It's clear to me that participation on social media is no longer optional for dealerships or professional salespeople. Overwhelmingly, however, most are still missing that one key component in their social presence...

Video.

Video offers the most incredible opportunity for visibility, as well as creating connection and building trust, but it remains the least utilized medium in our industry. One reason for this is the genuine discomfort most people experience when imagining or attempting to film a video.

The good news is that discomfort can be easily overcome with these four simple steps:

1. Frame It Up

The opportunity to use video for increased visibility is incredible. Before planning or executing your first video, spend a moment focusing on why you are engaging in this activity. Familiarize yourself with stats like; video is 53 times more likely to make the first page of Google. Online visitors who view product videos are 85% more likely to buy than visitors who do not.

There is an abundance of tangible proof online that demonstrates video marketing delivers results. When garnering the enthusiasm to film your first video, purpose can be a powerful motivator.

2. Begin Faceless

Seeing and hearing yourself on camera can be uncomfortable at first. The best way to combat this discomfort, and not allow it to discourage future video marketing efforts, is to begin faceless.

For your first video, simply try filming a product—like a newly redesigned vehicle—without ever including yourself in the shot. This will allow you to get comfortable recording, while giving you a completed video that you can upload immediately. Even if you hate the first video you create, remember the glorious fact that you can always delete it later. Get this practice in and you will start to create incredible momentum.

3.  Short and Sweet

Video newbies often try filming videos that are longer than necessary. Stiffness is to be expected as you adjust to filming so keep it simple and keep your early videos short—under two minutes. A short video may only allow two or three key points but will likely keep an audience engaged and allow you to begin to get comfortable filming. Long videos also take a significant amount of time to plan and film; too large of a time commitment may discourage future action.

Adhere to the two-minute rule until you are comfortable enough to move on to longer videos.

4.  Ease Your Way In

Once you’ve affirmed your purpose and filmed a short, faceless video, commit further by beginning to introduce your face to the camera. Your face is your most powerful video marketing tool because there is an area of the brain, called the Fusiform area, that makes us hard wired to use the human face as a centralized point for information and our belief in it. So in the case of faces, seeing is believing. Your face will undoubtedly be the most effective way to create a human connection with prospective clients, and ultimately motivate them to buy from you.

To ease yourself into incorporating your face on camera, begin simply by facing the camera only for a video’s introduction and conclusion. The bulk of your video can remain faceless (as in step 2) as you feature the vehicle or topic you’re describing, but your introduction and sign off will incorporate your face. This is a quick, almost painless way to begin to warm up to seeing yourself on camera.

Becoming comfortable with filming video often happens quicker than you might imagine. The trick, as with anything, is to get started and just do it. Follow this process to begin creating video and you will be amazed at how quickly it becomes second nature and begins working for you!

Questions:

What are some trick or tips you have used to ease in to using video?

What kind of success are you seeing from your efforts?

Have some examples you would like to share? Do it here

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Did you know:

• 1 in every 285 children in the U.S. will be diagnosed with cancer
  
• In the U.S., one out of every five children with cancer will not survive
  
• The vast majority of kids who do survive will suffer long-term side effects
  
• 14,583 kids will be diagnosed with cancer this month alone (stats)

Our incredible community is all too familiar with childhood cancer and, if you can find the time this month, I'm humbly asking you to spread awareness about childhood cancer and its lack of research, funding and congressional attention.

[Tweet "In the last 20 years, only two major drugs have been developed for children."]

Here are ways to can help spread awareness:

Step Up  - Create more funding awareness by signing this letter and sending to Congress members

Cure Search

Children's Oncology Group

I know this group's reach is powerful - I challenge you to make an #autofam impact on Childhood Cancer! 

Now, go have an incredible Labor Day Weekend!

A few weekends ago I found myself in an empty house. Kids were gone with grandma and grandpa, husband on a guys-only weekend and, let me tell you, it was nothing short of incredible.

At some point I thought I would put together a bookshelf despite my strong dislike for directions. After trying to figure out the directions, the tools and various whatevers - the bookshelf found its way to being returned.

Too many directions.

Much like my bookshelf, but way more expensive automotive makers are feeling the hurt with the technology built into vehicles today. J.D. Power’s first 2015 Driver Interactive Vehicle Experience Report is telling us that the average vehicle has 33 features, however only about 20 percent of those are being utilized. Ouch.

According to the report, owners who don't begin using the technology within 30 days are not likely to use it at all. Of those surveyed, many reported the technology within their vehicles was something they wouldn't use, didn't want or simply came in a package. Makes sense - but, this begs the question: If the consumer knew how to use it, wouldn't they? Lack of education around using technology in vehicles is no reason to shy away from having it.

[Tweet "People don't read directions about complicated technology in cars."]

I know I would need a week to learn how to use our long-time DealerRefresher Kelly Wilson's car. That thing told us the weather.

At your dealership you can decide to have dedicated technology specialists or train your sales staff to do it. Either way, you win. When customers are more interested in leaving the dealership than learning about Park Assist think of creative ways to get them back in to learn more. Do you offer a first free oil change? You can teach them more about it while they wait. Can you email them short how-to videos? Post the videos on your website?

Despite the report's numbers revealing low adoption, I think technology in vehicles will get better and only grow from here. It's education and process that is a little bumpy. Like, my relationship with directions.

I ended my long weekend alone by ordering a fully assembled shelf from Amazon and that was nothing short of incredible either.

In 2014, auto dealers on average produced used vehicle department net profit of about $120,000. That number includes F&I. The average dealer sold 621 used vehicles retail (with another 435 sold wholesale).

In 2014, the average auto dealer made $193 net profit per used vehicle retailed.

That number is down from $254 in 2013 and about the same as in 2012.

Anyone can access NADA Data and see these simple facts. If I added all the man hours it took to produce that kind of net profit and compared that to any other industry I would bet that auto dealers return on hourly investment is one of the lowest per hour rates of any industry.

However, consumers perceive auto dealers much differently. Dealers made 2.2% net profit in 2014, a number which has been constant for each of the last 5 years. In comparison, Apple’s net profit margin is 10x that. Even Wal-mart has 54% higher net margins than the average auto dealer. Hmmm.

So, I ran a simple Google Consumer Insight Survey to find the actual perceptions of consumers. The results even surprised me. I laid out 5 options randomly for consumers to select and asked them how much net profit they thought dealers made per used car they sell.

Check out the actual Google Consumer Insight chart below...



90% of respondents thought dealers made over $254.  76% of respondents thought dealers made over $1,000. And incredibly, over 50% of respondents thought dealers made over $2,000.

In our industry I’ve heard the increased use of the word transparency. I think transparency and education are fundamental elements of trust and when considering a car may be one of the largest purchases of anyone’s life, how do we instill trust now and in the future.

So what do you think?

How can dealers educate customers to the realities of their business?  Is it wrong to disclose how the automotive market works? And if transparency is advantageous, how can auto dealers use transparent processes in the future? Comment over on the forums.

As dealers, it seems we often find ourselves so busyevaluating the performance of our third-party lead providers that we neglect to really examine how we handle those leads once they’ve entered our CRM, specifically the automated email follow-up (often referred to as the “lifecycle” or “action plan”).

That’s extremely unfortunate, as a carefully crafted lifecycle/action plan with great emails will help you gain the car shopper’s trust and differentiate your dealership from the competition. The combination of the two will help persuade that car shopper to buy from you.

Too often when we secret shop a dealership’s lifecycle, we are sent emails that ask “How can I help?” rather than answer with a “Here’s how I can help!”

Follow these steps to a successful action plan:


Promote Why Buy Message

Your “Why Buy” is your dealership’s unique value proposition. What sets you apart from the competition? Invite your customer to visit your website to learn more about your Why Buy. 



Leverage Customer Testimonials

A Harvard Business School study found that a one-star increase in Yelp rating can lead to a 5-9% increase in revenue (Source). Pick one of your best testimonials and put it directly into the lifecycle email. Then, invite customers to see your reputation online for themselves. Put in links to your best review sites.



Showcase Special Promotions

Later in the lifecycle, bring the customer’s attention back to your specials. Drive them to a page on your website that includes your current deals.



Present Alternative Offers

Maybe your customer submitted a lead on a new car but decided that a new car is out of their price range. Present them with a more affordable option.



Introduce Management

By introducing management into the lifecycle, you give the customer an additional contact and reinforce your company’s Why Buy message. It also lets the customer know that they have a team of support to help them through the car-buying process.



Include Fixed Ops

Introducing fixed ops early in the sales process increases the likelihood that the customer will have their vehicle serviced at your dealership. Plus, if you can’t make a sale, it’s great to earn a service customer. We like to introduce fixed ops twice in the lifecycle – first, with an introduction to your dealership’s service rewards program, and then with a link to money-saving coupons. For more on this topic, watch this video.





Understand that regardless of how much time you’ve spent revising/reworking your lifecycle, it’s something that needs to be consistently evaluated and updated. In short, creating the “perfect” action plan is an imperfect science.

As with everything you do online, track it with Google Analytics. Make sure you use Google UTM codes to track the effectiveness of your emails so you know what works well and what needs to be tweaked.

How much life is in your Lifecycle?

Consumers are shopping from their mobile devices more than ever before, but are they expecting to find the same amount of content and information. Yes, they are!

Although the percentage of keyword searches and site visits coming from mobile devices has skyrocketed, the content requirements of consumers and search engines have not changed. Both want the same content available from any device.

Some shoppers may prefer desktop over a mobile device for consuming some types of content. That does not mean content should be stripped away based on device. The nature of the internet allows shoppers to share content by sending links (e.g. a shopper on a desktop device sending a link to a VDP to her partner on a mobile phone) and by physically showing someone else the content on their device (e.g. a shopper showing his partner the VDP on a tablet in the living room or a coffee shop). Therefore, there must be content parity across device platforms. Site content must be for a single web, not a mobile web or a desktop web. As they relate to vehicle shopping, neither web experience should exists in isolation of the other.

Search engines see it the same way...

SEO advantages are accumulated for those sites providing a great deal of relevant content on any device. That content which contributes mightily toward an SEO objective, be it the head term or a long-tail term, contributes both for mobile SEO as well as traditional. Unique content remains a driving force when striving to index higher for specific searches. Long tail searches are easier to earn since indexing pressure is usually small and just from 3rd party lead generating sites, but content continues to be the easiest way to also index 2nd or 3rd position for a head search.[3] While you can’t take the first spot for someone else’s business name search, 2nd or 3rd is still not a bad place to be.

It deserves mentioning that content doesn’t have to have an SEO purpose, GOOD content itself is SEO. The difference between content written purely for SEO and content written for information purposes (product, services, specs, etc.) is how engaging it will be to the end user. I’m not advocating for any particular content form, but for how many devices can handle our content and therefore what is the possible customer reach. For example, for a Dodge dealer outside the Seattle metro area receiving 49% mobile traffic as of July 2015, if their content is not accessible via mobile devices, their reach for that content and the resulting SEO contribution is only 51% of their customers.

The UI for publishing your content is critical. Those creating your content should be able to do so for both desktop and mobile consumption simultaneously with no additional effort. Regardless of whether the content is being generated by in-house staff or an outside vendor, the need to have a UI supportive of fast and easy publishing to be found and consumed across all devices is paramount. Unfortunately the majority of adaptive platforms lack this essential feature.

Content should be accessible from the main menu bar, not just sub-menus, and that goes for both devices. The mega menu concept provides superior navigation and superior SEO from all devices by making far more content accessible from the main menu bar.

For years, I’ve recommended that dealers provide more product content on their dealer website. Shoppers should not need to navigate back to the OEM or 3rd party site for more product knowledge. Whether you create this content or not, the argument of whether or not your dealer website should be able to offer all the information your client expects is over.[4] The argument for 4Q 2015 and development for 2016 will be content parity.

Can 100% of your customers find and use all the informational content you created across all devices?

As a ( *cough* using the term loosely) runner, I've visited my fair share of running websites. One in particular always has this pop up asking me if I want to download their marathon training plan. My choices are: Yes, I want to PR! Or, No, I like running slow. Uh, thanks website of the year. Excuse me while I go run an extra few miles this week.

According to a recent study by Wayin, the belts on marketing budgets are about loosen up a few notches to make room for personalization on websites. And, much to my annoyance - pop ups are a leading form of popular personalization.  With 53 percent of marketers stating they use pop ups - which was tied with inline content, and that personalized content providing a consumer engagement increase in over 70 percent, it's no wonder personalization budgets are on the rise.

Before you run out and get yourself a fancy pop-up take a deep breath and think about it. Our industry isn't one size fits all - at all. And, those pesky pop ups that hope to make me question if I need to download a white paper to run a faster half are quickly dismissed because I'm on a mission for CONTENT. That's what brought me to the site in the first place.

I appreciate personalization as much as the next person. In fact, I rather like that I can drop off my dry cleaning and the folks there know my name. Don't you like it when you get to your favorite restaurant and don't have to order your drink because your favorite server is working and he knows exactly what you like...Oh, I'm talking about me there. But, anyway...

Earlier this year, Aaron Wirtz wrote about Personalization at the Dealership and touched on ways you can kick things up a notch within your daily dealership operations to drive home personalization.

Personalizing content on your website is as easy as getting to know your visitors. According to the study, marketers are most likely to segment out visitors and users based on:

• viewed content
  
• location
  
• time on site
  
• navigation behavior

And, don't forget one of the most important pieces - device.

The best thing to do after you've researched your visitors is to decide what type of personalization is best for your audience. If you have a lot of mobile traffic (which I'm sure you do) is a pop up going to fit your only personalization effort? No, not likely. Knowing the location of your traffic can help you greatly with personalization - start brainstorming.

Show us how you're personalizing on your website. Do you have unique content that grabs shoppers' attention and converts them? Reaches their heart and turns them into lifelong customers?

 

The dark cloud over the dealership industry has got to be one of the most fascinating studies in business psychology ever.

About 4 weeks ago, I'm havin' a beer at a house party at my place, and my neighbor is talking about his new ride:
neighbor: "It drives me nuts, why can't car dealers just post their lowest price? They force me to negotiate"
me: "you shopped on the internet and you visited the dealer with the lowest price... right?"

neighbor: "yea..."
me: "did you buy it, or, did you ask for a lower price?"

neighbor: "well... I offered a lower price to close the deal that day"
me: "I see, it was YOU wanted to negotiate a lower price, so, it was you that forced the dealer into negotiations..."

neighbor: [silence], then [mumbling], then [back peddling],
me: "still holding on to the idea that dealers are bad? Think about this. Would you be happier if Verizon's store managers competed against each other and you could get a discount on your phone AND your cell bill?"

neighbor: "yea, that would be cool"
me: "this is how car dealers work, they FIGHT EACH OTHER for your business!"

neighbor: [silence]
me: "think about it. If you bought a Tesla, do you think they'll ever cut your a deal?"

neighbor: "nope"
me: "Game. Set. Match."

The anti-car dealer fever is generations old, yet NO ONE has updated how the Internet has blown up the old model. The tide has turned, car shoppers have enormous power.

Everyone! Buyers are selfish. Let go of the Urban Legend!

Be apart of this conversation over in the dealer forums.

When I speak with dealers, CFOs, CEOs and legal counsel for major dealer groups, these are the questions that arise most frequently:

1. Do you have the visibility of where your data is going?
   
2. Are you indemnified from your third-party solution providers?
   
3. Do you have any form of cyber-liability protection from your providers?
   
4. Are your vendors being charged to have access to your data? If so, do you know how much?
   
5. Can you activate and de-activate your data feeds?
   
6. Do you have granular control of your data?
   
7. Do you have an audit trail of the exact data being sent?

When thinking about your data strategy, it is critically important for dealerships to know the answers to these questions and set strategic plans for the management of their dealership’s data accordingly.

It is a widespread industry belief that ownership of DMS data belongs to dealerships; therefore, dealers need to have the ability to move that data to their providers. They also need to be able to do so in a secure and protected manner.

The importance of maintaining data regulation can be clearly illustrated in a recent conversation I had with an automotive dealer...

When asked how data fits in to the everyday operations of his business, this particular dealer stated that the data being entered into his Car Dealer DMS / data management system (DMS) powered each and every single department at the dealership. He went on to mention that data is the fuel to nearly every vendor and program his dealership uses.

Without the continuous and uninterrupted flow of data, he surmised that his dealership would suffer in ways he could not calculate. I believe dealers need to recognize the power of data and also acknowledge its direct correlation to the success of the automotive industry.

The More Data Control We Have, the Better Position We Are In,
In order to take absolute control..

Click to expand...

The More Data Control We Have, the Better Position We Are In In order to take absolute control of our data, we as contributors to the automotive industry need to have a better understanding of current processes surrounding the movement of DMS data.

In addition, we will necessitate an objective idea of where we would like those processes to be. This is no different than the development surrounding any other accomplishments in life.

In the past, we have all been guilty of falling behind in the wake of the digital marketing explosion. This need to play catch-up has resulted in relinquishing more data control than we probably should have.

It seems that we may not have the visibility, the protection nor the process that we need. If such is the case, I can assure you that you are not alone.

How much control over YOUR data have you relinquished? 

Are you asking the 7 questions I've listed out above?

[highlight color="#FFD699" font="black"]Have a question about your dealerships data, data management and/or security? I've added a new sub-category to the forums where you can ask questions and start conversation around data management. Thank you Patrick for your contribution and we look forward to your continued participation here in DealerRefresh. - Kershner [/highlight]

 

Stop the presses! The cow just jumped over the moon. Pigs are flying. Hell froze over. Who kidnapped me and replaced me with an OEM shill?

The answer isn't that I've gone insane. It's that I looked deeper into the subject and realized it can be easily turned around from being a negative thing for franchise dealers to being something that helps savvy dealers tilt the playing field in their direction.

There have been plenty of posts on these forums, throughout LinkedIn, and on the general automotive blogosphere that call out the obtuse OEM mandates to use accepted vendors (often deemed acceptable because of relationships and deal-making rather than quality) for things like websites, PPC, chat, social media, and most other marketing components. Not all OEMs are doing it, but the trends point to this being the case universally at some point in the future. Most dealers complain and rightfully so. Heck, I've complained about it myself.

Something has been brewing in me lately. It started as a subtle seed and was emphasized when I started looking at the numbers. What I found so interesting was this: you can tell the difference between the dealers who are succeeding and the ones who are not based upon the amount of effort they put into enhancing their OEM-mandated marketing elements. While most dealers begrudgingly accept the OEM mandated products and services and leave it at that, others are taking what they're given and making them better.

Think of it like racing stock cars. If everyone is given the same cars with the same engines, it comes down to driving skill and a bit of luck to determine who wins in a race. If one of the drivers takes their stock car and modifies it within the limits that still keep them compliant, they now have an advantage. This is the same with OEM-mandated marketing. Just because you have to use the same website provider as your competitors doesn't mean that you are forced to keep everything equal. In nearly all cases, dealers can do something about it that can give them the edge.

The wonderful part about this is that they can often make these enhancements and see increases in sales without the competition having a clue about what they're doing. On the surface, the difference between an incredibly search optimized OEM website and one that doesn't know how to spell "SEO" can go completely unnoticed. In fact, there might be no visible difference between the sites, but through proper content creation, landing page optimization, and offsite signals, two competing websites that look nearly identical can show performance numbers on opposite ends of the spectrum.

I saw a real-world example of how enhancements can work by looking at what DealerRefresh columnist Daniel Mondello has done. Three websites. Same brands. Same market. The one that he has enhanced is dramatically outperforming the competition based upon enhancements he's done to the OEM websites and the PPC strategy. The most beautiful part of it is that he's been able to do this without increasing the budget. He has taken what he was given and put in the effort and strategic fortitude to make it perform incredibly better.

Keep in mind that I'm not promoting the concept of breaking the rules. There are boundaries and I strongly recommend that dealers stay within those boundaries. Some will try to push those boundaries for SEO, for example, by adding content to their website that's not approved. In those situations, a dealership might believe that their hands are tied because they can't do anything for an organic search bump, but this isn't the case. There are no compliance issues with offsite content and link earning, and despite the cries of many who are calling links or even SEO itself dead, the experts over at Moz have recently been singing a different tune. Dealers can optimize their sites while staying completely compliant.

In the first episode of Mad Men, Don Draper had to build a smoking campaign while the government was limiting what they could say about cigarettes. He was faced with an industry that had 6 companies who "couldn't say anything that sold cigarettes." His solution was to differentiate his brand from the others by playing by the rules while enhancing the results. I would never suggest that dealers follow the lead of 1960s tobacco companies or listen to advice from a television show, but moral of the story is similar. If everyone is given the same rules, the successful companies will find a way to make those rules work for them. Dealers can do the same thing with their OEM mandates.

At the end of the day, this is not an endorsement of OEM mandates. Call it an effort to see the glass half full. Mark it down as a decision to make the best of a situation that I find to be obtuse. There are OEM mandated programs and websites that are great, but most of them are mediocre at best. Individual dealers who are savvy and aggressive enough have an opportunity to use this to their advantage, but as a supporter of the industry as a whole I find a good portion of the OEM mandates to be damaging to their dealers.

In short, I'm not a supporter of the programs, but we're all just men and women who don't have the power to change it. Our opinions will fall on deaf ears so we might as well take advantage of the sliver of a positive that the situation can yield.

What are some of the things that you have done with your required marketing components to give your dealership an edge over your competitors?

Do you believe that the OEMs are going to get more restrictive or less restrictive in the future?

Are message consolidation, cost-savings, and consistency really worth it for OEMs to mandate how their dealers handle their marketing?

Chime in with the poll question in the forums: Are OEM-Mandated Marketing Programs Good or Bad?

A recent study by Accenture revealed what Digital Drivers Want:

The Automotive Industry Digital Survey yielded the following key findings:

• Fifty-four percent want information tailored to their needs while researching a new car via online channels.
  
• Thirty-six percent already use online channels to narrow their search for a vehicle as an initial step on the path to purchase.
  
• Sixty-three percent stated they would consider purchasing a new car in an online auction.
  
• Chinese, Americans and Brazilians appear more interested in online digital experiences compared to other countries.

Check out the cool infographic: Automotive Industry Digital Drivers

 

Your business is booming, you've got your sales teams, desk managers and finance managers all ready to go. But, you have these "things" coming into your CRM from somewhere else. They're INTERNET LEADS! What about phone calls?

You've decided it's time - time to set up an "Internet Department" or a "Business Development Center."  You've hired some people - 20-somethings fresh out of college kids looking for a "Real Job." But, who's to run this little venture?

And, then it hits you "My Administrative Assistant can do it! She (or He) is organized, able to delegate and is able to keep people on-track.  Who cares if she doesn't know anything about the industry? "Does out-the-door refer to taking a car off the showroom floor?" (Raise your hand if you've heard this before).

The BDC department, its functions, pay, products used, day to day activities - just about every aspect of it are a daily topic in the forums. If you haven't been keeping up with the community feedback on it I strongly encourage you to hop over and check it out. (Hop, not skip).

Is this your dealership?

BDC department reps with little to no automotive experience - but who cares? All they have to do is set appointments - they don't need to actually know anything do they? And, if there's something they do need to know - they can just ask a desk manager.  A desk manager who's trying to manage a whole team of sales people, save-a-deals, expense reports, inventory, used car approval sheets, a finance department and a few other things, like what's for lunch?

Hold on. That's not a good idea. Those BDC reps do need some experience in something other than shopping on the internet (Groupon, what?) But that's okay - your CRM came installed with a bunch of templates that are perfect.

And, e-mail marketing? That's easy, just draft a "We're Taking 40% off MSRP on Ford Fiestas!" email and make sure to e-mail everyone! Including the construction worker who just bought an F-150 2 months ago, I'm SURE he'll want to purchase a Fiesta, too!

Reality Check

Wait -- this doesn't sound very good. If the dealership had a BDC Manager running this new department who knew the automotive business, he or she would know these things were not only a bad idea, but also a recipe for disaster. That BDC Manager would know the people to put in place, the process and the department to form to sell more cars.

The internet department is your largest marketing tool.  I'm not kidding - it's the most efficient way to hyper-target your customers in real time.  Don't make the mistake of taking an incredibly large opportunity for growth (and, well - SALES) and putting it at risk because it's convenient to have someone less qualified do it. It must be a dedicated and trained professional.

Would you have your administrative assistant change tires? Have you recently sat down in a restaurant for a lovely meal both prepared and served by the same person? No.

Tell me if this is your dealership's solution to a BDC. What's the good, the bad and the ugly. What are your success stories and strategies?

Facebook's News Feed is about to get more efficient and helpful.



Last week Facebook announced the ability to add "Call Now" call to action buttons to sponsored ads. The local awareness ads feature is rolling out slowly, most likely to profiles and pages who are actively using targeted ads.

These local awareness ads are designed to reach more people who may be near your business. Instead of a Shop Now call to action button, which takes the user to a specific page in your website, the new Call Now button makes it easy for people to call your business - from their News Feed.

This is an excellent opportunity for dealers to target specific areas and people. Perfect for test drive appointments, service coupons, reservations for an event or anything else worthy of driving a phone call.

How Do I Create a Local Awareness Ad to Promote My Dealership?

Facebook made it very simple to build these ads. Page administrators can create and publish a new ad, within your business page, in just minutes.



 



 

• You should see a third option in the Promote drop down menu at the top right of your page, or in the left sidebar menu
  
• Select Promote Local Business 
  
• When the ad builder opens...
  
• Create the ad with your custom text, headline, image and select the Call Now button
  
• Set your audience parameters: Distance, age, gender (Defaults: Distance, 4 miles; Age. 18-65+. Gender, all)
  
• Set your ad budget and duration (Defaults: budget, $10/day; length, 10 days)
  
• Review, click Promote to start you local awareness campaign

 





 

NOTE: Be smart and make sure your internal process is in place. Notify your BDC, sales staff and/or greeters, of the specific promotion you're running and it's purpose. Is there a special way to handle the calls? Something you want them to say ? Train them on it, don't let them wing it. Don't create bad experiences, it's always frustrating for customers when employees aren't aware of a current promotion.

Have you tried a Local Awareness Ad for your dealership yet? 

 

One of the biggest headaches for digital marketing agencies is staying up to date with what is happening with Google’s search algorithms.

Lately I have seen a VERY disturbing trend, that it is easier to lower other people’s ranking than it is to increase your own. Due to recent updates by Google it has opened up a whole new world of black hat SEO that is called Negative SEO.

What is Negative SEO?

Negative SEO is the practice of intentionally trying to manipulate a site’s rankings in the search engines (in a negative way).

When you talk about negative SEO, most people will talk about very low quality link building, but there are many other techniques that unscrupulous people are using to harm your website’s rankings. I will go into a bit more detail on these other methods later in this article, although I don’t want to provide so much information as to make it easy for black hat (people that practice negative SEO techniques) to take advantage of them if they are not already aware of them.

Google has been very quiet on the topic. They opened the flood gates for this new negative SEO strategy with the Penguin and Panda updates. So, what have they said on the topic?
In 2003 Google had this to say


Now the page says



Apparently Google had to change the verbiage because they became aware (even if they won’t admit to it publicly) that their updates have opened the floodgates to negative SEO.

How about this post where Google responds to reports of negative SEO extortion emails going out to webmasters?

What Are Negative SEO Techniques?

As I stated, there are many different ways to attack someone with negative SEO. The thing you want to know about SEO is that you are dealing with people in this industry that would much rather automate than do hard work. Since the beginning of search engines, people have been trying to find ways to automate to make it easier to manipulate ranking algorithms in order to rank higher. Sadly we have reached a point since Google’s Penguin and Panda updates that make that automation easier to harm a competitor than to help yourself. Google is constantly trying to combat spammers that produce bulk process through automation. Many of their updates are aimed and combating this directly.

We're a company that isn't afraid to do hard work. That means manually optimize, manually create unique content, manually create high quality back-links, etc. Automation only makes sense on parts of a website that are too difficult to manually automate SEO on, such as Vehicle search results and vehicle details pages. The rest of a website is typically manually added and so should the SEO.

Today it’s not enough to be good at doing the hard work and trying to rank someone through white hat (good and solid SEO practices that are endorsed by search engines) techniques. We have found that being proactive in protecting and combating negative SEO has become just as time consuming and important and doing the actual SEO work itself.

How is your site being attacked by competitors?

There are two main methods currently being employed to harm your rankings.

1. Low quality negative back linking.
   
2. Destroying your site analytics

How to Fix Low Quality Negative Backlinks

Low quality back-links are easy to acquire and they can do significant damage to your organic rankings performance. Your digital agency needs to be doing monthly link reviews to scan for links that are pointing to your dealership website. If you want to see your back-links for yourself you can use sites like:

• Webmaster Tools (free tool)
  
• ahrefs.com (a paid tool)
  
• majesticseo.com (a paid tool, but it's free for your own site if you verify your site)
  
• opensiteexplorer.org (This is Moz's tool, and for most sites you can get a good number of your links for free provided you register an account with Moz. I would say though that I find that Open Site Explorer tends to pick up more of the good links and doesn't catch as much as the overt spam as Ahrefs and Majestic.

The types of links that are potentially harmful include sites like:

• Domains from foreign countries
  
• Non-automotive related domains (especially porn and prescription related sites)
  
• Very low quality forum posts
  
• Very low quality comments on non-automotive related websites

Once new poor quality back-links have been identified you can simply disavow them (tell Google you did not want or attempt to acquire these links to your website) through the free Google Disavow back-links tool.

How to Fix Someone Trying to Destroy Your Site Analytics

This one is much more complicated and diabolical in nature. While I don’t want to give your competition a playbook they can follow to use against you, it’s important to understand the types of things that I have seen being done and how you can protect yourself in broad terms.

Google has over 500 individual factors that make up their proprietary ranking algorithm. Think about everything that goes into determining your site authority and organic rankings. Factors such as:

• Social signals
  
• On page elements (inner linking architecture, meta tags, image tags, hyperlink anchor text and tags, keyword saturation in copy percentages, etc.)
  
• Offsite link profile
  
• Inbound link profile
  
• Local citations
  
• Brand mentions
  
• User experience factors
  
• Slow Page Loads

Here is a list of ranking factors from last year published by Search Metrics:



The list can go on and on. Aside from hacking your site, your competitors will have any difficulty affecting most of the items listed above. One thing that can be manipulated however is the user experience factors.

What are user experience factors that Google takes into consideration?

• Click through ratio for highly competitive search terms
  
• Bounce rate once users visit your site
  
• Average pages per visit
  
• Average time on site per visit
  
• How quickly your pages load

These are all areas of vulnerability since as a website owner, you have limited control over someone who is exploiting these areas and trying to devalue your site analytics intentionally. I know that we have seen this type of exploitation happening more and more frequently over the last six months, and we are not the only ones.

Brian Pasch recently published an article on LinkedIn about an increase in referral website spam. His conclusion was that digital agencies are attempting to inflate the web traffic in order to make it look like they are doing a better job of increasing traffic. This is so blatantly obvious and easily caught I can’t imagine any digital agency would put their reputation in danger by doing something this bone headed.

When you take into account the obvious negative SEO signals of continuous negative back linking, and see this type of deliberate web spam coming into your site in conjunction with the back-links, it makes much more sense that competitors are sending incredibly destructive web traffic that will contribute to a degradation of your entire analytics profile.

Another new method to drop your dealership authority is to have bots do searches for your most competitive or performing keywords and NOT click on your site. This will give you very high impressions with very low click through rates, another ranking factor that Google weighs heavily in your overall authority.

Although there are even more ways that competitors can attack you, this gives you a good representation of the many vulnerabilities that black hat companies are taking advantage of every day to hurt your SEO performance, even if you have a great SEO company doing everything right on your behalf!

IN SUMMARY

The popularity of advanced and beginning negative SEO tactics are increasing. Don’t be fooled into thinking bad backlinks are the end all of negative SEO. In my experience they are simply a first warning sign of a much deeper attack on your site. Linkless negative SEO is hard to catch, and difficult to fight for people that are not very technically savvy.

Linkless negative SEO geared toward destroying your user experience metrics are:

• Quiet
  
• Hidden
  
• Almost impossible to diagnose
  
• Based on a “bleed slowly” technique
  
• LEGAL

After Penguin, SEOs have to play much more defense than offense. Your digital marketing agency MUST be extremely well versed on the inner workings of Google’s ranking algorithms. Finding bad back-links is time consuming, but fixing all the user experience issues is much more complicated and virtually undetectable. Unless you know what to look for I’m convinced that most people will have no idea what is happening to them.
Do you know if you're not currently a victim of Negative SEO?

Do you have a plan for protecting and combating negative SEO?

I want to recognize that DealerRefresh contributors, and members of the dealer community, have discussed the need for third-party lead reform in the automotive industry in the past.

Login to view embedded media View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvAGS5p4I5w


Today,  I am joining with Jeff Kershner, and automotive professionals who have voiced their concerns, to raise national awareness and energize the discussion of third-party lead quality.

Can auto dealers work together for change? It is my hope that once dealers understand the flaws in the current system, they will demand change. It's time to turn the light on to third party leads sales.

Today, third party lead aggregators are supplying dealers and OEM co-op programs with a "mix" of leads from a variety of online sources. Aggregators create lucrative business deals to supply OEMs with leads to their franchise dealer network. Aggregators are paid on a per lead basis and not on a per sale basis. The more leads that are sent to franchise dealers, the more money aggregators will make.

The inherent flaw in this system is that quantity, not quality, is rewarded by large cash payouts. Dealers, on the other hand, are rewarded by OEMs on sales.

Click to expand...

Even though third-party leads come from different online sources, when the leads are sold to dealers, aggregators do not tag the original source of the lead. For example, if the leads are a mix of 30 different website properties, the dealer have no way to determine which lead sources are closing the best for their brand.

In fact, our initial research shows that over the past 10 years, the closing ratios of third party leads has continued to decline. Why is this the case? It is because there is big money is selling leads and the "sellers" are not be held accountable for generating sales. Some lead aggregators have decided they can make more money by pissing in the wine.

Now dealers know the source of that "bitter" taste in their mouths when they look at the closing ratios of third party leads!

Click to expand...

Third Party Leads and The Italian Wine Industry

The current system for selling third-party leads to dealers by aggregators reminds me of the Italian wine industry that was plagued with scandals in the past. Wine labeled as "Chianti", for example, was not really from the Chianti region of Italy at all. Unscrupulous merchants were purchasing lower quality wine, and labeling it as Chianti, since they knew Americans loved Chianti. Italy and the consortium of wine growers realized that this practice would ruin the wine industry.

As a result, the country came up with a labeling system which guaranteed the quality and source of grapes in the bottle. The Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOCG) labels, which appear as a pink paper ribbon over the corks, show that the government inspected the wine source. It supports a price/quality ratio that is known in that region of Italy.

The automotive industry needs the equivalent of the DOCG for third-party lead sources.

Click to expand...

Poor Lead Quality Has A Bigger Cost Than You Think

Dealers have to stop putting a low price tag on their human resources in the dealership. When sales professionals actively pursue leads that close at 1-2%, the cost per retail sale is unprofitable. Employees get discouraged when they are forced to work poor quality leads; morale decreases. The true "cost" of poor leads goes way beyond the $20 per lead cost that dealers invest.

Dealers have to stop perpetuating a business model that continues to deliver "mystery" leads as a mix. If dealers know that lead aggregators are mixing bad wine with good wine, why would they continue to buy wine from that source? Unless dealers enjoy just a bit of piss in their wine.

I understand that "some" leads sources may want to remain anonymous. In these RARE cases, the aggregator can create a pseudonym. For example, if American Express was selling leads, the aggregator could label these as "Credit Card Provider X1"

However, the majority of lead sources should be disclosed. The reason for the disclosure is simple: Dealers should be able to inspect how the leads are collected. They should be able to see what implied promises are being offered by each website source. Knowing how each website collects leads, and if they are exclusive, makes all the difference in the world.

Dealers will pay a higher price for the ability to select higher quality leads

Click to expand...

Which Companies Will Support Transparency?

Aggregators and OEMs that are dealer centric will not oppose DOCG equivalent labeling for third-party leads. Companies and OEMs that are only focused on making money, at the expense of dealers, will be exposed. The real issue is will dealers unit and speak up?  If OEMs are funding their marketing department by selling poor quality leads to their dealers, will dealers be truly vocal?

The practical problem is that the retail auto industry is at record highs and most dealers are very profitable.

Click to expand...

I would challenge complacency by saying that in busy times it is the perfect time to optimize your sales strategy. Fixing the system now protects dealers when things slow down, and they will. To create a change management movement in the auto industry, dealers will need to join with other members of DealerRefresh to make their voices heard. Dealers will have to vote with their wallets and also escalate research to their OEM dealer boards.

If you have specific information, that will help us uncover the dark side of third-party leads sales, send it confidentially our way. We are working on an in-depth research report and we need all the data we can collect to make change stick in our industry. You can send information to help with my research to: brian@pcgmailer.com.

 

The purpose of this article is to provide information to automotive dealers about Google’s new indexing changes and the technology and opinions related to them. The article has links to all my research for you to expand in the topic.

It is safe to assume that by now we have all heard that Google rolled out a “mobile-friendly update” (1) on April, 21 2014. It is important to understand these changes as they are the beginning of the way our websites will be accessed by our customers. We are moving from desktops to mobile devices and the way Google works for mobile changed.

The update will begin to change how Google ranks and indexes website content for mobile searches. This is an update to force website owners to improve their websites so they are mobile compatible. You can no longer ignore mobile traffic. Period.

Google’s goal is to offer mobile friendly links on search results therefore improving customer experience on their search engine.

Moz (2) analyzed the changes in traffic globally (not just automotive industry) and they haven’t been very relevant. So far this update hasn’t been a big deal as you can see in their “7-day analysis” (3). But don’t think this is over, here is why:

• The algorithm change only affects mobile (smart phone only, no tablets!) searches, not desktop.
  
• Most companies that were already ranking well for high value keywords were already mobile friendly.
  
• The changes will take time to spread, re-index, and notice changes—if any.

On a side note and quoting Google (4) about content and the effects of the mobile changes: "The intent of the search query is still a very strong signal -- so even if a page with high quality content is not mobile-friendly, it could still rank high if it has great content for the query.” Google will prioritize indexing of high quality useful content versus just the fact that the architecture of your site is mobile friendly. In my opinion this should be specially noted for long tail searches.

Google is looking to bring content parity (5) so the websites “provide the same content to both mobile and desktop visitors”. Your customers (and now Google!) “expect to be able to do anything on their devices that they can do on a desktop”. Quickly, we are breaking the myth that consumers will not perform certain tasks on a mobile device VS desktop, data shows the opposite, mobile devices are becoming the center of how we look for content and interact with products.

You can check if your website is mobile friendly by using this free tool provided by Google: Mobile friendly test(6). 

However, here are a couple things you should know about that tool. Most automotive dealerships have what is called “adaptive website platform” (7). When a customer types a URL on a mobile browser or clicks on a link on a smart phone, the server knows the request is coming from a certain type of device therefore changing what the server shows. In essence you have 2 different websites; one for desktops and one for mobile devices. The issue with that is that customer experience is not equal from device to device; not all 3rd party tools, links, calls to action, etc are always equally positioned or even existent on all devices. An “adaptive website platform” still passes Google’s test because webmaster can add a piece of code that tells the tool that a mobile version of the site exists in the server and therefore the tool approves the site.

We also have in the industry what we call “responsive websites” (8). Responsive websites are not just a way to pass Google’s test but a new way to look at how we progress into the changes from desktop to increasing mobile and tablet traffic (note also the arrival of the desktop tablets(9)). In layman's terms (spoiler alert: we produce this website) automotive responsive website systems (10) offer customers exactly the same website regardless of the device used so the website the customer experiences is always the same regardless of the screen size in use.

There is an evolution happening in front of our eyes from a desktop sized screen to a multi sized screen. The changes are also intrinsically related to site speed; while most desktops are connected to broadband mobile devices still suffer from connectivity. Site speed is a consideration (11) for 2014 and it will increase in years to come.

Our approach to responsive at (DealerLab.com)has been a specific technology called RESS (13). RESS technology allows the websites to control the load based on device and therefore the website’s loading speed. This technology is a must for automotive websites where the SRP (Search Results Page) and the VDP (Vehicle Details Page) are loaded with image files. You can see the need of RESS when website companies have to revert to use “flex systems” that in reality are not fully responsive as they fall back in adaptive technology. There are plenty of articles to expand on RESS (14) technology and how this can benefit automotive e-commerce.

Great, so what should I do as an automotive dealer?

Understand that:

• Digital marketing/indexing is shifting to mobile devices.
  
• Content is a great indexing factor.
  
• Site platform is relevant to performance.
  
• Responsive websites are the future for consumer experience.

1.http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2015/04/rolling-out-mobile-friendly-update.html

2.https://moz.com

3.7 Days After Mobilegeddon: How Far Did the Sky Fall?

4.http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.ca/2015/04/faqs-april-21st-mobile-friendly.html

5.http://insights.mobify.com/what-is-mobile-seo-faqs/

6.Introduction to Lighthouse | Chrome for Developers/

7.Adaptive web design - Wikipedia

8.Responsive web design - Wikipedia

9.Microsoft Surface: Laptops, Tablets & Computers | Microsoft

10.http://www.northwesthonda.com

11.Google PageSpeed Insights Reports: A Technical Guide/

12.Coming Soon page

13.LukeW | RESS: Responsive Design + Server Side Components

14.Lightening Your Responsive Website Design With RESS — Smashing Magazine/

A curious byproduct of the data age is that, despite our access to technology that lets us segment, dissect, and analyze like never before, we tend to talk about marketing in sweepingly broad terms, often limiting our discussions to the platforms themselves.

You’ve heard this conversation, I'm sure—“What’s your Facebook spend? Are you doing any print?” And so on. The sheer number of different platforms is partially to blame, but there’s also a false equivalence at work here that could be costing your dealership a legion of opportunity.

False equivalence #1: All advertising on a given platform is equally effective, therefore the platform itself should be the main consideration when making advertising decisions.

Let’s take TV, for example.

This false equivalence causes dealerships to spend tens of thousands on airtime, several more thousand on production, and then use a spokesperson who is uncomfortable, flat, and forgettable, because we assume that just being on TV is enough. One spot is as good as the next. Why has imagination suffered so much when we have access to almost unlimited technological potential?


Douglas Rushkoff, author of Present Shock: When Everything Happens Now (which I can’t recommend highly enough), was interviewed for this month’s issue of Marketing News, and though he wasn’t specifically referring to the automotive industry, he spoke in car metaphors as he described how he feels digital marketing hinders marketers:

“If you’re a business, it (digital marketing) ends up making you less confident in your creative, innovative potential. They have less belief in their ability to author a new reality, a new set of products, a new line, and are much more reactive to the data that’s coming. They think of that data as real time…But because you’re looking at what’s just happened in the store, you’re necessarily looking back. Even though it’s in the recent history, you’re still looking backward. You’re driving forward using the rearview mirror as your guide, and when you do that, you limit your creative and your profit potential to variations on history, to what’s already happened.”

Sounds familiar.

Digital marketing now bears an uncanny resemblance to standardized testing in public schools. Instead of creating enriching, memorable experiences for our community, we’re busy filling in bubbles with the hopes of getting the right score to satisfy humorless adults in remote locations. And worst of all, it’s boring.

That boredom is profitable, but not for you. Follow me on this one...

1. For marketers, an “ideal” consumer base acts with 100% predictability.

2. To the platforms and agencies you buy advertising from, your dealership counts as one consumer.

3. The platforms profit when you are predictable, because the only way for you to stand out is to spend more money.

We are not the marketers. We are now the customers, and the odds are not in our favor. Instead of focusing on our own strategy, narrative, and customer relationships, we find ourselves quibbling over the latest algorithm updates and best practice blog posts, hoping that one day, the carousel will stop spinning long enough for us to figure out what’s going on. Are these constantly changing rules an inevitable byproduct of emerging technology, or part of an intentionally misleading shell game designed to destroy the confidence of its players? Perhaps a bit of both?

The enforcers of this boredom, the Predictability Police, appear in many forms—sometimes from outside the industry, and often from within. They’re not all on the same team, but they are working toward a common goal: The blanding of your brand. OEM-mandated widget-driven websites? Predictability Police. Social media vendurus who run Facebook ads using iStock photography? Predictability Police.

Fear is the iron fist of the Predictability Police, and it flows freely in the automotive blogosphere.

Sometimes in the form of contextless diagnoses, such as: “That isn’t what sells cars.”

Sometimes with mystical tea leaf readings: “According to what we’re seeing, you should…”

Apocalyptic prophecy also makes regular appearances: “That might be working for you, but you’d better change now before you get left behind.”  Easy there, Kirk Cameron.

And my personal favorite: “Are you selling cars because of that strategy, or in spite of it?”

Yes, customer behavior is changing. Yes, dealers should adapt. Yes, digital offers immense, breathtaking opportunity. What we don’t talk enough about is the fact that dealers also have the power to shape reality, and we don’t need anyone else’s permission. At Super Car Guys, we have enormous, undeniable success with marketing on TV and radio. What a shame it would have been had we asked around to figure out if TV “still works.” What a shame it would have been had we resigned ourselves to the idea that “TV watching will be different twenty years from now,” and not taken action to shape the reality of this present moment.

On whichever platform you decide to use, develop a creativity-first policy. The science of content promotion and digital strategy is worthless if there is no art, so make something real, and don’t get caught in the trap of the false equivalence. Customers will respond when you can give them something they can feel.

Check out what Aaron is talking about:

Super Car Guy's YouTube Channel

A few of Aaron's Fav Vids:

This oneand this one

Current one running right now!

All of us have made hiring mistakes. Lots of them, in fact. STOP!

My experience in interviewing automotive sales talent has taught me that the vast majority of hiring mistakes can be nipped in the bud at the resume review. There are a number of things to consider when reviewing an automotive sales resume:

Resumes are marketing documents

 
Many dealerships we work with assume that resumes contain the gospel truth when it comes to a candidate’s background and experience. The only truth of the matter is that resumes are engineered to highlight (or even embellish) strengths and accomplishments while omitting clear and obvious failures.

Think about it - have you ever seen a resume that read, “Hit 56% of target sales target due to my inability to set appointments and unwillingness to consistently make cold calls”?

[highlight color="#F0F0F0" font="black"]"They (resumes) serve to tell you the features and benefits, but come up short on the deficiencies."[/highlight]

Treat resumes like you would any other piece of marketing collateral. They serve to tell you the features and benefits, but come up short on the deficiencies. That’s where a keen eye and experience come into play.

It takes a salesperson 3 months to become productive

 
With rare exceptions, I advise our dealerships to expect a three-month ramp-up period when hiring new sales staff. The first 30 days are a write-off from a production standpoint, and the next two should yield slow but steadily increasing progress. By month 4, they should be in full-on selling mode.

This time line affects the lens through which a manager should look at a sales resume. If a salesperson has been at their current employer for less than 4 months and is looking for work, that’s a major red flag. What that tells me is that either this person is failing miserably and knows it, or they made a huge mistake in accepting the position and they want out.

People make mistakes, and I’ve seen a number of cases where great resources take a job only to realize that their new employer is headquartered in the Ninth Circle of Hell. Most of the time I find that the reason they’re leaving is because they feel like they’ll fail in the job, and are cutting their losses early.

No matter the reason, what a duration of less than 4 months on a resume tells me is that the salesperson didn’t do enough fact-finding during the interview process to make a good decision, or that they’re not cutting it and are afraid for the job (or were fired). Both insights tell me they’re not at the top of their game, and that I should keep looking. I have made some exceptions to this rule, but only after really digging into the facts.

Ask yourself - Are you so desperate to throw your dealership's money away that you’d hire someone whose resume creates doubt before they’re even in the job? Trust me - someone better is out there, with less baggage (read: less risk).

Great salespeople don’t leave jobs where they’re making money

 
This point is pure human nature. If you’re knocking down $100,000 a year selling cars and crushing your sales goals in the process, chances are that you’re a hero at your store. Praise flows freely, and you get sent on trips where you sit on a beach with your family and drink rum cocktails. You’re probably damn happy.

[Tweet "Great salespeople only leave their job when the dealer does something stupid, like.."]

What you emphatically don’t do is actively look for another job. I can’t stress this point enough - great salespeople do not leave good jobs. Great salespeople leave that great job when the dealer does something stupid like cap their earnings or because they get acquired and the new regime wrecks what was working. They don’t want to start over working for you and your giant question mark.

Here’s what that means for you as the hiring manager with regards to the resume review: If a salesperson is looking for a job, that should immediately makes you wary. If this person has stints of less than 12 months on their resume, that’s a warning that there’s something more to the story. Why? Because it takes 12 months for even a great auto sales professional to get to a consistent, quota-reaching level of production.

Make sure you know why they’re looking. The answer, “for more opportunity” typically translates to “I’m not making my number.” You need to find out why.

The intent here was to focus you in on the major themes when reviewing a sales resume. When you’re looking at a sales resume that looks too good to be true, it probably is. I want you to focus your attention not on the words, but on the time frames. Understand that resumes are just another form of marketing collateral, and the job durations tell the story. And remember - salespeople who make great money because they’re great at their job typically do not leave unless something fundamental changes about their current employer.

It’s tough, this business of hiring great salespeople. Don't make it harder by loading up on candidates that should never be interviewed in the first place.

When you're reviewing a resume for sales position, what else are you looking for?

 

Arrgh! Searching for Auto Treasure at Digital Dealer 18

Have you seen my treasure map? The "X" shows up heeeere…  After a long, cold winter, I was happy to arrive at Digital Dealer 18 in WARM Tampa, Florida. Like so many others, I was searching for the treasure of invaluable information to make me a better dealer with our digital efforts, while visiting with so many great friends.

Speaking of which, a lot of the folks I know in  automotive would have likely been pirates a few hundred years ago... (hey Twitterer's - note that I have linked most folks Twitter handles in this review, go ahead and click on each to follow some of the best in the industry!). Let's get started...



The Tampa Convention Center was a beautiful location for DD18

Nobody told me about thunderstorms in Florida…  I arrived on Monday after the most turbulent flight I have endured with commercial airlines (which is still an amateur day compared to my Navy flying days) and it sounds like a lot of the other attendees flew through these same storms. Monday featured severe weather so I missed any poolside time that I might have envisioned, however I did spend the afternoon with the VinSolutions team learning about their newest updates.

Since it was pouring outside when we finished, we decided to take a 2 minute cab ride across the bridge to our hotel. Cost - NINE DOLLARS! Wow, I think the modern day pirates are driving taxi cabs in Tampa now. Of note, I lost my Uber cherry while at Digital Dealer and picked up a ride at minimal cost later while returning from an after-hours function.

I think I like me some Uber... After a nice dinner with my great friend Alex Jefferson, we attended a mixer party on Monday night. See some clips here with the short Digital Dealer 18 video I put together.

Singing "What a beautiful day for a dayyyyy dreammmm” – Attendees were located at 3 hotels around the convention center. I was just across the bridge at the Westin and the short walk (less than 5 minutes) was a great way to start the day. Yes, there was a shuttle, but who wants to miss out on some Florida sunshine and ocean water

I arrived early to get my registration badge and was greeted with some nice steel drum music, along with a roaming band of pirates. I was joined by Mike Roscoe and Dennis Galbraith who were also starting their day early. Unfortunately (and not surprising), most folks showed up just before 9 to get their registration badges and the line was soon out the door. Looks like most of us did not take advantage of the early registration pickup the day before.

This works easier at the Mirage (since most of us are in the same hotel as the conference) in the fall conference, perhaps registration pickup at the hotels would be easier for something like this? (but I am not sure of the logistics).



Mike Roscoe and Dennis Galbraith start the day early at DD18

There's dollars in dem dere data!…  Yes, it's true. Tony Rhoades, formerly of Gunn Automotive, crossed over to the dark side and is now Vice President of Product at AutoAlert. All kidding aside, Tony holds my highest respect in the industry, and he brings a lot of value to the team at AutoAlert.

Tony's session, "Convert Your Data into Dollars!" emphasized that while many dealers are good at "mining" their data to find sales opportunities, most fail on knowing what to do with this info. If data mining is the best tool for selling more cars while acquiring great trade-ins, why do we still struggle with great action plans on how to use this data?

As dealers work to sell to the younger generation, I believe that data mining will become even more effective. With today's "I must have it now" younger generation, a well-timed call or email from a dealership offering to put them into a newer car at the same or lower payment would likely work pretty well.

Tony shared some insight that really stuck with me - why do dealers sell a car, and then move on to working the next lead, instead of selling a car, and then working to develop a CUSTOMER by building a relationship with that buyer? Makes sense to me Tony, or should I say, it makes dollars and cents...



With great friends and respected peers Alex Jefferson and Tony Rhoades

It's netWORKing, not just sitting around and talking... The peer networking tables had strong attendance this conference, and there is not enough room to talk about all of the topics discussed at our table.

To BDC or not to BDC, should you use AutoTrader and Cars.com, and if so, how do you measure them, which CRM tool works best for you, etc. I know that at our table we were also swapping thoughts on what sessions to attend for the rest of the conference.

When I look back at the early Digital Dealer conferences and compare them to now, I am impressed at the level of knowledge of my peers at these networking tables. This is also the one time at the conference where I see the most business cards exchanged. Seems like most people are looking for these invaluable networking connections to follow up with AFTER the show ends.



Digital Dealer 18 Peer Networking Tables

Rub a dub dub, time for some grub…  All that learning sure gave me an appetite. That was until I saw the rats. There were rats running around everywhere while we were trying to eat. I think this whole "pirate ship environment" theme was taken way overboard. I AM KIDDING!!!

I have to share that one of the exhibitors (who shall remain unnamed) had a fake rat that they were hiding under the tables so that they could watch and see folks' reaction when they sat down to eat. It was not only hilarious, but they got Alex's friend Rodney on 3 different occasions - too funny.

Did I tell you that the best folks work in automotive? Both dealers and vendors are personable, outgoing, and have a GREAT sense of humor.



Enjoying lunch with my furry friend

Pack'em and Stack'em - standing room only folks!  I was up next with my session "Finding Your Optimal Digital Marketing Mix with Google Analytics". I was humbled to see that we were not only standing room only, but we had folks sitting up front on the floor and to the sides of me. No problem, I had put on plenty of Brut cologne earlier in the morning and the crowds didn't intimidate me at all.

My session featured some advanced tactics on how to use Google Analytics from a dealer's perspective to best identify who is performing (and who is not) with your digital marketing mix. In today's hyper-competitive automotive market, a "gut decision is a nut decision" and the successful dealers are holding their marketing partners accountable.

Why not? Aren't we all in a performance based industry?

I am here to tell you that YOU CANNOT OUTSOURCE SOMEONE TO GIVE A $HIT - and while that might not be a popular statement, it is true in almost all cases. Leading dealers must get involved in their reporting to not only hold their vendors accountable, but themselves as well.

If you would like a copy of my deck - you must leave a comment below on the review and share your email address. I promise I will send it to you, and you will get some great info on how to best use your Google Analytics.



A table full of TALENT - Joe Webb, Bill Simmons, Dean Evans, and Subi Ghosh

Better late than never...  I was a bit late for the next session "Let's Talk About Vendors and VDP's #accountability" with Bobbie Herron. Unfortunately Bobbie was struggling with some technical difficulties but Subi Ghosh came to the rescue to try and help with her online videos.

I only share this as I have had difficulties on 2 speaking occasions in the past where the Internet did not work and videos did not want to play. Hence I use screenshots and embedded videos almost exclusively now. Gimme a call Bobbie - I will help you and I EMPATHIZE!

Bobbie shared some of the efforts she has spearheaded internally in creating reports that show their VDP performance and more. She uses these tools to identify problems within the dealership that need to be addressed to best merchandise her dealerships' inventory. Once again, we see the growing movement amongst dealers to hold their partners accountable, along with themselves.

Of note - do not directly compare VDP's from your website to those of a third party site. This is like comparing apples to oranges. Take a close look at these other VDPs and all of the ads and distractions present that take your shoppers elsewhere...

Now, if I could bottle Bobbie's endless energy, I would not need those 5-Hour energy drinks that I am handing out at these conferences...



Todd Smith of Activengage serves me some beer - now THAT'S SERVICE!

I live underneath a rock when not at Digital Dealer... OK, don't be a hater, but I was not a follower of Scott Stratten. Was that because I was not a fan? No, I have just not read his books (Unselling) or seen his podcasts, BUT I was very impressed with this keynote session which was packed.

Scott shared his personal experiences while buying a car, as well as trying to schedule a service appointment, and while we (as dealers) laughed, it was also a bit uncomfortably. Why?  As Scott shared - "Is what you are doing better for your customer, or for YOU?"  This is a difficult area. Yes, customers tell you they prefer to communicate via email, BUT we know as dealers that if we can get them on the phone we are going to be much more successful.

Yes, customers don't like high pressure sales tactics, BUT they work or they would not exist. I could open a real barrel of worms here but suffice it to say this, the Internet has brought a new level of transparency to the car buying experience that is forcing us to be better, and that is good.

As one of the top social media influencers in the world, Scott brought some great insight on how to best sell to our modern day customer.



David Kain, Tiea Roper, and Allan Cooper

Drinking and thinking are a natural fit, well, at Digital Dealer they seem to be... Exhibit hall was packed, and I understand that there were a record number of vendors present. In fact, compared to recent conferences, I spent a lot of time on the floor looking at new solutions, getting demos, meeting with current vendor partners, and more.

It looked like a good ole VinSolutions' reunion at the Motofuze booth where they were featuring their new platform which allows you to see, sense, and respond to every customer in real-time. Motofuze features an all-star team of talent that includes Mike Dullea, Kendall Billman, Tom Walls, Joey Little and more. I am definitely following up on their solution in the upcoming weeks.



Brent Wees and "Team Canada" are in the house

Ready, Mine, Action! VinSolutions was featuring their new data mining platform which is still being developed, but holds a lot of potential. Why? There are several great data mining solutions in the market now, to include Auto Alert which I also demo'd.

The key issue in my mind is taking that mined data and putting it into an actionable format. I like the idea of it being directly housed within our CRM tool as we can maintain one central platform for our sales reps and managers to work within, and access this data mining data and actionable processes. Now take that data and combine it with an ongoing, automatic process and I am happy - which is why I am intrigued with the direction VinSolutions is taking....



Doug Silvester wins my Speed Buggy lunchbox, with Barbie Brand & Ali Amirrezvani of DealerOn

Is that a transistor radio you are listening to? Wow…  Enjoyed meeting with the folks from Pandora while at Exhibit Hall. The recent CarStory used car shopper study (this is a must read) shared that the top 3 features car shoppers are looking for in used cars are MP3, Bluetooth, and iPod connection.

What is the common theme?

It is how people listen to music now in their car. If you are supposed to fish where the fish are at, and more of your shoppers are now using Pandora, should you consider being there as well???



Tarry Shabesta of Driveitnow with Gaylie Felchlin Candler & Josh Mustachi of Pandora - great folks!

Who wants to drink some windshield wiper fluid?  Time to head over to have some great food and drinks at the VinSolutions' party at the Marriott. Enjoyed their signature drink - though I don't know what it was. It was bright blue and kinda looked like windshield wiper fluid, with more alcohol, but this fluid actually made it more difficult for me to see straight.

Now what was that paper I signed??

Also got to meet the folks from the Facebook automotive team, take some goofy pics in the photo booth, and spend time with great friends.



Peyton Hoffman, CJ DePasquale, Michael Magyar, Trace Przybylowicz, April Rain, Frederic Golen, Sean Stapleton, and Alex Jefferson

If I sang, you would croak-ie at this Karaoke...  The night did not end there - it just moved to Joe Webb and Shaun Raines' Karaoke night. Holy schnikes! I walked in and Eliana Raggio was absolutely knocking it out of the park with the first song I heard. I could quickly see that this was not your typical "let's drink a case of Pabst Blue Ribbon and suddenly I think I am the next American Idol" night as there was some great talent singing.

Joe Webb sang "Bust a Move", while my main man Alex Jefferson did just that. Meanwhile, my friends Brent Wees and April Rain and I were entertaining ourselves with some new ideas. Let's just say #bowlingball and #groinstretch. Enough said...



Brent Wees and April Rain demonstrate some new moves

Work hard and play hard, it's time to Rise and Shine! Thank you DD18 for the great breakfasts to start each morning. I needed that and a couple of cups of coffee to renew for my next jam-packed day. I spent some time with Canadian superstar Robert Karbaum, who was dropping his "car-bombs" of knowledge on us in regards to social media.

Robert emphasized a point that I was making some time back - folks follow their passions, not necessarily car dealers. If only three to six percent of our Facebook efforts are actually seen by our friends, how much impact can we make? Can it be done? Can you measure an ROI on social media (answer is YES - I showed how you can see it in Google Analytics...).

Robert shared some of the successful efforts they were having with social media and the one thing he shared that really resonated with me is this - "Twitter is ADD in the digital form". You may argue with that, but Robert is right. Your time of exposure on Twitter is often measured in seconds, and the resulting ROI is poor.

Don't believe it?

Take a look at the business reports on Twitter and Twitter's struggle to make money. Might be a signal to focus more on Facebook and other social platforms rather than Twitter.



Robert Karbaum takes questions after his session

Are things heating up on your website? Next was "Wrong Metrics = Skewed Results = Wrong Reactions" with Jason Ezell. Jason was one of the early pioneers of all things automotive and digital and his knowledge and experience is something I greatly respect.

While most of us are good at gathering data for reporting, how many of us are good at comparing that with benchmarks? Jason showed that we should compare (for example) our website performance data with our average DMA market as well as the national market.

Hey Jason - where can dealers like myself easily find that information? Please share in the comments section. And dealers, when is the last time you ran a heat map on your website?



Jason Ezelll, Arnold Tijerina, and friends at the DealerOn party

Beauty and the Beast? (just kidding AJ!) The dynamic duo of Kate Frost of Kate Frost Inc. and AJ Maida presented "It's NOT Social Media It's Social Commerce". While several great ideas were shared, I loved one that was featured - do you have any old pictures of your dealership? Use these on social media for your "throwback Thursday" efforts and more.

I know that we have an archive of old Jeff Wyler dealership photos that could be a lot of fun. Kate and AJ also shared that we should tap into what our customers are passionate about. After the insane winter the northeast just endured, AJ shared several pictures and posts that built upon the common issue everyone had to deal with - TONS of snow.

Did you know that you can invite people who liked your post to then like your page? AJ uses this tactic to build up his fan base. Of note, I vote Kate Frost as the most stylish attendee of Digital Dealer 18, though Brent Wees was a close second.



AJ Maida and Kate Frost wrap up a well- attended session on social media

There are may days that I feel like a robot...  After another great lunch and more demo's on the exhibit floor, I went to "Vendor Traffic/ROI" with Jeff Tognetti of DealerX. While this was an informative session on the perils on the Internet with Bot fraud and more, many of the attendees were so discouraged with their Internet efforts at the end that the running joke was "Put everything back into the newspaper, the Internet is broke!".

I would share that we do our best to closely monitor our digital marketing efforts to best avoid bot fraud, and have even completely pulled our re-marketing and online display ads at some points as we deal with this. However, we still drive significant GOOD traffic with digital marketing that sells cars.

I agree with Jeff that you should closely watch your reporting to ensure it is as accurate as possible, however we will never totally avoid online fraud. We can be proactive in getting the best results we can with due diligence. I will be looking into this some more in upcoming weeks - very insightful session Jeff.



Michael Magyar, Veronica Dunford, Chris Fousek, and Jason Ezell

What? Do you think I am a clown? Do I amuse you?  OK, after years of abusing my Canadian friends, I should have expected nothing less from Brent Wees when he asked me to volunteer than some friendly humiliation - at least Bobbie Herron was there to join me as I stuffed 10 marshmallows in my mouth while wearing a garbage bag and safety glasses.

Brent's session on "Mobile Optimization" was my favorite at Digital Dealer 18 as he was able to take the complex technical issues involved with mobile optimization and explain them in a SIMPLE format that dealers could understand.

Brent was one of the pioneers of responsive websites, yet he will be the first to tell you that there is a lot more involved to mobile optimization than just changing the size of the display on your PC and watching everything drop into columns.

Google just publicly announced the launch of their latest mobile algorithm change on April 21st (Mobile-geddon) and astute dealers have been watching this area closely. How is your website performing via mobile? Brent offered two great tips.

First, have your mother try to book a test drive, or schedule a service appointment on your mobile site - can she do it?

And second, for the right price, you can have your site tested by a drunk user. Really - your website should be so simple that a drunk guy can use it. You heard me, go to theuserisdrunk.com and give it a shot. Or better, just buy Brent and I several shots and we will test your website for free.



Cecil Bolling, Bobbie Herron, AJ Maida, Brent Wees, Michael Magyar, Nick

The Hour of Power…  I missed the final keynote by Jim Knight, but only because I was back on the exhibit hall floor. Did I mention before that I have not spent this much time on the floor for the last several conferences??

I must share that I missed a session that generated a LOT of buzz - "Watch and Learn Principles of Hypnotic Influence and Persuasion That Are Almost Impossible to Resist" with Tim Triplett.

My buddy Alex was showing me videos of the many folks that were hypnotized during this session to demonstrate the power of persuasion. Hard to believe, I know, but I will refrain from posting the videos for the dignity and privacy of those involved, but they were hysterical. I understand this session will likely return in the fall and I will be there in the front row!



Tricks are for kids, and also for Eliana Raggio. Seriously - FUN idea for a booth, love it!

You gotta fight, for your right, to PARRRRTTTTTTTYYYYYY!!! The DealerOn and Motofuze party was a TON of fun. Many thanks to the great folks at both firms for this incredibly fun get together. I think a lot of our automotive family released a lot of stress at this party as it folks were tearing it up, lol.

The kinds folks at DealerOn treated me to dinner (I barely had time to return from the networking/cocktail hour to shower and return for this) and then we got to spend time with so many great folks.

When it comes to website conversion, the crew at DealerOn are the best. When it comes to hosting a party at Digital Dealer, DealerOn never disappoints!! Thanks to the awesome folks at MotoFuze as well!!



Brent Wees, Kate Frost, Eliana Raggio, Barbie Brand, and Alex Jefferson. Picture is not foggy, the folks are just smokin' hot at this party

Talk about energy in the morning…  Congrats to Peter Leto, Mat Koenig, and Rick Lopez who brought a lot of energy to the early keynote panel on Thursday morning. Mat Koenig entered with a spray of water in the air that was a first for me to see, lol.

The hispanic market continues to grow in automotive, yet it is largely untapped by dealers throughout the country. Do you have any spanish content on your website? What an incredibly simple thing to add to get some quality search traffic to your site. And once you get it to your site, do you have a dedicated phone number where a hispanic customer can call and reach someone who speaks spanish?

Sounds like a lot of low hanging fruit is out there ripe for the picking...



Mat Koenig and Ceren Isildak

The number one question asked while I was at Digital Dealer 18 was... Where is JULIE Wow, I remember the days when folks were excited to see me, but apparently I am just arm-candy for my better half Julie as she seemed to be the only person anyone asked about.

I think Julie's excuse for not joining me was she was running the BOSTON MARATHON! Yes, I am incredibly proud of my wife who qualified to run the Boston Marathon. And if you think that is impressive, she ran the Boston Marathon on Monday and the following Saturday she ran the Nashville Rock and Roll half-marathon with me. Julie wishes everyone well and will be joining me this fall.



My lovely wife Julie Frye missed Digital Dealer 18 as she was running the Boston Marathon - incredibly proud!

The cup is half full, well, let's say 3/4 full! When I look back at Digital Dealer 18, I would share the folks in attendance were incredibly enthusiastic and optimistic.

Our market is very strong right now and fellow dealers (as well as vendors) are upbeat about our near future. I have never seen more advanced material than I have at this Digital Dealer, and the trend continues that direction as the overall knowledge base and skill level of dealers across the country increases. It has been an exciting journey watching Digital Dealer grow and mature into what it is today.



Brent Wees strikes a pose. Don't ask, even Canada is confused. He did place second after Kate Frost for best dressed at DD18 though.

PTL, Hallelujah, and whipped creme on top!  On a personal note, when I last wrote my Digital Dealer 17 review, I was getting ready to complete a bone marrow transplant on behalf of my brother Jon Frye.

I am at a loss of words to thank all of my #autofam for the kind thoughts and valued prayers for his recovery. The great news is that the bone marrow transplant was a success and as of about 2 weeks ago, the test results show that my bone marrow is 100% engrafted in Jon's body - praise God. He still has a long road to recovery, but we are incredibly grateful to all of you.



Jon Frye receiving my bone marrow last fall - PTL for answered prayers for his recovery from the awesome #autofam

Step right up folks!  Many of you know Ryan Leslie with DealerRater - and you likely noticed that Ryan was not in attendance at Digital Dealer 18. Ryan's son Caleb is fighting cancer now, and deeply needs our prayers and support.

If you enjoy this review, would you PLEASE take a moment to tweet your kind words and prayers to #calebvscancer and @ryanleslie. Just as #autofam prayed for my brother, I ask for the same for the Caleb Leslie medical fundraising page.



Ryan Leslie and his beautiful family

He's not just a car-guy, he is a GOOD GUY... And it doesn't stop there. Bryan Armstrong is one of the key guys in the industry that I respect - but not just for his automotive knowledge and experience.

Bryan and his wife Tamarra are two of the most loving and unselfish people I know, fostering and adopting multiple children. Please take a moment to visit this page to help get Tamarra to the Mayo Clinic as she also struggles with medical issues.



Bryan and Tamarra Armstrong and family

Yeah, that's right. I am not afraid to talk straight about Digital Dealer AND Life... Do you know what I love about our automotive family? They are performance driven, personable, and incredibly friendly people that work insanely hard, and do not hesitate to help others. What other industry can a guy like me ask for prayer support and get overwhelming response?

Trust me, a car guy or car gal are not afraid to share their personal convictions. The only thing bigger than a car-guy/car-gal's courage is their heart.



Driving away until I see you at Digital Dealer 19 in Las Vegas!

So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen good night! So I wrap up another Digital Dealer review. I encourage you to leave your thoughts and comments below on what you thought of Digital Dealer 18.

If you can handle my sarcastic and sometimes scathing commentary within the automotive sphere, give me a follow on Twitter at @kevinfrye1, and I look forward to seeing you at Digital Dealer 19 in Las Vegas, October 5-7, next fall. I will be celebrating my anniversary with the lovely Julie Frye and hope to see the Brittany Spears show while I am there. Until then, hit me baby one more time!

[highlight color="#FFD699" font="black"]As always, thanks Kevin for the fun and insightful review. Please give Kevin a big thanks in the comments below  - Kershner[/highlight]

Do you remember the Lollapoolaza rock tours that took the world by storm during the 90’s?

It was a collection of the who’s who of modern music; each concert made your ears salivate. Imagine a concert that brought together the best of alternative rock, hip hop, ska, funk, and heavy metal. What Lollapoolaza was for music in the 90’s, Dealer Talk has become for automotive marketing in Canada

Dealertalk’s version of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Ice Cube, Stone Temple Pilots looks like these marketing rock stars: Jeff Kershner, Marcus Sheridan, Grant Gooley, Scott Stratten and Laura Madison.

2015 plans to take the Dealer Talk series to the next level.

Marcus Sheridan, “The Game Has Changed: How Sales & Marketing Changed Forever and What You Must Do About It”

Sheridan will be a hit with car dealers. Marcus plans to teach the audience how to bring their dealership into this century, to gain trust with potential customers as opposed to going to battle with them over price.

Sheridan was forced to reinvent his own pool business after the market collapse of 08’. How did he do that? Sheridan became a trusted partner and a teacher to his customers. With $0.00 marketing dollars to spend and near financial collapse, Sheridan started a blog that answered questions that potential pool buyers had. Fast forward seven years and Sheridan’s site, www.riverpoolsandspas.com is the world leader in pool related content, and recently River Pools and Spas has become a pool manufacturer. Teaching and trust can go a long way in the digital world, and Sheridan will teach you how to do that.

Laura Madison, “How I Used Personal Branding, Social Media & Video to WIN New Business In the Dealership”

Laura Madison was just like you, but better. Laura knows how tough it can be grind it out daily on the blacktop trying to close deals.

Instead of complaining about her own lack of ups, she created her own personal brand. How did she do that? By become a source of helpful information to customers in her local town by using Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and her own blog. Laura used this approach to start selling over 25 units a month; not bad for a Toyota dealer smack dab in the heart of Montana, full of loyal truck drivers.

Laura plans on teaching the sales people in the crowd of the importance of building a brand and experience, and making car buying experience rather than a transaction.

Scott Stratten- Unselling: The New Customer Experience

Scott Stratten’s list of credentials and accomplishments run longer than a Dave Matthews Band drum solo. And that is long.

Forbe’s ranked him one of the Top 5 social media influencers in the world, and Stratten also wrote “UnMarketing: Stop Marketing. Start Engaging” ranked as a best seller by Globe and Mail.

Scott’s a modest guy and would rather spend his time at Dealer Talk talking about his recent car buying experience. Scott will talk about how using “Unselling” can help you close potential buyers before they show up on your lot.

Scott will give specific examples of how to keep these potential online customers coming back for not just another car, but for service appointments as well.

Grant Gooley-Remarkable Marketing & Consulting Topic: Dealership Marketing Roast – The Hard Truth!

Let’s face it; as far as used car dealers have come in the last 10 years to shed the image of a gold chained, greasy haired weasel that was born to fight with you on price, it still exists with some customers.

Grant wants car dealers to tackle this head on. No more side stepping or weaving.

What does Grant think the best way to do this is? With a roast of the used car dealer.

For those of you familiar with the “roast” phenomenon, you probably recently enjoyed the roast of the pride of Canada, Justin Bieber.

If you are not familiar, a roast is a chance for the speaker to air ugly truths about the roastee. The roastee in this case being the used car sales person. Grant feels the auto world will be a better place once these are out in the open.

Grant will “roast” the used car dealer, and then take the opportunity on how to shed this stereotype and focus in on what matters most, the customer. Grant knows what he is talking about; he has worked with over 60 car dealerships during his career. Grant has implemented the practices he will talk about, and at the dealership level observed a 30-40% lift.

Trust me, if you haven’t seen Grant speak before, he will be a highlight of Dealer Talk. High energy might actually be selling Grant short – you do not want to miss him at Dealer Talk 2015!

Last but certainly not least is DealerRefresh’s own Jeff Kershner. Jeff was poised to take the Canadian market by storm at the last conference, but, in an ironic twist, an east coast snowstorm had him stranded in Baltimore. Dealers are excited to gain some of Jeff’s valuable insights and knowledge on his presentation It’s 2015; How Are You Communicating With Car Buyers?

For any of the DealerRefresh community that wants to take part, please go to http://dealertalk.ca/pages/page-with-no-content/redirect-to-eventbrite/ and use the promo code “dealerrefresh”

Look forward to seeing you there!

Here is a quick video of Dealer Talk 2014:

Login to view embedded media View: https://vimeo.com/90654191

If you had a salesperson who was going through a sales presentation and constantly choking on step four of that presentation process, you'd find a way to fix the issue in step four...

Better presentations lead to more sales, right?

Guess what? There is a point in your automated follow-up process that is choking and affecting not only the remainder of your follow-up campaigns, but possibly your deliverability to your other customers.

Here's what I mean...

Let's say your initial email autoresponder rate generates a 40-50% open rate. Then time passes and by day 90 in the follow-up process, your open rates might be down to 18%.

While declining open rates in prospect follow-up campaigns are completely normal, here are two abnormalities you should look for, plus an easy test you should try.

With most CRMs, buried at the bottom of the reports list, is usually an open rate report for your follow-up campaigns. You'll want to have this information handy and then look at the following:

Scenario #1

Your overall open rates decline from beginning to end, but some emails towards the middle or end, have much higher open rates than earlier emails. Maybe the open rate for email #4 is 21% and the open rate for email #12 is 27%.

The good news: you have emails later in the campaign that are still getting high open rates which means you are still getting good inbox placement with the campaign.

What to fix: This is just like the sales person who is struggling with a step in the sales process, you want to keep trying to improve your weakest link in the sales process. Test changing the subject line on your lower performing emails or see if that email can be eliminated or possibly replaced with a phone call.

Scenario #2

You begin with high open rates but somewhere towards the middle of the campaign, there's an email with a sharp drop in the open rate and the open rates continue to drop for those emails that follow.

This is kind of like the salesperson who keeps talking in the sales presentation and talks the customer out of sale.

What might be happening in this scenario is that you have too many emails in your follow-up campaign or your subject lines aren't very engaging. In email terms, there is a point in your campaign when you are losing most of your prospects and as a result, you may have trained the email providers to start sending those remaining emails to the spam can.

Here's an example:

• Your prospects are opening emails #1 through #12.
  
• By email #13, many stopped reading or started marking your emails as spam.
  
• This trained the email providers such as Yahoo and Hotmail that when email #13 arrived, to start sending that email to the spam folder so even those prospects who may have been interested, now don't know that they have your email which causes a further decline in your open rates.

What to fix: Start with the email in your process where the drop in the open rates begin. In the example above, it is email #13. Consider testing a different email and see if your open rates improve - maybe one with a subject line that asks: Are You Still Interested?

Other options you can do to improve declining open rates:

• Reduce the number of emails in the campaign - especially the type that don't provide the prospect with any new information such as those with a subject line: Just Checking In.
  
• Add personalization fields to your subject lines: Pricing Update on [Year] [Make] [Model]
  
• Check the email in the campaign right before the open rates drop. Make sure there isn’t anything in that email that sends the message: Don’t bother reading any of my future emails.
  
• Check your email reputation for free at senderscore.org. To do this, you'll need the ip address that is used to send your prospecting email. (For help finding the ip, here's a how to article that covers most email providers. Having a sender score below the 90's will impact your inbox deliverability and this can only be improved by better email behavior (sending relevant emails to those people who want them.) The exception to this is if you have a good sending reputation but are on a shared ip with others who do not. In that case you may want to talk to your CRM provider.

And a final, unscientific test, here’s something you can do: set-up an account with Hotmail, Yahoo and Gmail. Next, send in a lead to get those new email addresses added to your prospecting follow-up campaign. Log in to those accounts but don’t click on any of the emails that your campaign has sent. Check in after 30, 60 or 90 days and see at what point those emails start getting routed to the spam folder rather than your inbox.

There's nothing particularly fun about testing and tweaking your follow-up campaigns. But if you consider how many prospects these campaigns touch, improving their effectiveness by just 10% can have a multiplier effect on your sales.

 

To a lot of managers, the thought of yet another monthly vendor report is about as exciting as an empty dealership on Saturday afternoon.

I get it – you’re busy, you’ve got a system, things are “okay.” But that’s a losing way of thinking. In the world of big data and advanced analytics, failing to embrace all of the information available to your dealership will only put you at a disadvantage.

Do you think Berkshire Hathaway Automotive runs the numbers? I sure do.

Elevating Our Metrics

 
Before I get into some of the new tools you can you use to tailor and improve your store’s presence on Cars.com, I want to level the conversation.

I realize that though there are more than 20,000 dealerships nationwide running with Cars.com, there are also some that aren’t. Without getting into the weeds about which companies to partner with and why, I hope the following builds on a much more important conversation about what types of metrics we look at to determine success within our industry.

Unfortunately, I still hear the same basic feedback during most of my training sessions.

“Jack, I need more leads. We’d be crushing it if we just got more emails and phone calls,” they say.

But the reality is that the pesky metric we’ve been laser-focused on for more than a decade is quickly fading away. In its place, impressions, page views, referrals, maps views, chats and a host of new metrics are starting to paint a better picture of what’s actually going on at our dealerships.

New-car sales are up, yet traditional lead submissions are flat across the industry. What does that tell us about the way consumers are choosing to interact with dealerships?

What’s In The Box?

 
Last month, Cars.com rolled out a brand new suite of reporting tools for our dealer-partners. If you’re familiar with our old tools, you can visit dealers.cars.com and log in just as you did before. If not, I encourage you to reach out to your local Cars.com rep, or our customer support team to get access right away.

While I won’t get into every new feature in this post, the biggest upgrades we’ve made are the result of a renewed focus on local market insights and actionable information that can improve your performance on Cars.com, all within an easy-to-access, central location.

Once you log into your account, you’ll see familiar options to manage dealer reviews, add content to your dealership profile page and update your inventory. Skip that for now and head straight to the new Reporting section at the top of the list.

Local Insights

 
The first thing you’ll notice is a DMA-level snapshot, including indicators that show year-over-year trends in visits, mobile visits and unique visitors within your region.



Go one step further and click the Radius Performance link on the left-hand side of the page. The report will feature a variety of drop down menus as well as an interactive map.

Take a hard look at it...seriously.

By analyzing your performance at a zip code-level, you can begin to understand local trends and tailor your marketing to be more efficient.

Here’s what I mean. This single-point franchise dealership draws the majority of its new-car Vehicle Detail Page (VDP) views in clusters along the eastern, central and southwest areas of Philadelphia.

No big deal, right?



Wrong. When you toggle over to used-car VDPs and impressions, it’s clear that used-car shoppers in the market are very different. They’re highly decentralized, viewing dealership content from all over town, including some remote areas.



But why does that matter?
 
Pretend you’re targeting ads through Cars.com, search, direct mail or any other marketing channel. Would it make sense to hit those new-car heavy areas with primarily manufacturer and service messaging or would used-car specials be more relevant? The new-car message is the obvious choice.

Inventory Basics

 
Next, jump back to the primary dashboard and take a peek at the Vehicle Snapshot report. Within it, you’ll see a quick overview of your current merchandising stats. These are your vitals.

If the percentage dips on your new and used inventory with photos, price and seller’s notes, you can bet the overall health of your dealership will bottom out with it.



While a lot of stores have this down pat, those that don’t fail to realize the importance of getting the fundamentals right. Without photos and price, you’ll see Search Results Page (SRP) to VDP conversion drop; without seller’s notes and dealer reviews, you’ll likely see fewer walk-in connections.

This stuff matters to consumers, and if you’re not taking it seriously, consumers won’t take you seriously either.

On the left side of the screen, you’ll see a list of related deep-dive reports. The two tabs I’ll call out are Current Inventory and Vehicle Demand.

In the Current Inventory report, you can look at your inventory on a per-vehicle basis to help determine you inventory turn, merchandising health and aggregate performance within 10 to 15 day intervals. If a car has been on the lot (and on Cars.com) for more than 30 days, you’ll see exactly what you need to tune up, in terms of pricing and merchandising, to help move that car off the lot.



The Vehicle Demand report, on the other hand, acts as a forecast. It shows current make/mode/year-specific searches and vehicle removals, which correlate closely with actual in-market vehicle sales. Use it as way to help weigh inventory acquisition opportunities and new-car incentives.



 

Think Connections, Not Leads

 
Finally, I want to reiterate the importance of looking beyond phone call and email metrics when evaluating the success of digital marketing. Let me be clear: The majority of car shoppers don’t send traditional leads before visiting the dealership, and they haven’t for some time; they arrive on your lot and expect to do business with you. It’s that simple.

Jump back to the main reporting dashboard and scroll to the Connections Snapshot at the bottom of the page. You’ll see a monthly breakdown of both traditional leads (e.g., emails, phone calls) and contacts (e.g., website referrals, map views, etc.). In this example, which is similar to dealerships all across the country, leads are down while contacts are up – a telling sign of the way the industry is moving.



Drill down on the Connections tab to go into even greater detail.

More often than not, if you sort by connection type (just click the line graph), you’ll find that Map Views, Directions and Web Transfers are heavily weighted toward mobile, while Email connections skew toward the wired Cars.com site.

Think about that. What does that say about the new role of smartphones in the shopping process and how consumer behavior has evolved?



It’s no longer enough to tally the numbers and move on to the next month. To be truly successful as a dealership, you’ve got understand that whether they raise their hands or not, potential customers can are seeking you out across all devices at any time online.

Now let’s get to it.

3 Things To Do Today

 

• Get Signed Up – If you, your GM or DP don’t have access to the new Cars.com reporting suite, make a phone call or send a text to your local rep today. Then, schedule some time to walk through the new reporting tools in person.
  
• Check Your Vitals – Do all of your vehicles (new, used and certified pre-owned) have an accurate price, quality photos and relevant seller’s notes listed? Is your Cars.com dealer profile fully completed? Have you responded to all of your recent dealer reviews? Before you get into the nitty-gritty of our new reporting, make sure to nail the basics.
  
• Plan Your Next Move – Work with your Cars.com rep to plan a strategy using the insights from our new reporting. Is local dealership brand awareness low? Do have aged inventory to move? From inventory acquisition and pricing to local marketing tactics, the information within our new reporting suite is relevant beyond Cars.com. Use it to your advantage as a part of your overarching digital marketing strategy.

 

It’s no secret that the public’s perception of car salesmen is not flattering. You know the image, a sleazy persona clad in gold chains and a plaid jacket. It’s not pretty.

Beyond this tacky depiction lays the real problem: mistrust.

Mistrust has long been our industry’s greatest challenge. This profession has the lowest rate of perceived honesty and ethical standards according to the most recent Gallup Honesty/Ethics in professions poll. Car salespeople rank 2nd-to-last in this poll, ahead only of Members of Congress.

Take a look at the poll...



But as an industry, we haven’t taken much action. We tout that consumers have to know, like, and trust their salesperson before they make a buying decision - ignoring how pervasive mistrust is in the consumer mindset.

Lack of trust is what makes a concept like TrueCar so welcome in the customer’s car-buying process. It’s why it can be so difficult to convince buyers that leasing may actually be a good alternative. And lack of trust is why salesmen in dealerships everywhere mutter the phrase “buyers are liars.”

Why do buyers lie? Because they don’t trust salespeople enough to tell them the real objection: that a repo has affected their credit or that they don’t have enough money down.

So what can we do? I posit that if we begin to encourage and empower salespeople to define themselves in opposition of the perceived, sleazy persona, we will transform our business and the negative consumer perception.

What would happen if we simply expected and encouraged excellence from the people that so widely represent our industry? What if we:

Trained them?

Give salespeople confidence by educating them. Send them to workshops, utilize an online training platform, and simulate things like difficult calls and tricky customer conversations every morning meeting. Show salespeople that the dealership is committed to their success and encourage them to invest in it themselves.

Asked them to participate online?

Expecting salespeople to participate in the online movement is both empowering and innovative. Allowing and encouraging salespeople to film video of new features on a redesigned model or blog about how to do the best test drive is an incredible way for salespeople to begin to look like helpful resources more than hungry, front-door vultures.

Encouraged them to contribute to the community?

Having car salespeople join outside organizations, like Biz to Biz, encourages them to promote themselves while also teaching skills like public speaking and professional networking. Acknowledging that in 2015 many car purchases begin with relationships outside the dealership walls can be a powerful message for salespeople to go out in the world and be proactive.

The result could be transformative. By encouraging action and creating a culture of empowerment, we may see a shift in demeanor, a new opinion about their profession and ultimately a change to the stereotype.

Whatever your leadership role, managers, dealer principles, factory representatives, think about how you could empower salespeople and then act on it. Let’s transform the rampant mistrust that should no longer plague our industry.

Laura, thank for your first post here on the blog.

It’s Sunday morning and my phone buzzes with a notification. Text? Email? Nope. I was just tagged in a Facebook photo.

That makes sense because I have that ONE paparazzi friend. You know who I’m talking about. The friend whose life mission is to relentlessly photograph every outing. He awkwardly snaps photos at any possible chance. He interrupts meals for photos. He bothers busy waiters to ask for group shots.

My phone buzzes again. Facebook really wants me to check out paparazzi friend’s photo.

What do I do? I obviously check it. I have to. But what do I really do? What is the first thing I subconsciously do when looking at a photo?

I scan the crowd for myself. I find my own face. I spot myself. Every. Single. Time.

I bet you do too.

Marketers aren’t stupid

Dale Carnegie tells us that our own name is the sweetest sound of the human language. That’s probably true, but I argue that our own face is the sweetest sight to lay eyes upon.

We constantly look at faces all day. They build trust. They help tell stories and increase empathy. Sabina Idler says that “we unconsciously try to relate everything we see to ourselves.” Faces help relate products, services, and desired actions back to ourselves.

“But Mike! This is nothing new! Articles like this and this already prove your point!”

That’s true. I’m not unveiling an unknown secret here. I do think, however, that we marketers, sales professionals and product designers in the automotive industry take for granted just how powerful faces really are.

The more you look, the more you see these faces

Seriously. Smart marketers are taking advantage of this seemingly simple tactic.

Check out this TurboTax Personal Pro billboard. There must be 1 million of these up in Dallas right now.



The face of your next tax expert

TurboTax Personal Pro helps average dudes like me find professional tax experts. See those three friendly faces on the right? Those are my tax professionals. Those are the folks that help me during this stressful time. You better believe that Turbo Tax is slapping those faces on every single billboard for a reason.

And the list goes on and on and on….

Uber



The faces of fun experience!

Airbnb



Adventurous faces tell stories.

 

Zenefits



Calling support, can be fun full-filling experience.

The one and only Jerry Thibeau!



The face of a phone ninja!

Chat with Bill at John Eagle Honda



The face behind the chat??

Car Wars reporting – I know, I know...I used my own company as an example. Shame on me. But we are big believers in the use of faces for both marketing and within our reporting platform.



The face of your internal communications.

 


5 Effective Ways to Use Faces In Your Marketing

It’s a tough world out there. People don’t like buying cars. Competition is stiff. I can buy a new Nissan from a slew of dealers here in Dallas. It is thus critical for dealers to build rapport and make personal connections in every step of the funnel. Dealership’s should be itching for a tiny little edge in the battle for winning trust.

I think faces are an easy hack to help do that. Here are five easy ways to use faces in your dealership’s sales and marketing efforts.

Email Signature

I’m shocked at how much stuff is shoved into email signatures: Name, dealership name, dealership logo, OEM logo, dealership motto, physical address, phone number, fax number, dealership awards and an inspirational quote to top it off.



Allow people to know who they're working with.

The one piece usually missing is a simple little headshot. Slap one in your email signature today. It’s easy and gives the prospect a relatable face to trust.

Meet Our Team

My first stop on a company’s website is almost always the team or staff page. Your shoppers are doing the same. They check that page to see the people they want to spend $20,000+ with. I don’t blame them.



The faces behind the team.

 

An updated and clean listing of your dealership’s staff is a must. There is nothing worse than a staff page with no head-shots or a “Coming Soon!” sign. Work with your web provider to ensure it’s on your site and functioning.

Dealership Blog and Social Media

Be deliberate about including the faces of employees and customers on your dealership’s blog and social media.



Just some of the faces of Super Car Guys.

 

There countless ways to make this interesting and genuine. Show your employees having fun on a crazy snow day. Snap pictures of your team volunteering at the local food bank. Ask customers for permission to post photos of them with their new vehicle on Facebook.

Video

Attending near every automotive conference (large and small) over the last few years, I’m always impressed by the auto veterans who realize the power of video.



Send a personalized (face) video and sell more cars - it's proven.

 

More specifically, the self-shot videos that include a friendly greeting and walkaround, highlighting features and benefits. Don’t be shy to video and share an introduction to your prospect.

Website



6th generation of the Hare family, sisters Courtney Cole and Monica Peck

Faces, Faces, Faces

Start looking for faces in the marketing, advertising, and products you see daily. Where else have you found them?

Where are you effectively utilizing your face within your dealers online and offline marketing efforts?