Digital Mileage

by Paul Nagy on Jun 15, 2009

The following is from an article Paul Nagy – Cobalt’s VP of Core Products – wrote for Dealer Marketing Magazine’s April 2009 issue.

As dealers continue to transition from traditional advertising to internet-based media, they need dynamic content to increase time spent on their website and help persuade prospective consumers to contact the dealership. 

The new trends in Video and rich media content placement have proven to increase visitor-to-purchase rates in the online retailing industry.  Many retailers have reported that when they add rich media to their site, increased conversion follows.  Online video advertising viewership is on the rise. It is expected that online video advertising viewers will increase from 129.5 million in 2008 to more than 164 million in 2011, according to eMarketer.

A new study from The Kelsey Group, 59% of auto dealers say they plan to use Internet video on their own websites during the next 12 months, up from the current 33 percent using video on their sites today.

Video has rapidly increased in importance to the consumer and therefore to the dealer. Auto Channel reported that today, 80% of car buyers indicate that videos impact their buying decision and 80% of Internet users stated that they watch video online, reports Advertising Age. Using video on a dealer site further engages the consumer and increases overall site stickiness.

The benefits of video on a dealer website:

• Provides a comprehensive vehicle review in a rich media format strengthening the consumer’s emotional connection

• Attracts and persuades more consumers, increases the time spent on the website, increases interaction, which ultimately, drives more leads

• An important sales tool for distinguishing pre-owned vehicles in a time when more consumers are increasingly turning to pre-owned to fill their needs

• Makes the car buying process easier and more enjoyable by allowing consumers to do hours of research within minutes 

Enhancing the Sales Experience

How do you capture your customer’s attention online? You want to provide them with the best video experience that really showcases the vehicles on your lot whether they are new, used or certified pre-owned.

There are various types of video that dealers can use on their site, which can serve different sales needs. There are professional videos created by third parties that can provide a high level overview that highlights the strengths and features of a vehicle. These videos incorporate footage of the vehicle in motion, provide impressions of the vehicles performance and utilize a voiceover narration that walks the viewer through the vehicle highlights. 

Another easy option for dealers is a method of creating video that allows the dealer to leverage the photos of any new, used or CPO vehicle they have on the lot and turn those into a video with a personalized voice over narration. These videos are specific to a single car and utilize computer text-to-speech technology to generate a voice over that highlights the vehicles features and specifications.  This technology allows a virtual walk around video to be quickly generated for every vehicle in a dealer’s inventory In fact, Pictures to Video is a great sales tool when following up on a lead by allowing you to email the consumer a link to that exact vehicle’s video.

by The Cobalt Group:Volker Jaekel on Mar 10, 2011

Column: The Automotive Marketing Infobahn with Volker Jaeckel

Three German Proverbs for Three Common Automotive Marketing Scenarios

Volker Jaeckel, Digital Marketing Ambassador for ADP Digital Marketing

As a German “elder” of the automotive industry, I decided to use my beloved German proverbs to illustrate common scenarios auto industry Internet Managers know all too well. By the end of this article, you may not be fluent in German, but hopefully you will at least have the chance to chuckle, nod, or smile in recognition of a classic industry situation.

1. Das Eisen schmieden, solange es heiß ist. This one may be familiar to you Americans. It translates to “Strike while the iron is hot.”  Let me catapult myself back in time. It is 2001, a younger VJ (then with no gray hair) worked as a BMW and Mercedes Benz salesman in Michigan. At this time, our dealership was confronted with an intruder of a special kind, and every salesperson wanted to avoid contact with the nasty beast known as StarLeads. For those who don’t remember, StarLeads was a new lead program designed by Mercedes, sending Internet inquiries from real prospects. These prospects had researched a car on the OEM website, and now wanted to hear from a sales person in the dealership to gather more information.

Because I was the Benjamin in the dealership at this time, I was doomed by management to run this technology feature, even though many established sales personnel reported to management that the tool was a dud. It turned out it wasn’t a tool issue, but was a timing issue: many of these salespeople were waiting up to two days to contact the leads, at which point of course the person’s interest had waned and the lead had expired. Once I began speedily responding, or “striking” when a hot lead came through, the prospects began to convert.

The proverb’s truth isn’t limited to CRMs. You must “strike while the iron is hot” in every aspect of the dealership profession: responding to 3^rd party leads, joining the chat conversation on your website, or immediately engaging with a disgruntled customer on a review site to try to avoid damage to your dealership reputation.

Everybody knows about the essence of speed in our business, but when you mystery shop your competition and maybe even your own dealership, you’ll see that even basics are not always followed. Seeing the lack of timely responses in our industry, I can only shake my head and say, “What are you thinking?”

2. Eine Schwalbe Macht Noch Keinen Sommer. In English, the proverb means, “A single swallow doth not the summer make.” Swallows? Summer? What is this kooky German fellow speaking of? Believe it or not, this beloved German proverb ties in perfectly with pitfalls I see, particularly in dealers’ social media strategy. When an industry peer asks you how many Facebook fans you have, and you say “280,” what happens? Your smug peer responds that they have 5,234 fans and that their base is growing daily. Now you see where the proverb comes into play.

The “single swallows” don’t matter in social media. You could have 100,000 fans, but if they’re not engaged, what’s the point? What matters in social media is not numbers, but R.O.P. (Return-On-Post) R.O.P. includes engagement such as comments, links, referrals, or any other goal conversion you’ve set for your social media campaigns. This proverb also applies to your own social media efforts as a dealer. You have to continuously post and provide insight; a single blog post here and there does not a social media program make.

3. Rom ist auch nicht an einem Tag erbaut worden. This one will be popular with any Gladiator fans out there-it means: “Rome wasn’t built in a day.”  This is the “other half of the coin” to the first German proverb “Strike while the iron is hot.” While it is important to be speedy when making contact with a hot lead, you can’t lose heart if it takes much longer to close the sale. For new prospects coming through our CRM, I recommend at least a 120-day email follow-up approach, combined with telephone contact attempts. Some dealers come on hot and heavy, but they don’t have the patience to follow through after the initial “thrill-of-the-chase” wears off. The truly successful dealer is the one who establishes contact in a timely fashion, and then continues to nurture that relationship over time.

And now for one final proverb: Probieren geht über studieren. It means “trying is better than studying”- so get out there and sell some cars!

Volker Jaeckel, Digital Marketing Ambassador for ADP Digital Marketing

Volker Jaekel works as a speaker, coach and educator in digital marketing. “VJ” is a frequent speaker at industry events like Digital Dealer Conference and NADA; he is also a fixture at NCM 20 Groups and OEM seminars. When he’s not dazzling others with his digital marketing know-how, VJ enjoys vintage Mercedes Benz cars and spending time with his wife and five kids.

The Cobalt Group

www.cobalt.com
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by The Cobalt Group: Jon Quade on Apr 29, 2011

“May I have your attention, please: the Internet has not replaced the telephone. I repeat: the Internet hasnot replaced the telephone.”

In the frenzy of the automotive digital marketing land grab, have you let flashing animated banners dazzle you? Has the faithful jingle of the dealership phone become a pesky buzz in your ear? If you’ve answered ‘yes’ to both questions, you’ve missed the boat. Don’t worry, though; here comes the life raft!

Digital automotive marketing doesn’t replace phone leads. Digital automotive marketing CREATES phone leads. In fact, our own Cobalt research shows that over the past year, phone calls have actually outpacedemail leads in a dramatic fashion. Our research shows that in March of 2010, there were approximately 7 phone calls for every 2 e-mail leads.  In March of 2011, that ratio jumped to almost 10 phone calls for every 2 e-mail leads.

Now, let’s be clear: these statistics don’t mean your digital marketing efforts are wasted because we all know today’s consumers prefer to do the bulk of their car-shopping research online. It just means that when it comes time to actually visit a dealership, many people still prefer to pick up the phone and call rather than fill out an email form. The reasons are numerous: identity theft concerns, privacy issues, or plain old “field fatigue” at the thought of filling out a long, cumbersome online form. And, on a more ‘sinister’ front, when customers call they are attempting to cross you off the list of dealerships they intend to visit.

So yes, the Internet does play a more powerful role than ever in the car-buying process. BUT the phone is still the contact method of choice for most serious buyers. In other words, if you’re doing automotive digital advertising right, your phone should be ringing off the hook. The question is, are you prepared to pick it up?

Jon Quade, Performance Improvement Consultant at ADP Digital Marketing (formerly The Cobalt Group),  is one of the most-recognized trainers in the automobile industry. He has  8000+ hours on camera and years of seminar experience with OEM clients like Ford, General Motors, Nissan, and Infiniti.

by Jade Makana on Oct 17, 2011

By Volker Jaeckel, Cobalt/ADP Digital Marketing Ambassador and Jade Makana, Cobalt/ADP Digital Marketing Social Media Maven

1) “What we upload about ourselves is our digital footprint. What other people upload about us is our digital shadow. What do you want your digital legacy to be? ” Erik Qualman, Digital Dealer 2011 Keynote Speaker and Founder of Socialnomics

2) “The first time that Tier I, Tier II and Tier III joined forces in their marketing message and broke through the noise; that is why Chevy and dealers were so successful with the Cruze launch,” John Holt, Driving Sales Executive Summit 2011 Special Panelist and CEO of ADP Digital Marketing/Cobalt.

3) “Twitter is like my Speedos I wear….if you don’t like it, don’t look at it,” Dennis Galbraith, Driving Sales Executive Summit 2011 Breakout Speaker and Owner of Revenue Guru.

4) “Buying a car should be fun.” Rich Rikess, Performance Improvement Consultant for ADP Digital Marketing/Cobalt

5) “Why are you still buying outdoor media today….everybody is on the phone and texting during driving.  They don’t look at your signs…they do not even look at the road!” Gary Vaynerchuck, Driving Sales Executive Summit  2011 Keynote Speaker and Co-Founder of VaynerMedia

6) “There are just 3 things a CEO wants to know from you: Did we make money? How much money could we save? Are our customers happy?”  Jason Falls, Driving Sales Executive Summit 2011 Keynote Speaker CEO, Exploring Social Media & Social Media Explorer LLC

7) “Clear relationships between Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 are essential.” Matt Murray, Director of Digital Marketing at Dealer.com

8) “Successful companies know how to give customers a Beyond the Moment experience.” Jim Carrillo, Digital Dealer 2011 Speaker and Customer Loyalty Manager at Zappos

9) “Social media has taken over pornography as the most popular online activity.” Erik Qualman

10) “When researching a vehicle, prospects look at the top three resources:  independent sites, search engines, and dealer websites. You have no control over independent sites.  You have limited control over search engines. You have complete control over your dealer websites.” Rich Rikess, Performance Improvement Consultant for ADP Digital Marketing/Cobalt

11) It’s not a sin to be on Facebook.”-The Pope (via Erik Qualman)

12) “The magic pill in social media is hard work.” Erik Qualman, Founder of Socialnomics

13) “Dealerships must execute Marketing and not wait for technology to do the job. Marketing is a verb – not a noun,” Jared Hamilton, Driving Sales Executive Summit 2011 Keynote Speaker and Founder of DrivingSales.co

14)“What happens in Vegas…never happened.”-Rich Rikess, Performance Improvement Consultant for ADP Digital Marketing/Cobalt (and Known Sin City Lothario)

15) YOU CHOOSE! Help us complete our list by posting your favorite conference quote in the comments below!