Can Social Media Make You Car Salesperson of the Year?
May 1, 2008 by admin
“So what do you do for a living?”
How often have we all heard that question come out of someone’s mouth? Usually uttered at cocktail parties where few people know each other, this question establishes a framework for the relationships we have with everyone around us.
When we find out what people do for a living, we can determine what they can do for us and what we can do for them, creating networks that can last a lifetime. And who doesn’t want a friend who sells cars?
Except there are only so many people you can invite to a cocktail party, and only so many cocktail parties you can attend. So how do you turn this handy piece of information into more car sales without spending the next 30 Saturdays at cocktail parties?
- Utilize social media to make local contacts -
Social media has changed the way the internet — and the world — works. People are connecting with other people in ways they never could before. They would never have the time or ability to meet before this new technology became available. Now they’re not only meeting, but becoming friends.
To use social media to forward your business goals, the first thing you have to understand is who it is that buys your product. In the auto salesperson’s case, those people are local. Focus your energies on meeting new online contacts that you know are within driving range of where you are. There are local communities on all of the major social networks, most prominently Facebook. These are where you’ll meet the people who can come out and buy your cars.
- Make them aware of what you do -
Don’t hide your occupation. Make it easy for them to find out that you sell vehicles, either by putting something simple in your forum signature line or making sure to fill in the occupation and employer categories on Facebook and LinkedIn.
- Don’t sell anything -
Social media is just what it sounds like — social. This is not a way for you to sell cars. It’s a way for you to meet people to whom you may eventually sell cars. Do not try to sell through your social media profile, ever. Just be social.
- Go about your business -
Probably the most important thing to remember about building a personal social networking profile is that you have to be yourself. You can be yourself on your best behaviour, but you have to be honest about who you are and what you’re doing. Don’t pretend to be a churchgoer or a Democrat or a kite-lover, just to sell cars. Do what you would do anyway and meet like-minded people. That will be the secret to your success.
Car buyers demand competitive pricing and dealer transparency
April 21, 2008 by admin
If you ask customers what they want from the companies from whom they buy, you probably won’t be surprised by their responses. Studies show that Customers primarily want two things:
- Competitive pricing, and
- Auto Dealers to be transparent with information in a timely and professional manner
According to a recent study by Cobalt, Yahoo!, and Polk, the advent and advancement of the internet have made it possible for customers to demand this from all of the companies with whom they do business. No businesses are more affected by this than Car Dealerships. For most people, their vehicles are more expensive than anything they’ll ever buy but not live in, and saving money and hearing the truth are especially important in the car buying process.
The study reveals that the impact of a customer’s online brand marketing experience in the car buying process cannot be overstated. In every area of their lives, customers are going online to research, to learn, and even to shop, and the purchase of an automobile is no different.
The study found that one of the most crucial aspects of the online brand marketing process is responding to customer inquiries. People are spending an incredible sum of money on their car, and they’re bound to have questions. Customers are taking the dealer responses to their questions very seriously, and for good reason.
A recent article in Dealer magazine on the study says “simply initiating a response is not enough to build customer loyalty. Rather, dealers must respond as consumers request, factoring in content, speed and method of response, in order to increase the chance of selling a vehicle.” It should be obvious, but when a customer wants an email instead of a phone call, or they would prefer to be phoned before 5 o’clock, it makes sense to take heed and communicate with them in the manner they choose.
The concept of sharing experiences with personal networks is not a new one — we’re all familiar with one person telling two friends and those friends telling two more. Existing and potential customers now have access to methods of group communication previously inconceivable to marketing departments. With the rise of internet usage, those two friends are still being told, but they’re being told publicly and there are a whole lot more than two of them.
With forums, blogs, rating sites and social media becoming the fastest growing methods of information transfer, giving customers a professional and helpful experience is more vital than ever before. Automobile dealers have the opportunity to capitalize on good customer relationships and experience growth at exponential rates.
Auto dealers embracing innovation with Web Marketing 2.0
April 14, 2008 by admin
For decades, our car-buying decisions have been based primarily on what our friends tell us, what we read in consumer reports, and the advertising in radio and in television. But the buying world is changing across the board, virtualizing and socializing, and progressive dealerships are getting in to the action. A new survey by The Kelsey Group suggests a warm welcome by car dealers when it comes to today’s Web 2.0 marketing.
According to the survey, 62 percent of those dealers who responded planned to increase their online media spending this year, and 33 percent said they would be using social media, up from 15 percent. At the same time, only 8 percent of respondents said they would be cutting their online spending, as compared to 46 percent who will be cutting their spending in more traditional media outlets.
“These findings point to a significant disruption in the auto dealer advertising space,” says Neal Polachek, chief executive officer of The Kelsey Group. This isn’t your grandfather’s marketing campaign.
Whenever technology changes — whether it’s the newest gadget or the newest form of marketing –there is always a group of individuals and businesses who are quick to get involved. These early adopters who are more willing to try new things before the rest of the industry does have a chance at new and exciting success. The last few years have been groundbreaking in online technology and social media marketing, and other dealers are catching on after seeing the unprecedented success of their peers who have been quick to adopt the new technology.
There is a growing awareness among automobile dealers that online brand marketing is a vital piece of the marketing puzzle. This includes forms of Organic Search Marketing, Blog Marketing, and online Social Network Marketing. Buyers have not only turned to the Internet with shocking speed and in amazing numbers, but also they are demanding more from their suppliers, and automobile retailers are no exception. The smart dealers are getting on board, capitalizing on this new breed of web savvy customers.
There’s no doubt about it — the world has changed beyond recognition, and it continues to change every day. Dealers across the country and the globe have come to realize that online brand marketing and social media are powerful and cost-effective means for making customers more aware of what they have to offer. It’s an exciting time to be a car dealership, and the future is looking brighter and brighter every day.
Car dealers and manufacturers compete for online ad space
April 7, 2008 by admin
The days of seeing your local car dealer ads on TV are not going away, but dealer prominence in online advertising is now reaching unprecedented heights, giving car manufactures a new (but good) challenge. A recent report indicates that car manufacturers are finding competition for their ad slots, and that the competition is coming from none other than the car dealerships themselves.
Ad spending by dealers has increased dramatically over the last two years, and the increase has resulted in bidding wars on third party sites like Edmunds.com and Cars.com. Online ad spending by car dealerships was up to $32 million in 2007, and that number has more than doubled each year since 2005.
It’s a new plan of attack for car dealers to be involved in online advertising, but it’s on the upswing. “Buying space on the Web was never part of the strategy until recently, but now it’s 50% of the conversation,” said Pat Primm, a Cleveland area auto dealer.
Online ad pricing is measured in cost per thousand impressions — or CPM — and an ad spot that came with a $4 CPM price tag two years ago now costs $34. Advertising profits for Edmunds.com went up 64 percent in 2006 and another 93 percent in 2007. CEO Jeremy Anwyl says that “dealers and dealer associations are coming in after years of spending 90% of their ad budgets on TV. They are just now realizing that’s too much.â€
While the third party websites are clearly the winners in this equation, the loser is the brand identity. With so many voices trying to tell the same story and sell the same product, the message being portrayed by the original equipment manufacturers can easily become diluted and confused. David Harris, the manager of ebusiness and CRM for Suzuki, Brea, California says,
“Our goal is to make sure we are communicating a consistent message. All of a sudden . . . you have a wide variety of messages.”
This is all the more reason for dealers to make sure they have effective online brand marketing strategies in place. Manufacturers have huge budgets to spend on researching the most effective ways to get the car’s message across. It’s vital to the dealership’s success that dealer marketing not only doesn’t conflict with that, but leverages it to their advantage.
Online advertising has become the new normal for car dealerships across the country. Twenty years ago, local TV advertising was the most effective and prominent method of marketing for automotive dealers, and the game has changed. This report is just the newest data that shows that a focused online brand marketing strategy will be the ticket to surviving and thriving in this new world of car sales.
K.i.T
