If you work in or around the retail automobile business right now you are certainly exposed to all of the tools, recommendations, advice and overall chatter about how dealers can and should employ the very latest technology and online strategies in order to run a better business. I suspect, if they are paying any attention at all, that dealers’ heads are spinning with all of the guidance, paid or otherwise, that is available on how to:

• Optimize their website
• Be great at social media
• Run awesome PPC campaigns
• Dominate Google page one
• Engage website visitors
• Respond well to leads
• Have the right online classified advertising package

These topics probably just begin to cover what dealers need to know in order to succeed as digital marketers. And, yes, with 90+ % of vehicle buyers going online, dealerships need to excel at digital marketing of all types. Whether they take it on themselves or get outside help, a world-class online presence is not an option.

So with this focus on more traffic, more page views, more conversions, more “likes” . . . . . and ultimately more leads, the digital marketing goal is truly centered around the question, “What can we do to attract more prospects and sell them our merchandise?” Not a bad thing to be focused on for sure.

It is easy to see, however, that all of the activities listed above (and the dollars that go with them) are essentially targeted at the “Sell-Side” of the business.

With this post, I intend to drive some discussion about an additional strategy that I suggest can “supercharge” all of the automotive digital marketing dealers are now becoming so good at employing. It’s an area that doesn’t yet receive the attention heaped on the topics above but one which will, I believe, multiply their effects and bring dealers an even greater return on all of the time and money they now invest in succeeding online. This strategy, in essence, will make all of the “Sell-Side” activities easier.

Digital Drivers

What is it that dealer’s can do to attract even more attention and have a higher likelihood of selling to the prospects they have pulled in through their digital marketing? What can make a dealer’s optimized website, targeted social media, well-crafted “Pay Per Click” campaign and classified package all work together to better drive sales and profits? Well, put simply, I would say it is a laser focus on having the right “stuff” to sell in the first place. In other words, a commitment to methodically matching their inventory to what it is customers in their market are looking to buy.

Though a somewhat obvious starting point and a function that you would assume is taking place, I am not convinced that dealers are putting in serious time and effort deciding what to stock. You can be assured, as a New York Times article recently pointed out, that sophisticated retailers (think Wal-Mart and Best Buy --- and I am sure some larger dealer groups, as well) are “increasingly mining vast troves of digital information to improve decisions they make about pricing, shelf-stocking and product offerings.”

The process of determining what to stock could also be equated to “Buy-Side” analysis, a term borrowed from the world of finance and investing. In applying it to the used car business, I define buy-side analysis as the process of researching, recommending, locating and acquiring an investment (in this case a used car) that matches the dealership’s marketing strategy and has a high probability of selling quickly for an acceptable return. I believe this type of analysis is the basis for success in today’s Internet-driven used vehicle industry.

Rules & Tools

I believe, too, that when the buy-side analysis is done properly and with discipline with the goal of stocking the right inventory at the right price, that it is a dealers first best way to perform well online. In other words, a buy-side focus can help put the sell-side efforts in overdrive. Can we all agree that it’s easier to generate leads and ultimately close a deal when you have the car a prospect has actually been searching for and wants to buy? Or, looking at it from the other side, even if a dealer was able to effectively employ all, or even most, of the digital marketing tactics available today in order to draw tons of traffic, views, hits, “tweets”, “likes” and leads, can they expect to positively affect the bottom-line if they aren’t regularly offering what it is that the online buyer is searching for? Having what they want, then, isn’t optional, but a prerequisite to drawing prospects’ attention.

Combining the two, an inventory of cars buyers are searching for with a strong plan to digitally market that inventory, is a big ingredient in the recipe for online success.