. However, in the Internet age, customers can see your pricing next to nearly all of the similar vehicles in your market, making cost-plus pricing a barrier to driving traffic from the Internet.

In addition to the consumer being empowered by the Internet, dealers who are inconsistent in putting enough pictures or robust vehicle descriptions online will find themselves clicked past by consumers as well. It’s no longer enough to just be online. Dealers need to excel online by being as diligent in merchandising your online inventory as you are in the presentation of your dealership’s showroom.

How can I maximize my pre-owned traffic from the Internet?
1. Market pricing – Replace “cost-plus” pricing with market pricing by competitive shopping every vehicle versus the competition. This ensures that your pricing will appear fair for its value in online search results. Treat competitive vehicles online the same way you would if they were on the frontline across the street. Price based on the “key strengths” of your vehicles but be realistic given the competition.

2. Consistently execute the online advertising fundamentals – Mystery shop your own dealership to ensure all of your vehicles are online with robust descriptions and pictures. You’d never put a vehicle on the frontline without detailing it. Make sure you detail your online vehicles to the same standard.

3. Mystery shop the competition – Experience your dealership’s “virtual frontline” versus the competition as the consumer will experience it. Go to an online advertising site such as autotrader.com or cars.com and see how your vehicles compare. If you are using market pricing and executing online advertising fundamentals consistently your vehicles should show well, but you may find that your vehicles differentiation is not clear to a potential buyer. For example, you may find that your vehicle is the lowest mileage vehicle in the market. In that case it may be okay to be the highest priced vehicle; you simply need to ensure that your online listings are highlighting the value. Know each vehicle’s online market and ensure that your listings are highlighting the unique value of each vehicle.

With those three simple steps any dealer can ensure that they are maximizing the potential of the online advertising they are purchasing. The key is to execute consistently, the same way you do every day in merchandising the showroom and frontline at your dealership.

http://www.digitaldealer-magazine.com/index.asp?article=1787