As most of us say ‘good riddance’ to 2008, it seems everyone has a heightened sense of awareness going into 2009. In regards to strategy, Dealers are making more careful choices and wiser decisions. Ambiguity has been replaced with accountability, trust is synonymous with proof, and vendors are being audited. But above all, the dealers who will survive in 2009 and beyond will be those who fundamentally shift their beliefs about the Internet.
During the housing boom, money was flowing. It seemed one out of two vehicles on the road had paper plates. Meanwhile most dealers were still trying to figure out the Internet with many refusing to believe it was a lucrative means of reaching existing and potential customers because..well, they were selling cars.
Also remember, the tech bubble had burst shortly before the housing bubble began…so the theory of the Internet taking over our daily lives was in question. But what emerged from the tech implosion was a leaner, more viable Internet. The fat fell off and the Internet was exposed for its most essential offerings - email and search. And with more data showing Internet usage increasing and car shoppers looking online to start their research, dealers started moving their Internet efforts higher on the priority list. Yet although dealers were starting to embrace the Internet, they were still unwilling to relinquish their old habits. According to NADA - in 2005 dealers on average spent $177,992 on newspapers, $72,821on radio, $58,631 on TV, $30,132 on direct mail, and $25,844 on the Internet. As the old saying goes, “I know my advertising budget is working…I just don’t know which part”.
So now that 2008 has proven that over 90% of people planning to purchase a vehicle start their buying cycle online, what do you plan to do with that information, and are you thinking of reallocating your budgets according to proven user behavior?
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The days of only monitoring a competing dealer’s specials down the street are over. The dealership of today must buy and price its inventory with a deep understanding of its online competitors and the National marketplace.
With ecarlist Pricing Analytics you can simultaneously view and compare Black Book, *NADA, and *AuctionNet wholesale data with eBay, Auto Trader, and Cars.com retail data to confidently make trade appraisals and price your inventory.
INSIDE ECARLIST: Know Your Competition
- Compare inventory with similar vehicles online using ‘real-time’ VIN matching
- View completed vehicle sales on eBay Motors for up to 3 months
- See how your competitors are pricing their vehicles
- Sort competing vehicles by color, distance, trim, and more
- Set pricing alerts on competing vehicles
- View a time stamped history of listing prices for competing vehicles
- Know how long your competition has owned their vehicle
INSIDE ECARLIST: Leverage Market Data with Customers
Successful dealers control the flow of communication with customers throughout the sales and negotiation process. This is not possible if the dealer’s access to and knowledge of vehicle market data is inferior to that of his customer. In today’s rapidly shifting marketplace where information equals power, timely access to accurate market data has become the currency of successful Internet dealers.
ecarlist Pricing Analytics empowers dealers by making it possible to identify and evaluate competing vehicles on the fly while communicating with prospective customers.
When properly harnessed, market data can become a dealer’s strongest sales and negotiations tool, leveling the playing field and providing the means to overcome customer pricing objections and misinformation.
As 2008 comes to a close, ecarlist continues to launch the most custom and user friendly websites in the automotive industry.
VolvoofTucson.com features include:
- Rule Based/Client Controlled Dynamic Specials for New and Pre-Owned Inventory
- Filter-Based Inventory Search
- The most SEO-Friendly Inventory on the market with:
Dynamic Page Descriptions
Dynamic Keywords
Unique Vehicle URLs
Unique Vehicle Page Titles
- Advance website analytics with specific vehicle data
- Social Media Integration
- Custom Vehicle Flash w/ MPG displays
- Media Center support Video, 360 Views, Photos, Social Media
Visit www.VolvoOfTucson.com
As a dealer vendor in the online advertising/marketing sector, it is your innate duty to justify the money your dealer gives you. That’s what makes online marketing different - the accountability. It’s easier to take radio or newspaper dollars and chalk up the lack of accountability to “branding”, but with the Internet it all comes down to Cost-Per-Lead and the ability to match leads to vendors.
Yet there are many vendors competing for the same justification of the same existence. An example - my previous company sold SEM/SEO services…but we didn’t provide the actual website. So we built “microsites” in order to segregate our leads and say “look at these great results…we deserve what you pay us for”. No harm done, but in theory why would a dealer want two different websites and who were we really helping by separating SEM visitors from the dealer’s Direct website visitors? That’s right, ourselves. We needed to justify the money our clients spent with us regardless of the TRUE value to the dealer. Allow me to be clear – I’m a huge fan of accountability…but at the end of the day, SEM visitors ARE Website visitors, and with proper analytics a dealer has the ability to track and separate out SEM visitors from their Direct or Organic visitors. But…we felt good about telling our clients they received X many leads because of us, and in the end our dealers wanted to know their ROI specific to Search.
So let’s look at a deeper-routed problem, and the real reason for this post. There are plenty vendors out there that seem to be riding coattails and molding data solely to justify their existence no matter the true value of their product. Online chat, sweepstakes providers, certain media services, talking avatars and even pop-up lead forms are all giving the dealer a report back that says “hey look what I brought you…now pay me”. Frankly some of it is just plain insulting, and below are a couple enlightening examples.
A) There’s one very large SEM provider whose sole responsibility is to manage their clients’ Paid Read More »
Hello and Welcome from the new Search & Media department at ecarlist! I’d like to use my official blog entry here as an introduction to the department, why I’m here and what I’ll be posting about on a (hopeful) regularly scheduled basis.
About the new Search & Media department:
Search - Search Engine Marketing - made up of Organic Search Engine Marketing (“SEO”) and Paid Search Marketing (aka “PPC”, “SEM”, “CPC”). The automotive industry has somehow likened the term “SEM” to Paid Search, which I fought for years but have relinquished my effort. Regardless our new Search & Media department will be providing our dealers with a higher level of SEO (contact me for an explanation), and Paid Search Marketing management. That explains the Search, but what about the Media?
As we bring our dealers up to maximize their efforts and market share through Search Engine Marketing, there remains a constantly evolving online marketing medium with countless opportunities to promote your dealership, engage your potential buyers and develop a synergistic online marketing presence. Programs such as contextual ad buying, social networking, online display, sponsorships, email marketing and affiliate marketing program are just the tip of the iceberg. Did you know that you can buy your Radio, TV and even Print advertising through Google’s adwords program on the same auction-based model as their adwords (PPC) program? This is what ecarlist is about – thinking beyond.
Which leads me to why I’m here.
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DALLAS, Nov 17, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE)
Terrence Gordon has been named vice president — Search and Media at ecarlist, one of the auto industry’s fastest growing marketing and inventory management companies for the nation’s more than 70,000 franchised and independent car dealers.
The former president of Nobis Interactive in Los Angeles, Gordon will oversee the launch of ecarlist’s new full-service online marketing division catering exclusively to the retail automotive industry, according to Len Critcher, the company’s CEO.
“We have established ourselves as a leading provider of online inventory-management software and website design for mid- to large-sized dealership groups and ecarlist is excited about the opportunity to extend our product offerings with our new Search and Media division,” Critcher said. “With Gordon on our team, ecarlist will be able to provide the most cost effective, measurable, and integrated marketing campaigns available.
“The auto industry is in desperate need of pure SEM/SEO solutions that provide visibility and accountability for dealers. We not only have the absolute best inventory-management software and SEO-friendly websites I’ve seen in the industry, but our holistic and transparent approach makes it easy to develop marketing solutions that perfectly fit dealer needs. The talent within ecarlist is unmatched, and I have no doubt our company will soon dominate this industry.”
Critcher noted that ecarlist continues to experience record growth through the industry’s current “down times”, adding that its clients will benefit from the integration of ecarlist software, website products and online marketing programs.
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Inventory management and integrated marketing tools are a key focus for AdAgencyOnline.Net.
Today’s “Automotive Advertising Experts” show featured an interview with Len Critcher, CEO of ecarlist that contributed to developing the best practices that ecarlist is bringing to the market.
Advertising Experts - ecarlist Automotive Advertising Vendor Review” show
listen to interview
Is your dealership over-spending by using multiple vendors with mixed results? Contact us today to see how ecarlist is teaming with dealerships across North America to simplify processes, increase exposure and lower overhead with the only truly integrated solutions available.
Here are a few of our recent website launches:
Franchise Solutions
http://www.sterlingacura.com
http://www.stanleybuickpontiacgmc.com/
http://www.glennpolkautoplex.com/
http://www.ntnissan.com
Independent Solutions
http://carbinemotors.com/
http://www.callaghanautogroup.com/
Straight to the point – car dealers have seen better times. I speak with dealership owners everyday and feel their pain, as I also own one myself. I have witnessed the closing of several smaller dealerships this week alone and fear that larger franchises may not be failure-proof either. Manufacturers are reporting record losses and as I’m writing this, CNN in the background reports at least 600 dealerships have closed and the pre-owned giant, CarMax, has announced over 600 lay offs.
The question is… What can a dealership do to survive and profit in these uncertain times?
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I think we can all agree that quality never comes in an “instant” formula. Instant coffee is never as good as a “barista” would brew and your dealership’s website is in need of custom “brewing” as well.
Everyday we engage dealerships that have relied on their website vendor for that “no hassle” web solution. It only takes seconds to inspect their website to see that cars have poor pictures, missing pictures, no options listed, and poor or no descriptions.
Think of it this way – almost every customer that visits your store in-person will have also been to your website. However, thousands more will simply visit your website. Keep your website as fresh and presentable as your showroom!
Now couldn’t be a better time to re-address your internal processes and get serious about your website.
Here is a quick-start checklist for better website marketing:
