Your Automotive Marketing Specialists

  • Call us toll free! 877-958-4524

Your Automotive Marketing Specialists

  • Call us toll free! 877-958-4524
Digital to Dealer Direct

Tag Archives: automotive advertising

Should I Use my Web Provider to Advertise my Dealership?

4 min read

As automotive marketers, we get asked this question a lot and at first glance, you would think it’s a no brainer to use your website provider for your digital marketing. They already manage many aspects of your online presence and offer many of the automotive digital marketing solutions you would get from an agency. So why not use them for your digital marketing to trim down on multiple vendors?

While we are all about making our dealership manager’s lives easier, it’s important to remember that website providers are just that, website providers. They started branching out into digital marketing when they noticed their dealership clients needing those services and asking for vendor suggestions. So, of course, they said, “we can do that!” and then put together a couple programs to make it happen, and dealers ate it up because it was an easy solution. No need to go looking for another vendor when we can use our web provider. So, these web providers ran with it. And while I’m usually all about one stop shopping, as a dealer there are a few things you should be weary of before jumping on the web provider band wagon when considering them for your digital advertising.

Generic Creative

Most automotive website providers are huge companies with dealer accounts throughout the US, all varying brands ranging from Chevrolet to Kia to Mercedes Benz. They have a library of creative to pull from each month and apply it to your website, and in-turn, will apply it to the digital marketing campaigns you sign on to. This library of generic creative leaves you susceptible to having the exact same creative your competitor down the street is using. Your offers are plugged into a cookie cutter layout and you’ll most likely be limited on the number of sales and service offers and specials you advertise. As automotive marketers, it’s our job to tailor your creative to your dealership and adjust accordingly throughout the month. Custom creative that can be customized to your dealership is important to set your dealership apart from your competitors. The day-to-day activities and operations of your dealership are constantly changing, and your marketing efforts should be prepared to do the same.

Long Turnaround Times

Working with a website provider, you’re going to see an average turnaround time for creative and campaign launches to run anywhere from 24 -48 hours. Once you gather your sales and service offers for the month and get them over to your website provider, you now might need to wait two days for these to be posted to your website and even longer for them to be implemented in your digital campaigns. The longer it takes for your campaigns to go live, the more time your competitors have to gain on your market share. You know how competitive it is out there when it comes to the automotive sales, why take the chance of delayed turnaround times also working against you?

When you work with a digital marketing agency, you are assigned an account manager and digital campaign manager, whose sole responsibilities are to get your campaigns live, in a timely manner. If the OEM comes out with a program enhancement that allows you to lower a price, all adjustments are made almost instantaneously across your website and across all current digital campaigns – SEM, retargeting, Facebook, Geo-tracking, etc. It’s important to stay consistent across all platforms and your designated account management team is there to make that happen.

Generalized Digital Campaigns

As mentioned earlier, there’s something to be said about customized creative. That same ideology stretches across your digital campaigns. All dealerships are not created equal and the same goes for a dealership’s market. A dealer located in Idaho is very different from a dealer located in the NY-Metro area. While a 20-mile radius for a digital campaign for a Montana dealer might work, a dealer in northern NJ most likely wouldn’t need to cast that wide of a net to capture their target audience. Northern NJ is much more densely populated and your spend just won’t stretch the distance it might out in the Midwest. In fact, you might hit NYC by going out 20 miles, which you most likely would like to stay out of as a NJ dealership.

Large companies who work with dealers across the country have set parameters they pull from when implementing new digital campaigns, which just won’t work for dealers located in the NY-Metro area. The market for each dealer in this area is extremely specific and needs to be drilled down on a case by case basis.

Dashboard vs Google Analytics

Dashboards became all the rage a few years back for companies like web providers to present their marketing results to dealers. Let’s face it, dealers and all who work at the dealership are all wearing multiple hats so any help they can get to have something removed from their plate is appreciated. While a dashboard centralizes all metrics into one place, it also allows the company behind the dashboard to pick and choose what metrics funnel into it. As a dealer, you should be asking your digital vendors to present their reporting through Google analytics. Google analytics is the holy grail to automotive marketers and should be the same for a dealer. It allows you to track all important metrics, covering all aspects of your marketing efforts. All digital campaigns being run by any vendor can be funneled through here and all reporting should be pulled from here for reporting purposes.

At Digital to Dealer Direct, we forego the fancy dashboard, and compile all reporting by pulling and analyzing data straight from Google analytics. All results are explained to our dealers and we’re happy to show dealers how to pull the same metrics on their own from Google analytics. Transparency is key to building a solid working relationship and we’re committed to our dealers being confident in the services and reporting we provide.

If you’re thinking about a new automotive digital marketing provider and would like more information on how Digital to Dealer can help you navigate through the digital marketing selection process, give us a call at 877-958-4524 or contact us today!

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5 Automotive ‘Micro-moments’

5 min read

There are many different important factors when it comes to automotive marketing. Customer value is an automotive marketing trend that should be discussed and focused on, and here’s why.

The internet and mobile devices have transformed a customer’s auto purchase journey. The internet has made it possible for customers to research brands: google search “Brand A”, “Brand A’s” manufacturer site, best SUV’s, etc. Mobile devices have made it possible for customers to research brands on the go! While on lunch break customers can easily compare vehicle prices on dealership lots. A customer’s path to purchase is filled with five distinctive stops along the way. In order to land more committed customers, a dealership needs to be there for each step.

The 5 distinctive stops are referred to as micro-moments. In this case they are: Which car choice is best? Is this the best for me? Can I afford this? Where should I make my purchase? Am I being offered the best deal?

Which car choice is best?

Did you know that 6 out of 10 car shoppers enter the automotive market unsure of which car to drive? According to a Think with Google article, there are over 100 Google searches, over a dozen videos watched and even more images viewed in only one car purchasing journey! In this micro-moment a customer is exploring all their options.

There is so much potential for a dealership to highlight their brand. Customers typically begin search paths between two manufacturer’s websites. Reviewing each site and eventually comparing the two. Being a part of the beginning of the car purchasing journey will increase a dealerships chances of becoming a part of the final consideration set when it comes time to buy. How can dealerships highlight their brands during those interactions? It’s simple, an example is creating a video that features a real-life view of a specific vehicle model. By doing this a dealership are helping the customer decide if it’s the best choice for their lifestyle. An example of following up in this moment could include sharing a blog post about budgeting and financing for a new car or sharing a social media post that promotes a sale your dealership is having. These are moments that can generate leads which turn into conversions.

Is this best for me?

A customer’s car purchase journey has moved to online. The average car shopper will only make two visits to dealerships, meaning they don’t need to even visit your dealership lot anymore for research! VIN specific marketing is proven to be effective in all journeys of purchases. Why shouldn’t the automotive industry piggyback on this marketing strategy?

VIN specific marketing is the reason why when someone is looking up a product on the internet to purchase afterwards it follows them around pretty much everywhere. The concept is that once a visitor searches a specific brand or in this case a model on your site, you can attach a VIN to them. For example, if a customer is interested in a Nissan Maxima, a dealership can use this information to encourage their purchase decision by occasionally showing them new or used models or a shared post on Facebook that relates to the corresponding model. Customers in this step need to be convinced that the vehicle they are interested in is the suitable for them. This is the moment where a dealership needs to get them excited about the vehicle! Knowing how to emphasize specific car features to the appropriate customer is crucial. If the customer is looking for a family vehicle a dealership should advertise large cars like SUV’s or minivans and highlight safety and comfort features.

Can I afford this?

Customers view purchasing a car as a long-time financial commitment. There are a few customers out there that purchase a car without considering the financial consequences. In this micro-moment a customer spends their time researching: “manufacturer to dealer cash”, “Brand B price”, “best car lease deals” etc. In these google searches if your dealership doesn’t show up there is chance that you lost a potential customer. The potential customer was lost because they couldn’t find the information they were looking for, not because they couldn’t afford the car. Therefore, every dealership should ask: Is my brand showing up? This is something you want to cover with your automotive advertising agency.

If your dealership has specials and incentives that are stronger than the competition, you should want the customers in the market for a new car to know that. More than half percent of customers are using their mobile devices when searching for deals in the automotive industry. Implementing mobile targeted marketing ensures that a dealership doesn’t lose out on leads that rely solely on their mobile device. Mobile targeted marketing could be as simple as designing a dealerships site to be mobile friendly. Creating mobile friendly content such as graphics and videos. Lastly, applying SEO optimized for mobile. These tactics will increase the chances of your dealership to convince a prospective customer that yes, they can afford the car they have been looking at with the help of your specials and incentives.

Where should I make my purchase?

After a customer has done their research on multiple dealership inventory, specials, and multiple vehicles and has finally decided on a car they love the next step is to contact a dealership. This is a crucial step for many customers. If they call a dealership and there’s no answer or the phone number on the dealerships site doesn’t work for whatever reason a customer moves on to the next. The Internet has made it possible for customers to contact a dealership through many other channels such as email or social media platforms. It’s essential that dealerships are on top of all the channels customers can contact them, making sure they respond and follow up.

Dealerships that fail to do this cause their potential customers to turn to another dealer that will provide them with the information he or she was looking for.

Am I being offered the best deal?

The final micro-moment takes place at the dealership. Despite that a customer may be on the lot almost ready to close the sale they are still doing their research. A customer will be searching lease money factors, lease offers for a different model or even a different dealership all together. In this moment a customer wants to be reassured that they are getting a fair deal. A dealerships salesman in this moment should make the customer comfortable with the deal they are about to make. The salesman should verbally explain the deal to the customer with patience until the customer is sure it’s a commitment they want to move forward with.

 

For more information on how to effectively be present in the 5 micro-moments of a customer’s auto purchase journey, give us a call today at 877-958-4524 or contact us today!

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Navigating your Dealership through COVID-19

3 min read

Like or not, there has been a definite shift in the way things are working in our world right now. The novel Coronavirus has turned everyone’s lives a little upside down, and for now, we are all adjusting to the new normal. So, the big questions for a lot of us out there and our clients are How will this affect my dealership? and Are people still online searching for cars right now?

While we don’t have any precedent for this to look at the history books, we do have a little bit of data to help guide you through this process. Additionally, we have all seen through online automotive retailing that online car buying IS possible.

How will this Affect my Dealership?

One of the most important ways this will impact your dealership and staff, and probably already has, is your cleaning routine. You’ll need to make sure that you’re following best practices according to the CDC and disinfecting counters, workspaces, door knobs, handles, and bathrooms on a regular basis.

Also, in conjunction with CDC recommendations, you should encourage anyone is sick to stay home and not try to come to work.

From a sales standpoint, now is the time to sit down and create a plan if you have not yet done so. Below are some things you should consider for your dealership:

    • Do you have the capability to for remote and online purchasing?
    • Are you capable to hold at-home test drives?
    • Are you able to drop off a car for delivery and disinfect upon delivery?
    • Do you have the ability to pick up and drop off for service appointments?

These questions are vital for your team to discuss right now to make sure you customers are aware of what you can and cannot offer during this time. Make sure that your customers are aware of these capabilities. Send them an email, post on your social media accounts, and place it on your website where it’s easy to find.

Through our experience at D2D over the past week, customers seem to be very appreciative of these actions and precautions taken by dealerships. Leases will still end, and people are still using their vehicles and check engine lights are coming on. There is nothing we can do to avoid those things, and people need your dealership. How you handle this situation can create customers for life.

Are People Still Online Searching for Cars Right Now?

Again, while there is no historical data for this situation, we have taken a look at the analytics over the past 15 days. What we see is that website traffic is not slowing down. Impressions, clicks, and leads are still coming in at an overall steady pace. If you think about it, people have more time than ever to do the research they might have been putting off. Or, they’re simply bored, and taking to their phones, computers, and tablets to take a look at what is out there.

While the immediate future might be a little scary for any dealership owner or GM, know that the consumers are still there. They are taking this time to do the research, and you don’t want to be the dealership who isn’t there. At this time, our recommendation is to continue targeted advertising efforts, be considerate for those you are working with to create deals and use this is an opportunity to help those potential customers and create a loyal member of your dealership’s family.

If you haven’t yet met with your automotive digital advertising agency, set up a meeting right away. Make sure you let them know all of the things you are offering as mentioned above. This will help them in the creation of social media posts and any creative needed to get your dealership up to speed for your current and potential customers.

All of our dealerships are already set up and ready to go for the “new norm.” If you need some assistance, or have any questions regarding COVID-19 and your dealership, please call us at 877-958-4524 or contact us today. We are happy to help during these times. We can help you determine a strategy, provide creative, or simply assist with providing recommendations and signs to post throughout the store.

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How to Avoid Possible Website Infractions for your Dealership

4 min read

Your website is arguably one the most important assets your dealership has. This day in age, if someone wants more information on your dealership, they will search your name with just the touch of their fingertips and your website is there for them to freely browse on. Which is why making sure everything is accurate on your website is vital.

Aside from customers, there is always that possibility your competitors are taking a peek at your website too, or even a factory rep. And if your ads are visibly non-compliant or are illegal, that opens the gate for your dealership to receive a strike. When your rebates or lease boxes are not properly disclaimed in a clear, concise manner, that goes against some manufacturer’s guidelines, and of course legally. We have touched upon the importance of automotive website management in our previous blog – but this time, we are going to dive more into the specifics of what could happen if your site isn’t being monitored and how to avoid an infraction.

So, what are the best ways to avoid receiving a website infraction or a strike?

 

1. Your ad agency should be managing and monitoring your website creative

Because what dealership has time to sift through their own site? Probably not many. Your agency should always be advertising your current offers and ensuring the creative they are uploading on to your website is already co-op approved. And of course, that all disclaimer info on their creative is legal and legible. If your agency sees something that is missing, (let’s say you aren’t showing your doc fee anywhere on your website), they should work with your website rep to make sure that all the legal, necessary information is easily accessible. Although, compliance doesn’t monitor the legal jargon on your site, this could still save you from a headache later down the road with a potential customer.

The agency or company monitoring your website is just an extra layer of protection for the items they are responsible for. We all know that rebates get updated all the time through a feed and there are different incentives available on different vehicles. If you have 200 vehicles in stock, it isn’t exactly realistic to click through every single VDP each day and make sure those are the accurate rebates. For the ever-changing rebates issue, there luckily is another net of protection so you don’t receive a strike.

2. Flag important emails you may have gotten from the manufacturer or compliance

If the unfortunate event happens where you do end up receiving an infraction, you will receive an email stating what needs to be fixed and how to fix the issue. You then usually would be given a time period of when you need to have the issue fixed by, so it buys you some time to address it – which is that extra net of protection.

I know a lot of the time your inbox is already flooded with emails, but always keep your eye out for any emails coming from the manufacturer or compliance. Too busy to get to it now? Flag it and come back to it. I know this sounds like a no-brainer, but we are all guilty of reading a text message and saying you will answer later (and then forget to).

3. Appoint someone at the dealership to handle inputting rebates/incentives

Not every dealership’s website is going to automatically update with the factory’s offers if you aren’t using an OEM approved website, and not every dealer wants to necessarily advertise the factory’s offers. Some websites allow you to enter your own rebates through their website. To avoid inconsistency, it is best to hold one person at the dealership accountable for updating these rebates as needed. Ensure the rebates that are being advertised are stackable. For example, you wouldn’t be able to show a Conquest rebate and a Loyalty rebate and subtract both rebate amounts from the final price. If all else fails, just advertise rebates everyone qualifies for and have a strong CTA to be on the safe side.

As I have preached in previous blogs, one of the best things about digital is that you can switch it up at any moment in time. If a newspaper ad runs and it wasn’t compliant, there’s not much you can do once it goes to print except fix it for the next time. But your website can be updated at the drop of a hat – so receiving a strike due to your website should almost never happen. Especially since you have a window of time to fix the issue, if they do find one, which is that extra net of protection that is going to save you from that strike.

 

At Digital to Dealer, our goal is take the guess work out of your website and take the work off of your plate. We know how busy your dealership employees are, and time is of the essence in car sales. If you would like to learn more about our website management services, give us a call at 877-958-4524 or contact us today!

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Spring Service Campaign Tips

4 min read

If Punxsutawney Phil’s prediction is correct, it looks like we’re in for an early spring (hallelujah!). That means warmer weather is right around the corner, which is amazing news for auto dealers. Automotive sales are strongly guided by weather and time of the year, and the same goes for your service department.

When it comes to marketing spend, a majority is usually put toward new and used vehicles sales rather than service. As an automotive marketing agency, we understand the importance of the sales aspect of your business, but the service side also brings in huge amounts of revenue that shouldn’t be overlooked. A strong service business can help customer retention while also bringing new customers to your dealership.

Now that we’re all thawing out from the colder winter months, here are some key opportunities your service department should be taking advantage of:

 

1. Warmer weather

The obvious point here when talking about Spring is the weather. Spring means warmer temperatures and longer days, which means more people are crawling out of hibernation and getting outside. If your customers are anything like me, my car tends to get neglected during the winter months. With all the snow and salt we deal with on the roads in the Northeast, our vehicles take quite a beating during the colder months. We didn’t get too much snow this year, but there still seemed to be a lot of salt! Once it starts getting warmer, I start thinking about replacing my wipers after all that winter gunk has built up, finally getting in to the dealership for an oil change (it’s just too cold in January!), getting my alignment checked after all those winter potholes I hit, and the list goes on and on.

As a service and parts manager, you should be thinking about how to get in front of people who have spring service needs – these could be your current customers, but you also want to focus on potential new customers who have yet to visit your service department. Start by compiling service offers directed toward these spring service needs by offering complimentary car washes, discounted oil changes and alignment checks. How do you get the message out there, you ask? I’ll get to that a little later.

2. Tax Returns

I’m sure you’ve seen the “tax time” auto ads usually focused on a dealership doubling your tax return to use on your vehicle purchase, but why not take advantage of these tax offers for your service department’s benefit? Come spring, people start receiving their tax returns and are finally able to spend money on those small service needs they’ve overlooked throughout the winter.

Why not put together a tax time coupon where you bundle a few of the post-winter maintenance offers together and offer a certain percentage off? We like to keep marketing consistent so if your sales department is advertising the tax time offer, carry that through to your service department.

3. Popular Car Buying Season but Not EVERYONE is Buying A New Car

Undoubtedly, auto dealers see an uptick in car sales once the warmer months start to creep in, but that doesn’t mean everyone is going to jump the gun and buy a new vehicle. Many will decide to wait until next year or at lease a few more months and chances are those people will need to do some sort of maintenance to their current vehicle.

Utilizing your customer database to pinpoint customers who have had their current vehicle for 3+ years and haven’t been in for a recent service are the first people your service department should be reaching out to. CRMs have an abundance of email templates and outreach methods to help you with this process and you should be utilizing these tools. Your CRM is not just for the sales department, your service advisors should also be versed on all its capabilities.

Get the word out

Now that you’ve established your marketing opportunities for this spring, let’s discuss the best tools to get your word out without breaking the bank:

1. Database marketing

As mentioned above, utilizing your CRM is the first tool you should consider when targeting potential customers with your spring service offers. These people already have a relationship with your dealership, whether it’s service or sales, and feel some sort of loyalty to you. Segment your database by targeting sales customers who have never serviced with you and service customers who haven’t been in for 6+ months. Sending these customers a spring service offer via email might help bring them into your doors, rather than into a competitor’s.

2. Conquest emails

A great way to reach individuals in your market area – who may not currently be a customer of yours – is with conquest emails. Targeting owners of vehicle makes your dealership can service, we send out your spring service offers as an email clickable with tracking links to your service page where they can then make an appointment. This method opens the door to potential customers you aren’t able to reach with database marketing.

3. Search retargeting

Once the warmer weather hits, many consumers are going to hop on Google and search phrases like “cheap oil change” and “car wash near me.” Search retargeting gives you the capability to target potential customers based on these search terms without the high cost of Search Engine Marketing (SEM). Once the campaign is triggered by the search term, the customer is served your display ad driving them to your site. This solution is much more cost effective than SEM and a perfect fit for a service department trying to get in front of the spring service shopper.

 

Utilizing the time of year to your advantage when marketing your service department will help keep you in front of potential customers and ahead of your competitors. At Digital to Dealer, we guide our clients toward the most effective solutions based on any given budget. If you would like to learn more about how Digital to Dealer can help with your spring marketing needs, give us a call at 877-958-4524 or contact us today!

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Automotive Marketing Campaigns

4 min read

Ever see the magic word “SALE” come across your email from your favorite clothing or sporting goods store? As an experienced shopper, I will never buy anything full price. I will usually always wait until I receive that email or see on their website a sale is going on. You could even define me as a “low funnel” shopper almost 100% of the time.

That being said, that word entices me to shop (even though I know I don’t need any more clothes!). So, why can’t car dealerships use the same marketing tactic? A new influx of people who are shopping for a car filter in every 60 days or so. In order to entice those higher funnel shoppers, (or even the lower funnel people who are just waiting for the right deal like myself), your dealership should be advertising a sales event.

Over more recent years, manufacturers have begun to instill Sales Events in their advertising efforts. These campaigns are usually seasonal – like Happy Honda Days, the Subaru True Love Event or the Jeep Celebration Event. While not all manufacturers require dealerships to advertise these campaigns, it is still beneficial for your dealership to follow suite. During the months where you aren’t advertising say Presidents’ Day, Memorial Day, or any other holiday, your dealership should still be advertising its own event to help increase website and foot traffic for those slower months. We compiled the top benefits and reasons of why your dealership should take advantage of advertising with headlines/and or campaigns.

 

1. Consistency with Tier 1/Tier 2 Ads

In the case where the manufacturer has a sales event: manufacturers want your dealership to maintain consistent with their brand. This also ensures you aren’t straying from what they want their brand to be represented as. From a consumer’s opinion, if they saw a local dealership advertising the same sales campaign that they already saw in a Tier 1 commercial, they would be more inclined to shop at that dealership. That Tier 1 commercial would act as a free advertisement for you since the customer will make that connection once they see your ad. Cohesiveness between Tier 1 and 3 ads enhances the influence to make consumers shop at your dealership.

2. Consistency Across the Board on Your Campaigns

If you advertise a specific headline, it makes it even easier for your campaigns to be consistent and gives a face to your creative as well as differentiates you from your competitors. Hypothetically speaking, if a consumer visits your website, they will see your homepage banners with your sales event/headline. Then, they leave your site, get retargeted by an ad – again, with the same creative and offer. Next, they receive an email blast. They see that headline again and instantly make that connection. And so on. Even if they are a high funnel shopper and won’t come in right away, the consumer still knows maybe you’ll be running a different or similar sale when they are ready to buy. After all, it usually takes about 5-7 touch points to close a sale. Consistent headlines can help guide that. Consistency is our #1 rule in automotive digital marketing.

3. Creates a Sense of Urgency

Like I mentioned before, I usually won’t buy anything full price. So, when I see a sales event going on, I know it isn’t going to last forever and I better get on it. This is where your sales event becomes particularly important for the low funnel shoppers. Luckily, sales events usually last the entire month. You are giving the consumer time to complete their research and ask questions. Then they’re not rushed into making a decision. But at the same token, they still only have a few weekends to take advantage of the savings you’re offering for that month which will light a fire under some people.

4. Customers Ultimately Want to Save Money

Aside from your dealership’s reputation, one of the most important things to a car buyer is price. Once a consumer sees the words “Sales Event”, “Savings Event”, or something similar, they will automatically think they are going to get a great deal or a discount on their purchase (which maybe they will). The headline itself is meant to get the customer into your dealership, or to call for more information. But at the end of the day, it is still up to your sales team to offer the customer the price they will accept and close the sale.

 

All these points have a common end goal: that sales events entice shoppers to come into your store because who doesn’t want to save money? We always recommend advertising a sales event to make your pricing a little more attractive and urgent to help draw customers into your dealership. During the months the manufacturer doesn’t have any required campaigns, your advertising agency should have headlines already pre-selected for you. No holidays going on that month? You could go the route of a seasonal headline such as Summer Sales Event, Fall Savings Event and so on. Go the extra mile and promote all assets of your dealership: new car sales, used car sales and service. Use a sales event to your advantage as a tactic to get people into your dealership and use this across the board in all your campaigns. If you have an automotive advertising agency, they should be strategizing these sales and campaigns with you every month.

For more information or help on how to effectively advertise and execute a full campaign each month for all your departments, give us a call today at 877-958-4524 or contact us today!

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Innovative and Effective Email Marketing Strategies

4 min read

The start of a new year means the automotive industry is eager to begin strong with new incentives and sales which can led to new opportunities. It is crucial for a dealership to know how to effectively relate these new year tactics to their customers. One of the best ways to do so is to implement innovative and effective email marketing strategies.

Does email marketing still even work? Yes, head to our previous blog to learn why it is worth it and valuable for advertising purposes! Email marketing has existed for over 40 years. Throughout those years the digital age has caused email marketing to evolve drastically due to the development of new platforms advertisers can reach their audience such as mobile, television and social media.

Despite all the different platforms dealerships can use to reach customers email has remained a popular and common medium. Email marketing has become more complex than ever after the digital age introduced HTML emails, the ability to personalize and target. This why dealerships email marketing strategies for 2020 should reflect the following: personal messaging, a defined target audience, open to collecting feedback, utilizing the appropriate platform for connecting.

 

1. The importance of personal messaging or “storytelling”

A recent Radicati report states by the end of 2019 the average worker receives 126 emails per day. So, if you think about it this way daily your customers’ inbox is full of personal, marketing, advertisement and sponsored emails. The average person responds to this amount of emails by neglecting all them, deleting them all or skimming through them and opening only the ones that they dem worthy of their time and attention. Here is the challenge everyone in the email marketing industry is trying to tactical: how do you capture the customers attention?

Personalization.

Telling stories, informing and educating your customers is how you can standout against your competitors. While your competitors are filling up your customers inbox with dozens of promotions and useless marketing operations you are sending captivating, clear and useful messages.

According to an article by eConsultancy, 74% of marketers have stated that targeted personalization increased their overall customer engagement rates. To effectively personalize messages to your customers you need to take count their demographics and behaviors.

2. Determining your target audience

The digital age has made it possible for us to collect data in an intelligent and functional way. The data collected from digital traces can be analyzed and interpreted to segment your target audience. As stated above two type of audience segmentation are demographics and behaviors. Demographics include age, income level, job type and geographic location. Behaviors include what people buy, how often they make a purchase and why they buy the product or service.

Collecting this data will inform you on the needs of your customers. This is an effective way to avoid spending money on emails that are going to be deleted. The data makes it easy to pinpoint the content customers want to be informed about. For instance, sending an email about car safety features to a customer that purchased a family vehicle. Instead of having to Google this information you are handing it to them! Or depending on the customer other content talking about environmentally friendly, smart and tech-forward vehicles will be just as effective. Emails that are segmented by target audience are proven to increase engagement and click-through rates.

3. Collecting Feedback

Being open to creating a dialogue between you and your customer is the best way to assess how your marketing strategies are doing. Emails are the channel between you and your customer. Within an email your customer gets a glimpse of your brand, image, promotion, sales and customer service processes. Interacting with your consumer allows you to build customer loyalty.

By reaching out to your customer you are showing them that you are attentive to their needs. Your customers won’t feel like they are just a means to an end. This is what stops them from going to one of your competitors when it’s time to get a new car. It is also help you see what exactly your weaknesses and strengths are. Your email marketing strategies should constantly be evolving. What better way to tweak your strategies than receiving direct feedback from your customers? Thinking about the long-term goals of email marketing collecting feedback back your customers will only positively impact your dealership.

4. Connecting with the appropriate platform

According to an online article by Statista mobile devices generate 47.60% of Internet traffic in the world and this percentage continues to increase. An effective email should be formatted for mobile. An article on Campaign Monitor states that if emails are not well formatted for mobile, more than 70% of recipients will delete it within three seconds!

The best way to avoid this is to take the time and test the email before scheduling it. This gives you the opportunity to view how the email looks on mobile. Email marketing in the automotive sector must be designed for mobile… An article on website Email Monday states that over 50% of emails today are opened on smartphones. Meaning the best way to get your customers to see and open your emails is to connect with them through a mobile device.

Successful automotive email marketing strategies are built on a foundation that reflect: personal messaging, a defined target audience, open to collecting feedback, utilizing the appropriate platform for connecting.

 

If you are looking to revamp with current email marketing strategies for 2020, contact us for more information on our D2D email campaigns with powerful calls to action!

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What Advertising on TV in 2020 Should Look Like at Your Dealership

3 min read

Gone are the good ‘ole days of a family finishing up a pizza on a Friday night, running to the living room, and plopping in front of the TV in anticipation of the much awaited TGIF lineup consisting of Full House, Family Matters, Step by Step, and Perfect Strangers (…I know, I’m really dating myself here).

In 2020, the scene most likely looks more like this … each family member grabbing a slice of their Door Dash pizza and venturing off to do their own thing – kids watching a new episode of the latest YouTube video series, parents scrolling on Instagram or Facebook, all while streaming Netflix in the background. And what does all this mean for automotive digital marketing? As we’ve always had to do, we must constantly adapt to the behaviors of our consumers, which means morphing the way we traditionally view TV and video marketing and converting it to the new way of life – OTT streaming services.

The Buzz Behind OTT

While the term “pre-roll” has been around for quite some time with the rise of You, Over-the-Top (OTT) media is much newer to the game. OTT delivers viewers desired content streamed through the internet, bypassing the traditional use of cable, Satellite, or broadcast media. These devices/services, which include Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and Apple TV (just to list a few), allow the viewer to choose what they want to watch, when they want to watch it.

What this means for Automotive Marketers

According to forbes.com, 61% of Americans own a Smart TV and 52% use OTT services. And for viewers ages 18-34, usage is at 65% and climbing. While some marketing professionals were completely freaked out by this at first, they soon came to understand the benefits of OTT advertising. We now have the ability to track consumers habits through these streaming services, which was never a possibility with traditional Cable TV. We know which households are watching what and can even drill down to each user within the household. While we used to just blanket our TV ads across all channels, we can now drill down a bit more like we’ve been doing online with display ads for years. Segmenting the market more granularly by geo and demographic and can even choose the shows/movies to advertise on.

….Now what?

Now that consumers can basically get whatever they want to watch, at whatever time they want to watch it, on whatever device they want to watch it on, we as marketers need to think a bit more outside the box rather than your traditional dealership TV commercial. While we’ve moved away (for the most part) from the super cheesy ads with dancing monkeys, rodeos, and cars driving in outer space…. OTT advertising still needs to be drilled down a bit. As automotive digital marketing advances, we now that we have the ability to target a consumer similarly to the way we target someone through digital media, we are able to track their behaviors and interests more than ever. And now that we can drill down to a specific customer more than we were able to with standard television ads, our marketing message should also be more targeted.

If you’re an Audi dealership looking to push your A3 sedan inventory, you might centralize your ad around that vehicle promotion and target females, ages 25-40, by running your ad on Hulu and streaming during the Bachelor or Grey’s Anatomy. The segments are truly endless when it comes to OTT advertising and while you might spend a bit more on creating multiple spots, you’re gaining value by getting your message in front of such a targeted audience. And let’s face it, consumers don’t want to be bothered with a long drawn out ad that’s prolonging their binge watching, so keep your message short and sweet. An approach we see getting the highest responses, are those dealerships that poke fun at the fact they’re delaying viewers from what they really want to watch. Thinking a little outside the box from the standard “salesy” commercials will capture the viewers attention and along with your other digital advertising efforts, will put your dealership at the forefront of their next vehicle purchasing decision.

2020 is the start of a new decade and although we’ve already creeped into February, it’s pretty obvious advertising for streaming services will cover a huge chunk of advertising dollars for years to come. As consumers continue to consume media through online platforms, pre-roll and OTT services, will be the direction to move your traditional advertising dollars.

For more information on how to effectively spend your advertising dollars on pre-roll and OTT services, give us a call today at 877-958-4524 or contact us today. Still assessing your advertising and partners for 2020? Download our 2020 checklist to see how your vendors stack up!

Google Ads Changes & What it Means to Your Dealership

4 min read

Google is always honing and updating their Google Ads platform to be more efficient, targeted and quality driven. Staying on top of these changes and utilizing them to their fullest potential is crucial for any advertiser, especially those in the aggressive and competitive automotive marketplace. Here are the top recent changes and trends in Google Ads you should be aware and taking advantage of in your dealership.

1. Smart Bidding and AI Audience Creation

In recent years, Google and all other ad platforms have been getting progressively smarter with their optimization methods. Google is on the forefront of AI and machine learning, and unsurprisingly that technology is making its way into the way we target and bid on ad inventory.

Google introduced Smart Bidding, a beefed-up version of their previous AI aided bidding strategies. Smart Bidding enables advertisers to harness AI in ways we never have before. We can now target specifically by Cost per Acquisition, Target Return on Ad Spend, or even Maximize Conversions across the board.

Let’s say your phone call totals are a little off this month, and you need to get the phones ringing. With a few clicks, campaigns can be optimized to bring more phone calls in. Or if you notice conversions that come through a particular form on your website are turning into sales faster than the others, Google’s AI driven Smart Bidding can focus on traffic likely to convert at that particular form. In the end though, it’s all about balance and getting the most out of your budget.

                  Google’s AI touch doesn’t stop at bidding strategy. Recently Google introduced expansions to their targeting with Affinity and In Market audience segments. The main expansion came to the Affinity audiences, which are built around interests and browsing patterns. Think of these as a reflection of a user’s hobbies. Recently, Volkswagen tapped into affinity audiences to achieve a 250% increase in conversion rates compared to non-audience traffic.

                  In-market audiences have received seasonal event segments, most recently tapped into by Toyota during the holiday season. These audience segments are for people further down the purchase funnel and actively researching specific purchases. Toyota used Black Friday and Christmas in-market audiences to increase their conversion rate by 67% and reduce their cost per conversion 34% over the holiday season.

2. New Extensions – The Lead Form Extensions

In late October of 2019, Google rolled out a beta for lead ads on their Search Engine Marketing campaigns. Seemingly taking a que from Facebook, Google has made it easier than ever for mobile browsers to contact your business directly. This mitigates some of the user experience shortcomings that dealership mobile sites can have and cuts down on clicks needed to convert.

Lead extensions are easy to set up and allows users to create custom forms for the appropriate disclosures and offer details. Just choose the offer you want to showcase, fill in the relevant information and disclosures for the deal, choose which information you want to collect and set it live. You can even upload a background image (1200 x 628) to give your form a bit of flair. Leads can either be download in CSV format or sent directly to your CRM with certain integrations.

3. The Disappearance of the Cookie

This is perhaps the biggest development in digital advertising in over a decade. Google has announced that it plans to kill 3rd party cookie support in Google Chrome by 2022. While it wasn’t completely unexpected, it undeniably is a large-scale shift in the $565 Billion dollar industry that is advertising.

3rd party cookies have been the standard in data collection for years. They enabled data farms and advertisers to tag users with a small piece of code which categorizes them anonymously into audiences. It’s the backbone of programmatic advertising as we know it, and a huge part of how campaigns are targeted and executed.

This game changing move is not unprecedented though. In 2017 Apple began an initiative with its Safari browser to allow users to better track and understand how cookies are being used to quantify their browsing and put safeguards in place for their users. Shortly after, Mozilla implemented similar user security measures for their Firefox browser. With its two major competitors adopting a more privacy centric cookie policy coupled with the new EU cookie privacy laws taking effect, it was only a matter of time before Google followed suit.

In the next two years, this policy shift at Google is going to re-structure the online advertising ecosystem in a more user privacy friendly way. So, the clock has started ticking for advertisers and big data providers to find a solution that protects user privacy while maintaining the integrity of their data. Nobody knows for sure where this will lead, but the brightest minds in the industry are already working tirelessly to find a solution. We’ll keep our ear to the ground and keep you updated on the most promising prospects as they become known.

As the 2020’s kick-off, there are plenty of new and exciting developments in the world of Google and across online advertising. Staying ahead of the curve and taking advantage of every tool available to you is crucial to your success in 2020 and beyond. These are important points to bring up to your automotive digital marketing company to stay ahead of the curve. If you’re feeling stuck or want to discuss any of these changes, please reach out to our digital team. We’d love to get the conversation started and help you plot your 2020 course. For additional tips on planning a 2020 marketing strategy, visit our 4 steps blog.

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Automotive Mobile GeoFencing

2 min read

In 2020, mobile advertising is more important than ever. According to ZDnet.com, the average American now spends 5.4 hours per day browsing their phone at home and on the go. Smartphones have become the primary gateway to the world, and advertisers continue to develop clever ways to reach the masses where they spend most of their time.

Geofencing, or Geotracking as we call this advanced method at D2D, is an excellent, data-driven way to tap into the mobile marketplace with real time results. With the ability to precisely target down to a single plot of land, Geotracking is one of the most precise targeting methods of any advertising medium out there.

When designing a successful mobile advertising campaign, the key aspect to focus on is the right in the name: mobile. Users take their phones with them everywhere they go, and location data from their travels is collected by advertisers. This data is the major qualifier for Geotracking campaigns, as the places people frequent can tell advertisers a whole host of characteristics of the target audience.

For example, if someone is visiting a competitor’s car lot, chances are good that they’re in the market for a vehicle you sell. Geotracking enables you to have your advertisements show on their mobile devices while they are in your competitor’s showroom. With customers visiting an average of 1.5 dealerships before they make a purchase, your ad could very well influence them to add your dealership to their short list.

Serving ads is great when they’re on the lot, but what about when they leave? D2D’s Geotracking has that covered. Let’s say your ad is served to a potential customer on your competitor’s lot. They see the ad and decide to leave that lot to go home and consider their options. The Geotracking campaign has now latched on and created a unique identifier for that potential customer. This gives us the ability to a retarget them with advertisements even if they didn’t click on your ad on the initial impression.

To take it a step further, this unique identifier can determine when they’re home, at work, or anywhere else they frequently go and serve advertisements across all connected devices at those locations. This ensures that your message reaches them consistently while they’re in the purchase cycle wherever they go, and it all stems from a single visit to your competitor’s lot.

In addition to the cross-device retargeting benefits, the unique identifier associated with each ad recipient also allows us to track walk-ins to your lot. This means you can see in real time how your advertising is driving people to your showroom, which location they originally received the ad at, and determine how effective each location you’re targeting is at driving lot visits. This is an unprecedented look into the journey of the consumer, and an excellent way to measure ROI.

In 2020, when you hear mobile advertising when planning your automotive digital marketing strategy, you must think Geotracking. Geotracking maximizes the use of location data to get your advertisements in front of your competitors’ customers, makes sure your message stays in front of them throughout the entire purchase cycle, and has unmatched measurement and real time results to keep you up to date on your campaign’s effectiveness. If you want to find out more, contact our digital team today and set up a free consultation, or for tips to help in planning your 2020 strategy, head to your 2020 marketing strategy blog.