Deciphering Advice in Automotive Internet Marketing
With today’s economy challenges hitting the auto industry pretty hard, I expect car dealers to whip out the chopping block on expenses that do not produce plentiful and immediate sales. This puts what we do at risk because our platform is about building your own brand commensurate lead generator which takes time, among other things such as focus, creativity, and timely execution.
But this begs the question that if tough economic times urge dealers to cut spending, why should they have had these expenses in the first place?
In my observations, to be somewhat cliche, dealers are apt to throw things at the wall and see what sticks. With Internet marketing still an evasive practice for car dealers, particularly with Web 2.0 concepts, I am concerned about the possible setback this could be for the dealer community. Blogging and Social Media are long-term approaches to Internet marketing and I imagine dealers turning away from these methods b\c it is difficult to see the results.
Some have suggested that dealers not pay for anything they can do for free, but I think that can be misleading advice. Time is money and while yes you can “blog” for free, blogging is a vague term that requires time which can take a dealer away from selling cars. Is it then truly appropriate for dealers to not pay for such services?
No matter what the economic times and no matter what you can and can not do for free, dealers should always consider the most cost-effective and time-efficient path to their marketing objectives. This means having reliable partners and relationships with those you trust whether they are employees, vendors, contractors, or people with which you are connected in the blogosphere. It also means dealers should be thoughtful and constructive in these relationships versus throwing money at something and sitting back waiting for results.
Keeping your dealership business profitable is certainly the goal but the path to achieve this is not with short-term strategies that make you vulnerable to the times. Now more than ever is the time for dealers to invest into their own brand and web presence and continually strive to make it bullet proof with a sound sales process.
Favre’s $20 Million Marketing Blog
More details are being revealed on ESPN.com regarding the $20 Million marketing package supposedly dangled before Brett Favre by the Green Bay Packers. Recall that I originally wrote on this a couple weeks ago, commenting on how strong your brand must be to be offered $20M for not competing against your former employer.
Part of this “marketing” package was that Favre would have his own blog on the Packers website. I don’t know if that means on Packers.com, the NFL-provided Packers site, or if the Packers have another site. I checked the Packers.com site and there is a sub-menu for “Blogs” under the “News” tab, but it’s a pretty limited blog. Entries are up to date but definitely no sizzle and from what I see you can not comment on it. Almost seems more like a “Latest News” bit.
I am curious to know what the Packers have in mind for a Brett Favre blog. How involved would he be? What would it set out to accomplish? Is there much risk in such a blog tarnishing the legendary reputation of Favre? I find such scenarios fascinating because they push the envelope a bit. Plus the idea of a mega-corporation like this including a blog in such a package says a lot for the general value of blogging.
Another consideration here which I think speaks highly of Favre is that he has now taken a job with the Jets. I respect Favre in that playing football truly is his motivation. He does not seem particularly concerned with his legendary status, the Packers organization, or a $20M Blog Marketing package. That says a lot about Favre and is probably a (good) omen to his destiny. Favre is driven my the spirit of playing football and that should take him farther along than any of these other dangling lights and distractions.
Pinhead or Patriot?
One of my favorite brands today is the Bill O’Reilly brand. This guy sets new precedents in numerous areas:
1. What it means to be a True American
2. Journalistic Integrity
3. Knows how to keep it real
4. Personal Branding
5. Corporate Loyalty
6. Has fun
His show, The O’Reilly Factor, explores important topics empirically with balance and fairness. He holds crooks accountable and calls spinners out on their own game, backing himself up with facts. This is what sets O’Reilly apart from his counterparts.
His website is rich with quality information, free for the curious and only $5/mo for member access, revenue he reportedly generates for charitable purposes. He also effectively brands ancillary artifacts such as t-shirts, coffee mugs, hats, jackets, etc. Revenue again for charitable contributions.
Bill is passionate. He is personal. He is personable. He is marketable. He is profitable. All things which are marks of a good Brand.
While O’Reilly is a controversial figure to some, that controversy breeds his success. The realistic and understanding mind must have a sincere appreciation for what he does. I think O’Reilly has done more for this nation of United States then most Americans in history. At the risk of putting O’Reilly on a pedestal, O’Reilly is a legend of his own time. A true Patriot.
Thank you Bill.
The trickle effect in new and used car sales
The meat of this article by Arianne Walker in Online Automotive Review is iterated in the final paragraph:
Even though OEMs and dealers have been shifting their marketing budgets online, the data shows that most should probably be accelerating that transition, putting even more money where shoppers - new and used alike - are increasingly going.
These trends are consistent with the recent Cobalt-Polk-Yahoo! study on new vehicle buyer behavior in how it directly and indirectly influences used vehicle purchases.
When I think of car sales, I think of long-term retention. But immediate sales are important to. While you need to invest into new and used car advertising, a primary benefit with investing in to new vehicle advertising is that the investment not only trickles down into used car sales, but it even influences used car sales. That is what the study suggests at least.
This is a key topic today for dealers and providers. Dealers today are cautious of where and how they shift their marketing dollars. It is widely known that the Internet offers the greatest ROI, however establishing your online brand recognition is not an event, it is an establishment that requires years of vision, commitment, and dedication from dealers and their providers.
Dealers must be prepared to take risks and to embrace long-term change in order to meet auto shoppers in advance, but it can be done with the right tools and techniques.
Five More Tips for Marketing Success
Anybody who has ever created an online brand marketing campaign from scratch will tell you it’s not easy. It takes hard work, dedication and a variety of strategies to make it successful. Whether you’re just starting out or have been working on your campaign for a long time, you could always use more suggestions to get your campaign noticed. Here are five more suggestions you can use to make your campaign work harder for you:
1. Leave your signature when you comment on somebody else’s blog. Be careful not to sound like you’re self-promoting, because that’s just rude. But mentioning your brand underneath your name isn’t something that would make most people upset.
2. Mention your brand and your name in your blog tag lines.
3. Use your brand and logo when you send an email. Most, if not all, email servers allow you to attach a signature with each email you send. This signature appears at the bottom, and it exposes your brand to everybody with whom you communicate.
4. Put your brand name in the title of your blog. This serves several purposes. Every time visitors view your blog, they will see your brand. But when they subscribe to a feed for your blog, they encounter the brand each and every time you update your blog.
5. Create a separate blog to talk about your brand. Blogs are one of the best ways to attract attention, as long as you constantly update them with fresh and relevant content. You can also do pretty much anything you want on your blog, so self-promotion is certainly not out of the question.
Keep an eye on our blog here for more brand marketing tips in the future.
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