2014 – Page 5 – DealerRefresh | DealerRefresh Automotive Dealer Forums

HTTPS Everywhere: What it Means for Your Dealership!?

Google uses over 200 factors to determine website relevancy, and now HTTPS has been thrown into the mix, with a rule that Google is calling “HTTPS Everywhere.” From keyword relevance and backlinks to social shares and web page loading time, Google uses its ranking signals to determine which websites rise up and which fall in the …

Dealership Marketing Industry News & Trends

AutoTrader’s Social Media Survey is a Total Sham

They say that if you torture the data long enough, it will confess to anything. In the case of AutoTrader’s recent “study” about car shopping habits, it’s not just a matter of torturing the data. It’s about coercing the study to produce a result that puts into a negative light the biggest threat to their …

Industry News & Trends

Leave the Screen Open: How to Deliver Screen-Friendly Experiences

I found myself squinting at the letter “N”. That’s all I could see after I pinched and zoomed in on one guitar after another on the musicians’ gear website that appeared on my smartphone. I zoomed out a little so I could read a little more of the text, but I had to keep scrolling …

Industry News & Trends

Are VDP Views the Cause or the Effect of Better Digital Marketing?

Which comes first…the VDP or your dealership’s overall marketing? Ever since the rise of dealership websites as a virtual showroom rather than the online billboards they started as in the beginning of the digital age, there has been a correlation between the number of people viewing vehicle details pages (or in some cases, inventory search …

Best Practices

The Exit to the Sale: It’s No Longer a Road

The Road to the Sale is DEAD! This concept that consumers arrive at a decision to purchase because we’ve walked them through a drawn-out series of steps is no longer realistic. If the average prospect told us how they would like to buy rather than be sold, I highly doubt any would devise such a tortuous …

Best Practices Dealership Marketing Industry News & Trends

How Negativity in Adwords Can Yield Positive Results

The challenge of Paid Search/Adwords can be quickly dismissed once one realizes the incredible possibility of impressive results. There are many educational resources for “would-be Adwords experts” along with plenty of tutorials, agencies, and expert-trainers who can be hired. However, in my experience, the only real way to master Adwords is to dive right in and …

Dealership Marketing

Defining A Hierarchy Of Automotive Digital Marketing Responsibilities

As larger dealer groups allocate more internal resources to manage their digital marketing investments, our industry needs to discuss roles and responsibilities for digital marketing execution. In the graphic above, I started a conversation in my latest book, using this chart, on how a dealer group could organize their marketing team or employees who are performing marketing tasks. …

Best Practices Dealership Marketing Industry News & Trends

2 Strategies to Reduce Your AdWords Cost per VDP View

Dealers are spending more and more money each year on Google AdWords campaigns. AdWords can be a very effective way to connect dealers with in-market shoppers. With budgets increasing, I want to encourage dealers to demand more transparent reporting from their AdWords management agencies. In particular, I would like dealers to request that each AdWords campaign …

Best Practices Opinions & Advice

“I’ve NEVER Had a Computer”

Latest HOT Discussion in the Forums “I’ve never had a computer.” The paradigm shift from next door. Last night, I was at a buddy’s house and his 21-year old next door neighbor came over and he was showing me his newest phone, the Samsung Galaxy S5 Active (it’s sick.) Anyway, at some point, I moved …

Best Practices Dealership Marketing

Why Mobile-only Shoppers are Changing Car Sales

If you had to guess, how big would you say your dealership’s showroom is? Somewhere in the neighborhood of 15,000 or 18,000 square feet, maybe bigger? The front façade is probably in tip-top shape, the last of the 2014s are glistening, perfectly detailed and merchandised online. And I bet it’s full of amenities – lounge …