If you are active on Twitter, you might have already noticed the addition of a tiny lightning bolt icon up in the menu bar where you can find your mentions or direct messages. Last week, Twitter launched Moments, a new feature that makes it easier for users to stay up-to-date with what’s happening in the world.

Basically, Moments makes it so that you…

Several carmakers continue to offer aggressive lease deals for less than $150 per month, including Volkswagen with current deals on the Jetta S ($139 monthly) and the Passat 1.8T Limited Edition ($179 monthly). These deals can be found on Wantalease.com, the nation’s largest online marketplace for new lease deals.



Volkswagen joins other brands such as Ford, Chevrolet, Honda, Nissan and Toyota as offering multiple lease deals under $200 per month. Chevrolet is offering three cars…

The used car market is flourishing today and when someone goes to a Dealership to look for a previously owned vehicle, they have a dozen questions they would like answered. For some customers, there is hesitation in purchasing a used versus a new vehicle, but the price drop often overcomes their concerns. In order to provide assurance to…

While SEO isn't new to those of us in the digital marketing industry , there are plenty of small and local businesses that are only now being introduced to the power of organic search traffic. Whether you're a salesperson for a marketing company who needs ammo to…

Navigating Change (After the Show)

If you and your team have attended one or both of the automotive marketing conferences this October, you might be trying to decide how to make that investment of time and resources count.  Maybe you’re considering implementing a new system, or even just a set of new ideas or processes, at your dealership.  Where do…

Welcome to this week's edition of Black Book Market Insights, with in-depth analysis of used car and truck valuation trends and insights straight from the auction lanes. Click here to download the full report.

 

The Black Book Market Insights report this week continues to take a look at the depreciation trends of specific Volkswagen diesel vehicles affected by the recent emissions/software situation. The report shows that since…

The key to continued growth and success in business is simple: evolve. This week, I'll demonstrate the importance of evolving your business and yourself to keep the money flowing and new business expanding.

The web provides a plethora of content including articles, editorials, infographics, images, videos, and photographs.  While this content creates a great visual experience for web browsing and researching, it’s important to keep in mind copyright and intellectual property right laws if you wish to utilize any content on a website, blog or online channel.



Many…

Would you ever consider letting a member of your sales team on the floor to sell cars without any training?  Could your sales…

Communication and engagement go together like biscuits and gravy, like macaroni and cheese, like bacon and eggs.

 Most of the time, it’s pretty hard to have one without the other. (Who wants a dry biscuit anyway?) Now that everyone is hungry, it’s time to tak

e a look at the many ways communication is at work in your dealership and…

There are constantly new trends and social media platforms popping up, but several of them don’t stick around or never completely catch on to be worth your time. However, there are a few newer platforms and tools that seem to be catching fire for advocates, marketers, and overall social media and mobile users that may…

Albany, N.Y. – October 19th, 2015 – Auto/Mate Dealership Systems (http://www.automate.com) announced today that more than 100 of its customers, including dealership executives and managers, attended its annual User Summit. Ten industry vendors also exhibited at the event that was held in Oak Brook, IL near Chicago on October 12th and 13th, 2015. Auto/Mate's User Summit is designed to share the latest features and give in-depth training on…

Mimicking customer behavior is one of the oldest sales techniques in the business. So is finding common interests and building rapport. However, with three generations of car buyers in and out of dealerships daily - Boomers, Gen X and Gen Y - it’s harder than ever for salespeople to accomplish this convincingly, let alone understand what type of experience each…

Can an auto dealership be liable for damages when it transmits a customer’s credit application to several financial institutions through an automated on-line credit application system and the financial institutions pulls the customer’s credit report without authorization from the customer? Does a financial institution need consumer authorization to access the customer’s…

If you have a smartphone, chances are you have Apple Wallet (formerly Passbook) or Google Wallet. These applications are mobile wallets that store, among other things, applications like Apple Pay that enable people to purchase things with their phones. Of course, it's very unlikely that anybody is going to purchase their vehicle by swiping their mobile device. For that reason,…

Turn On-The-Fence Shoppers Into Sales

You need to use Dynamic Retargeting to reach indecisive shoppers. I’ll explain how Dynamic Retargeting delivers highly targeted ads and offers to hesitating shoppers. It worked on me and will help you sell more cars this month!

Remember the good old days when your Facebook audience actually saw the content you posted on your Facebook page? If you’re a social media person, you’ll know what a rush it was to see your content engaged with. As the likes, comments and shares piled up on a piece of content, a sense of satisfaction swept over you for a job well done. Then Facebook intervened…

Today’s American seniors are healthier and have more discretionary income than ever before. Likewise, millennials are the up and coming generation with more purchasing power than any other demographic. The good news for the auto industry is that they are spending and in the market for new cars.

American Seniors

According to US Census data, from 2003 to 2013 the number of licensed drivers over the age of 65 increased by 8.2…

A quick note to provide additional information as it relates to the overall Volkswagen brand. The following insight is courtesy of Swapalease.com, which has been monitoring activity of Volkswagen lease drivers and shoppers considering the brand:

• Number of listings in the transfer marketplace have jumped 20% from Sept. to Oct. (# of people looking to escape their VW lease)
• Number of actual transfers are down -50% so far in Oct. compared with Sept. levels (fewer shoppers…