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.
Blogging 101 for Car Dealers
Since 2007 we have dedicated this blog to be a working demonstration of our RSS Marketing product. The purpose of RSS Marketing was for SEO promotion and it was highly effective, but RSS Marketing did not engage your audience.
In June 2008 we got away from using this blog for RSS purposes. Below is the original blog post that was published here. We have only modified the introductory paragraph but the remainder is in tact.
Enjoy…
I miss the networking aspect of blogging, and the empirical mentality that good blogging perpetuates. We call this Relational Marketing in our product and it is a next step in the evolution of AutoConversion products. That’s right. Now that we have proven the effectiveness of RSS Marketing and have built it in as a core component to our SEO promotion, we are evolving into the next realm of Blog Marketing for Car Dealers – Relational Marketing.
Two years ago when I first got in to blogging, it wasn’t even a buzz word in automotive. There were a few people doing it, such as Jake Jacobson from Higher Turnover, Jeff Kershner from DealerRefresh, Umer Farooq from AutoJini, and Brian Hoecht from Ai-Dealer. We got to know one another a bit from our blogging and still do today. In fact, as many have witnessed, Kersh’s blog has elevated his own career and even inspired many another to take a crack at it.
But there are numerous applications of blogging which pose a choice for Car Dealers today. You have guys like Alex Snyder effectively blogging for Dealership awareness and promotion. You also have guys like Paul Rushing of ISM in Training who blog for what we call Personal Branding, which is essentially using the blogosphere to literally sell cars. I see this as the future of a Car Dealer Salesman quite frankly.
So, as I reflect on the magnificence of where blogging today leaves us, I truly look forward to getting back in to the swing of things at the “relational” level here. For those that still frequent the AC Blog, I commend you for your diligence considering the impersonal nature of our content these past months with the RSS Marketing. But if you are out there and reading this, then may the force continue to be with you.
Here’s to blogging and relationships!
Cheers, -RG
Car buyers demand competitive pricing and dealer transparency
If you ask customers what they want from the companies from whom they buy, you probably won’t be surprised by their responses. Studies show that Customers primarily want two things:
- Competitive pricing, and
- Auto Dealers to be transparent with information in a timely and professional manner
According to a recent study by Cobalt, Yahoo!, and Polk, the advent and advancement of the internet have made it possible for customers to demand this from all of the companies with whom they do business. No businesses are more affected by this than Car Dealerships. For most people, their vehicles are more expensive than anything they’ll ever buy but not live in, and saving money and hearing the truth are especially important in the car buying process.
The study reveals that the impact of a customer’s online brand marketing experience in the car buying process cannot be overstated. In every area of their lives, customers are going online to research, to learn, and even to shop, and the purchase of an automobile is no different.
The study found that one of the most crucial aspects of the online brand marketing process is responding to customer inquiries. People are spending an incredible sum of money on their car, and they’re bound to have questions. Customers are taking the dealer responses to their questions very seriously, and for good reason.
A recent article in Dealer magazine on the study says “simply initiating a response is not enough to build customer loyalty. Rather, dealers must respond as consumers request, factoring in content, speed and method of response, in order to increase the chance of selling a vehicle.” It should be obvious, but when a customer wants an email instead of a phone call, or they would prefer to be phoned before 5 o’clock, it makes sense to take heed and communicate with them in the manner they choose.
The concept of sharing experiences with personal networks is not a new one — we’re all familiar with one person telling two friends and those friends telling two more. Existing and potential customers now have access to methods of group communication previously inconceivable to marketing departments. With the rise of internet usage, those two friends are still being told, but they’re being told publicly and there are a whole lot more than two of them.
With forums, blogs, rating sites and social media becoming the fastest growing methods of information transfer, giving customers a professional and helpful experience is more vital than ever before. Automobile dealers have the opportunity to capitalize on good customer relationships and experience growth at exponential rates.
Protecting Your Online Reputation
As a dealer with an automotive blog or website, you know the importance of online brand marketing. It’s what sets you apart from the myriad of other automotive dealers in the nation and even in your local area. That’s why you always want to ensure that you put the best information “out there” and have a reputable site.
But how do you protect your online reputation when people can post whatever they want on the Internet? One disgruntled customer could cost you sales. Here are a few tips to protect your brand and your marketing strategies so you can defend yourself and keep as many potential customers as possible.
• Google Yourself
This is the easiest way to see what’s in cyberspace about you or your business. Simply type your name into the Google search engine to find out what information already exists about you.
• Create an Alert with Your Name or Your Dealership’s Name
I’ve done this with my own name just so I can see if anybody is posting anything untrue about me online. You can easily create an alert through Yahoo or Google that will send you an e-mail whenever somebody posts your name online.
• Respond to Negative Comments
When customers are happy with their experience at an auto dealership, they typically don’t create a blog post or any other written statement expressing their satisfaction. But dissatisfied people will. And sometimes, they’ll even exaggerate the truth or just make completely false statements. If you see this, do your best to respond, whether by commenting or by contacting the person who posted the information. It might not be a big help, but at least you get your side of the story out there, too.
Picking the Right Headline Is Essential for Success
When you’re trying to attract new readers to your affiliate marketing website, few things work as well as your blog’s headline. In fact, the headline you choose for your automotive post can literally make or break its success. But how do you know which headlines work and which ones don’t work? Luckily, there are some tips that you can use to find the best headline for your needs. Here are some suggestions to help you come up with one that will make your readers want to keep reading.
• Be Specific. Vague headlines cause Internet surfers to lose interest before even clicking on your post. The more specific you are, the more likely people are to want to read more.
• Write the Headline First. This keeps your article focused and on topic. When you have the headline, everything you write relates back to the headline. This keeps readers interested longer because they’re reading about something of interest to them. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have clicked on the headline.
• Use a Number. People like to have their articles separated by number. Write the headline as something like, “Five Tips for On-Time Preventative Maintenance” or “Seven Reasons Why You Should Keep Your Tires Properly Inflated.” Your readers will love you for it.
• Be Bold. That doesn’t mean to bold-face the font. It means you should intrigue readers with a forceful, compelling declaration or question. Be careful, though. There’s a fine line between intriguing and insulting.
Of course, there are many, many more tips for writing the perfect headline. And there’s no surefire formula for getting people to read your article. But pulling together a number of ideas is the best chance you have for increasing interest and readership.
Do You Have What It Takes for Affiliate Marketing?
Affiliate marketing isn’t for the weak of heart. If you want to be successful and make money from it, you need determination and motivation. Without these qualities, you simply can’t make enough money to benefit. If you haven’t yet become an affiliate marketer but have been thinking about joining “the game,” here are some things you should know about the business. You might even benefit from reading this if your marketing campaign has grown stagnant.
• Can you focus on a specific product, service or range of products and services? The best affiliate marketers have a sharp focus on a niche market. Find something that you know about and enjoy doing, or else you increase your risk of failing.
• Can you stay with one affiliate for a long time? Don’t go from affiliate to affiliate. Find one or two and stick with them. It might take some time at first to see some success, but it’ll happen if you’re patient.
• Can you keep going as you learn? Everything on the Internet is constantly changing. Affiliate marketing is no different. But you can’t take time to learn everything before you start your campaign. Learn as you go and implement new ideas and information as needed.
• Can you market yourself as well as your products? Of course it’s good to market your products, but you can gain trust in the online world by marketing yourself and creating relationships with customers.
• Can you offer something to potential clients? The most successful affiliate marketers achieve success because they offer advice, free products or quality content to people who visit their websites. Promote your services or products without exaggerating, and people will trust you.
Using Facebook to Further Your Brand
Are you looking for more ways to get your online brand marketing message out to more people? Facebook, the social media marketing giant, is making it easier for you to do so. Here’s how.
When you have an account at Facebook, you can build up a list of friends with whom you have something in common. These “friends” are people that you typically communicate with through the website. You share your preferences for products and read their blogs and other posted communications. Each Facebook member has a homepage where photographs and updates can be posted.
But now, you can go even a step further. Facebook recently began selling advertisements that you can purchase. When you do, your profile photo appears next to commercial messages that your Facebook friends can see.
Let’s say, for example, that you rented a movie that you particularly liked from Blockbuster.com. The website will then ask if you’d like to have your movie choice advertised to all of your friends on Facebook. Your friends then receive the message in addition to an advertisement from Blockbuster.
And because Facebook’s millions of existing members already use the social media networking site to tell others about the things they like, there isn’t much of a change with this new offering. The only difference is that your messages may be accompanied by an advertisement when you tell others about the things you like.
This is just another great way to get your name and your brand noticed. If you have a Facebook account set up for your brand, your logo or your face can accompany each of these messages to embed it further into the psyche of those with whom you are networking.
Mingle with SEO Experts at Search Marketing Expo
If you’ve never attended the Search Marketing Expo, you’ve been missing out on a great way to find more ideas and the latest trends in the SEO industry. This year, you can catch the SMX between February 26-28 in Santa Clara, California. If you decide to attend, here are a few things you can expect to find there this year.
• More than 50 SEO sessions designed for a variety of industries and skill levels
• An SEO “Boot Camp” that covers the basics of the search engine optimization industry: Link building, copywriting and other fundamentals are the focus of this group. This is especially useful for beginners trying to learn how SEO can work for their businesses.
• More than 20 SEO sessions designed to teach the latest organic techniques for those who already have experience in search engine optimization
• Sessions that explore the future of the SEO industry, such as Search 3.0 and Search 4.0: Internet user behaviors, trends and patterns are the basis for upcoming success in search engine marketing.
• Seminars and discussions led by people who have already achieved a great deal of success with SEO: Danny Sullivan, program chair and editor-in-chief of SearchEngineLand.com will be making a keynote address to begin the exciting event. Former founders of Google and other Internet powerhouses will also be on hand to give expert opinions and thoughts.
You can register now for the Search Marketing Expo All Access Pass and save $200 at the same time by clicking here. The knowledge and expertise you’ll receive in online brand marketing and other marketing strategies is well worth the price alone.
Warning: Online Marketing Might Work Too Well
If you think your online marketing strategies aren’t reaching anybody, consider this story about a Calgary clothing shop that relied only on non-traditional advertising to get the word out.
The staff at Lululemon, a Canadian clothing retailer, disocvered to their surprise that thousands of people were lined up outside the store waiting for it to open on the morning of a huge sale. That might not sound unusual, but the only advertising the company used was on Facebook, a social networking site.
From one little advertising technique, the word spread to thousands of users, many of whom were in the store’s targeted audience. The result was more than the retailer could ever have imagined. And what makes this story even more dramatic is the fact that the people were standing in line for hours in below-freezing temperatures!
According to University of Calgary business professor Debi Andrus, more companies are turning to social networking sites like Facebook and Myspace to create a buzz about their products. She said it gives consumers the feeling that they are involved with the word of mouth and the advertising in general.
The next time somebody tries to downplay the effect of online ads or network marketing, remember this story. There are dozens more like it, too. Online marketing is the future of advertising, and these stories are likely to increase as more and more companies realize that fact.
Online Marketing during a Troubled Economy
The search marketing industry is a fairly new concept. Although it’s been around for several years, it’s difficult to monitor how it will change or operate in various circumstances. And with the impending troubled economy, many are speculating about the future of the online marketing industry and its chances for profitability. A recent interview with a New York economist, Lauren Capp, discusses some of these concerns. Following are some interesting points she made:
• Search marketing trends follow advertising trends to an extent. But search marketing has a better chance of turning a profit in the case of a recession because it is more internationally-based than advertising.
• The advertising industry doesn’t suffer the effects of a recession immediately. This is because advertising companies typically get paid for their services well in advance.
• Search marketers will feel the effects of a troubled economy, but it will be only after consumers buy fewer products online and companies decide to stop spending as much money on online campaigns.
• Customers are less likely to cut their budgets for search marketing campaigns because they are an essential part of having a successful business.
• If you specialize in search marketing, you can generate an income by focusing on recession-proof industries like health care, food, pharmaceuticals, tobacco and alcohol.
• Some analysts say online marketing is immune to the effects of a recession.
• The upcoming elections will likely prove to be a profitable opportunity for online marketers. Candidates will probably spend more money on Internet ads this year than ever before.
You can read the entire interview here.
