NOTE: I had the remove the videos, the script was causing some browser issues. You can find the videos here http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8004316

DealerRefresh readers,

In case you didn’t catch NBC’s news tonight, I thought you might like this story. Why is it we had to get to where we are today for the media to do a positive story about Car dealers and their contribution to the fabric of the American community? There is a positive almost inspirational message in a mostly gloomy story about the “demise” of the local car dealer.

Sometimes they don’t know what they’ve got till it’s gone.

Best Regards,

Todd Fellmer

Thanks Todd! – Jeff

Share the wealth!

Props to David at autolahome.com for bringing this to our attention in the “Car Dealers Embrace Video” Article!

On August 20th of 2008 Microsoft Labs launched Photosynth to the world.  It is an online image-stitching tool that renders a series of images into an interactive “panoramic” walk-around.

Imagine taking 20 photos of the interior of a car:  the steering wheel, the shifter, the radio, the driver’s door armrest, the gauges, the sunroof, etc and having them all linked together by technology.  No, not like a 2 dimensional slideshow as we have today.  A virtual 3D rendering that someone can click through to view various areas of the interior that interest them.  Think of something like the eVox interior displays most of us already have, but a little more crude, and not done in a studio with special camera gear.  This would be something anyone could do.  Maybe some images will help…

Example of a series of photos of the same subject

How 232 images of the Sphinx can be walked-through.

Visit http://photosynth.net to see it in action.  You will have to install some software and it currently works best in Internet Explorer (of course).

Then think about how you could use a technology like this to do full product displays without having to get fancy with the equipment.

Could this be a future tool for retailers?

Share the wealth!

One-third of dealership visitors who used an independent website did not call or send an email before they came to the store, an innovative study by Cars.com and Synovate, a global market research firm, found.

The study explored the connection between online research activity and offline shopping behavior to understand how consumers use the internet for automotive buying decisions. It also identified the specific websites and website features that most encourage walk-in traffic. CHICAGO – Nov. 17, 2008 – Cars.com

“Tracking email and phone leads alone gives dealers an incomplete picture of how their internet initiatives perform. Now, for the first time, they can calculate the full return on their advertising investment and quantify the traffic and sales their online programs generate,” said Dennis Galbraith, Cars.com vice president of advertising products and training. “More than any other source, the web connects dealers with in-market shoppers and encourages them to take direct action. Among dealership visitors who used Cars.com, half planned to purchase or lease a vehicle the same day they went to the store.”

This summer and fall, Cars.com and Synovate conducted in-dealership interviews with approximately 700 consumers at 16 stores in 11 East Coast, Midwest and Southern states. Each of the dealerships included in the analysis advertised its listings on Cars.com and AutoTrader.com.

According to the study, one-third of car buyers cited independent websites as a significant influencer affecting their decision to visit a dealership. More than half of shoppers surveyed used an independent website to view vehicle listings; of those, 82 percent visited Cars.com and its online partners. Independent websites were cited twice as often as search engine results and three times more than a dealership website. Competitive pricing, multiple pictures, sell copy and free vehicle history reports were among the online features that most influenced car buyers’ choice of dealership.

“As car buyers near the point of purchase, they’re looking to validate the vehicle and the dealer they’re considering,” Galbraith said. “Independent websites can provide the objective reviews and comprehensive tools shoppers rely on to make an informed decision. Dealers who leverage these sites as part of their online strategy and fully merchandise their listings on them position themselves to drive increased traffic and sales among truly ready-to-buy shoppers.”

About Synovate
Synovate, the market research arm of Aegis Group plc, generates consumer insights that drive competitive marketing solutions. The network provides clients with cohesive global support and a comprehensive suite of research solutions. Synovate employs over 6,000 staff in 62 countries. More information on Synovate can be found at www.synovate.com.

About Cars.com
Cars.com is the leading destination for online car shoppers, offering credible, easy-to-understand information from consumers and experts to help buyers formulate opinions on what to buy, where to buy and how much to pay for a car. With comprehensive pricing information, side-by-side comparison tools, photo galleries, videos, unbiased editorial content and a large selection of new- and used-car inventory, Cars.com puts millions of car buyers in control of their shopping process with the information they need to make confident buying decisions.

Share the wealth!

Car Shoppers on innovative Web2.0 automotive website can see when dealers are available to
answer questions and connect instantly, even from work. ATLANTA, GA – November 17, 2008

ContactAtOnce!, a leading provider of internet marketing tools that move online shoppers into live conversations with car dealers, today announced that Cox AutoTrader, one of the world’s leading providers of online and print automotive consumer information, has deployed the ContactAtOnce! dealer live chat service on CarShopSmart.com, the just-launched “web2.0” sister website of AutoMart.com. Cox AutoTrader/AutoMart online operations combined have more than 1 million new and used vehicles for sale and reach over 2 million car buyers monthly.

“Today’s online car shoppers want new types of content such as consumer-generated reviews and they also want more convenient ways to contact dealerships,” said Melanie Kovach, General Manager of Cox AutoTrader/AutoMart. “Many consumers prefer the handy and instant communication available with live chat when making a phone call isn’t convenient or available.”

ContactAtOnce! powers graphical elements such as “drop-in business cards” that appear if a sales
person at a dealership 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 and a phone number. Dealers appreciate
ContactAtOnce! because all chat conversations are tracked and recorded, making it easy to measure
the effectiveness of advertising and to conduct sales training. ContactAtOnce! dealer chat is simple to
use and designed specifically for sales people who are not always at their desks.

“AutoMart.com is a long-time customer that’s done an excellent job of leveraging ContactAtOnce! to connect more of their site visitors with dealers,” said John Hanger, president & CEO of ContactAtOnce!. “We are honored that they have selected ContactAtOnce! for use on CarShopSmart.com.” The ContactAtOnce! dealer live chat service is available on CarShopSmart.com immediately.

About CarShopSmart.com:
CarShopSmart.com features car listings exclusively from dealerships throughout the country, with
inventory content provided by AutoMart.com including vehicle images, VIN, and dealer contact
information. In addition to multiple browsing options to identify and find local cars, CarShopSmart
features industry content including top ten lists and buying tips powered by ForbesAuto.com, credit and
insurance options, and it is among the first industry websites to feature and encourage consumer
generated dealership ratings and vehicle reviews. CarShopSmart.com modernizes online vehicle
searches by offering car buyers ease of use coupled with the social media application of consumer
generated content for a complete car shopping experience.

About Cox AutoTrader:
Cox AutoTrader is among the world’s leading providers of online and print automotive information.
Operating subsidiaries include majority-owned AutoTrader.com and Cox AutoTrader/AutoMart.
AutoTrader.com is the Internet’s leading auto classifieds marketplace and consumer information web site
with more than 3 million vehicle listings and more than 13 million qualified buyers each month. Cox
AutoTrader/AutoMart is a leading provider of print auto classified publications with 356 titles and 3.9
million magazines distributed weekly. Cox AutoTrader/AutoMart also features online operations, including

Share the wealth!

Guest Posting by Mark Robertson

Car Dealers Plan to Embrace Online Video

Just the other day, there was a great article on AdAge titled “Car Dealers Learning Art of Viral Video” that highlights the use of online video by US automotive dealerships and specifically highlights several examples and attempts at viral video marketing – including the online viral video campaign done by a car dealership group in Norwood Massachusetts (seen above).

According to a study released by the Kelsey Group in Q1 2008, 33% of car dealers surveyed currently take advantage of online video on their own websites. In the same study, 59% of dealers surveyed indicated that they they plan to use video on their own websites within the next 12 months.

Of the dealers surveyed, 46% of dealers indicated that they would likely decrease spending on traditional media in the next 12 months while only 8% indicated the same for online media.  In general, auto dealers are shifting more of their media mix online, with 62% of dealers planning to increase their online media spend compared with only 17% for traditional media.

According to NADA (National Automobile Dealers Association), there are more than 20,800 new franchise car dealers in the U.S. that spent more than $7.8 billion in advertising for 2007.

“These findings point to a significant disruption in the auto dealer advertising space,” said Neal Polachek, CEO of The Kelsey Group. “There are valuable opportunities for traditional and new media companies that tune into dealers’ adoption of Web 2.0 technologies and align with dealers’ online media-buying intentions.”

In the AdAge article, Howard Polirer, director-industry relations for AutoTrader.com, estimates that 1/4, or 25% of all U.S. dealers currently use online video marketing.

So, Does Online Video Marketing Drive Sales?

Larry Pryg, the National Marketing Manager for GM’s certified-used auto business states that “Video is exploding,” and that when it comes to used cars, dealer websites that have video are 2X more likely to generate phone calls or emails from prospective shoppers vs. websites without video.

Wayne Ussery, the Director of Internet Marketing for Jim Ellis Automotive Group said that while he cant quite equate online video views with used-car sales, he does say that visitors to the Ellis Chevrolet brand website are staying a full minute longer as a result of the addition of online video.   Video, he said, “makes your site more sticky.”

What Type of Videos Do Car Dealers Run?

For the most part, auto dealers are primarily only running video on their own sites. Some use video on lead-generation inventory websites like Autotrader and Cars.com and some are even experimenting with YouTube and other viral video sharing websites.

There are a ton of uses for online video when it comes to auto dealers.  Many have used online video to show

• Re-purposed TV commercials
• Customer testimonials
• OEM-style video footage
• Educational clips
• Walk-around videos
• Personalized messages
• Service shop footage

The Future of Online Video For Car Dealers

While it is clear that adding online video to your website can increase site stickiness and can even help to lure in prospective used car buyers, viral video marketing on places like Youtube may not be the best strategy for selling cars.  Why?  It is important for car dealers to target consumers in their regional markets.  Perhaps the addition of Youtube Geo-Targeting for local video will assist with that in the future.

Car dealers are smart in that even though they will try almost any new marketing trend, when it comes down to it, they will aggressively test and monitor any marketing that they do to make certain that it generates leads and translates to actual vehicle sales.  This is one reason why automotive dealers have embraced PPC search engine marketing over the past several years, namely, we know it generates a high ROI and can be measured.

Several things will be important for online video marketing to succeed for car dealers:

1. Dealers should take advantage of online video marketing in all that they do online to attract and retain new and current customers.

• Website Video – Dealers should integrate online video into their website wherever it makes sense.  It may make sense to showcase a video of the service department so that consumers can see how “clean & tidy” the dealers service center is, as an example.

• Email Marketing - Dealers should integrate online video messages into email marketing campaigns.

• Local Search Marketing – Dealers should add video to local search platforms including Google Maps.

• Display Banner Advertising – Dealers should opt to run online video banner ads instead of traditional banner ads when running campaigns with local websites, like the local newspaper.

• Video SEO – Dealers should optimize and distribute online video using Video SEO and video search marketing techniques so that videos appear for relevant locally based organic search queries. As an example, you will see that by searching “Pre-owned cars, colorado springs,” in Google, a video that I created with Mixpo shows prominently in the 5 & 6th position for Mike Shaw GMC Pontiac in Colorado Springs.

2. Dealers need to utilize platforms that allow them to track conversions and response from online video marketing efforts.

• Online Video Players – Dealers should choose to utilize video players that have integrated links to website, email forms, maps, etc…  It is important to create an online video experience that allows users to directly “request additional information” without leaving the video itself.

• Call Tracking – Dealers should sse a call tracking number in each video.  Just as dealers use call tracking numbers (IE toll-free or local telephone numbers that are forwarded to the dealer’s preferred extension, tracked, and recorded) for print ads, the same should be used in online marketing efforts.

• Trackable Overlays – Dealers should take advantage of additional ways to allow consumers to interact with their online video message.  One technique that comes to mind is the use of overlays that contain deep links to website content.   For example, in a video that showcases several cars, dealers can include messages that links viewers to their dealership’s website vehicle search results page.

These are just some of the factors and techniques that I think will be important in taking online video for the automotive industry to the next step. If anyone would like to learn more about my efforts and thoughts on automotive dealers and online video, let me know in the comments below and I’ll follow up with an answer.

About the Author: Mark Robertson is the Founder and Publisher of ReelSEO.com

Share the wealth!