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Are you looking for clear answers on how to increase sales for your new and used cars online?  Join Brian Pasch, CEO of PCG Digital Marketing, on May 18th for a free webinar.   Space is limited to 100 rooftops so please go online and register today.

If you are not sure if you can attend, please register for a future webinar since the demand for this top webinar will be strong.  Car dealers are looking for ways new ways to leverage their most valuable assets: their cars.

Presented by Brian Pasch, CEO of PCG Digital Marketing, “Supercharged Marketing For Your New and Used Cars Online” fill focus on the newest marketing strategies for new and used car dealers to get more traffic and sales from their internet-based media and advertising.

The webinar will also address recent research that shows how dealers must be selective when sending their inventory out to so called “free” advertising websites.  You can read Brian’s position paper on this link:  Warning About Free Advertising Websites.

PCG will be offering clients new webinar topics each month so that your team can keep ahead of your competition.

The PCG webinars will be 2 hours in length as is ideal for any stakeholders in the dealership who want to increase leads and traffic for new and used car inventory – and will include a Q&A session.

Questions can be sent directly to Brian at brian@pcgdigitalmarketing.com .

Learn more about the newest Digital Marketing Strategies and SEO Tips visit us online at http://www.pcgdigitalmarketing.com

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

Internet Sales Managers are also recommend that they join www.internetsalesmanager.org

“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”

Bene Gesserit Litany Against Fear – Frank Herbert  - Dune

I’m writing this post at 35,000 feet as I am approaching Sydney, Australia on United Flight 863 from San Francisco. I have been traveling 13 hours of the 15 hours flight, and with land not too far away I started to reflect on the flight because of how I felt earlier in the day.

This afternoon, while in San Francisco, I actually had a short period of anxiety about flying which is not normal for me. I couldn’t exactly figure out why. But as I reflected on this discomfort, I started to understand the root of the problem. When I had told friends and colleagues about my trip to Australia, almost all of them had commented on the length of the flight. They acted as if I announced that I was going to run across the country.

Many said that they would never travel 15 hours on a plane. Others were convinced that flying coach class would be miserable, but in fact it wasn’t at all. These and other excuses actually have no reality except in the mind of the fearful. So since I have regularly traveled eight hours back and forth from Europe, I never felt that fifteen hours would be a far leap

Unaware of the influence of my friends’ negative projections on my trip, I had started to have cautionary reservations about getting on my flight today, but until now I didn’t realize how their feelings affected me in subtle ways. I was beginning to doubt my proven instincts and my vision for a trip with my son Connor in the land down under.

But actually, I slept the first 7 hours of the trip, watched some movies and read a book and now with 2 hours left to go I’m laughing at how easy the trip has been.  I don’t feel any worse than any flight to Europe

What is Holding You Back?

I wonder how many people are held back from experiencing new adventures because of fear; internal or external.

My flight to Australia brought to mind what is happening in the auto industry.  I have participated in numerous executive strategy sessions that discuss digital marketing opportunities and budgeting.  Fear or panic is often dealers’ common reaction to the suggestion that they increase digital marketing spending.

The tried and true advertising models of TV, radio and newspaper have created a sense of security for automotive retailers, best compared to traveling domestically.  Not many dealers are afraid of a quick trip to Vegas or to place another ad in a local newspaper. It’s something that they understand and have experienced first had.

Digital marketing spending is just like traveling to Australia; dealers have heard it is beautiful and a “must” in their travel portfolio but can’t see themselves getting on the plane.  It is not uncommon for dealers to react with fear when I suggest that they increase their overall advertising budget dedicated to digital marketing from less than 15%  to 30-50% over the upcoming year. Their reaction is normally followed by:

“What will I have to cut in order to spend more on digital marketing?  My General Managers will freak out if I reduce their traditional advertising budget!”

This article is not meant to answer this specific question because it is different for each dealership location but let me ask you a question:

Is the reason why the average automotive retailer spends less than 15% of the advertising budget on digital marketing because of the fear or because they have carefully measured the ROI of all digital marketing strategies and have chosen wisely?

Related to that question, are sub-questions:

1. Have dealers become too comfortable with what was successful in the past?
2. Does engaging in discussions about digital marketing strategies make dealer principals feel awkward or even stupid?
3. Has the lack of historical ROI data and published case studies on digital media strategies prevented dealers from embracing new opportunities or is that just an excuse?

I know a few dealer principals that have admitted to feeling awkward about engaging in digital marketing discussions when they don’t understand it themselves.  They feel vulnerable.  In these cases, my participation in planning meetings is to act as a bridge, creating analogies from traditional advertising to introduce the new paradigms of the digital and social media era.

A rising number of dealers are pushing through fear and realizing that to reach new highs for their business they must let go of the past and embrace the future of automotive retail marketing. 

In many cases, the advertising team that brought dealers to their initial pinnacle of success will not be the team that brings them to their next mountaintop experience.

Since traditional media is difficult to measure true ROI, advertising agencies have had a free pass to continue dealer spending without fear of losing budget share but that is now changing.  Dealers are now developing models to hold all methods of advertising to a standard cost/reward model.  The agencies that can’t provide a fully integrated menu of traditional and digital marketing services will perish.

The Digital Compass

The automotive industry does need guidance for the constantly changing digital terrain. Dealers need a “Digital Compass” that directs their decisions and helps them “test the waters” for the new advertising opportunities that exist in the digital world.

A “Digital Compass” initiative should hold all methods of marketing to the same standard of excellence and ROI. The dealership of the future will have marketing budgets based on data and not fear of change.

Educational forums, social networks, digital conferences and reputable consultants can act as a dealer’s “Digital Compass” in the same way the pilot of US 863 knows how to take me to Sidney.

However, dealers have to make the first step and get on the plane so they are not left behind.  The transition will never happen until dealers let go of the past.  Dealer principals have to put aside their fears and excuses and embrace digital marketing, social media and reputation management with gusto.

The digital marketing plane is leaving the airport…will you be on it?

A recent survey  by Econsultancy and Bigmouthmedia found that majority of companies are planning to invest more in social media next year but are struggling to find the time and resources to manage their activity. According to the piece written on MC Charts:

“The biggest barrier to better social media engagement for companies surveyed is a lack of resources, with more than half of companies (54%) saying this is a significant problem, the report said. Nine out of 10 businesses (90%) say social media is taking up more time internally than a year ago.”

The data collected in the survey parallels my experience as I consult with car dealers seeking to create powerful Internet Marketing strategies for 2010. More than any time in the past, automotive budgets are being adjusted so that a majority of the funding is directed toward online advertising. This is reflected in increased spending for Google Adwords, banner advertising, SEO, blogging, video, social media and microsite designs.

The survey data documents a turning point in retail automotive operations. In years past, software and technology have reduced the staff hours needed to complete sales or marketing tasks. Some reading this article may remember hand typing sales contracts or a newsletter that now is produced with a few clicks of a mouse.

The turning point is that Internet Marketing and engaging customers online takes real people doing creative writing, videos and online customer service. It’s a labor intensive operational shift that requires increasing staff levels and dealerships need to recognize that shift.

How Much Should I Spend?

A common question I hear from dealership executives is; “How much should they be spending in each online strategy?” There is no easy simple answer to that question because each online advertising strategy will depend on local competition and your sales goals.

More importantly is the honest assessment of the commitment, skills, and availability of your staff and your ability to track the ROI on your online advertising spend. These two factors will be hallmarks of successful dealers in 2010.

An important change is on the horizon in 2010. With the increase in online spending and a decrease in monies spent on radio, TV and newspaper, dealers will have the opportunity to directly track a majority of their advertising investments. Let me emphasis that this is a major change and opportunity for car dealers. Automotive executives need to make the commitment to track their online media spending. Many dealerships will miss the rich information provided by implementing an online tracking strategy.

For example, do you have unique phone tracking numbers for Facebook, Review Websites, Press Releases, Microsites, Google Maps and Twitter? Is your website capturing the referring URL for every customer that submits a lead form? Are you creating consolidated sales reports by website and phone source? Do you know how many cars were sold off Facebook this month?

Media like radio, newspapers and billboards relied on either tracking phone numbers or sales staff surveys to related store traffic to a sale. It was an imperfect system. With many budgets going 75% or more to online spending, dealers must realize that the holy grail is getting closer; calculating the true ROI on your advertising strategies.

Do you have the right team in place?

I am currently interviewing candidates for dealership group in South California for position called Digital Media Specialist. This role will support the Internet Marketing needs of their 11 stores and also work with the PCG Digital Marketing marketing team to create a unified and competitive Internet Marketing strategy.

The job description requires the ability to write and communicate professionally online. Experience with social media, press releases and advertising is a must. The salary requirements of these candidates that have applied for this job ranges from $40,000 -$65,000.

The position will enable the dealership group to more effectively blog, write press releases and engage local consumers on Facebook and Twitter, to name a few targeted tasks.

I commend the decision of their Executive VP to create a blended model of internal staffing and outside expertise. This will give the GM’s immediate in-house resources for day to tactical marketing projects and the benefit of outside experts to direct the overall strategies for the dealership.

This is a model that will be replicated in 2010 across the country. The pace of change in the online marketplace will make it difficult to be competitive with only internal marketing resources.

As I have said many times before;

“The most important hire for car dealers in 2010 will be a content writer“.

For smaller automotive groups or stand alone stores, in may not be cost effective to hire a full-time staff position so dealers will need to look at consultancy models.

A shared resource for Internet Marketing implementation can cost dealers a fraction of what a full-time person would require. For example, the PCG Digital Marketing has an effective starting package for $995 a month which brings those functions listed above to under $12,000 a year.

The key point in regards to staffing is that doing nothing is not an option. Online marketing spending is on the increase so in 2010 you will have more competition online. With recent changes in Google which shows Twitter and Facebook activity in real-time, dealers more than ever, need to implement a smart comprehensive online marketing strategy that include social media, blogging, microsites, press releases, banner adverting, SEO, SEM, IRM, video, document publishing, photography, and link building.

Looking Toward 2010

I look forward to 2010 as the opportunities for online engagement and new technologies keep me busy testing new strategies for success. Executives submitting marketing budgets for 2010 need to reflect on the findings of the study from Econsultancy and Bigmouthmedia. It is a snapshot of what is happening to business owners all over the country.

With increased spending comes increased competition. With increased spending comes accountability. Dealers must have a rock solid tracking system in place to determine which online strategies are giving them the best results so that they can be nimble throughout 2010.

Since effective online marketing and social engagement are labor intensive, car dealers must have the staff in place to be effective. Dealership staff must be trained on how to leverage social media and online marketing tactics; it’s not intuitive for most people. At the pace of change in this industry, going it alone may not be the optimal choice.

Doing nothing will make your competitors smile.

Automotive Marketing Boot Camp

Car dealers looking to increase the skills of their staff should send them to the Automotive Marketing Boot Camp on February 12, 2010. It is schedule the day before the offcicial start of NADA so they can benefit from both educational experiences, back to back. Jarod Hamiltion, will be the keynote speaker with the opening night on February 11th.

About the Author

Brian Pasch is the CEO of the PCG Digital Marketing and can be found online at:

http://twitter.com/automotiveseo
http://facebook.com/paschconsulting.com
http://www.dealer-seo.com