Digital Mileage

Richard Rikess
Performance Improvement Consultant
Cobalt

For years I’ve asked dealers why they advertise in newspapers, radio, and on TV. I usually get the same answer, “because we always have,” or I hear “because it creates good traffic!” I typically follow up with the question, “how do you know?” That’s when I hear the crickets chirping. I will never tell a dealer to quit advertising with the traditional mediums, just show me the ROI! After all, if I spend $10K on a newspaper ad that runs through a weekend, shouldn’t I expect a nice return on that investment?

High performing dealers today are turning to online advertising to survive during these turbulent times. They must be able to measure all the effectiveness of their advertising and make quick, intelligent decisions on whether the ad is working or not. Digital marketing is one of the true silver bullets in advertising. Everything is measured and can be changed instantly. You want to push an old age unit, put it online with an attractive price. If that doesn’t work (and we will know within a day if it does or doesn’t), throw it on usedcars.com and just get rid of it then move on.

Automotive advertising companies that want to help their dealers need to learn how to partner with the store. They have to understand the dealer’s goals and integrate a complete advertising strategy. Everything that a dealership does offline should drive traffic online! Today a dealership can make a minimal investment in digital marketing, and for just a few thousand dollars they can have an advertising campaign in a box. All digital advertising should be designed to drive traffic, be it walk-in, phone-in or email leads.

Automotive advertising companies that want to help their dealers are thinking of new and creative ways to drive qualified traffic to the dealer. Technology can be overused in dealerships in so many ways today, do your sales consultants know how to do a proper meet and greet, can they take an inbound call on a sold vehicle and get the prospect excited to visit the store? We have to make sure that dealers understand that it’s time to go back to the blocking and tackling in the dealership, and as far as advertising goes, there are companies that are experts on how to drive qualified traffic to your dealership. It’s time to start listening to those experts and putting together the proper mix of traditional advertising and digital marketing!

The Cobalt Group
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