How to Determine Your Search Engine Marketing Budget
Many auto dealers understand the value of including a Search Engine Marketing (SEM) campaign in their advertising efforts. They know that their dealership determines a daily (or monthly) budget and is charged only when someone clicks on their ad and is sent to their website. What some dealers don’t know however, is how much they should be spending on their SEM budgets.
What's The Right Sales Model For You?
With 85%(1) of car buyers going to the Internet before the showroom to begin their shopping experience, dealerships nationwide are looking for the right model to maximize their sales and profits in a changing economy.
While extremely challenging, economic downturns are also a time when many organizations "reinvent" themselves. With this in mind, I'd like to share with you some of the pros and cons I've observed with respect to various operating models, including Internet to Floor Hand-Off, Integrated Showroom, and Business Development Centers.
Using Online Auctions for Greater Efficiency
In the past year, the automotive industry has taken a significant hit unlike any we’ve seen for a few decades. With the weak economy and buyer confidence low, new car sales plummeted. Many dealerships experienced a surge during the recent “Cash for Clunkers” program, but since the program has ended and the economy is still in recession, dealerships will likely return to relying once again on the bread and butter that has sustained them during these tough economic times—used cars.
Taking Your Internet Advertising To The Next Level
Written by Michael Bowen
Marketing your dealership used to be so much simpler. There was television, radio, newspaper, and direct mail— and that
was it. Those were the days weren’t they. Today, however, with the advent of the Internet, things have changed. Now every
dealership, big and small, has to have a Website in order to survive.
Study: Dozen or more online images help move CPOs
HomeNet, Inc. said today the results of an internal study suggest that dealers marketing their vehicles online with a dozen or more actual photos, in conjunction with customized vehicle descriptions and accurate pricing, are moving pre-owned inventory an average of 32 percent faster than those who don't.
Dealership Marketers Take to Text Messaging
Who's sending that text message to your cell phone? It could be your neighborhood auto dealer.
Dealers are joining other auto advertisers in marketing on mobile phones. Consumers now can gain access to many dealerships' listings of new and used vehicles — complete with photos, prices, condition reports, contact information and directions to the showroom — on their phones.
