DealerRefresh

Hi everyone! If it isn’t obvious from my Dealer Refresh title, this is my first post in the forums. I’m thrilled to join you all and be a part of this community!

Now, I wanted to ask this question here because I’d like to get feedback from those of you handling facebook advertising for your dealership. But, anyone is free to chime in. The more the merrier.

That said, what Facebook ad format do YOU see the most success with? Are you using Domain Ads, Multi-Product Ads (Carousel Ads), Offer Ads, Video Ads, Lead Ads, Canvas/Instant Experiences and/or Sponsored Mentions?

Let me know over in the forums!

I’m having trouble deciphering data, and want opinions.

Our web site traffic ytd for year-over-year numbers for three stores is UP 12%, 19%, and 50% respectively but for each store the total lead submissions are DOWN. In the case of the 19% increase the submission rate is down 31%. This means that the total visits ytd are up nearly 6500 and the form submissions are DOWN by nearly 200. These aren’t small Kia, Mitsubishi or Mini stores, but major Japanese brands at decent-sized locations.

Anyone have any ideas? Could it be some sort of bot is being used to inflate the visit numbers? If so, how could you tell? The traffic is showing as excellent but the total page visits are way down, the time on site is way down, the form submissions are way down, and the numbers just don’t make any sense. The sites have added features compared to last year  so time on site should be up, not down, and same with page views. How can you recognize bogus traffic? Is there a way? By the way, it’s matched analytics with the same providers, year-over-year, so it’s good comparative data.

Any help would be appreciated.

Comment over in the dealer forums

WOW! What are everyone’s thoughts on this?

CDK Global Announces Plan to Divest Digital Marketing Business

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill., June 27, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — CDK Global, Inc. (Nasdaq:CDK) (the “Company”) today announced a plan to divest its Digital Marketing Business, comprising all of the assets of its Advertising North America business segment and certain assets of its Retail Solutions North America segment related to mobile advertising solutions and website services.

“Following a comprehensive strategic review we have made the decision to divest the Digital Marketing Business,” said Brian Krzanich, president and chief executive officer. “Exiting the Digital Marketing Business allows the management team to focus on the building momentum in the core auto software business and to accelerate growth in fiscal 2020. We believe the Digital Marketing Business is an attractive asset for someone who is better positioned to leverage the technology platform and management team that we have built.  During this transition period we remain committed to our CDK Digital Marketing customers, and will continue to support our comprehensive suite of Digital Marketing technologies and services.”

This decision was reached after a thorough evaluation of the CDK portfolio, and aligns with the Company’s strategy to focus on the core suite of SaaS software and technology solutions for the markets it serves through the Retail Solutions North America and CDK International segments.  Beginning with the fourth quarter, the Digital Marketing Business will be presented as discontinued operations.  The Company has engaged Allen & Company to identify potential buyers and evaluate proposals for the Digital Marketing Business.

Further details regarding this decision can be found in a Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on June 27, 2019. The fiscal fourth quarter and fiscal year ending June 30, 2019 earnings call will be held in early August, and will include updates regarding these matters, as well as guidance for fiscal 2020 and an update to the capital allocation strategy.

http://investors.cdkglobal.com/news-releases/news-release-details/cdk-global-announces-plan-divest-digital-marketing-business

Comments over in the dealer forums

In this article on Ward’s Auto about vehicle inventory being an asset or a liability, the author Valerie Vallancourt, VP of Marketing with Outsell, points out that “one of the dealership’s most visible assets – and often the biggest source of wasted budget and opportunity – is vehicle inventory.” She states that “Choices made here can quickly make or break profitability,” which is no doubt true.

Later in the article, Valerie suggests that, “The good news is that finding the perfect shopper for a specific vehicle has never been easier,” and that, “Technology is available that intelligently matches customers to cars, allowing dealers to make sure they have the correct inventory for their marketplace.”

The latter statement is certainly true, but the former statement is a matter of debate. Although I imagine most would agree to this as well.

Anyhow, in the end, Valerie points to a study which suggests that dealers can sell three times as many vehicles by using smarter marketing tools in the critical 30-day window of a vehicle’s availability.

In fact, @Jasen Rice talks about this in his FB Live video from yesterday.

So my question is two-fold: 1) do we have the data and the tools now to move the majority of our inventory within 30 days; and 2) how much of this comes down to technology versus people and process?

Comment in the dealer forums

I just finished skimming a “Pro Carvana” thread on LinkedIn written by a gentleman that was not affiliated with the industry. His perspective was purely as a consumer. From the original post and the comments to follow, a few things jumped out at me.

1. Consumers still dislike the process. There have been studies on this, so not really a surprise.
   1. Many commenters expressed that they really didn’t enjoy “going in” to buy a car. I’m confident that this is a process complaint not a physical location complaint.
2. Consumers have no idea how thin margins really are in this industry at present.
   1. This gentlemen that purchased his car from Carvana was proud that he’d avoided the 30% markup at the dealer. 30%
3. Consumers think they want a “direct to consumer relationship” with the factory ala Tesla, but some of the things they complain the loudest about are OEM mandates of dealers.
   1. In this case, the consumer was getting crushed by autoresponders “to stop the clock” from every dealer he contacted with an invitation to “come on in for the best price.” He claimed to have responded with a “do better” message only to receive the exact same reply.

I know “Digital Retailing” is today’s hot buzzword and I agree that there is consumer interest in some progressive markets and demographics, but not every consumer, or dealer for that matter, is ready for that. In the meantime, I think dealers really need to consider how they are going to differentiate themselves in lead response.

If it is true that you sell the vehicle at least three times in a transaction; once on your website or in a marketplace to get the “lead,” once in person on the test drive, and once in the finance office, then you can’t afford to squander that first sale with a poorly crafted lead response. I don’t know what the right answer here is, just making an observation for discussion.

How do you grasp the hand of the “handraiser” at lead response and lead them through the purchase process?

Comment over in the dealer forums.