Who inspires you online?

Take a minute to complete this survey and I will share results shortly.

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Owning a Jeep is straight-up fun!  Taking the top off, hitting the trails/mud/sand/snow, making the truck dirty because that’s how it should be, or giving the secret sign to other Jeep owners as you pass are all parts of Jeep ownership.  I come from the family at Checkered Flag Motor Car Corp where we don’t carry Jeep, but I’ve always wished we did.  In fact, I snuck a 1974 CJ5 with a nasty V8 on 35″s behind my grandfather’s back (he doesn’t like anyone in the family driving a car Checkered Flag doesn’t carry new) when I was 20 years old.  I loved that thing, except I could never get the electrical system working right.  Anyway, granddad found out and I got rid of it for a lifted Tacoma.  It was cool, but not nearly as fun on the Hatteras beaches in North Carolina.  I do love Jeep, and still do today.  But due to the immense respect I have for my grandfather, today, I haven’t looked at one since I got busted with the CJ5.

Why did I put that story in writing?  Well, ask any Jeep owner about Jeep and they’re going to tell you a story.  There aren’t many cars that carry that kind of connection with their drivers.  The best part is Jeep knows this.

Have you been to Jeep.com lately? If you haven’t, go there and simply follow the top navigation.  First thing you’ll probably notice is it isn’t overloaded with stuff.  There are all the tools you need to become a Jeep owner and all the tools you need once you become a Jeep owner.  It is a very simple concept.

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People generally don’t just wake up in the morning and say, “I think I am going to buy a car today.” Sure most of us would love a new car right now, but without a need or compelling event we continue to drive the car we have. Something has to happen to trigger that buying emotion. For some people that buying emotion comes and goes as quickly as a 30 second advertisement; for others it could be a year of planning and research.

When that urge does arrive, people can choose to interact with us in one of four ways, by e-mail, chat, a phone call or in person at the dealership. Thus I like to call these four contact points “the stages of a customer’s evolution.”

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As an outspoken advocate for digital marketing education for car dealers, I often find myself captivated by the continuously changing landscape the search marketing offers.  As fast as I can learn, test, and communicate a current idea, there always seems to be something new on the horizon.

I can’t imagine how car dealers feel when they attend bi-annual automotive conferences, like Digital Dealer and DrivingSales Executive Summit, where the emerging market trends and technology tend to spin their heads.

As much as I love new concepts, strategies and opportunities, there will always be some basics that help dealers succeed online.   So before the fall conference season fills our heads with new ideas to test, let’s get back to a few basics.

Third Party Lead Collectors Are Automotive SEO Pioneers

Readers often associate me with Automotive SEO and my passionate appeal for dealers to understand the power of content publishing, microsites, and link building.   I have been blessed to serve the industry and have been rewarded by encouragement from dealers across the country.

Along the way, some have concluded from my teaching style that I am not an advocate for third party lead collectors and third party automotive advertising websites.   In fact, that characterization could not be farther from the truth.

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Cincinnati, OH, September 7, 2010 — OneCommand (www.onecommand.com), the nation’s leader in preference-based, automated, multi-channel marketing, today announced that, for the fourth consecutive year, the company has been named to Inc. Magazine’s list of America’s fastest growing companies – the Inc. 5000. According to Inc. Magazine, the list represents the most comprehensive look at the most important segment of the economy—America’s independent-minded entrepreneurs.

“The leaders of the companies on this year’s Inc. 5000 have figured out how to grow their businesses during the longest recession since the Great Depression,” said Inc. president Bob LaPointe. “The 2010 Inc. 5000 showcases a particularly hardy group of entrepreneurs.”

In the period measured by Inc., OneCommand introduced innovative new products and feature additions to its suite of integrated and automated, multi-channel communication solutions, including Equity Scoring, an enhanced Mobile Marketing platform, and a variety of new reporting and ROI analysis tools. Designed to streamline the owner lifecycle, reduce marketing expense and generate superior customer satisfaction, OneCommand’s products focus on the delivery of the right message, at the right time, and through the consumer’s preferred channel. OneCommand attributes its continued growth to its mission of helping clients realize significant improvements in loyalty and retention, frequency of visit and overall profitability.

“We are pleased to once again rank with the dynamic, thriving and fast-growing companies that make up the Inc. 5000 list,” said OneCommand CEO Al Babbington. “Few industries have experienced the challenges that the auto industry has faced over the past two years, and at OneCommand we consider ourselves lucky to serve the most resilient and creative group of entrepreneurs and businesspeople anywhere – auto dealers. As we move into 2011, we continue to focus on helping our dealership clients grow their businesses by providing them with cost-effective and cutting-edge marketing technologies that help them find, target and retain customers.”

Despite the fact that most of this year’s measuring period of 2006-2009 took place during the latest recession, aggregate revenue among the companies on the list actually increased to $321.6 billion, up more than 50 percent from last year. The effects of the recession are seen, however, in the median three-year growth rate, which dropped to 96 percent from last year’s 126 percent. This year’s Inc. 5000 employ a record 1.4 million people, up from one million on last year’s list.

About OneCommand
OneCommand is a leading provider of integrated and automated, personalized communications designed to streamline workflow, reduce marketing expense and generate superior customer response. Focusing on the delivery of the right message, at the right time, and through the right channel, OneCommand has rapidly expanded its market penetration by helping its clients realize significant improvements in loyalty and retention, frequency of visit and overall profitability.

In 2009 the Company delivered millions of personalized communications on behalf of its dealer clients – nearly doubling their communication during some of the most challenging market conditions.

OneCommand’s proven, web-based Relationship Performance Marketing Solutions enable customers to leverage the power of their voice through a multitude of channels, including voice messaging, mobile messaging, e-mail marketing, live call center services, direct mail and a variety of other two-way communication streams.

By providing a seamless solution for communication from shop to buy to service and repurchase, OneCommand offers the opportunity to coordinate a unified message to customers. This approach, paired with custom automation of timely, relevant and consistent communications, has led to significant reductions in marketing expense and even greater improvements in the customer experience. For more information call 1.800.814.6820, or email lleugers(at)onecommand(dot)com.

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