Mobile Traffic Increasing Dramatically

Ryan over on the forums posted a new thread “ipad Traffic Increasing Dramatically“.

Recently I have seen an increase in ipad visits to websites I play with. It’s interesting because I suspected this but didn’t suspect the amount so quickly.

Ryan brings up a great point…

Are you watching your dealer website visitors by mobile device?

This is something I have been watching for about a year now, adding the Visitors by Mobile Device to my dealers (and DealerRefresh) Google Analytics dashboard for quick reference.

A little over a year ago – you were lucky to see a few iPhone visitors to your dealership website, but just over the last 4-6 months, visitors from mobile devices have really increased. Especially on Andriod devices, and now we are quickly seeing visits from the iPad.

NOTE: IF you have your websites set up to automatically detect a mobile browser – you might want to be sure that it’s not pointing over to the mobile site for iPad visitors (unless you have a Flash intensive dealer website ). It’s annoying as hell when you want to visit a dealers website from your iPad and you keep getting redirected to the mobile site.

Whether or not you have a mobile dealership website, you might want to keep an eye on your analytics. They might just tell you something.

Mobile will of course continue to rise – it’s going to happen, especially on the local side.

Google Says Local Intent is Behind One-Third of Mobile Searches

Are you watching your visitors by mobile device in our analytics and are the analytics showing that maybe you should have a mobile website if you don’t already?

If you do, who is your mobile website provider? Feel free to drop a link in your comment (dealers only please).

What are you currently getting from your mobile website??

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Redwood City, CA, May 25, 2010 – Dealix, a Division of Cobalt and the leading provider of automotive customer leads for new and used cars, announced today additional features for its award-winning Hassle Free Lead Return program. Features included in the upgrade, Hassle Free Lead Return TM 2.0, include enhancements that respond to dealer requests for longer periods in which to submit leads and easier ways to return leads.

Dealix launched the Quality Pledge in September 2009. The Quality Pledge specifies that dealers should only receive leads that can result in a car sale, and is backed by a feature set – Hassle Free Lead Return – that allows dealers to return leads that do not meet a criterion of the Quality Pledge. Collectively, the products allow dealers to make sure their lead baskets are optimized during the course of the month, and provide Dealix real-time data with which to manage its lead supply. The popular program was honored with a Market Innovation award by TargusINFO and has seen widespread adoption. Nearly 2,000 dealers are now returning leads each month. Key enhancements in version 2.0 of Hassle Free Lead Return, which were the result of dealer feedback, include:

Increased the time frame for returning leads from seven to 14 days. This gives dealers more time to work and close the leads; Reduced the amount of documentation required to prove a duplicate return. Dealers no longer need to provide a copy of the original lead when they submit a lead for return. They just need to provide original lead date, time and source; and Added ability to enter comments with lead returns, allowing dealers to provide more information about their experience with the lead which enables Dealix to process the lead faster

“With the Quality Pledge, we sought to place the bar for a qualified lead very high. We knew the program was unprecedented and that we would learn how to enhance it as our customers used it and told us about their experience,” said Egon Smola, vice president, New & Used Car Leads Business. “It’s really important to us that the program works for our dealers – fits in with their workflow and, in the end, saves them time and allows them to make more money.”

The program is having a positive impact on sales for Dealix customers. In a recent survey of dealers using the Hassle Free Lead Return program 86% reported that they are able to realize a higher ROI with the Hassle Free Lead Return program because they’re able to replace returned leads with new ones without increasing their spend.

In addition, the Hassle Free Lead Return program is changing dealers’ expectations around what level of service they should receive from lead providers. Nearly seven out of 10 respondents said they will not use a service in the future that lacks a Quality Pledge or robust lead return program.

“The Quality Pledge represents the best offering in the industry and is why I went with Dealix,” said Michael T. Halloran, E-Commerce Director, The Napleton Dealership Group. “I have dropped all other lead providers because of the Dealix Quality Pledge.”

About Dealix
Dealix, a division of Cobalt, is the world’s leading provider of quality leads for new and used cars for dealerships, dealer groups, and automotive manufacturers. Dealix is the only Internet marketing company that backs its new and used car leads with the Dealix Quality PledgeTM: a distinct set of criteria that defines a quality lead and an invitation to use Hassle Free Lead ReturnTM if a lead lacks any one of those criteria. The company can offer this Pledge because it has the broadest reach and the highest quality lead supply network in the industry, including Yahoo! Autos, Kelley Blue Book, Edmunds.com, AOL Autos, MSN Autos, and others. Dealix powers the dealer selector and price quote platforms on Yahoo! Autos, AOL Autos and MSN Autos; represents Edmunds’ Premier Dealer Program; and places dealers’ used inventory in the Kelley Blue Book The Trusted MarketplaceSM. Dealix connects dealers with the millions of car shoppers who prefer independent Internet sites when shopping for new cars and used cars online. Dealix’s all new Leads Platform quickly matches thousands of serious new and used vehicle buyers to the most appropriate dealers daily, delivering a quality car buying experience for consumers and providing dealers with one of the most efficient methods available today for marketing and selling cars.
CONTACT: Ellen Perelman Vice President, Marketing
Dealix 650.599.5416

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In case you don’t read Fast Company, Follow me on Twitter or somehow didn’t stumble across this latest study by Vivaldi Partners on Social Currency be sure to download it here.

Today, one of the most important strengths of a brand is its social currency, the extent to which people share the brand or information about the brand with others as part of their everyday social lives.

Premium Luxury Brands tend to have a higher social currency

Volume Brand vs. Luxury Brands -  Premium make drivers show a much stronger sense of their brand’s community while  volume brand drivers show a lower need to affiliate with others, in return having less social currency.

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Do you have a replacement strategy for your job?  Or have you been like me, and have just been too busy to bother with it?  Now that I am changing positions, I am having to train my replacements and it is incredibly enlightening.  I highly suggest you have someone sit next to you and explain what you do in an elementary fashion while that person writes it all down.

A few pieces of the training have been done with my boss present.  As I have been the lead for everything Internet at Checkered Flag over the last 9 years, my boss has placed a lot of trust in me.  I made connections in reports that I never needed to explain to him – I’d just say something like “with the stats from our website being up and the increased number of leads, I was shocked to see how low the sales were at Honda this month.”  He’d take that simple statement and get to work on the Honda store.  Now I am showing him how I made these connections, and really explaining the nitty gritty, and, as a team, we are now making even more connections.  In this regard, we’ve made new discoveries and come across new ideas.

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Perfecting the Lead Mix for your Dealership – White Paper

Dealers receive leads from their own websites; their OEM’s site; and independent Internet sites, which can include large portals as well as auto research, buying, and enthusiast sites. Each source represents different types of investments and different types of buyers – and no two dealers will have the same formula for how much of their lead mix should be allotted for each source. To explore the question of lead mix, Dealix hosted a moderated panel discussion at the 2010 NADA convention. The panel, attended by 50 invited guests representing dealerships of all sizes, resulted in a robust information exchange and debate. In response to requests for transcripts of the discussion, Dealix compiled this edited transcript of the event. You can download it here.

Agreement and Controversy

The panelists agreed on certain important points. For instance, all stated that dealers should have leads from each source in their business mix, and all agreed that evaluation of results should be based, not on lead close rate, but on gross profit per vehicle sold. Certain items, however, produced controversy. Most notably, the question posed by John Holt, CEO of The Cobalt Group and moderator of the discussion, produced different opinions from the panelists

“Which type of lead do you assign to your top salespeople?”

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