strategy

Making Your Vehicles Stand Out Online

by : Glen Garvin
Digital Dealer Magazine, April 2008

Each month millions of potential car buyers go online to research and shop for used vehicles. In fact, studies show that in 2006, 59 percent of all pre-owned vehicle shoppers used the Internet during the buying process. Internet research and shopping is no longer a trend, it’s now part of the dealership sales cycle.

So what happens when someone goes online to research or buy a vehicle? Most consumers will use a search engine to find the information they want, and end up at portals with thousands of vehicle listings. And that means lots of competition for the sale.

Okay, I know what you’re thinking; consumers often narrow their list of potential vehicles by using detailed search criteria and, by default, this will reduce the number of vehicles in the search results. Let’s look at this two ways: First, for the consumers who narrow their search, there will still be competitive listings and it is even more important for you stand out amongst those final listings. Think of it like Dancing with the Stars, you don’t need to stand out in a really crowded field; you just need to be “good enough.”

When the contestants are narrowed down to just the best, you need to differentiate and stand out. Secondly, we should consider the buyer who hasn’t yet decided on their make or model, because they’ll often research many different makes and models. They’ll come across hundreds…maybe thousands of vehicles. There’s no doubt you need to stand out.

But wait, you say, you’ve also paid your third-party lead provider a nice premium for a high ranking on their site. Yes, that will help drive consumers to your listing. But how do you get someone to focus on what you’re selling? What can you do to differentiate your listing and make your vehicle stand out online?

The first step is using enough photos to showcase all aspects of the vehicle. In 1921 the New York Times ran an article entitled “Use of Pictures for Advertising.” It was based on a national study of large retailers and concluded not only that “people want pictures,” but that images used in advertising a) attract attention, b) arouse interest and c) create desire. That was over 85 years ago, but if you think things have changed since then in the world of advertising…not. It’s still the rule of thumb when it comes to promotion. In the retail auto industry, displaying nine vehicle photos is common and probably acceptable, but never less than six. Many dealers see the value of showcasing their vehicles, especially ones that might be uniquely equipped, with upwards of 20 photos.

The quality of the image is also important. This is determined by photo resolution or pixels, short for “picture element.” Pixels are small color samples of the image. The more pixels a digital image contains, the clearer the photo. The industry standard for photos has been 800 x 680 pixels. That might have worked 10 years ago, but not today. With the introduction of flat screen desk monitors, the standard size of monitors has increased to 19 inches. Many people are using screens that measure 23 inches or more. Photo resolutions of 800 x 680 don’t transition well to screens that size. Trying to enlarge the photo beyond its normal resolution doesn’t work either; trust me. You’re going to need a photo with a minimum 1024 x 768 resolution in order for it to appear clear and sharp on someone’s monitor. And here’s something else you should know: blurry, poor quality images are not only a big turn-off to buyers, they make your dealership look second-rate.

Videos are another great way to make your vehicle stand out online. They elicit curiosity because the viewer wants to see what’s going to happen next. Videos can also engage a buyer faster and with more emotional impact than almost any other online sales tool or technique. It’s an ideal format for providing in-depth data on vehicle owner history, emphasizing what options the vehicle has above and beyond the standard package for that make and model, or pointing out the vehicle’s rarity or other unique aspects. Don’t forget to add some flare to the presentation with music and professionally done voice-overs.

You’ll also attract and interest online buyers by focusing on differentiators in the listing’s features and seller notes sections. For example, in the features section, make sure OEM certifications are noted. Many buyers are drawn to certified pre-owned vehicles because it means the car has been fully inspected, is in good condition and comes with a warranty. And remember to provide complete data on unique options and equipment. What is it about this car that makes it a must-have?

In the seller notes section, emphasize selling points such as fuel economy, low mileage, excellent condition, one owner, how well the vehicle was taken care of, any accident history, the maintenance history of the car and availability of maintenance records. Use this section to really sell the vehicle on an emotional and personal level. Emotion leads to elated customers having outstanding experiences when shopping and purchasing a vehicle. This aspect of car sales has largely been ignored online, yet is a critical component of the sales cycle. Describe how the buyer is going to feel when they get behind the wheel of the car. Talk about the lifestyle benefits to owning this vehicle. Create content for this section that will have an impact on the consumer.

Finally, make sure that vehicle history reports from companies such as CarFax and AutoCheck are available. It will make the buyer feel more comfortable with their purchase. Consumers, rightfully so, are fearful of being “had.” These types of reports increase consumer confidence and reduce objections. They also shorten the negotiation and buying process.

Each vehicle in your inventory is unique and has its own story. All of the content in your listing, from photos and audio/visual to features/seller notes, should work together to tell that story in a way that compels a customer to take ownership during the buying process. When that happens, more sales are closed and higher grosses are achieved. It’s a win for everyone – the customer enjoys the purchasing experience and gets the vehicle they want, and the dealers sell more cars at a reasonable profit.

http://www.digitaldealer-magazine.com/index.asp?article=1881

The Idea Is King

All of us, at one time or another, are charged with coming up with the next great idea for our company. It may be a marketing or advertising idea, a merchandising concept, promotion or even an accounting idea. They’re all potentially valuable and can change the path of your company.

But here’s the thing to remember when you’re working on that new project: the idea is king. Many times, we get ourselves locked into thinking about how we execute the idea – how we launch it, what we name it, what the ad looks like, what color the building is… whatever – and forget to ask ourselves whether the idea itself has merit.

In short, a great idea with mediocre execution is almost always going to better results than a mediocre idea with fantastic execution. So remember. Think first, do second.

D. Jones
Marketing Strategist/Creative Consultant
SmackDabble, LLC

Dealing with the Big ‘R’ — Recession doesn’t have to be what it’s feared to be

by : Jim Richter
From: Dealer Fixed Operations Magazine April 2008

A recession is kind of like the common cold; it’s a natural phenomenon, it happens every so often, it’s usually not life threatening, and if you’ve taken reasonable precautions it usually is just an inconvenience. Those who don’t take care of themselves can get pretty sick, but the ones who are in good health to begin with usually ride it out with a minimum of pain and suffering.

Get past the fear!
A recession is a normally occurring correction in our economic cycles. We’d all like to think that our market will continue to climb forever, but that’s not the way things work. When the economy is too good to be true it slows itself down until it levels out and gets ready for the next charge forward again. Dealers who have not prepared for this get hurt; those that have will simply have a downturn for a short time period. If the core profit centers of your fixed operations are sound and fixed absorption is high, then the worst scenario will be fewer profits coming from the variable-based profit centers. Many of my clients have learned this lesson from previous cycles and are better prepared for this one. Others with short memories, who focused their efforts on the quick money from sales are not prepared, and will end up suffering losses again as a result.

Putting basics in place
The first thing to do, if you haven’t already, is to get your parts house in order. Service and collision both feed from your inventory and the more you are counting on them to provide needed revenue, the more important the levels of service from parts become.

Clean up obsolescence: Remember your parts inventory is all net working capital. At a time when cash becomes a critical factor make sure it’s all usable. Factory based opportunities must be utilized effectively. This means sending back everything you can and applying purchase discounts to scrapping rather than gross profit, which saves tax payments. You’re only kidding yourself if you hang onto this stuff; junk today does not turn into gold tomorrow, it’s only Fools Gold at best.
Control the backflow of unsold service special orders and police returns from wholesale accounts and your collision center. Review your special order policies and procedures. I often find that these are not being enforced or have never been communicated to new employees. Don’t assume that they are working, Check it out! Contact me if you need to know how to do this.
Review the DMS settings for stocking levels. Many manufacturers have changed their terms and conditions since the last recession and many managers have not adjusted accordingly. If you’re on multiple weekly orders, or better yet a daily stock order, be sure that you are not stocking more pieces than you need. If they have it and you can replace what you sold today tomorrow, how many do you really need to stock? Frequently it’s only one.
Cut down on sheetmetal, especially if you can replace it quickly and reliably. This kind of “comfort stock” can tie up a lot of cash.
Make sure that you are aggressively developing a broad selection of valid stocking numbers through proper use of the lost sales function. Every job that gets finished today is one less special order, and you get paid today, not days or weeks later. It also reduces unapplied time in the shop and reduces work in process, all of which impacts your retained profits.

Review marketing strategies
Recessionary markets become very competitive. Just like the big box retailers are now experiencing, customers are looking for more cost effective ways to get what they need. Price becomes more of an issue than it had been before.

Review your matrix formulae and price levels. If the revenue levels are dropping and the gross profit percent is still high, you may be pushing business to competitors. Shop yourself on specific parts that are down in sales to see if you are still competitive. When that’s done, adjust your DMS price settings to bring yourselves back in line with the market. Revenue flow is the critical issue now and it’s OK to give up some margin to pick up increased dollars. When the economy comes back you can readjust it then.
Update your maintenance menus. The dollar has been taking a dive recently and most importers have been adjusting their prices accordingly. The market shopping exercise you did should also lead you to where you need to re-price parts used for scheduled maintenance. Once this is done get it to service so they can do their update and get competitive prices in effect in the service drive.
Get more aggressive in communicating with your customers, especially the wholesale ones. Just like your prices, the aftermarket has gone up substantially too. Much of what they stock has offshore origins so their prices have gone up as well.

Get ready for the ride
Once you’ve got your basics in place you have to watch the business flow very closely and adjust accordingly. If you have the basics in place, then you should be able to ride out the storm. It’s very much like the person who takes vitamins and extra precautions during the flu season; hopefully he or she won’t get sick, but if they do it’s usually a lot less serious for them than the ones who are not prepared. Get going now!

http://www.dfo-magazine.com/index.asp?article=1897

The Power Of “Thank You”

As our society speeds along ever faster and communication is channeled through one technology or another – all this powered by the internet and instant access to the totality of man’s accumulated knowledge, of course – common courtesies seem to be falling by the way side. So much so, that even a simple “thank you” is often hard to come by these days.

And that breakdown creates an opportunity for the savvy marketer. And it’s a simple one to deliver on. Whenever a customer or prospect stops in, whether it be for a test drive, to make a purchase, get their oil changed or just to say hello… say thank you. Follow up with a quick note, email or phone call. All are fine and they let your customer or prospect know their time and attention are valued. It’s simple to do and it’s simply good business.

So remember to say “thank you.” Do it for of the goodness of your heart, for your respect for your fellow man and for your bottom line.

Thank you.

D. Jones
Marketing Strategist/Creative Consultant
SmackDabble, LLC

Your Dealership.com

By David Kain
Ward’s Dealer Business, Apr 1, 2008 12:00 PM

You likely shop or research online with the expectation that the websites you visit will have the information you seek.

When the sites you select don’t have the information, you probably click on another and keep clicking until you find something that meets your needs.

Consider yourself a focus group of one and apply what you learn in your own experience to what you would want if you were visiting your own dealership online.

While you are reading this article, go to your own website and click along with me. Try some simple tasks and put yourself in a “customer mode.”

Look for a new or used car in your inventory.
Look for specials on vehicles, service or accessories.
Look for your phone number and address and see if it is easy to see.

Hopefully, you were able to complete these tasks with no problems. If not, do something about it and contact your website builder the same as you would a tradesperson to fix a leaky roof or a heater in your physical facility.

Now, try some advanced tasks:

Schedule a service appointment.
Order a part or an accessory.
Look for how you submit a credit application.
Look for the dealership team photos or individual contact information.
Look for a personal description on the used vehicle of your choice (more than the basic specs).

If you think like your customers, you likely have limited time to do tasks of this nature. Most people lack the patience to read and learn at a website. So they click and move on.

Compare your site to simple sites like Google.com where you are instantly acclimated to what they want you to do – search.

Compare Google.com to Yahoo.com and see the difference. One is a utility (Google) whereas the other is a destination (Yahoo). Your site is more similar to Yahoo but should have the clear and easy navigation like Google.

When you design or redesign your site, think of it just like you would your physical dealership.

Make it clear where everything is located and provide the signage (navigation links) to assist your customers in finding what they need right away.

I visit so many dealerships and used to think signage was not necessary because, after growing up at a dealership, it seemed pretty simple.

However, I really appreciate it now when I see a sign that says customer parking or service or parts and know the dealership customers appreciate it too.

Put yourself in a customer state of mind and see if you can navigate your website quick and easy. And if not, do something about it. The easier you make it, the more likely your prospects will contact you to complete the next steps.

We are always asked to mystery shop dealerships and provide feedback on how the Internet or business development team responds to our inquiries and then suggest ways for improvement.

You should do this yourself from time to time both online and offline. Online is easy. Create a fake email account and submit a request for sales, service, parts, etc. and see what happens.

Offline may sound silly, but I recommend telling your team you are going to be a customer this week and walk in and try to talk to someone about what you saw online.

Ask your manager and sales people about the vehicle you saw on the website and see how they respond. Hopefully, they will not say, “Let me get our Internet specialist to help you.” You would not want them to say, “Let me get my newspaper specialist” if they said they saw an ad in the paper.

Now that the Internet has become the primary tool of most automotive shoppers, your entire team must become acclimated to the dealership online.

http://wardsdealer.com/interneteletter/auto_dealershipcom/

Reuse. Recycle.

I’ve always thought that as bandwidth expanded and became less of a hindrance to online multimedia (I don’t know anyone that’s still on dial up!), we’d see a lot of crossover and repurposing between traditional media (television, radio, newspaper, direct mail) and new media (internet, email, mobile, etc.). But to a great degree, that crossover has yet to materialize.

The question, of course, is this: What are you waiting for?

Why are your radio spots and television spots not featured on your website? Why are the coupons and offers available in the newspaper not downloadable from your website? How much information about your inventory can I get via my cell phone? Why do your sales people still not have email addresses (honestly, it happens)?

All these things are possible. More importantly, they’re smart business. Not only does it help to integrate your overall marketing mix, but repurposing content from one platform to another costs next to nothing. The TV spot is already created, the offer is already on the table and the art is done, etc. So get it out there already. With so many customers going online, you can’t afford not to put your best in front of them each and every time.

D. Jones
Marketing Strategist/Creative Consultant
SmackDabble, LLC

Text-Only or HTML: Email’s Million-Dollar Question

It’s one of the most commonly debated issues in e-marketing: Should the emails you send out be text-only or should they be HTML? The argument for text-only goes like this… It feels less like advertising, it’s better at getting around spam filters, the most important emails people get are usually text-only. The argument for HTML is this… The message feels more “polished,” I can include graphics, animations and other high-impact items, and I’m able to carry my brand into the message.

So which should you use?

The answer, as you might expect, is both. Anytime you’re sending a person-to-person message, it should be text-only. This applies to sales and service staff following up with customers and other such one-to-one communications. But when that message is coming from the dealership (rather than an individual) HTML is the way to go. It will do a better job of carrying your brand and carries a more put-together, dynamic message.

D. Jones
Marketing Strategist/Creative Consultant
SmackDabble, LLC

Best Practice: Tracking E-Marketing

One of the great promises of e-marketing is that it’s trackable. You’ve been told for years that e-marketing would lift the fog of accountability from your marketing mix and show you what worked, when it worked and even why. Well all of that is true (mostly), but most folks aren’t taking the simple steps needed to make that dream a reality.

So here’s what you do: Incorporate a series of simple landing pages in to each marketing touch you send out. Require people go to a web page to register or collect their prize or whatever. Then don’t just set up one landing page, but a different one for each marketing message (the pages may look and function the same, but you’ll need unique pages). By tracking hits, downloads and forms submitted from these pages, you’ll have a near-perfect understanding of which messages are driving customer action and which aren’t. And that, my friend, is measurable marketing done in a simple, straightforward way.

D. Jones
Marketing Strategist/Creative Consultant
SmackDabble, LLC

Now’s Not The Time To Slow Down

According to a recent J.D. Power and Associates forecast, new-vehicle sales in 2008 are expected to reach their lowest levels since 1994, dropping to 14.95 million cars and light trucks. This obviously isn’t good news for our industry, and your first instinct may be to cut back on spending (including marketing and advertising), ride out the rough times and wait for sunnier weather. But if you do that, you’d be missing a huge opportunity.

First things first… if you’re experiencing a slow-down in sales, the last thing you’ll want to do is to cut back on the only thing that can drive sales – namely advertising and marketing.

Second, slowdowns like this are an opportunity for the marketing savvy among us to capture market and mind share so that when things rebound, as they most certainly will, you’re in the driver’s seat.

One way to accomplish this is to ramp up your traditional media spending during this lull. Chances are you’ll even probably see some favorable media rates. But an even more effective way to capture the market and mind share you desire is to employ a number of digital marketing techniques. Such tactics as video emails, email marketing allow you to expand your reach at a cost per contact far lower than traditional media efforts. Here are a few things you might consider:

1. Expand your base of opt-in customers – those loyal customers who agree to receive emails and other electronic communications from you.
2. Use multimedia and email tools to expand the reach of your television and radio campaigns to your online audience.
3. Expand the functionality of your web site to better capture leads and drive them toward closed sales.
4. Use online coupons and other offers to create an incentive to act now.

These and other digital tactics, combined with a traditional media schedule, will position you well when the market turns around. Everyone else will cut back… and you’ll use this slow down to steal their customers and their market share.

D. Jones
Marketing Strategist/Creative Consultant
SmackDabble, LLC

3 Steps to Recession-Proof Your Online Marketing

Written by: Bryan Eisenberg
Taken from grock.com newsletter
March 28, 2008

Everyone’s using the “r” word. Just a month or two ago, online marketers were whispering the word for fear of contagion. Now it’s spoken out in the open. We all seem to sense that we’re in a recession or that one’s stalking us and tapping on our shoulder.Some sites are experiencing slight sales declines; others are prepping for the recession by trimming marketing budgets and tightening their belts in other areas. Online marketers are being asked to do more with less. It seems it’s going to get worse.

It’s interesting to watch how different companies respond to tough times. Traditionally during a recession, most will cut their marketing spend and ask the sales staff to squeeze more from what marketing delivers. In the online world, most decrease ad budgets, but the first cuts are aimed at any sort of marketing optimization (like analytics or testing). This bunker-type approach often leads to stagnation. Optimization is the last line item you can afford to cut.

Others will pour more money into traffic acquisition and flashy advertising or gimmicks. This kitchen-sink approach is highly inefficient and risky.

Effective Optimization Is a Scientific Process

I prefer a more scientific approach.

The “r” word doesn’t mean failure or certain doom. While we don’t control the factors that cause a recession, we can optimize the factors we do have control over and do our best to build and continually improve a recession-proof Web site.

A site that converts better will decrease cost per acquisition and, in turn, will increase ad spend efficiency. A site being continually improved for conversion can withstand the storms of finicky economic times. Optimizing your site should be a scientific process that gives customer insight and is accountable, efficient, and measurable.

In the midst of the dot-com boom, we took on our very first conversion optimization client and helped the company build an internal process to continually optimize its conversion rate. Everyone else was talking about eyeballs and, to their detriment, got spanked by the mother of bursting bubbles. Site after site went into the trash heap, while our client’s continued to grow and thrive through the worst of it. During that time, the client enjoyed an aggregated 400 percent increase in conversion. Its advertising spend was potent, each dollar spent on advertising was worth four times more in top-line sales. Its competitors could spend the same and a lot more on advertising and couldn’t get similar traction. Some went under.

Building a recession-proof online marketing campaign is common sense, but you must work on it. It’s well worth it. It’s not about getting the occasional gain from a test or analytics but about having a continual process for doing so.

The Cost of Not Improving Your Conversion Rate

Let’s suppose your site draws 100,000 unique visitors per month and you have an average conversion rate of 2.5 percent. If you average sale is $50, then you gross about $125,000 a month. Let’s also say that after some optimization work and a couple tests, you increase your overall conversion rate by just 10 percent (a very achievable goal), and your conversion rate is now 2.75 percent. Your monthly gross is now $137,500. The annualized revenue realized by the move of the needle is $150,000. With a minor conversion increase, you’ve earned a baker’s dozen: 13 months of revenue in 12 months’ time.

If you continue to optimize better every month throughout the year, that 13th doughnut gets bigger and bigger. Assuming traffic costs remain static, ad spend becomes stronger and your cost of acquisition goes down. Even in the likely scenario that your traffic costs inch up, you’re riding the curve instead of falling below it.If you don’t become recession-proof, your competitors will. There are simply no more excuses. A decade ago, putting together the resources for optimization was a challenge. Today, analytics and optimization software are much more easily available and affordable when you look at them in this light. Google even offers them both for free.

Steps to Recession-Proof Online Marketing

Here are three steps you can take to make your online marketing recession proof:

1. Turn your analytics into customer insight. It’s not enough to get reports. Each click is an action taken by a real person. Learn why your customers do what they do on your site.

2. Turn your insight into action. If customers leave your site or landing pages, theorize as to why, then test variations to confirm or refute your insight based on step one.

3. Rinse and repeat.

Don’t become a victim of a recession; instead use it as an opportunity to take control of the things you can and jack up your conversion rate. The dot-com bust would have been a blip had many focused more on the fundamentals of increasing conversion online.I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to live through another bust. So I leave you with the wise words of Blackie Sherrod: “The reason history must repeat itself is because we pay so little attention to it the first time.”

What are your plans to recession proof yourself?

http://www.grokdotcom.com/2008/03/28/3-steps-to-recession-proof-your-online-marketing/