March 2013 – DealerRefresh | DealerRefresh Automotive Dealer Forums

Why Would Anyone Buy a Car From Your Dealership – Really?

[highlight color=”#fddcaf” font=”black”]We’re getting some conversation and sharing rolling this weekend with a post by Brian Pasch. He’s looking for the answer to what appears to be a simple question. But, is it?[/highlight] Why Buy A New Vehicle From Your Dealership? I love working with car dealers to create a comprehensive marketing road map …

In Defense of the Animated GIF

A Simple Overlooked Technique – Yet so Effective Last week, Google+ announced that you can use animated gifs for your profile photo, and provided some search results on how to get started. Playing nicely with gifs is yet another feature that Google+ has over Facebook, and I believe gifs should be a regular part of …

Industry Events

eDEALERSUMMIT Minneapolis – Dealers Register 50% OFF

Join eDEALER SUMMIT on April 10, 2013 in Bloomington, MN Kick off the selling season with all the tools to be successful! Join us for the Minneapolis eDealer Summit at the Hilton Minneapolis/St.Paul Airport — Mall of America, on April 10, 2013, for a day of quality digital marketing education. Attend the Minneapolis eDealer Summit …

Industry News & Trends

Chip Perry Leaves AutoTrader.com

This morning, AutoTrader.com announced the departure of Chip Perry as Chief Executive Officer of AutoTrader Group. He was AutoTrader.com’s first employee in 1997. Since then, AutoTrader.com has grown to become the world’s largest automotive marketplace, and Perry has become widely recognized as a pioneer of the online automotive industry. Chip led the company through the …

Best Practices

Bob Lefsetz On Buying A Car

For years I’ve been following this guy Bob Lefsetz (after Alex turned me onto him), I love his pointed articles and the insight he offers into the music industry. Since the majority of the time automotive industry professionals speak to non-automotive folks we get looked at like we’re zombies from the Walking Dead, I was …

Dealership Marketing

The Wrong Fight Against SEM

[highlight color=”#fddcaf” font=”black”]Brian Pasch comments on why dealers need help on more things than telling them to fight SEM spending. There are other games to play.[/highlight] Picking a Fight Against Paid Search A great discussion broke out on DealerRefresh Forums and I was compelled to comment, but then it turned into a longer story! Ed …

Best Practices Dealership Communication Tools Dealership Marketing Industry News & Trends

QR Codes – Are We Still Talking About’m? YES!

By the year 2016 it is expected there will be over one billion smartphone owners, ready and able to shop, browse, research, click, text, post and scan. And, scan they will, according to Pitney Bowe’s recent report that looked into QR usage in the United States and Europe. To the surprise of many, it’s …

Best Practices Dealership Marketing

What’s YOUR Persona?

Century Interactive is on the 7th floor of a cool office building in Dallas, TX. To our right, as we look out, is Downtown Dallas. To our left, and no more than a pitching wedge away, is a bustling Whole Foods. It’s a great spot for a high end grocery store and they do really …

Best Practices Dealership Marketing Opinions & Advice

That Could Be Me: Moving Beyond the WIIFM Principle

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 …

Dealership Marketing Industry News & Trends

SEO VS SEM (Google) Infographic

FREE Clicks (SEO) Becoming More Costly? If you happen to be one those folks who clicks on the first search results listing on page one of Google, you’re in good company. The majority, in fact, click on this before clicking on an organic ranking just a few listings under that paid advertisement. But, hold on. …