Archives For Internet Dealer Marketing

Aaron Wirtz —  March 10, 2013 — 1 Comment

That Could Be Me: Moving Beyond the WIIFM Principle

Bruce Li Vs. Bruce Lee

Honor the Sacred WIIFM

For decades now, salespeople have been trained to honor the sacred WIIFM Principle (What’s in it for Me?) in everything they do. The rationale being that the more a salesperson can help his customers understand how the product will meet the needs of their unique situations, the more likely the customer will be to buy it.

Knowing that the kind of people who go into sales are often the type who enjoy talking about themselves, the WIIFM principle provides a tool for keeping the presentation on track and paving the road toward that all-important yes.

But that was then, and now, we need more.

These days, customers need a different kind of help to lead them to that yes, so I suggest that we as digital marketers add a new concept to the WIIFM Principle, which I have dubbed The TCBM Principle, or That Could Be Me. This concept argues that many consumers no longer want to be like their role models, they demand the knowledge and resources necessary to become them.

To illustrate my point, here are a few examples of brands and brand personalities who are profitably leveraging the That Could Be Me principle:

Hard Charge

Have you participated in a Hard Charge?

In Best Practices, Internet Dealer Marketing, Internet Lead Sources, Opinions & Advice
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Jeff Kershner —  February 28, 2013 — 12 Comments

Social Media – 30,000 Times Per Day

social media concept

U.S. talk about their auto purchases on average 30,000 times per day

On a daily basis your friends and family take to social media for advice on just about anything. Think about how many times a day you’ve stumbled on a neighbor seeking thoughts on where to take their wife for dinner, or your sister looking for bunk beds. I bet your boss’s vacation pictures are annoying – but, hey, he found a sweet deal on Groupon.

I recently read an article around a study that stated people talked about vehicle purchases 30,000 times per day on social media, according to a recent study by Starcom MediaVest Group and led by Big Fuel. They didn’t say on TV commercials, billboards or double trucks. Social media. 30,000 times per day. The majority of the mentions were more toward the purchases phase – seeking advice from those they trust on social media.

The article is full of statistics you can consume and apply today. While reading, and re-reading it, I found a few things you may want to keep in mind.

Pre Purchase Opportunities:

Of those 30,000 times a day vehicle purchases are talked about a day, if your brand isn’t talked about in 29 percent of that it is unlikely a sale at your dealership will be made.

Post Purchase Opportunities:

The study revealed numerous avenues to capture business post purchase through social media, if a plan is in place. This could be through fixed operations or through their next car purchase.

When’s the last time you checked on all the various ways someone can tag your dealership in a check in?

Would you know if the college student who just bought their first car from you, tweeted, “My baby’s first oil change!” with a photo posted to Instagram as they checked in on Foursquare at Pep Boys down the street? Maybe. Would you know if they posted a picture on Facebook of your kickass claw machine as their baby’s oil is changed at your service center?

Post purchase conversations are occurring on all avenues of social media, monitored or unmonitored, satisfied or unsatisfied. According to the study, satisfied post purchase conversations occur three times more often, so make it a priority to ensure those experiences are true reflections of your dealership.

People are engaging and talking about vehicle purchases on social media more now than ever, to the tune of 1,250 times per hour and 21 times per minute. That’s a lot.

As we continue to adapt and take advantage of 2013 car shopping we must remember to make the right moves to ensure a growing, successful digital dealership and not simply rely on outdated tools and marketing.

Would you agree it’s time for you’re dealership to have a social media strategy? 

 

Read the PR Article I read and referred to after the jump for more stats…

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Jeff Kershner —  February 27, 2013 — 10 Comments

Buying A Car an Infographic and Some Important Stats

car buying stats lab42

 

According to a recent study by Lab42, the top four frustrations in the vehicle purchasing process are, dealing with salespeople, finding the right vehicle, the time spent on the process and understanding finance.

Four out of four of these frustrations sit at your dealership.

  1. Spending time on the process
    What processes does your dealership have in place to prevent these four frustrations?
  2. Dealing with Sales People
    How do your salespeople treat potential customers with such respect and create that lasting relationship that will keep them in the service lane year after year – and coming back to them for their next vehicle purchase?
  3. Finding the right car
    What does your website do to lower the time spent researching their next vehicle?
  4. Understanding Financing
    Are you further complicating finance due to your own incentives and priorities?

Additional stats include:

  • 52% Don’t know what make or model they intend to buy before arriving at the dealership.
  • 73% wish there was one fixed price for each car so there was no negotiation needed – really?
  • 48% of buyers are spending 1-3 months shopping before making their purchase.

What do you think of these stats?

Add your comments, suggestions and opinions below.

Lab42 Car Buying Infographic

Infographic courtesy of Lab42

In Internet Dealer Marketing, Latest News & Trends
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Ben Anderson —  February 18, 2013 — Leave a comment

Touching Your Customer

Girl Thinking


Which billboard ad does your customer drive-by and view 50 times per day?

Which newspaper ad do your customers look at 65 times per day?

Which online banner ad does your customer look at 100 times per day?

I’ll bet you don’t have a marketing initiative that touches each one of your customers 50-100 times per day. At the end of this article I’ll share two new marketing channels dealers are using to win first mover advantage with their customers.

Touches

In the world of marketing “touches” matter. That’s why as marketers we’re in the local paper, on facebook, on a billboard, or sponsoring a local charity auction. Good marketers know that building a brand doesn’t happen with one super bowl ad. Marketing takes variety and it takes strategic repetition.

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Aaron Wirtz —  February 13, 2013 — 8 Comments

Overcoming Camera Shyness on Both Sides of the Lens

A huge stumbling block to creating interesting, original social media content is the fear of the lens. Time to get comfortable.

 

Be Bold Be Beautiful

By now, I’m sure you’ve read all about why using video is important in your dealership. Videos of vehicle presentations, employee introductions, customer testimonials, special events, kids, and general silliness (among other things) can help communicate the personality of your organization in ways no other medium can.

If the employees in your dealership aren’t used to having a camera around, it will take some work to get everyone accustomed to it. If your dealership does embrace video–fantastic, but there still might be some ongoing challenges to overcome. Perhaps this scenario sounds familiar…

It’s a weekday morning, and the showroom is empty except for a few service customers reading their iPads and drinking coffee. A creative urge strikes, and you grab your video camera to start on that idea you wrote down last week. As you walk from station to station, looking for willing subjects, you’re met with a string of rejections, like ”I’ve got a migraine,” “you know I don’t do well on camera,” “ask so and so–he’s the real star,”  “I’ve got people coming in” and “not today.” Maybe someone actually grunts at you. Your creative momentum comes to a screeching halt, and the camera goes back in the bag with the dim hope that sometime soon, you’ll get another chance. 

This scenario highlights what I believe is the biggest obstacle to making videos at a car dealership: Camera shyness. Not just on the part of the subject, but the camera operator as well.

Obtaining someone’s agreement to be on camera is very much a sales exercise, and, come to think of it, camera shyness has a lot in common with a car shopper’s anxiety. Both involve a lack of trust and the fear of making a mistake.

Take heart. Embrace the spectrum of personalities of the people you film — it’s what will make your videos come alive. As much as you might be tempted to, you just can’t keep taking pictures and video of the front of your building or of the cars on the lot. People want to see other people, so here are some suggestions I’ve compiled based on my experience as an in-house video guy…

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Malinda Terreri —  February 7, 2013 — Leave a comment

Can Your Email Find Love The Second Time Around?

Email Love the Second Time

 

With Valentine’s Day around the corner, I thought I’d share some ideas on how you can get a little more love for your email campaign by giving it a second chance.

Let’s say you sent off your email and the results aren’t what you expected. Since you’ve already put your time and effort into crafting your message – maybe it has a great offer or it’s a newsletter with helpful info – any additional opens you can get is a bonus without a lot of effort. Here are two scenerios where this is worth trying and a couple of techniques to help it work.

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Steve Hanson —  February 6, 2013 — 1 Comment

What the Baltimore Ravens Can Teach You About Your Dealership’s Marketing

Marketing Like the Baltimore Ravens

 

Another football season comes to an end with the crowning of a Super Bowl champion. Are the Baltimore Ravens the most talented team in the NFL?

Maybe… or maybe not.

Love them or hate them, what the Ravens are is a unified team. Separate units of offense, defense and special teams that worked together to accomplish a goal. Each unit focused on their individual objectives, while at the same time, focused on putting the next unit in position to help influence a win.

A high-performing dealership is similar to a championship football team, with individual units or profit centers working as a unified team to deliver a win; an exceptional consumer experience that results in vehicle, service, parts and accessoriessales.

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