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Your website is supposed to attract, engage, and convert consumer traffic into an eventual lead. If you agree, when was the last time you involved your customers in the design process? When was the last time you tested the impact on conversion with different website designs?

Car dealers see hundreds or thousands of consumers come through their doors each month depending on location.  I challenge dealer principals and dealership equity holders to step back and ask how they are leveraging those connections.

There are many new ideas being presented at 20 Groups, Automotive Conferences, Boot Camps, and on blogs on how to better connect with consumers. Is it SEM, SEO, Social Media, Banner Advertising, Re-Marketing, or something new?

There is a scarcity of documented automotive white-papers on grass roots consumer surveys. When was the last time you read a dealer generated white paper  that asked consumers to share their motivations, processes, or influences in the car buying process.

Yes, the largest companies in our industry have case studies, but what about the dealers on the front lines of automotive sales and service?  I would love to read local survey data from a dealership group that sees 2,000 customers a month in their sales and service channels.  Are you willing to share feedback from your store?

Industry experts, thought leaders, and peers are great motivators for change. Outside influences challenge dealers to consider looking at their businesses in a new way. But why have dealers not asked their own  customers for advice?  Dealers are asking consultants whether they should engage in Facebook.  Did you ask you customers if they are regular Facebook users?  Regular Twitter users?  Foursquare?

Survey Your Customers

I just wanted to remind dealers that their local customer behavior is unique in many ways.  By conducting regular in-store surveys over the next 30-60 days, you will get some data that can be monetized.  You just have to define a process and start collecting data.

Here are some simple questions that you can ask your customers when they are in the store.  Of course, you don’t have to ask them all of the questions at one time or visit:

1. Do you have a Google or YouTube Account?
2. Do you use Facebook?  If Yes, how many times a week are you on Facebook?
3. Do you use Twitter?  If Yes, how many times a week do you Tweet?
4. Have you ever used Groupon?
5. Do you use any of these mobile applications: FourSquare, Whrrl, or Google Places?
6. Did you visit Autotrader.com before coming in?
7. Did you visit Cars.com before coming in?
8. Did you visit our main website before you came in to purchase a car?

If Yes, How could we improve our website?

Don’t rely solely on out of town experts like me!  It’s your business so activate your local consumers to refine your marketing strategy.

Consider creating Point-Of-Sale (POS) materials to activate your customers to engage with your dealership online.  Do you have any “Join Us on” Facebook, Twitter, or FourSquare desk cards, window stickers, or banners in the dealership?

Let’s get back to engaging our customers and collecting local marketing data that can be used to prioritize your digital marketing strategy.

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?