This ‘how to’ series teaches you about the ACVideo Service, powered by Vidego, and how we integrate it with Wordpress. ACVideo explores the issue of streaming video, and the ease in which you can add it to your website or blog.

In last month’s webinar, we talked about how to set up multi players. But even if you missed last month’s webinar, it’s not too late to take advantage of this series! We still have two more dates booked! Click here to register!

Each webinar in this series focuses on how to use specific features
of the system.

Part two, on May 27, is about Branding Your Player in Vidego.

Here are a few of the topics this webinar will cover:

• changing colors and images
• adding banners
• linking to web pages
• customizing play buttons
• sharing your videos
• and other marketing tips …

Save your seat!

Click here to register!

If you have already registered for this series, you will get a reminder notice in your email. If you have not yet registered, you can still take part in the next two webinars by registering today.

We hope to see you there!

Please direct questions to Tracey D’Aviero. Thank you.

David Kain is president of KainAutomotive.com, and he provides internet sales and business development solutions to dealers in the automotive industry. He has put together this intensive Internet marketing course along with Jennifer Suzuki.

The conference takes place over three days, from May 19-21, 2009 in Seattle, WA.

Highlights of the bootcamp include:

• marketing your brand online
• maximizing your online presence
• generating high quality leads
• converting leads into showroom appointments
• building a more profitable business model
• maximizing your internet presence
• and much more..

For more information, and to register, visit:
“Generation Internet” Marketing, Management and Sales Bootcamp

Reach out to potential customers over the Internet. Learn marketing tools and techniques that will help you turn your leads into sales.

From time to time we will be posting links to events like this one that we think might be of interest to our community at BlogPro Automotive. If you know of an event that might benefit our subscribers, please let us know.

If you’re already using video, or thinking about how video can help you with your dealership’s online marketing initiatives, join AutoConversion for a free live Webinar series that will introduce you to our AC Video service, which explores the issue of streaming video, and the ease in which you can add it to your website or blog.

AC Video, in partnership with Vidego, makes it easy for anyone to upload, manage, and distribute their streaming content online.

There are three webinars in the series, and we will be hosting one each month for April, May and June.

Each webinar in the series will concentrate on a specific how-to element of the Vidego system and Wordpress.

The webinars will be held on the fourth Wednesday of each month from 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM EDT

The dates are as follows:

• Wednesday, April 22, 2009
• Wednesday, May 27, 2009 and
• Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Register Now at: AC Video Webinar Series Registration

Once you register, you will receive a confirmation email with the information you need to join the webinars.

You only have to register once to take advantage of the whole series. We will remind you of upcoming dates so that you don’t miss a minute of this valuable presentation!

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.

1. Competitive pricing, and
2. 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.

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.

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.”

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.