internet help
I’m stuck needing some help deciding where to spend our money on the internet? So many to choice from yet I haven't had any luck with the lead sources we used? Any suggestions?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Brian Andersen on
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Gary,
What types of leads are you looking for? Are you looking for vehicle specific leads or credit based leads?
I am in a similar situation. We are a heavy sub-prime dealership and have a lot of success getting deep sub-prime deals bought. However we are always looking to get more people in the door. We use CarsDirect very successfully now, however they are unable to provide a high volume of leads. They close very well for us, but the volume just isn't there.
Anyone out there willing to offer some advice on a good sub-prime lead provided that closes at a good percentage, it would be greatly appreciated. We have used CyberLead, Lead Bid, J&M Advertising and a few others to varying degrees of success.
Thanks!
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Permalink Reply by Doug Davis on
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Gary, The internet is the most efficient and cost effective way to advertise your vehicles.
It begins with your website. I was looking at the used vehicles on your website. A vehicle is "to market" when it has pictures, prices and a good description. How competive are they? Go to Cars.com and AutoTrader and look for your vehicles. Do a sort by price. This is what customers do. Think like a customer. If you are not competitve, they won't mess with you.
On your new cars, you don't have any prices. Put your MSRP, discount, rebate and Internet price. At least put up the MSRP and a button: "Get Your ePrice". You have no new and used car specials. I'm sure you have some aged used cars that you can put on there. Does Mitsubishi have any lease specials? Use them. You have any left over 2012s? Cut a couple to the bone. Understand that transparency sells cars. Customers spend an average of 16 to 19 hours doing research. Think price might be a consideration?
Are you on Cars.com and AutoTrader? They provide leads but more importantly, they drive traffic to your website.
If you sold every new and used vehicle in your inventory, it would not equal the internet sales at either of my last two stores. Our average total gross was higher than the retail guys. I just want you to understand the potential.
I could write a book here. This is a good starting place. You will have more questions, feel free to email me.
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Permalink Reply by Philip Zelinger on -
Hi Gary,
Spending money on the Internet with lead providers is easy, but investing your time to build your own online presence would be a wiser move. You have already discovered that there are many vendors who will do your job for you and solicit your own customers through their marketing platforms only to sell them back to you as a lead. None of these thrird party lead resellers can compete with the long term benefit of developing your own SEO, Social Networking and relevant/transparent messaging driving qualified local traffic to your virtual and eventually your real world showroom.
I see that Doug already counseled you to improve the inventory postings on your site and you certainly should follow his suggestions. I also advise you to use videos to improve your presentations on your site and extend your inventory onto YouTube directing customers back to your store(s).
Simply put, your online showroom must be as inviting as your dealership with appropriate inventory for your selected market all cleaned up and placed smartly on your front line for inspection. Your first impression is irretrievable both in the virtual and the real world and you need to consider it when a customer visits either location.
Finally, when you buy a lead you are relying almost exclusively on your price and product to compete with the other vehicles that your online shopper has encountered. Your personal service, honest presentation of competitive products and prices and value added resources like your service department, convenient hours/location and profesional staff are not presented in the formative stages of the buyers shopping decisions so price becomes more imprtant than it should be.
Invest in your own site and traffic and while you may not have the same quantity of leads the quality will certainly improve. The added benefit of promoting your name for long term recognition and retention and freeing up your staff to concentrate on more qualified leads who already know who and where you are will definitely improve your ROI and allow you to sell more cars and trucks vs. processing more leads.
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Permalink Reply by Ned Johnson on
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Gary,
Click on the following link to get an idea of where you might want to direct your spend marketing money:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_6o9u5C1eQ
Customers today are relying on customer reviews, local placement on Google and social media before they come to the dealership. If you put proven systems in place to take advantage of that your marketing dollars will be well spent. These systems should increase your front and back ends sales by more than 5 percent.
I reviewed your website and I have some suggestions we can discuss that I know will solve your problem about where to spend your marketing dollars. I can be reached at 800-882-5819.
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Permalink Reply by Kenny Atcheson on
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Local search will be the dominant force in 2013. There are several changes and trends pointing to this. I can't go fully into it because that would not be unfair to the people that purchased our Dealer's Guide To 2013 Marketing Opportunities and Trends, but I will offer this.
The highest converting Up to walk into the dealership or call is the one that came looking for what you have to offer. You can make this happen with Local search. Customer has a need...customer goes looking for a solution...THERE YOU ARE with the exact solution they were looking for.
Do not let a traditional SEO company and certainly not a website company tell you how Local search works. In my experience they do not have a clue. They are good at what they do, just not Local search.
It often goes unspoken but people dislike advertising. That's why they pay money to avoid it with TIVO and other devices. Consumers dislike car dealers the most (unfair but true.) Go to Google and type in "Why are car dealers..." and watch the top 5 answers that come up. This will give you the consumer perception of car dealers. This may not be the perception of you once somebody meets you BUT that is irrelevant. If they don't know you, they start with the common perception.
When a car buyer goes to Google and your Local listing pops up, most consumers don't treat this as advertising. They are looking for you and they are glad they found you, especially if your have a stack of good online reviews that are directly opposite of what the common perception is.
Kenny
Dealer Profit Pros
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It has to be the height of rudeness to ask a question and never respond. I am seeing some good suggestions by people that obviously know what they are talking about. I will never waste my time in this section.
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