Automotive Social Networking – Time to Catch Up

Paul Rushing — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 04:46:58 +0000

The automobile industry typically runs “behind the times” in it’s initiatives. So it is refreshing when I see the industry start to catch up with the times. Online marketing initiatives are suffering from atrophy with the current market environment on the dealer services end. Fortunately for the automotive industry some are starting to take notice. Right now there is buzz about a variety of initiatives inside of the industry. In my opinion most are very positive some are still so 2006.

Right now the never ending conversation about Autotrader.com going on over at Jeff Kershner’s Blog and their never ending battle to gain market share with a bad business model, for dealers. Here is a report worth reading at www.Digital20Group.com

Dealer Micro Sites seem to be a hot topic inside of a social network set up by Ralph Paglia. This seems to be a self serving topic as most of the participation is by the vendors trying to hawk their wares to the limited number of dealer employee participants. This marketing tools time has passed in it’s current form. (more on this later)

I have discussed CRM/ILM vendors issues at my other blog about being an Internet Sales Manger and their lack of compliance with the CAN SPAM Act and deliverability issues. Read where I talk about problems with the BZ Results BuzzTrak and their non compliance at www.ismintraining.com.

Now for the real killer…….

In steps www.DrivingSales.com, the first automotive social network created by a dealer for dealers, to help the industry get the real deal on the vendors in the automotive marketplace and to share ideas with each other to help better the industry in it marketing efforts.

Dealers and their employees have generally played their cards close to their vest when it comes to sharing ideas with each other. Now the relics who have held on to these old principals will need to step up and get into this century to remain competitive in todays information age. Consumers are empowered with the wealth of knowledge that is available to them. Now dealers have the opportunity to work from a level playing field just as consumers do when it comes time to make decisions and have real feedback on vendors that service them.

It is time to get on board today start by joining www.DrivingSales.com today.

People who looked at this item also looked at…

How many websites do you need?

Paul Rushing — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 06:33:07 +0000

This is something that will be different for every business. There are many factors to consider before a decision can be made. You may not even need a website if your goals do not align with using the Internet as a medium to attract and keep customers or if your advertising dollars are best spent in other areas.

If you are running a hot dog stand on a busy corner in a Metropolitan area you don’t need a website to attract customers. If you are selling Toyota’s in that same Metropolitan area with 4 other Toyota dealers within 15 minutes of yours, you should own your local market for your brand name so that a consumer searching for a Toyota via the Internet finds you at every click.

Nothing is more astonishing to hear about dealers spending $3500.00 for the back page of the Sunday paper but consider Internet marketing a necessary evil or a waste of resources.

Automobile Industry statistics show that 70%* of all automobile consumers go online prior to purchasing a new car while the average dealer usually allocates less than 10% of their advertising budget to attracting online consumers. Now that may have you scratching your head wondering what that has to do with how many websites you need.

Think about these questions:

Would you start a billboard campaign with just one?
Do you only advertise in one newspaper?
Do you only advertise on one radio station? One multi station group does not equal one station unless ads are running on only one station!
When you buy Television advertising do you buy on one station or do you look for multi station packages?

You have complete dominion over your websites. That space is not shared with other advertisers as it is with the sources listed above or with online classifieds services such as Cars.com and AutoTrader.com. You have the ability to deliver any message that you desire via the internet as many times as you wish. A dominate online presence is not ranking #1 in Google with your website for your brand name and city or the number one top sponsor spot with PPC advertising. That is just presenting your offer one time. Dominating is owning everything on the first page along with most of the offerings on page two and three. This could never be accomplished with even the most well optimized single website.

Think of the last time you searched for something online. Did you go to the first result and stop there or did you surf? Now think of this, if every click you made lead to the same person or company. Who would you do business with? Who would you consider the best?

How many websites do you need? Only you can answer that.

* Source Cars.com Ask the Experts

DealerBytes - Online Automotive Marketing Solutions » autotrader

Automotive Social Networking – Time to Catch Up

People who looked at this item also looked at…

Related items

How many websites do you need?

People who looked at this item also looked at…

Related items