The Mobile State of the Union: How Does the Automotive Industry Compare?

By David Metter

Our industry is synonymous with innovation, better yet – I believe the automotive industry defines both innovation and opportunity. Yet, everything is relative. Coming from a company that serviced the retail, hospitality and travel industries (in addition to automotive), I know firsthand that their mobile marketing is about two to three years ahead of our industry. I also know that dealerships have never been afraid of a little competition.

As the largest subcategory of retail, we need to find a way to get back in the driver’s seat of the mobile disruption. We cannot let other verticals trump our user experiences and outperform our mobile campaigns.

If you are sick and tired of hearing about mobile…get over it right now. According to a recent article from Google, mobile search volumes have officially surpassed desktop searches. Mobile is snowballing at an unprecedented rate, so much so that mobile usage statistics are increasing in almost real-time.

If I could give one theme to mobile marketing it would be immediacy. Google simplifies this in three steps: be there, be useful, and be quick. If you can accomplish these things, you will win the customers you target. There are some scary (and I mean scary) stats out there to help this set in:

·      87% of Millennials have their smartphone at their side (more or less attached to their body) day and night

·      We check our phones 150 times a day

·      We spend 177 minutes on our phones per day

·      Each mobile session averages only 1 minute and 10 seconds, but dozens and dozens of times per day

- Google’s Micro-Moments: Your Guide to Winning the Shift to Mobile

If you think that you’re ahead of the game because you have a totally responsive website, think again. This is only the first step. The second is delivering an ideal experience to your mobile audience, and a responsive site alone does not ensure a seamless, swipe-oriented, visually compelling, easy and fast interaction.

“The main issue with user experience is that on the desktop you can have some complexity, but on a mobile device the interface and experience must be about simplicity,” says Alan Krutsch, Director of Marketing and eCommerce at Apple Autos. “The mobile user must be able to find things quickly and perform functions easily.”

Even older generations report feeling “naked” if they don’t have their phone with them. Dealers should feel equally naked if their mobile strategy is lagging in comparison to other retailers. “Target and Walmart are examples of stores that do really well driving people to their locations with specific offers,” said Ray Green, VP of Enterprise Solutions at Verve Mobile. “Using a mobile ad platform, they are able to target different customers at different times, with different messages, based on those customers’ individual behaviors and locations.”

There are some key trends on the horizon to focus on over the next year to stay relevant across the screens, and in the hands of in-market shoppers. Start implementing mobile strategies that involve beacons, mobile wallets, and big-data generated customer profiles. Click links to learn more about each.

Let’s think back to 2002, when dealers started posting inventory on their websites. Many were outraged and swore to never, ever post their cars, let alone their prices online. Today, that has changed. I am confident that the evolution of mobile will override the eruption of the Internet and more importantly, resisting this trend will be detrimental to your business. Also remember you are not alone. We as an industry can, and will, come together to help each other, as we cannot let retail and travel out-innovate the pioneers of innovation!

10 Outside the Box Ways to Use AutoHook

For Those Who Suffer from Stuck in the Box Syndrome

Offering incentives to your customers is one of the best ways for both parties involved in any business transaction to get something they want. According to Verve Wireless, 85% of consumers say they are willing to visit a local dealership to test-drive a new vehicle if they were to receive an incentive on their smartphone or tablet. Targeted, incentivized promotion offers have also been proven effective in increasing showroom traffic, inventory turnover, and most importantly, dealership revenue throughout multiple departments.

At AutoHook, we push outside of the box thinking. The following are ten ways to use AutoHook’s Suite of Solutions to your benefit that you probably haven’t thought of yet – because unfortunately, you may be suffering from SBS (which of course stands for Stuck in the Box Syndrome).

1. INCENTIVIZE YOUR SERVICE DRIVE. Have a service appointment? Who wouldn’t want to get paid to take a spin in a vehicle that peaks their interest while they wait? There are several ways to utilize AutoHook’s incentive offers in the service department that dealers are just beginning to catch on to. For customers who already have an appointment scheduled, use our Bulk Coupon Generator to push appointments already on the books to test-drive one of your cars instead of sitting around waiting for their vehicle to be serviced.

Dealers can maximize the benefits of offering gift card incentives in the service department by pulling a list of vehicles within a specified mileage range, or a list of vehicles that meet certain criteria to increase your probability of conversion. If you didn’t plan ahead, you can use Issue Coupon Code or Instant Reward to customers sitting in the waiting area that may not have received a pre-generated offer to test-drive a new vehicle.

In addition, dealers can use incentives for customers who schedule service appointments directly on their website, especially for those customers who abandon the online service scheduler process. You can also offer the Issue Coupon Code to encourage customers to schedule their service appointment online, or add a test drive link to your confirmation page and email.

2. AMPLIFY YOUR SERVICE CAMPAIGNS. Another idea is to utilize AutoHook’s solutions to give your service campaigns a needed boost. Dealers can offer incentives to recent buyers who need to come in for their first service appointment. According to Automotive Digest, “The first ser­vice appoint­ment is step one in the reten­tion process that leads to future vehi­cle purchases.” Advertise a generic gift card offer and use Issue Instant Reward or Issue Coupon Code.

If you utilize Urban Science’s SSO (Service Smarts), or MMO (Market Master) contact your AutoHook Customer Service Representative to see how you can execute on that valuable service data. 

3. GET MORE QUALITY TRADE-INS. Your equity mining software can help you target customers with an incentive to get them to trade in their desirable car and purchase or lease a new one from you.

4. BOOST NEW MODEL LAUNCHES. Piggyback on OEM launch campaigns and drive those intenders into your showroom with customized offers.

5. MOVE AGING INVENTORY. Depending on your brand, we know certain models move faster than others. Use AutoHook incentives on the particular details pages of the vehicles in your inventory that need “a little help.” Target and boost any model that may be underperforming.

A few years ago, AutoHook ran a campaign for an OEM that nearly doubled the amount of cars they typically sell within a certain model. Why did that happen? Because we more than doubled the amount of customers that physically walked into the dealership. Don’t underestimate the power of getting someone past the lead form and into your showroom so that your sales team can do their job and get them excited about making that purchase.

6. GET MORE REFERRALS. Use Issue Instant Reward to customers who refer your store to their friends and family. Issue Coupon Code can be leveraged to lock in referrals over the phone in those states that allow referral payments. Check with your state Dealer Association for more information.

Actual Dealer Example:

Central Kia of Lewisville runs a strong referral program and uses our Issue Instant Reward as their fulfillment and measurement tool. We noticed a trend in multiple $25 gift cards being issued to the same people and the dealership had a very high ratio of issued rewards to their other products. After speaking with their Internet Sales Director, AutoHook built a set of special Issue Reward placements that range in value from $25 to $200 and marked each as a Referral Gift.

Central Kia loves having the ability to have the fulfillment process completely handled for them. They can also track the specific placements to see who refers the most people to buy and how much they need to offer to incent the best referrals. Additionally, this will make your accounts payable department very happy, in that they only have to write one single check for all of the output in a given month.  

7. COMMUNITY OUTREACH. The LaFontaine Automotive Group used Issue Instant Reward for a local grassroots program they sponsored. Dealers have the opportunity to get creative with this, especially during the holidays or just to give back to those less fortunate in their community through different programs throughout the year.

8. IMPROVE SOCIAL & DIGITAL ADVERTISING CONVERSIONS. Dealers can use triggered links on custom landing pages and send incentives for generic social advertising. Social also allows for many retargeting opportunities to reactivate and re-engage lost clicks. This tactic will add substantial conversion to your social and digital advertising campaigns. With AutoHook, you can provide your customer with the industry-best attribution; from ad click, to form fill, to showroom visit, to sale.

9. SAY “THANK YOU” FOR A GOOD REVIEW. Issue an Instant Gift Card as the perfect way to say thank you for writing a positive review on behalf of your dealership. You can also use AutoHook as an enticement for customers to leave reviews, testimonials, or feedback of their experience buying or servicing their vehicle at your location. 

On the flip side, you can use the Issue Instant Reward feature to any customer who complained or had a poor experience at your dealership. Not that that would ever happen at your store…but know it’s available for you to have in your back pocket, should that problem ever arise.

10. TIME OF PURCHASE PUSH. Utilize Issue Instant Reward for advertised offer with purchase. Some AutoHook clients have this turned on at the OEM level to boost last minute sales. Dealers have leveraged our incentive platform to help achieve various stair-step programs launched by their manufacturer. Customers will love the added bonus of leaving your store with a new ride and a gift card as a token of your appreciation for their business.

So there you have it. Incentives provide infinite opportunities around the various departments of your dealership and the ROI proof is in our attribution reporting.

Don’t be a victim. If you suffer from SBS please contact your healthcare provider or AutoHook Customer Service Representative before it’s too late.

The Conference "Pay-to-Play" Mentality: Is it in Your Best Interest?

By David Metter

I want to start here. This may be my Jerry McGuire moment. Maybe I should end here…but this has been eating at me for a while. 

I’ve been in this industry for over 25 years. I started out selling cars at a Chrysler Dealership in Dayton, Ohio. Somehow, I have navigated my career through all facets of the dealership including an executive marketing position for a large dealer group. I have also had the opportunity to work on the vendor side with a start up CRM company in the early days of CRM. My latest startup venture, AutoHook (the artist formally known as HookLogic) was acquired by Urban Science this past year. Along the way, I have had the fortune of building great products, growing businesses, and speaking at events all around the globe. I don’t tell you all of this to stroke my ego, only to frame my position. 

As a dealer, especially as a CMO, it felt like I was asked to speak at EVERY event. Because we were first in with a number of digital marketing initiatives, I had a lot to share, both success and failures. I would often feel like I was on tour. Don’t get me wrong. I enjoyed sharing my experiences with other progressive dealers. I love my industry and want more people to have success. Dealers who can speak can be in demand at conferences but I have noticed a trend lately. There are less and less dealers speaking, with those spots filled with more vendors. Why is this? Have all of the progressive dealers gone away? Are they afraid to speak? 

On the flip side, I have noticed that the majority of the speaking spots are somehow tied to a sponsorship package. I remember a day when you submitted a topic and content that was relevant to the participants, wasn’t a sales pitch, and you were picked to speak, regardless of your checkbook. Yet, lately, when it comes to many of the conferences our industry has hosted, there is a strong emphasis surrounding the “pay-to-play” mentality. Vendors and auto companies can only present if they pay thousands of dollars to do so. Is this really the best way to educate our dealer audience with the information that is most beneficial to them and their business?

All too often the companies who spend the most money on conferences, that secure the biggest and best booth space or a prime speaking position are not in line with the companies that have the most useful story to tell. I don’t say this because I am envious of these companies or I don’t have the budget to compete. I say it because it’s the truth. It’s gotten so bad, that at one of the largest conferences this past fall, many of the speaking halls were near-empty because the content and speakers were practically the same as previous years…and yes, you guessed right - they were from the same main sponsors.

Even if the content or a speaker is chosen for a spot, it might not get the prime speaking position. At another conference this fall, there was a panel discussion that had “heavyweights.” The session was highly rated by the conference attendees and every seat was taken with people standing in the back of the room. However, they were relegated to a “breakout” because the larger sponsors occupied the larger, main auditorium sessions - and you guessed it, those sessions were not as full. 

It seems that more often than not, my experience, my name, and my brand are simply not enough to secure a speaking position at a conference. It’s sad to say, but as an industry, we need to be better than that. We need to share our wealth of knowledge in order to help others and to inspire our audience rather than just share from those that spend the most to host these events.

I am not alone in my thoughts on this topic. Many vendors have expressed the same sentiment, and attendance at a lot of conferences is dwindling. Are we losing sight of the entire purpose of these networking and educational events? Are the messages being delivered merely the ones backed by the biggest budget, or the best content? Are we providing these audiences with the knowledge they need to truly take their business to the next level?

Personally, I’ve questioned the offers to present at conferences if they are directly tied to a speaking spot. I want to be picked because I have a compelling message and the conference is confident that I won’t sound like an infomercial. Arguably, I am a better presenter than I was 10 years ago. I am WAY more mature and have more successes and a ton more failures to share with the attendees. When I am asked to present, I go above and beyond because my first priority is to make the content worthwhile for the audience, as they are paying good money to be there and learn. Let’s be clear, this is not me taking the opportunity to bash the large conferences as they do have a lot to offer dealerships. However, I strongly encourage you to take a step back and be discerning about who you choose to listen to and which sessions you choose to attend.

So, what do I endorse? I see a higher quality of knowledge being shared at smaller, local events that keep the vendor space equal. I see better content being shared in dealer 20 groups that allow presenters to share valuable insights without having to sponsor the event to do so. Dealers share their “best idea” with their non-competing peers. I also see content being shared on the industry blogs, in free (not paid) webinars, and in whitepapers (again free). And I am going to put our money where my mouth is. We are going to be very selective of where we present and make all of our content open to our industry.

Our first example of this will be a mobile marketing strategy whitepaper that is filled with great information from industry experts. It is not an AutoHook sales and marketing document. It will help those dealers who are searching for a mobile marketing strategy. Instead of forming panels at conferences, we will set up webinar panels and open it up to more people; especially those who can’t convince their ownership to attend the conferences.

I want this topic to be out in the open as it is reflective upon everyone involved in the automotive industry, including myself, and you – if you’ve made it this far. We need to consistently represent the values and principals that we’re proud of and that define us.

How do you feel about the exponential rise of the “pay-to-play” mentality?   

Cracking the Conversion Code

By David Metter

Behind every screen, device, or smartphone in today’s consumer economy resides something that has perhaps gotten lost in the unstoppable avalanche of digital noise. Are we as an industry starting to focus too much on the device, and not enough on the person behind it? All we hear today is ways we can target better on mobile and that we need to use the latest in mobile tracking and mobile marketing technologies. When it comes to selling cars, or converting leads into buyers, let’s begin the New Year with an emphasis on the customer behind the device in order to connect with them better and resonate with them in a more positive way. This is the first step towards improving conversion for your dealership.

The second step is understanding the digital roadmap, or digital learning path that leads to a buying decision. If you want to increase your overall conversion rates, start by only spending money on the consumers that are ready to make a purchase and identify those in-market customers using proper attribution methods. Spend your precious ad dollars on the people that have demonstrated ready-to-buy behavior.

Buying a car is a huge decision for the average consumer – the second largest purchase of their life after buying a home. It’s a really big deal. In 2016, it is imperative that we remember there is a human being on the other side of that screen – complete with thoughts, skepticism, and emotions that come to define their shopping experience, and more importantly, their probability of converting.

So how can we increase conversion and increase the number of buyers we send into our showroom? First, let’s define what conversion means to the average dealership. Then let’s set the bar higher. Conversion is simply the percentage of visitors who take a desired action, whether that’s filling out a lead or incentive form on your site, or their final signature on a new lease. Techopedia defines conversion rate as, “An equation that online advertisers and marketers use to compare the total number of visitors to a website to the number that become paying customers, subscribers or users.”

According to a November, 2015 Dataium study, the average dealer website gets roughly 6,109 unique monthly visitors. Of those 6,109 people, only 1.5% completed a lead form, or in other words, only 1.5% converted. This is our industry’s standard, and we can absolutely do better.

Average should not be an acceptable word in your vocabulary when it comes to your conversion rate. Make it a goal, or a new year’s resolution to demolish “average” and demand to rise above. Write down your goal, and then commit to knocking it out of the park!

So what should your conversion goal be? Many dealers make the mistake of leaving their conversion rates up to their web provider, or placing blame on their website platform for lower than desired conversions. Progressive dealerships see a conversion rate of 6% or more compared to the average dealer’s 1-4%. The truth however, is that dealers themselves hold much more power than they think they do. Do you want to be average or do you want to have upwards of a 6% website conversion rate?

The power dealers have when they’re face-to-face with a customer is vastly underrated. Thus, using incentives to get customers in the showroom may be the most obvious solution to increasing your conversion ratio. If your objection is, “The customer is going to probably come in anyways so why should I spend money to incentive them?” then you should probably stop advertising all-together...which would be a bad move.  Hopefully, you get my point.  If not, stop reading now. 

Sometimes we have to change the way we sell in order to sell better. In the year ahead, our processes should involve taking a step back from “targeting” consumers on their devices, and really focus in on how to connect with low-funnel buyers through the benefits that accompany being a knowledgeable sales person and providing a superior in-showroom experience. Keep in mind that conversion happens at a much higher rate when a customer is physically in front of you than it does online with the standard lead form so be different than your competition.

Behind the screens we hide behind that track our every move, search and click lies a conversion opportunity that can be better accomplished when you focus more on consumers themselves and how they behave while researching their next vehicle. To be clear, I don’t want to downplay the importance of mobile. You have to be where your customers are and they are most certainly on mobile – however if you’re going to ask them for their information you better be positive their experience filling out their information on their mobile device is seamless.

Think about the design of your mobile site and ask yourself, is it optimized for conversion? This means you have to consider things like your call-to-action button and its placement, or if it’s consistent with the average person’s thumb size. According to Apple, “The human fingertip is around 46 pixels squared, so size your buttons accordingly.”

If you’re making digital advertising decisions and you’re not seeing the connectivity into the showroom, and more importantly, sales, you may be either spending your money unwisely, or you have a breakdown in your data that doesn’t allow you to connect these things. When you have great data you can tell a great story. It’s also not just about big data, it’s about good data. Leveraging third-party data partners like IHS Polk we can build a much stronger attribution model and thus determine what exactly led to the conversion of a lead.

Knowledge is power. Knowing which actions along the road to a purchase led to that sale vastly increases your probability of conversion, and more importantly, makes the most out of your ad budget. 

BIG DATA: Are We Using it All Wrong?

By David Metter

Big data is a buzzword that’s been floating around the auto industry for some time now. Every dealership’s DMS is filled with opportunities. Through segmentation, data and equity mining, combined with a little bit of common sense, dealerships can target customers with relevant messaging and see great conversion rates. But what about reaching those people that aren’t your customers, or that aren’t in your database?

The typical answer has been to leverage other sources of data. Think of Facebook. It probably has the single largest repository of consumer information in the world. I’d be willing to bet that the depth of knowledge on any given Facebook user – demographics, behaviors and interests – would put any FBI file to shame. Smart marketers leverage this incredibly large database to market to individuals in their PMA with a high likelihood of purchasing a vehicle in the near future.  

But, what if everything we’ve been doing with demographic targeting has been wrong? 

According to a new blog article by Google, while demographic targeting has its uses, “marketers who try to reach their audiences solely on demographics risk missing more than 70 percent of potential mobile shoppers.” The blog goes on to explain that a customer’s identity is less important than a customer’s intent. The blog offered an example of how many may think that the largest demographic for video game users would be males, ages 18-34. However, if you were a video game (or related) company using demographic data alone to target customers, you’d be missing out on the 69 percent of searchers that aren’t in that group. It was certainly surprising to read that 56 percent of sporting good searchers on mobile were female; 45 percent of home improvement searchers on mobile were women; and 68 percent of skin and body care influencers in the past six months were men.

Essentially, the blog states that consumers aren’t necessarily doing the searching/shopping for themselves. For example, in the baby products category, 40 percent of purchasers live in households without children. Yet, who would think to target homes without children for baby products?

Google advises that businesses research their categories through Google Trends and adjust any marketing strategies accordingly. Identify relevant search terms and ensure that when a consumer searches for information on those terms, your business is present. According to Google’s research, “51 percent of smartphone users have purchased from a company/brand other than the one they intended to, because the information provided was useful.”

Targeting based on intent works well because typically, mobile searchers are very close to the point of purchase -- if not already in the process of purchasing. These are super low funnel consumers. For all you know, they are researching a vehicle, or gathering information, while at the dealership next door, or across the street.

While it is certainly in Google’s best interest to provide this message, it makes complete sense. That doesn’t mean you ignore demographic data in your marketing. It simply means that to take your marketing to the next level, consider incorporating intent-based marketing in the mix. This will help to ensure that you reach the customers you know about, but also the ones you don’t. 

Four Simple Steps to Increase Website Conversion

By David Metter

Dealerships are constantly working to increase their website conversion – and for good reason. Organic conversions typically see the highest closing rates. However, I frequently encounter dealerships that wonder why they aren’t getting higher conversion rates, despite adding the latest gizmo or widget. Conversion rate optimization is tricky. Thankfully, there are some simple things that can be done to increase the chances your visitors convert.

1.     Mobile – Today’s car buyers use their smartphones to gather information. The lack of a mobile-optimized website will unquestionably decrease your conversion rates. With the huge increase in Internet searches via mobile devices, if your site isn’t mobile enabled, it’s as if you are hiding your dealership from the majority of today’s online shoppers. I’m sure you would never fail to have good signage for your physical showroom. Well, the same can be said for your online presence. Make sure that you provide a great experience across all devices for your customers. That alone will help to increase conversions.

2.     Simple Navigation – How many times have you visited a website, searched for information, and became frustrated because you couldn’t find it? What do you do when that happens? I bet you leave and look elsewhere. The harder it is for a customer to find the information they are looking for on your website, the more likely they will leave. Think of your home page as the beginning of a path. Most visitors came to your site with a destination in mind. Make it easy for them to find that information.

3.     KISS – I’m sure that you’ve all heard the phrase, “Keep it simple, stupid.” This absolutely applies to conversion rate optimization. Far too many dealers overwhelm their website visitors with multiple conversion methods on every page of their site. Things like chat windows floating all over the screen, pop-ups appearing with each new page view, or forms all over the place. Examine each page of your website and put yourself in the customer’s shoes. Ask yourself this simple question: “If I was on THIS page of my website, WHY would I be here?” The better you can answer that question, the more you’ll understand the motivation of the customer, and provide a better conversion method that is attractive to the customer. Stop inundating customers with multiple conversion paths on every page of your website. Keep it simple and make sure the path you want the customer to take is very clear.

4.     Contact Information – The single best conversion method for any dealership’s website is contact information. The majority of the visitors to your website are seeking this. Yet many times this information is the hardest to find. Make sure that your contact information, address and phone numbers, as well as your dealership’s hours of operation for both sales and service are prominently displayed at the top of your home page. Don’t make customers scroll to the bottom. Or, even worse, have to navigate their way to an “About Us” page to find this information.

Optimizing your website for conversion translates to simply providing a great customer experience. Reduce the noise and friction from your customers’ browsing experience and lead them down the path towards the information they seek. Once they arrive, give them a single, relevant and compelling reason to convert - and you’ll be surprised by how many do just that. 

5 Digital Trends Sticking Around for 2016

By David Metter

As 2015 comes to a close, it’s time to examine trends in digital marketing and predict what dealers should be prepared to consider and focus on in the upcoming year. 2015 has seen so much innovation and change, there’s no doubt 2016 will see even more. However, which trends in 2015 will stick around for the year to come? 

Experts say these five are here to stay:

1.    Mobile – It wasn’t that long ago that marketers thought of mobile as a secondary access point for consumers. However, in 2015 mobile usage overtook desktop computers for accessing Internet information, and that trend is certain to continue. Consumers want information on demand, and increasingly they are out and about and not tethered to their computer. Mobile is much more convenient for today’s on-the-go consumer. Businesses will be forced to shift their focus and provide an excellent mobile experience in order to remain relevant. Those that do not will find customers seeking and finding that information from their competition and ultimately lose business.  

2.    Apps – Not only is the mobile experience itself becoming more important, we’re also seeing an increase in the importance of apps. When using smartphones, consumers spend upwards of 85% of that time within apps. Apps offer multiple marketing advantages including location-based marketing, push notifications, loyalty program integration, as well as dynamic and personalized offers and coupons. In addition, with its mobile-friendly algorithm change in April, Google introduced app indexing. If you’re not familiar with app indexing, in a nutshell it means that Google is now indexing content within apps and integrating that content into organic search results. This will become increasingly important for businesses’ SEO efforts.

3.    Personalization – Businesses will continue to migrate away from mass messages and better utilize their customer data to send more relevant and personalized messages. Segmentation, cookies, and retargeting, mixed with the massive amounts of consumer information now available, allows marketers to further refine messages. By doing so, businesses will see increased response rates and conversions as customers start receiving relevant messages at more opportune times.

4.    Content – Businesses are starting to realize that content is the new advertising. Pressure is being applied from all directions – search, social and consumers – and they all demand unique and relevant content as the price of admission. If you want to be noticed, it is important to understand that consumers respond much better to content that solves a problem, tells a story, or answers a question. By producing this content, you will be rewarded by increased web traffic through consumer search, and also by higher page rankings from search engines.  

5.    Video – If there’s any form of content that is exponentially exploding, it's video. Every platform in existence is making a push for video content and rewards businesses that produce it. With the new explosion and popularity of live streaming apps such as Periscope, Blab and Meerkat, along with live-streaming to all users that Facebook is rolling out, businesses who find innovative ways to integrate live streaming into their digital marketing efforts will see increased exposure and engagement.

While significant, these are just a few of the countless ways digital marketing is changing. Chances are that 2016 will see more innovative ways for businesses to market to and interact with customers. Paying attention to and adopting these five trends will certainly help your business gain a competitive advantage and position it for digital marketing success in 2016.

Google Auto Says Mobile is the Place to Be

By David Metter

In a study published this month by Google’s Automotive division titled, “The 5 Auto Shopping Moments Every Brand Must Own,” it’s crystal clear that dealers need to have a strong mobile strategy in order to stay in the game.

The study breaks the car buying experience down into five moments. Three of them are dominated by consumers using mobile devices to gain information. This information is key to what they buy and where they buy it.

According to Google, the five auto shopping moments every brand must own are:

1.     Which car is best?

2.     Is it right for me?

3.     Can I afford it?

4.     Where should I buy it?

5.     Am I getting a deal?

Once the consumer reaches the, “can I afford it?” moment, they turn to their smartphones. “Search interest for MSRP and list prices is at its highest level ever, growing 25% in the past year, driven in large part by mobile, which accounts for 70% of these searches,” the study stated. From that moment on, consumers rely on their phones for everything from researching dealers, “one in three located or called a dealer on their mobile device,” to inventory searches, which are, “growing more than four times faster than overall auto search interest,” and dealer contact information, “search interest in dealer phone numbers is up over 78% in the past year, the majority on mobile.” In addition, searches for dealership reviews spike on mobile devices during weekends. In fact, car shopping activity increases and 56% of those searches are from mobile devices.

Once customers move into the “am I getting a deal?” moment they again rely on their phones. Now, they increasingly do that right from dealership lots. In fact, there is an increase of 46% in mobile search from dealer locations. The majority of searches are transaction-oriented, the top actions being pricing and trade-in evaluations. This is known as “showrooming.”

Google’s advice to dealers and manufacturers boils down to three things: be there, be useful and be quick. It’s hard to believe that there are dealers that don’t understand the importance of being there. Where there are perhaps more issues is in the area of being useful. Dealers would be wise to do more to make pricing and trade evaluation tools more accessible from mobile devices, as third parties are increasingly doing. Which leads us to the largest pain point in the dealer to consumer mobile experience - being quick. If a consumer turns to their smartphone for information, they’re not scrolling through multiple pages of Google results to find their answer. If your dealership doesn’t rank high in search results, you better cross your fingers and hope it’s not a competitor’s website that ranks above you with a better offer.

Develop a strategy of consumer containment and conquest. If you are transparent and provide all of the information on your website, consumers will find it less necessary to stray. Offer consumers easy access to information. Include the pricing tools they need and they’ll be less likely to leave and buy elsewhere. Use your competitor’s weak points to conquest their customers right off their lots and onto yours due to an excellent mobile presence and by providing easy access to information.

A Primer on Beacons and How Dealers Can Benefit From Them

By David Metter

As we head into 2016, one of the most exciting new technologies that some dealers are experimenting with are beacons. Beacons are small, inexpensive hardware devices that can be attached to a wall in the showroom or placed around a dealership's lot. Using Bluetooth technology, the beacon detects nearby smartphone devices and can send customers push notifications with a welcome message, mobile coupons, or promotional information. 

Beacons are already in use at several large retailers, such as Target, Macy's and Simon Mall Properties. Currently, beacons can only communicate with customers' smartphones via an app. For smaller retailers including auto dealers, this has presented a barrier to adoption because most stores don't have their own branded apps. However, the ability to tie beacon technology to Apple Wallet and Google Wallet changes this dynamic. If a consumer saves a dealership's event, loyalty card, or offer to their Wallet app, the dealership can use beacons to activate the app and send updated and relevant offers.

It's important to understand the difference between beacon marketing and location-based mobile marketing. Location-based marketing allows dealers to set up a "geofence" or perimeter size of their choice around their dealership. When smartphones with location services enabled cross the perimeter boundary, ads are displayed and messages can be sent to that consumer. Beacons are only used to target in-store customers.

One type of beacon technology is Visual Light Communications (VLC), a system that turns LED lights into beacons that can pinpoint consumer location with extreme accuracy. Any dealership that has indoor and outdoor LED lighting can implement VLC.

ByteLight is one brand of VLC that uses existing lighting infrastructure and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) to communicate with smartphones. As a customer moves through the showroom or across a lot, LEDs emit flickering light patterns undetectable to the human eye but visible to the customers' smartphone cameras or BLE sensors.

While a beacon device can tell you the area or aisle a customer is located, VLC is so exact it can tell you the exact product or vehicle the customer is standing next to. This allows you to send hyper-targeted messaging to every customer.

Another advantage of VLC technology compared to other types of beacons is that they draw their power from the lighting grid so they don't need batteries, which standalone beacon hardware devices require.

In retail automotive, a few early adopters are already experimenting with beacons on their lots. Although some retailers are a little apprehensive about the perception that the technology may be intrusive, it won't be long before this type of targeted messaging becomes the "new normal" for mobile users.

For auto dealers, there are three primary applications for beacon technology:

1) Improve Customer Service: Beacons can detect when a new customer arrives at the dealership, even if they don't come directly into the showroom. If a customer is walking around the lot, the beacon alerts the sales team inside the dealership and displays the customer's location. A salesperson can then be dispatched to that location to help the customer.

2) Track Customers: Beacons can aid in the gathering of big data that will help dealers better understand consumer behavior. When customers arrive on your lot, where do they go first? How do they move around the showroom or lot? Is there a difference between the movements of customers who purchase a car and those who leave without purchasing? In the latter case, if a customer's behavior pattern indicates they're getting ready to leave without purchasing, the dealership could send a sales manager or a push notification with an attractive incentive to stay.

3) Hyper-Targeted Messaging: Imagine a customer who is walking through the lot, then stops to look at a particular vehicle. Suddenly the pricing and monthly payment information for that exact vehicle pops up on their phone. Or, a special interest rate or cash-back offer that is available for that model and that customer based on their credit score and other factors is displayed. The ability to do this already exists. For auto dealers, it's just a matter of time before the mobile customer expects this type of personalized promotion, at which time adoption will become mainstream.

Beacon technology has the potential to completely transform the auto purchasing process. But before running out to implement it, consider where you are in your entire mobile marketing strategy. It's a good idea to master the basics before trying out the latest and greatest technology.

Mobile basics to be mastered first include: What is the user experience for your mobile website and mobile landing pages? Have you created successful mobile ad and texting campaigns? Do you have a good understanding of mobile metrics? Once you get the basics down, then it makes sense to start experimenting with beacons to see how they can improve your customers’ experience.

Not in My Backyard! How to Protect Your Turf With a Geofence

By David Metter

Most of the time the goal of a dealership's advertising is to reach car shoppers and convince them to visit your store. But what about the customers who are already in your dealership? You're probably thinking there's no need to advertise to them. If they're in your showroom, there's a pretty good chance you can close them. And you're right - unless one of your competitors makes them an offer they can't refuse, while the customer is standing right in front of you.

By now you've probably heard of geofencing as a mobile marketing strategy that can be used to lure customers out of a competitor's dealership and into your dealership. It works like this: Jane walks into Smith Chevrolet and immediately gets a push notification (or text, or email, or sees a banner ad) on her smartphone.

The notification informs Jane that Brown Chevrolet down the street has a lease special on a car she's interested in for only $159/month. Jane sees the special and is excited because that price is well below her monthly car payment budget of $200. She decides to go to Brown Chevrolet to check it out. After all, she can always come back to Smith Chevrolet later.

But of course, we know that once Jane leaves Smith Chevrolet, "later" is highly likely to turn into never.

How can you prevent this from happening? The simplest way is to create your own geofencing strategy so that when Jane arrives on your lot, she gets a push notification (or text, or email, or sees a banner ad) from your dealership.

Now, instead of seeing information about your competitor's lease special, Jane sees an offer for a $25 gift card if she takes a test drive right now at your dealership. She thinks, “Wow, how awesome is that?" Or, you send Jane a push notification of your own, informing her about a lease special or a free service maintenance contract with a purchase.

You may not get a lot of click-throughs or actions on these notifications and ads; more likely the customer will mention the offer to a salesperson. But you are making sure that when a customer is using a mobile app or browsing with their mobile device in your dealership, that your dealership brand is going to be there - and more importantly, that your competition is not going to be there.

How much is it worth to you to keep a customer in your showroom, actively engaged with a salesperson? You can bet your competitor is offering a compelling incentive along with a call-to-action. When you're protecting your turf, your ad messaging should be just as aggressive.

It's a good idea to thank your customers and let them know you appreciate their business. As a token of your appreciation, offer a gift card, freebie with purchase, or show competitive pricing information.

This strategy accomplishes two things: it prevents similar offers being shown to the customer from other dealerships, and reinforces in the customer's mind that they have made the right choice in coming to your dealership. Everybody likes to feel appreciated.

This type of geofencing strategy is also very economical. The perimeter around your store doesn't have to be large to be effective; in fact, smaller is better. Messages and ads are typically paid on a cost per thousand basis, so for a small monthly budget you can protect your turf and send your competition a message they'll hear loud and clear - they won't be poaching customers in your backyard!