Author Archive: Liz Lake

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Today, dealers are more confused about their digital strategy than ever. Their digital footprint looks fine from afar, but up close it’s fragmented and the dots are not connected. They employ multiple vendors to provide programs and services but fail to deliver a unified message across marketing platforms.

There’s information overload regarding big data. To auto dealers, that equates to “paralysis by analysis.” The savvy dealers are becoming digital disrupters by harnessing technology to change consumer online behavior and forever alter the competitive automotive landscape. Shopping for a car is no longer a linear path to purchase. Dealers chase consumers through multiple online channels, who typically criss-cross between them to meet their needs and whims. The successful dealers are able to immediately provide the right message at every intersection, across every channel.

Dealers can no longer take a single, [...]

Drop a message directly into the recipient’s voicemail without ever ringing the phone! Cost Effective A Zero Rings™ costs much less than paying an employee to call each person on your list. Non- Intrusive The message goes straight to voicemail without ever ringing their phone. Personal Touch Create and Record Your own personal message or have one of our specialists assist you. A voicemail in your own voice is more personable than email or direct mail campaigns. Great Response Rate 96% Voicemail Listen Rate WE CAN DO INTERNATIONAL TOO!!! Increase Your Results By Adding  An Amplified Email Campaign Also!!!!

As a kid, I remember it taking me about an hour and a half to solve the original Rubik’s cube.  It was deductive “if-then” reasoning that got me through that task then and still guides me today. Although, I admit it sometimes takes me longer than an hour and a half to solve some of today’s automotive digital marketing puzzles. (wink, wink)

I think we can all agree that all advertising messages are going to inspire online research.  Depending on which study you read this morning, consumers are visiting 18-24 online touch-points prior to making a purchase.  How do you influence them during their online journey? How do you become part of their consideration set? Let’s examine one of the greatest digital marketing challenges dealers face today; Budgets.  All dealers I work with have a limited budget; therefore the efficiency of spend is critical to produce the highest ROI. More important than “how much” you [...]

I personally work with some of the top dealers across the country and speak to, consult with and present to hundreds of others.  I see a common thread of concern on the decrease of lead form submissions. The flip-side to that is that phone calls are way up!  And my dealers say that’s just fine with them.  Consumers are spending more time researching online, but still desire and need to buy a car from a human being. Many of my dealers experience higher closing ratios (conversions) on phone calls, then actual lead forms.  Therefore, equal weight should be focused on the “digital phone up.”  Especially, now that more than 50% of searches are on mobile devices, the top action on a mobile device is the “click-to-call” button.

I know, I know, your BDC manager says “I need more leads.” And there are so many lead choices, that you don’t know which ones are the best [...]

You’re Wasting Your Marketing Budget

“Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted. Trouble is, I don’t know which half.”

-Jon Wanamaker, Philadelphia’s most famous multi-location retailer, is credited with uttering this phrase in 1910.

Dealership management can relate to his frustration. Traditional marketing investments; newspaper ads and TV spots, may sometimes feel more like a necessary evil than an effective way to spend your hard earned revenue. Primarily because you’re spending thousands of dollars every month with little data to know if your efforts are attracting customers.

What if I told you there was one thing you could do right now to attract more customers, get real data on effectiveness, and stop wasteful marketing spending?

The trick is to be present online AND off-line, with a consistent message during the moments that matter most.

Woody Allen is often quoted as saying, “80% of success is showing up.”

How many of you feel you’re [...]

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Dealers constantly battle the implementation of social media as a marketing and sales tool.  Most are just happy to have the part-time college intern posting on the top social sites a few days a week. Social Media represents a huge potential opportunity for your dealership if used correctly.  And it’s becoming increasingly difficult to stand out from the crowd. You wouldn’t have your intern layout your newspaper ad, negotiate media buys, administer your PPC campaign, manage your BDC follow up….would you?  If you treat social media like a hobby, it will reward you as such.

Social Media has become a powerful element in today’s marketing efforts and Facebook is still the 800 pound gorilla in the room.  If you only have the budget to optimize one social media channel, this would be the one.  Facebook also offers [...]

Engaging Email Marketing combined with unique PURL’s and “Zero Rings™” Through an email chain and personalized URL (PURL) customers and prospects are creatively brought into the dialog about the vehicle they own and followed up with using voicemail, call tracking and thank you emails. 4,000 records being emailed and a ringless voicemail call. Leads will be put directly in the CRM. Studies show that you increase your results by adding a direct mail campaign also!! Click Here for more info. PURL from Email Customer is sent an email with a PURL (personal URL) and is able to click the link to submit contact information to get his/her trade-in value. Information is collected and a follow-up email is sent to customer to keep the deal fresh in his/her mind. Drop a message directly into the player’s voicemail without ever ringing the phone. Proprietary technology that bypasses a consumer’s cell phone and goes straight to voicemail.  Highest open rate [...]