Kelley Blue Book President Jared Rowe will be hosting a free webinar to introduce the industry to the new kbb.com Classifieds on Tuesday, June 5, at 2PM EST/11AM PST.  You can register for it here.

This month, Kelley Blue Book’s kbb.com is launching an all-new Classifieds experience in partnership with AutoTrader.com that will allow dealers to reach millions of in-market car buyers that largely cannot be found on other automotive websites.¹  The “cars for sale” section of kbb.com has been completely rebuilt, featuring a new design and functionality created for the unique audience of consumers who use kbb.com to research new- and used-vehicle information and reviews, obtain values and pricing information, and find the right car for sale in their area. 

More than 75% of visitors to kbb.com are undecided on which make and model they want to purchase,² and with supply and demand pushing used-vehicle pricing close to new-vehicle pricing, many are also uncertain about whether they will purchase new, used or certified.  Therefore, kbb.com’s new Classifieds experience is uniquely designed to allow consumers to search cars for sale based on their needs, while also keeping the option to run a traditional make/model search.  This new approach allows consumers who are undecided on make/model to see vehicles that both meet their needs and possibly be exposed to some that they might not have otherwise considered.    Consumers also have the option to return new, used and certified inventory within the same search.  As a time-saver, changing or refining search parameters is possible within the same search, without starting over from scratch and filling out all the parameters again.  The redesigned Classifieds also allows them to continue researching vehicles via trusted Kelley Blue Book information such as reviews and ratings without leaving the Classifieds experience.

The initial SRP (search results page) is prioritized based on “Best Match,” a formula that ranks vehicles based on what is determined to be most relevant and engaging to the consumer performing the search.  This formula is in part based on the quantity and quality of vehicle information dealers provide, including the number of photos, video, detailed vehicle descriptions as well as certain characteristics of the vehicle such as distance from the user, mileage vs. the average for that model year, and the length of time the listing has been on the site.  This means that participating dealers have the opportunity to directly influence their placement on the SRP through better merchandising of their listings.

To make things as easy as possible, the new kbb.com Classifieds is a turnkey experience for dealers: your contact for kbb.com Classifieds is your AutoTrader.com Advertising Consultant, your inventory is automatically pulled from dealer data already on AutoTrader.com, and listings and reporting for both sites are managed within one system.  This means no additional data feed setup and management is required, you have a single point of contact for both sites, and there’s no extra backend to log into to manage everything.

To find out more, Kelley Blue Book President Jared Rowe will be hosting a free webinar on Tuesday, June 5, at 2PM EST/11AM PST.  You can register for it here.

¹Comscore Media Metrix: Cross Visiting Report: March 2012
² AutoTrader.com Shopper Frame of Mind Research Study: March 2011