Websites, SEO, SEM, Display, Social, Marketing

Dealership professionals debate whether social media marketing (Facebook, Twitter) can effectively drive automotive sales, with skeptics questioning whether success stories from Dell and Walmart apply to high-ticket car purchases and emphasizing the need for ROI data and proper implementation strategy. The thread concludes that while social media remains a valuable marketing tool for dealers, the key to success lies not in chasing sales metrics but in building genuine customer relationships and community engagement.

The thread discusses the critical role of quality content in SEO strategy post-Google's MayDay update, emphasizing that while backlinks are important ("King"), content is equally vital ("Queen") for search rankings. Anirban outlines key content characteristics dealers should prioritize—productivity, informativeness, uniqueness, freshness, relevance, and human editing—and notes that top-ranking websites combine strong content strategy with link-building campaigns. The thread appears to set up a framework for creating effective content, though the specific recommendations are cut off in the excerpt provided.

The post discusses Google's evolution in displaying video search results, noting that Google now surfaces the most relevant video content from multiple platforms (YouTube and competitors) rather than just YouTube links. The key insight is that Google's algorithm has become more sophisticated in curating diverse video sources to provide better search results for music video queries.

The thread uses the carnival barker metaphor to discuss how dealers can better engage website visitors and convert them into leads, exploring tools like trade appraisal widgets, live chat, downloadable content, and incentive-based games. Participants debate whether "circus barkers" should focus on lead generation or lead-to-show conversion, with the key insight that effective barkers must understand what questions and concerns are actually on shoppers' minds rather than relying on generic engagement tactics. The emerging consensus is that dealers need to combine engaging lead-capture mechanics with immediate, high-quality follow-up and incentives that actually motivate showroom visits.

Autofair Honda seeks guidance on hiring a dedicated in-house used car photographer to replace underperforming vendor Dealer Specialties, while struggling to convince their GM it's a necessary full-time position rather than something to fit into existing staff schedules. The thread reveals that quality photo work is significantly more time-intensive than non-technical managers typically understand—taking 1+ hour per car when accounting for shooting, processing, uploading, and vehicle data entry—and emphasizes the importance of hiring someone genuinely passionate about photography rather than trying to absorb the work into existing roles. Key advice includes quantifying the business case financially, clearly communicating expectations to vendors before making the in-house investment decision, and considering unconventional hiring sources like retirees or community college students if proceeding with a dedicated hire.

A call tracking study of 17 dealerships in November revealed three key lessons: branding drives a significant share of inbound calls, smart marketers optimize spend by tracking ROI precisely, and using tracking numbers as caller ID can yield up to 37% appointment sets on return calls. Commenters from vendors and dealer groups broadly validated the findings, while later replies expanded the discussion to emphasize that call tracking alone is insufficient — someone must actually listen to recorded calls and train staff on phone handling. The thread converges on a three-pronged approach: call tracking, call monitoring, and phone sales training.

The thread introduces Animoto as an affordable video creation tool for car dealers, highlighting its new call-to-action feature and the pro plan at $249/year. A vendor reveals they integrated Animoto directly into their platform but admits that despite the seamless integration, not a single dealer has actually used it to create vehicle videos. The discussion surfaces a key tension: dealers recognize video's value but still fail to act, raising questions about adoption barriers beyond cost and complexity.

The thread argues that social media marketing has become increasingly critical for automotive marketers between 2008-2011, driven by its potential to generate business. While search engines remain the dominant online marketing channel, the post advocates that marketers should expand their strategies beyond SEO/SEM to incorporate social media branding and marketing as an essential component of their overall approach.

CARFAX is promoting a free 45-minute webinar featuring vAuto's Dale Pollak and CARFAX's Chad Goodson on January 14th focused on leveraging internet transparency to improve used car sales strategies. The webinar will cover merchandising benchmarks, online ROI optimization, and insights into consumer behavior and what buyers already know before dealership interactions. The thread is essentially a promotional announcement with no discussion or debate from forum members.

Mitchell Brenner shares a positive review of ContactAtOnce's chat lead generation service, crediting it with 13 vehicle sales in two months across multiple OEM websites and praising their customer service. The vendor representatives respond gratefully, confirming their commitment to quality service. The key insight is that chat-based lead capture on third-party automotive sites can generate high-intent buyer leads when properly managed, making it a potentially worthwhile alternative to traditional lead providers.

Anirban announces Google TV's new partnership with Vizio and claims the platform will be more reliable this year, prompting discussion about whether Google TV will achieve mainstream consumer adoption. Davidmoon expresses skepticism based on the historical failure of previous attempts to integrate internet functionality into televisions, while Anirban suggests Google TV would be better implemented on gaming consoles like the PS3 with improved search capabilities. The thread concludes without clear consensus, though the underlying sentiment suggests industry professionals view Google TV's consumer uptake prospects with cautious doubt.

A dealership internet manager asks how companies monitor reviews and comments about dealerships across numerous platforms (Facebook, Google, DealerRater, etc.), seeking affordable alternatives to expensive vendor solutions. Respondents suggest a range of options including Google Alerts for basic monitoring, enterprise solutions like Radian6 and Lithium Technologies for comprehensive tracking, and open-source tools like Nutch for those with technical capability. The key insight is that dealerships have multiple cost-effective options available—from free tools to mid-range software—depending on their budget and technical resources, rather than needing to pay premium vendor fees.

A dealer discusses the importance of landing pages as a critical component of online marketing ROI, emphasizing that visitors should be directed to pages with content specifically relevant to what they're searching for rather than generic homepage landing. The key insight is that conversion rates improve when landing pages are tightly aligned with the visitor's search intent and the product or service being promoted.

A dealer inquires about EveryCarListed.com as a potential alternative to AutoTrader, and through the thread, community members and a company representative discuss the platform's free listings service, paid lead generation options, and video distribution capabilities. Key feedback reveals that while the site effectively indexes inventory across multiple channels (Facebook, Oodle, Twitter, YouTube), dealers object to the prominent EveryCarListed branding on videos and request better integration with industry lead management systems. The company appears responsive to criticism and the thread concludes with cautious optimism from the original poster, who has already signed two stores and is willing to test the service further.

Anirban advocates for using press releases and news content distribution as a marketing strategy to improve brand visibility, drive targeted traffic, and gain valuable backlinks through syndication across multiple PR channels and websites. Jarrett affirms the value of the approach, indicating it's a practical tactic worth implementing. The thread presents press release distribution as an accessible SEO and traffic-generation strategy for automotive dealers and online retailers without deep technical discussion or debate.

A DealerRater poll showing that 26% of consumers want more Facebook promotions from dealerships sparked debate about whether social media should be used for marketing or purely for engagement. Participants shared real-world tactics that worked for them, including feeding DealerRater reviews to Facebook and personalizing content like birthday wishes, while cautioning against hard-sell approaches. The consensus was that consumers are open to promotions on social media, but tone and relevance matter — asking fans directly what they want was the most practical takeaway.

Dealers and SEO professionals discuss how Google Maps rankings work for car dealerships, including why listings appear or disappear in local 7-pack results and how to optimize them. Key insights include keeping business information consistent across platforms, completing Google Local Business profiles fully, and building links with anchor text pointing to map listings. The thread also surfaces practical tools — the AdWords preview tool and HideMyAss.com — for testing geo-targeted results outside your physical location.

A dealer received a lead from AutoTrader that turned out to be from autopitch.com, a middleman service that posts dealer offers on their website and charges a $150 referral fee (deducted from the dealer's offered price) if a customer they represent makes a purchase. The dealer community overwhelmingly criticized the service as duplicitous and exploitative, particularly because autopitch concealed its fee structure and business model until after obtaining the dealer's price quote, effectively double-dipping on advertising costs dealers already pay to AutoTrader. The consensus was that autopitch's deceptive sales approach and unfavorable fee model made it an unwelcome intermediary in the automotive sales process.

Dealers discuss the underutilization of digital brochures as a marketing tool, with ed.brooks advocating for ATC's AutoBiography feature for pre-owned vehicles while TonyK promotes dealership-specific customized PDF e-brochures that consolidate sales tools (trade-in appraisals, etc.) to combat high bounce rates and re-engage prospects. The key insight is that while digital brochures have merit—particularly for used cars where they can drive customer engagement and tracking—adoption remains low, and design/technical challenges (slow load times, readability, CRM integration) still need to be addressed to make them truly effective.

This thread debates the relevance of nofollow versus dofollow backlinks in Google's SEO algorithm, with participants discussing whether nofollow links have any real ranking value in modern SEO. The discussion expands to cover emerging ranking signals including PDF and document content ranking, GPS-tagged media, video files, and how competitor mentions in reviews can trigger search visibility in the automotive industry. The key insight is that nofollow links may be less important than previously thought, while other signals like content ranking on individual documents, media metadata, and geo-tagged content appear to have growing SEO value independent of link attributes.

Hixie asks for recommendations on Excel templates or spreadsheets to track advertising ROI with greater detail than his current call tracking system provides. The thread covers dealers' approaches to measuring advertising performance and breaking down return on investment across different campaigns and channels.

A dealership owner asks for advice on rebuilding Facebook followers after consolidating two pages and changing names. The consensus from experienced automotive marketers is that quality followers matter far more than quantity—focusing on actual customers and potential buyers who will engage with content and make purchases is more valuable than accumulating thousands of uninterested "friends," though one dealer shares a successful incentive-based strategy that combines both approaches by offering gift certificates to customers who refer friends to the page.