Promise in Automotive Blog Marketing
Just returned from a workshop we held today with the Automobile Dealers Association of Greater Philadelphia (Shouts out to Greta, thank you). The workshop concentrated on providing attendees with an applicable technique they could deploy at the dealership using their Blog, Email, SEO, Social Media Networking sites, and Video.
Interestingly, none of the near 30 attendees representing more than a dozen dealerships reported their dealership having a blog. While I am not surprised by this, I do think it hints at the blue ocean still remaining before us in the auto industry of incorporating blog strategies into a car dealer’s Internet Marketing Strategy.
The purpose of our workshop today was to show dealers a real-life way to utilize their blog in their Business Marketing and Advertising plans, the importance of permission-based email marketing, and how SEO must be considered a core part of any online marketing campaign. It was presumed that attendees had already crossed the Internet bridge and the SEO bridge, and we anticipated that many people present would be hoping to learn how to get a blog or start blogging. I confess not clarifying well enough in the beginning that our emphasis was on how to utilize your blog versus how to get one but I am confident people still were able to take something home that was useful.
The message we shared today is one that I have seen evolving in recent years and fortunately being embraced by most dealerships today. It’s the idea of selling a relationship and not a car which really is just Sales 101. But more important than the message is the “How?” and “Why?”. While the idea of selling a relationship and not a commodity sounds good and all, pulling it off is a challenge, especially for car dealers. And that is what we really covered today. Why use a blog and how it can be utilized?
So while the dealer industry is still in its infancy for incorporating Blog Marketing Strategies into their Business Marketing and Advertising plans, it was evident today seeing how much more welcome the idea of using blogs has become for dealers. A year ago I would have been chased out the room for saying the “B” word. Today it seemed we couldn’t talk about it enough.
Unsubscribe Observations
The past several weeks I have made a point to unsubscribe from newsletters and email lists that I don’t utilize. It has been interesting to see how the various systems respond to that. I have been subscribed to dozens of mailing lists over the past several years and am making a point to clean house a bit.
The good ones remove me instantly. Some say it could take several hours to several days. Some do not have an unsubscribe button but instead instruct me to reply to the email requesting to unsubscribe. Those are the more traditional List Servs that seem to be losing ground to contemporary Campaign systems such as AWeber, which is the automated campaign system I utilize.
Then there are the small handful of systems that could not unsubscribe me. This of course is really annoying. Interestingly, these seem to be from companies within the Automotive Industry. As a result, I have had to mark some as SPAM so that they would cease appearing to my inbox.
While some people are quick to mark email as SPAM if the do not want it, being one heavily involved with Email Marketing campaigns I try to avoid it at all costs. I guess it is an act of karmic conscientiousness. But Email Marketing has become a challenging and complex science and art, much like Search Engine Marketing. There are tactics and techniques that work and many that do not. By paying attention to how other organizations and individuals market to you via email you can learn a lot of good techniques and be aware of bad ones.
Bringing Customers Back to Your Dealership
The backbone of any business, especially a car dealership, is repeat business. If your customers aren’t coming back to you for their new car needs, your income potential decreases. But how do you keep in touch with your customers without seeming pushy or desperate?
AWeber has the ideal way to stay in contact with your customer base while making each client feel like more than “just a customer” at the same time. Have you ever thought about sending birthday e-mails? If so, that’s a great start. In fact, this is one of the “X factors” in the online brand marketing industry. And who doesn’t enjoy getting birthday greetings regardless of how old they are?
In addition to a birthday greeting, you can offer a discount on a preventative maintenance service or maybe even a free oil change. Who wouldn’t like that?
If you’re considering this as a way to keep current customers, be sure to gather the necessary information. AWeber will do all the rest. Here’s what they’ll need:
1. Customer’s e-mail
2. Customer’s birthday
That’s it! And the great part is that each sale typically includes this information. That means you really don’t need to do anything extra except supply this information to AWeber. Try it out today and see what kind of results you get. The potential to keep your current customers is priceless.
Talking about Auto Affiliate Programs
Are you trying to increase your sales and income through an automotive affiliate marketing program? Are you using the most recognized vendors in the industry today? If you’re not sure, here are three of the top programs on the auto affiliate list so you can include these in your strategy.
• Car Auction
At Car-Auction.com, affiliates enjoy a commission of up to 75% with each sale. This website ranks #1 in the auto affiliate marketing industry and offers lifetime commissions for its sellers.
• Bargain Network
This #2 program offers lifetime commissions as well as support by Commission Junction, so sellers get the best of both worlds. For more information, visit Bargains.com and begin earning a commission right away.
• Cars Direct
Although CarsDirect.com doesn’t offer lifetime commissions, sellers receive two-tier earnings each week and a commission for leads and requests. You get $15 for each lead and $7 for each referred dealer request. Sellers also get $6 for every finance lead.
Of course, you can’t rely on a vendor for your own success. Creating a substantial income will take a great deal of work on your part as well. Combining hard work and the ideal vendors is the best way to have a successful website that generates money.
Five Reasons Subscribers Unsubscribe
With any affiliate marketing website, subscribers are important. They are symbols f your site’s success, and they give you an idea of what interests Internet users. But over time, you might notice that your list of subscribers is dwindling and you might not even know why. Here are some of the major reasons subscribers unsubscribe and tips for preventing that from happening in the future.
• Too Many Posts
Readers don’t want seven or eight e-mails each day when you add a new blog. Keep updates and new blogs to a minimum. Most subscribers expect one or two updates each day. Add more than that and you risk losing subscribers.
• Too Few Posts
If you hardly ever update your blog, subscribers simply take it off their subscription lists because it’s ineffective. They will concentrate on more relevant blogs with daily updates instead.
• Blog Is Off-Topic
People subscribed to your blog in the first place because it was about something in which they’re interested. When you post about other topics too often, your readers lose interest and you lose subscribers.
• Blog Uses Recycled Postings
When you simply copy and paste another blogger’s articles on your blog site or re-post articles you’ve already posted, readers lose interest. If they can find it somewhere else, why should they continue subscribing to your blog?
• Posts Are Boring
Keep your posts interesting to retain your subscribers. Create a new twist or add something that other bloggers don’t have.
Luckily, there are things you can do to ensure that you keep your subscribers and find new ones. With a company like AWeber.com, you can reach more people and enjoy more success in the online world.
Three Tips to Increase Sales with Affiliate Marketing
Has your affiliate marketing campaign been struggling to make sales? Or has it reached a plateau without any likelihood of increasing any time soon? If so, you might benefit from the following three tips.
1. Reconsider your product or the way you’re marketing it. Are you enthusiastic about it? Are the customers who visit your website familiar with it? Or is it something completely different? Website visitors are savvy, and they can tell when you don’t believe in the product you’re trying to sell or when you’re unsure about it. Exude confidence to ensure that you sound like a reliable source.
2. Put your sales pitch on the first page. Studies show that the overwhelming majority of first-time website visitors rarely click through to a second page of your website. Most visitors won’t even scroll down past the first half. So putting your sales pitch as close to the top of the first page as possible can increase your affiliate sales. In addition, make sure your pitch is attractive and attention-grabbing. Without that “pull,” nobody will pay attention to it regardless of where you put it.
3. Offer your visitors something free. A regular newsletter about your business is an inexpensive way to follow up with website visitors. That way, you can continue to promote your products and services while staying fresh in the minds of potential clients.
These are just three tips you can use to help increase your affiliate sales. Of course, there are probably hundreds of ideas that will produce results. Stay tuned to future posts for more suggestions.
Increasing Sales through Visitor Follow-Ups
In the world of affiliate marketing, holding on to every potential client you can is the name of the game But when Internet users visit your website, they are either going to remember it or forget about it.
Depending on the appearance and functionality of your page, there is a 50/50 chance of either one of those events happening. But there are ways you can make those visitors remember you and come back to you when they need your services or product. One of the best ways to do that is with an Autorepsonder program. Here are some reasons why contacting visitors is so important:
• First-time visitors to any website rarely buy anything. They tend to “shop around” at first before settling on the websites they decide to patronize.
• On a first visit, potential customers typically don’t know enough about your product or service to purchase from you.
• Some visitors might not have enough money to purchase your product or service at that time. But they are looking for prices and information.
• Visitors haven’t made their decisions yet.
• Your company still needs to build credibility and trust with potential customers before they will purchase from you.
With all of these reasons, a follow-up e-mail can cement your company’s name into their memories. With AWeber, you can put a feature on your website that allows visitors to enter their e-mail addresses. AWeberwill also set up an autoresponder so those potential clients get a second and lasting opportunity to remember your website.
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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