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Mar 12, 2009

Frankly, all the website companies are the same in certain aspects. I think it really comes down to their conversion ratio or the traffic to the site being converted into leads, either phone calls or emails. We personally have a Cobalt website through GM, and we have the upper package with the search. We have gotten great results in the past 8 months. Our "procare" person is awesome and always helping us with specials and going over our reports and constantly helping us with our online strategy. The search that GM does for their dealers are on 3 tier levels. The first pushes back to GM. The second pushes back to a DMA landing page. The third pushes back to the dealer and is triggered by name and location of the dealer. I think this is a good thing that GM is looking out for us and spending our money digitally. As far as doing additional search with Cobalt, it has more than paid for itself. Unlike other companies I have used in the past, they actually come up with a strategy and have someone running my campaigns rather than just flip a switch and spend my money. We can sit here and bash GM and Cobalt or any other OEM or website provider all day long, but at the end of the day, most of the OEMs are moving towards this and if you ask GM and the dealers out there, it has greatly produced results (even for some of us that have been doing this for a long time). Frank, it seems as though you really have a bug up you about GM and Cobalt. I understand that some dealers want their freedom of choice, but most make the wrong decisions. Coordinating efforts gives us better pricing and more value. I love Cobalt and what they have done for my dealership. Best of luck to all of you. Instead of complaining and complaining, come up with a marketing strategy that works for you, use your procare person (the 299 a month is well worth it), and sell some cars. The squeeky wheel gets the greese, but sometimes it gets replaced. Happy Selling!

Mar 11, 2009

I want to thank everyone for all the positive responses and support you all are a huge part of the automotive marketing world we all live and play in. I received an e-mail from GM today which wants me to push that much harder, I believe most of you realize the importance of what I have been talking about in regards to the monopoly and the direction we are headed as having rules stuck in front of us and not being able to make the choices we see best for our dealers etc. Here is part of the e-mail I received minus the name of course.

Frank,

I have ran this issue down through both Cobalt and the Director of the IMR program at GM. The bottom line answer is that IMR program will continue to include the Cobalt website and a basic level of paid search advertising for that site. Modifications to those offerings will not be allowed under the IMR program.
I understand this not the answer you were looking. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx. However, I have received very clear direction from Detroit on this matter and do not expect a change.

I have done my best to inform and give my best analogy of the situation I see as detrimental not only to our advertising but our actual ability to make choices that effect the way we make a living.

Frank Davis
918-520-6777

Mar 11, 2009

You can add Volkswagen and Audi to the list of manufacturers who require their dealers to have a Cobalt web site in order to receive leads from the manufacturer.
The manufacturers should worry about their own web sites and allow their dealers to be creative with their own. If someone goes to audi.com and asks for a quote, that quote should go to the nearest dealer regardless of what web site provider he has chosen to do business with.
I suppose that a few years ago when we all started to realize how important a web site would be, it perhaps made some sense for the manufacturer to want to dictate dealer web site content and appearances...after all, the manufacturer had more money and resources to make good decisions on behalf of their dealers.
Today, though, I think I can make the case that perhaps most dealers are smarter than GM, Ford, Chrysler etc., all of which are setting new records for poor performance.
Maybe the dealers are actually capable of making their own web site decisions now?

Justin Duff · Mar 11, 2009

Great post. I liken this to going into a Chevy dealer tomorrow and all you can choose from is the Malibu. They stopped making every other vehicle because GM felt that was the best choice for customers. You can complain about it all you want but you'll still end up driving home in a brand new Malibu. Just hope they made it in multiple colors!

Mar 10, 2009

Just stumbled on this post and thought I'd chime in with some of my own comments.

First off, I think its an enormous mistake to punish dealers with ambitious internet programs. Clearly, Cobalt's solution was to get dealers on the internet. However, if you're serious about your internet program you realize that Cobalt can only get you so far.

And it's not just GM. Scion has an agreement with Reynolds. Chrysler has a deal with Dealer.com, etc., etc.

These companies can't be everything for everyone. A dealerships internet program requires a great deal of attention that Cobalt, Dealer.com, nor Reynolds can handle.
Things will move to the edges a bit more and I think the overall shopping experience will improve for consumers online.

Mar 10, 2009

I think it is good for the OEMs to mandate certain things on a dealer's website.

But I think this is best done the way Toyota, Honda, Nissan and others do. They review the sites based on certain requirements and the dealership gets in trouble if their site does not comply. They don't FORCE any particular vendors or special secondary websites.

Mar 10, 2009

How does Frank Davis sit down?

Seriously.

Think about it for a second.

How do you sit down with balls the size of spring ripe southern Canteloupes?
You know those big ones the grocer adds another 30% price too from standard, anyway... i digress.

Everyone thank Frank for being upfront and sharing his knowledge which is extremely valuable for us all.

Frank's the man.

Amanda Marsal · Mar 10, 2009

themselves!! I hate that...

Amanda Marsal · Mar 10, 2009

I can understand why GM started the program in the begining, but by now any dealer that would not be able to adequately handle theirselves with an online presence probably won't ever be able to. Why not let them weed theirselves out? I have a deep seeded loathing for Cobalt, and want to pull my hair out everytime I have to call ECare for anything. We have so much trouble with our Cobalt sites.. All of the cars were marked with manual transmissions for awhile, we changed the company that sent the feeds for our inventory, and it took two months for everything to show up properly. One hand has no idea what the other one is doing!!! I do miss having an advocate to make changes for me, but I just couldn't see paying $900 a month for something I can do myself....

Mar 10, 2009

I'm hoping my competition continues to use Cobalt wesbites. They are ineffective in converting customers and have weak tracking/reporting. I have the free site (with no $299/mo advocate support) so I get links from chevy.com. The only 2 problems I have with the whole deal, is not getting a link to my own wesbite and I'm competing with Cobalt PPC campaigns driving the bids prices up.

Mar 9, 2009

Frank! Thanks for posting this here. You and I have went back and forth on this subject which now is a very touchy one!

Thanks again it is appreciated!

Mar 9, 2009

Thank you for the posts. Understanding GM had to many dealers not paying attention to internet marketing. They did have to do something I agree. Having one website company on board to lower costs, I agree, but to trick everyone into a free website and actually charge for it? Please lets give it up for "free" if you are going to use that term, not charge it to the advertising funds on the invoice. Also when you have aggresive dealers do not redirect them to a website they are not advertising for, do not steal from a dealer doing everything they can to market on the internet. But most of all do not lie to the dealers that are making it work. It was a good idea I believe they just got off track and imposed rules where they didnt need to be. Also they needed onsite training. an experienced trainer should have visited every dealer to evaluate and discuss the marketing on the internet. One size does not fit all as a matter of fact if its to tight you might just kick it off.

Frank

Mar 9, 2009

Hmmm....I wonder why G.M. has more then one brand if one size fits all.

Mar 9, 2009

Frank - great post! I love it on 3 levels:

1. It strikes home with other brands we do carry, so I can relate - MINI, VW, Audi, Porsche
2. CoBalt is the worst site provider, of the big ones, in the automotive arena - I'd rather pay for something else than take their freebie
3. The more of us complaining about these stupid OEM sites, the better!

I think we need to have an article that talks about all the OEM sites and where they're wrong. Something we can refer our OEM's to when they ask our opinion on things.

Mar 9, 2009

Frank, I sense your frustration... I would venture to offer this. I believe much of the reason that GM started with the mandatory Cobalt sites was to bring a lot of GM dealers into the "modern era", as there were still LOTS of GM dealers that had not grasped the importance of the Internet yet. I can tell you in my area that at least one GM dealer had a website that one of their employees put up on their own because the owner didn't see any value in the Internet (and it was not a good website...). There were lots of GM dealers with no websites, or very poor websites across the country. This approach by GM brought some standardization across their brands and got dealers to get "onboard" with the Internet.

In GM's defense, I have seen a tremendous improvement in their emphasis on being aggressive and good on the Internet. I work with 15 brands, and I would place GM in the top 3 brands for OEM support for the Internet.

With all that said, we still have separate websites for our GM stores, and keep the Cobalt one for the OEM link (I agree, you must have). I also agree that the pay per click using the dealer name for the search terms makes no sense (but makes lots of dollars for the vendor hosting the ppc...). In a perfect world, we could have our own websites linked to GM's sites - but I would imagine that GM would want some requirements met (fair enough) to ensure quality for all of their stores....

Mar 9, 2009

Umer,,,,,You can still have the "free" website with Cobalt. You do not however get the support person unless you pay the 299.00 fee they implemented at the first of the year, They sent out a memo with a bill attatched charging the 299.00. If you choose not to pay the charge then they will still keep the website up and give you the "free" pay per click advertising using the name of your dealership redirecting to the Cobalt website. You can get support from Cobalt if you are not paying the 299.00 but they claim you lose more than you gain, huh?

Another idea was to up sell other services and products once the dealer is on the "free" website and I am sure it has worked. Brilliant plan as I had said give em free stuff but really charge them for it, then up sell the real good stuff, Great plan, awesome monopoly.

umer.autojini · Mar 8, 2009

@Frank... excellent piece. From my understanding... the "free" program is no longer available. Is that correct?

Mar 8, 2009

I agree with you Frank, I was working at a GM dealership when they started pushing the free website from Cobalt. I was in the process of getting a Dealer.com website put in place and had to justify spending $900 versus the free site. We had a management meeting to compare the two websites side by side, by the end of the meeting they had decided that while losing the links was a negative, they would still rather go with the Dealer.com site because the look, feel, and navigation were much better than the options that were available from Cobalt at that time.

A dealers website is a major part of their online presence and they should be able to decide who they want to use, they shouldn't be told "use our piece of crap or you won't get our links".

Mar 8, 2009

I do not want to share my name because who knows what the repercussions could be if someone at GM saw the reaction. However, you hit the nail on the head!! The only thing MORE WASTEFUL than IMR is the LMA and that would take another 2 page article! Let the dealers do what they do best. QUIT getting in bed with VENDORS!!!!

Mar 8, 2009

This posting has been removed.

After a deep conversation with Frank, I have decided to remove his post from DealerRefresh. It really sirred up form shit and at the end of the day I would never want anyone to loose their job. I have asked Frank to write a quick retraction request which you can read below.

If you're familiar with the post, please continue to comment (please keep your comments clean and respectful though

)

Jeff, Alex an the rest of the DealerRefresh community;

I appreciate your support, I have been watching my post and I am asking that you remove it for a couple of reasons. First of all I have a huge amount of respect for General Motors and Cobalt websites. In our current economic situation I think it would be a benefit to support the manufacture. I also have a huge respect for the dealer I currently work for and I would not want any bad press for this or any dealer just because of my own personal opinion. I appreciate your cooperation in removing my article from DealerRefresh. After review The GM and dealer principle at this store disagree with my opinion and are 100% on board General Motors marketing plan.

Thank you

Frank Davis

Mar 4, 2009

EasyAutoSales.com Integrates with Facebook Connect and Launches Community to Help Auto Dealers Engage Car Buyers Online

ATLANTA, Georgia, EasyAutoSales.com, America’s fastest growing consumer driven automotive resource is now integrated with Facebook, the largest social network on the Internet. The launch of the new EasyAutoSales Community allows car buyers, car dealers and car enthusiasts to interact online and create a user generated resource for buying new and used cars.

“93% of consumers are researching online and reading peer reviews weeks or months before they browse classified listings,” said Wei Yang, CEO of EasyAutoSales.com. “Educated consumers want to be informed and our Community allows car buyers to engage car dealers and car experts throughout the course of the buyers’ research.”

The EasyAutoSales Community allows users to ask car questions and contribute answers, share vehicle pictures, and post YouTube videos within the online discussions. All relevant activities are linked to the 2 million+ vehicle listings on EasyAutoSales.com. As consumers shop on EasyAutoSales.com, buyers will be able to get the buzz on what people are saying about different make and models.

“One of the biggest concerns with buying used cars is whether there will be major problems with the vehicle after the purchase,” said Will Fleiss, co-founder of EasyAutoSales.com. “If maintenance issues, repairs and complaints are the most popular discussions for a specific make and model, car buyers will be able to easily identify these troublesome vehicles and avoid them.”

In addition to launching the interactive Community, EasyAutoSales has integrated with Facebook.com through Facebook Connect to allow open access to the EasyAutoSales Community for the 175 million+ Facebook users.

“Our goal of integrating EasyAutoSales with Facebook is to allow car sellers to reach a greater audience with their online inventory while allowing car buyers to tap into the wisdom of their existing social network for general car advice,” says Fleiss. “You may want a particular car or truck and not realize some of your friends (or their families) already own it. We want to make online car shopping more transparent and interactive so car buyers can get the real scoop from their friends.”

For more information, please check out http://www.easyautosales.com/community

About Easy Autos, LLC (www.easyautosales.com)
EasyAutoSales.com is America’s fastest growing, consumer driven automotive resource for buying and selling cars. EasyAutoSales encourages consumer education and promotes interaction between car buyers, car dealers and car experts. The website now lists over 2 million vehicle listings from 25,000 dealerships and private sellers. EasyAutoSales.com provides free syndication, video and unlimited pictures for all vehicle listings. Private sellers and dealerships are encouraged to advertise their vehicles for free on EasyAutoSales.com for increased online exposure. To add your vehicles or your dealer inventory to EasyAutoSales.com, contact service@easyautosales.com for more information.

bpulseadmin · Mar 3, 2009

TK Carsites Enters Into License Agreement with ContactAtOnce!™ to Enable Auto Dealer Live Chat on Websites

Customers Benefit from Improved Conversion of Website Traffic into Auto Sales

ContactAtOnce!, a leading provider of car dealer internet marketing tools that move online shoppers into live conversations with car dealers, today announced a licensing agreement with TK Carsites, a leading provider of custom auto dealer websites optimized for search engines. Under the agreement, TK Carsites will pre-integrate the ContactAtOnce! Dealer Chat solution with their dealer website platform and offer the combined solution to new and existing TK Carsites customers. ATLANTA, GA – March 4, 2009

Since we started using ContactAtOnce!, our dealership has seen a measurable improvement in the number of website visitors that come in for appointments and ultimately buy vehicles,” said Brian Chapman, general manager of Homer Skelton Ford. “Our customers seem to like the convenience of live chat and the ability to interact with a sales person immediately.”

“TK Carsites built a reputation as the best website provider in the industry through our unique custom automotive websites,” said Richard Valenta, CEO of TK Carsites. “Recently we introduced a new offering, TK5, that maximizes search engine optimization (SEO) and improves site traffic, but traffic alone isn’t enough for our customers – the “clicks” need to become appointments and that’s where the ContactAtOnce! live chat solution adds unique value.”

ContactAtOnce! powers graphical elements such as "drop-in business cards" on a dealership’s website, microsites and landing pages that appear if a sales person is available at the moment a site visitor is looking at a car. Site visitors are offered a variety of ways to contact the dealer, including chat, click-tocall, and a phone number. The graphical elements, combined with the availability of multiple convenient communication options, have been shown to increase the number of shoppers that initiate contact with auto dealers by at least 25 percent. ContactAtOnce! tracks and records all conversations, making it easy for sales managers to measure the effectiveness of car marketing and to conduct sales training. ContactAtOnce! dealer chat is simple to use and designed specifically for sales people who are notalways at their desks.

“TK Carsites helps their customers build and tune websites to attract optimum traffic and once visitors
are on the site, ContactAtOnce! Dealer Chat helps convert more of them to leads and sales,” said John
Hanger, president & CEO of ContactAtOnce!. “The combination of our products with their platform is a
win-win for TK Carsites customers who want to maximize the effectiveness of their website.”

The TK Carsites-ContactAtOnce! dealer chat solution is available from TK Carsites immediately.

About TK Carsites
TK Carsites, Inc. is a marketing and technology services company providing online solutions to automotive retailers. Currently they offer their 1,000+ automotive dealer clients consumer friendly websites, email and search engine marketing programs plus numerous interactive and rich media campaigns and lead generating tools. www.tkcarsites.com

About ContactAtOnce!
Contact At Once!, LLC is a leading provider of internet marketing tools for automotive sales, apartment leasing, and other industries where consumers conduct research online before visiting a dealership or office. The ContactAtOnce! service typically moves at least 25% more website visitors into live conversations with sales people by utilizing a suite of technologies such as presence, IM/chat, VoIP telephony, video chat and text messaging, resulting in increased revenue and a better return on marketing expenditures. ContactAtOnce! is the only solution with features specifically for vertical search websites and over 35 such sites, along with thousands of merchant businesses, are using it today. www.contactatonce.com

Feb 26, 2011

But I wanna buy one used Hyundai Sonata model.
Can you please give any suggestion regarding it?

Mar 5, 2009

The mainstream word is "PROACTIVE", dealers need to look at what they DO have (and Not what they don't have) & use to their advantage. Dig down Mr. Dealer, "what separates you from other dealers" Then RUN with it, be positive, be a winner. People are buying cars, make them want to buy them from YOU!

bpulseadmin · Mar 3, 2009

Increase of Interest in Hyundai Sonata, Pontiac G8 Show Marketing Matters

February Trend Engine report shows that Korean automaker Hyundai’s Assurance Program may be paying off. The automaker started off 2009 with an aggressive marketing campaign promoting its Assurance program, which allows a buyer who loses his or her job to return a newly-purchased vehicle with no affect to credit. The program has been highlighted on Super Bowl and Oscars ad buys and through online media buys on sites like AutoTrader.com that directly target in-market car-shoppers. As a result, in February the Sonata midsize sedan saw interest rise 143% over February 2008, pushing it from 82nd to 20th place among all new vehicles viewed on AutoTrader.com. Additionally, interest in Hyundai as a manufacturer doubled year-over-year, making Hyundai the 7th most-viewed new car brand on AutoTrader.com in February. ATLANTA – March 3, 2009 – AutoTrader.com’s

“Hyundai’s Assurance Program shows that there is still an interest in buying cars, and that the challenges in new-car sales are in-part driven by uncertainty around the economy,” said AutoTrader.com President and CEO Chip Perry. “While most manufacturers have been scaling back marketing activities, Hyundai has been one of a handful that has instead increased its spend, allowing it to communicate compelling messages on-line and in traditional media about the Assurance program and the Genesis luxury sedan’s recent selection as the 2009 North American Car of the Year.”

Another winner this month was the Pontiac G8 sedan, which makes its debut on AutoTrader.com’s list of the 20 most-viewed new vehicles at number 14. General Motors has been promoting the G8 during the NCAA basketball finals, high-profile, high-engagement events that provide Pontiac a platform by which it can target a large number of buyers.

“With successful repetition of advertising messages targeting the right media buy, companies can break through the clutter and stimulate interest among consumers, even in a poor sales market,” continued Perry. “AutoTrader.com has adopted a similar advertising strategy in 2009, spreading our advertising spend across multiple high-engagement events, including the NBA All-Star Game and Daytona 500, rather than just focusing on a single ad buy, to bring consumers to our site and offer more value to our customers.”

Other new vehicles that saw an increase in interest levels from 2008 included Nissan’s new 370Z sports car, which saw a 165.41% increase in views from the 350Z that it replaces, and Honda’s Pilot SUV and Odyssey minivan, which saw increases of 91% and 36%, respectively, year-over-year.

Used Vehicle Market Grows in Tough Economy

The used vehicle market continued to show improvements begun in January of this year, with most models either flat or up slightly in terms of views on AutoTrader.com, though average asking prices decreased slightly. For example, interest levels in the Dodge Ram 1500 full-size pick-up increased 22%, though average asking prices fell 11%. Similarly, used Infiniti G-Series sedans and coupes saw interest levels rise 14% while average asking prices decreased 11%.

“The used market will continue to improve in the first half of this year,” said Perry. “We should start seeing asking prices for used vehicles leveling off as some consumers continue to choose pre-owned over new in light of concerns about the economy.”

On both the new and used lists, the continued revival in popularity of large models like the Ford F-150, the Chevy Sliverado and Tahoe, the Dodge Ram and the Toyota Tacoma speak to the need for these vehicles among many U.S. car buyers.

“When gas prices spiked last year, people who didn’t really need these large vehicles sold them and bought more fuel efficient models, while those who did need them stopped buying, but that didn’t mean their need went away,” said Perry. “If your job or lifestyle demands one of these larger vehicles, you can put off the purchase for a while, but there really isn’t a good replacement for these types of vehicles. It will be interesting to see what lessons consumers and manufacturers learned from last year and how those lessons are applied going forward to address any future gas price spikes.”

About AutoTrader.com:
AutoTrader.com, created in 1997 and headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., is the Internet's leading auto classifieds marketplace and consumer information website. AutoTrader.com aggregates in a single location about 3.5 million new cars, used cars and certified pre-owned cars from 40,000 dealers and 250,000 private owners and the site attracts about 14 million unique monthly visitors. Through innovative merchandising functionality such as multiple photos, videos, detailed descriptions and comprehensive research and compare tools, AutoTrader.com unites new and used car buyers and sellers online to improving the way people research, locate and advertise vehicles. AutoTrader.com is a majority-owned subsidiary of Cox Enterprises. The venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers is also an investor. For more information, please visit www.autotrader.com.

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