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Scott Brinker, a columnist at SearchEngineLand.com recently posted an article that caught my attention.

Many industry experts have talked about the importance of conversion but Scott’s article took it a step further and introduced a new acronym to me: ZMOT

You should read Scott’s entire post Conversion Optimization In The New Marketing Landscape and have I highlighted a section from his post for further discussion:

The Zero Moment Of Truth

The other “big picture” story is presented in Jim Lecinski’s book, ZMOT: Winning the Zero Moment of Truth. Published by Google and distributed for free, it passionately describes the new reality of marketing where consumers are always connected, both to each other and to huge repositories of information on potential purchases.

Procter & Gamble’s former CEO A.G. Lafley popularized the First Moment of Truth (FMOT), when a consumer looks at a shelf of products in the store and decides which brand to buy, and the Second Moment of Truth (SMOT), when that consumer actually uses the brand at home and decides if they like it or not.

Google makes that point that there is now a new Zero Moment of Truth (ZMOT), where consumers explore and examine products and providers online — leveraging search and social media channels — to identify what’s most interesting to them before they ever go to the store. And this new ZMOT applies equally to B2B and considered purchases as it does to the consumer packaged goods where the FMOT was born.

Every touchpoint that a prospect has with you online contributes to their ZMOT decision.

An obvious example is when someone searches on a keyword, chooses to click your ad, and views your landing page. Their impression of you from that experience will impact their choices moving forward.

Conversion optimization is therefore critical in winning the ZMOT. Thinking of it this way frames the mission more broadly too — it’s not just about converting a visitor with one specific action in one particular context, but ultimately persuading them across a bevy of touch-points for the duration of their ZMOT deliberation. It’s customer experience management writ large, from the earliest moments of contact onward.

In fact, when you step back and view the ZMOT as emerging from the sum of all these digital interactions around your brand, you realize that the marketing technology landscape we discussed at the start is what enables and empowers your ZMOT strategy and tactics.

From both perspectives, conversion-oriented marketers are poised to take the lead.

Zero Moment of Truth

Take a moment to absorb this concept of Zero Moment of Truth.  You can download a free eBook from Google on this topic by visiting:  http://www.zeromomentoftruth.com.  You can also watch the book’s trailer video:  ZMOT Video

According to Google Blog on the subject of ZMOT:

Data from IRI’s latest Economic Longtitude 2009 study shows that 83% of shoppers make their purchase decisions prior to entering a store.

So, 83% of consumer goods shoppers make their purchase decisions PRIOR to entering a store.  Then think about Scott’s summary statement pulled from the text above:

 ”it’s not just about converting a visitor with one specific action in one particular context, but ultimately persuading them across a bevy of touchpoints for the duration of their ZMOT deliberation.”

After reading this statement, I asked myself a question. How do we leverage this short period of time where a consumer is researching cars and deciding which dealership to call and which model(s) to test drive?

The answer is to make sure that all our digital touchpoints are designed to work together and to convert.

So ask yourself this question: Do ALL your digital assets work in harmony to convert?

Industry conversion leaders like Larry Bruce have spent a good deal of time helping car dealers understand the importance of landing page design in the context of a Google Adwords campaign.  This is a great start for the auto industry that is wasting millions of dollars annually on poorly designed PPC campaigns.

Creating An Integrated ZMOT Marketing Strategy

But Scott is taking the discussion of conversion to an entirely new level when he says:

Every touchpoint that a prospect has with you online contributes to their ZMOT decision..

Are all your digital assets designed to convert and support our unique selling proposition during the ZMOT?

Is your website properly supported by carrying the creative design and call to action to your microsites, press releases, social media sites, and online brochures?

You get the idea, those companies that are conversion focused on ALL their digital assets will be pulling ahead of their competition.  The implication is clear: There is no room to be sloppy with your digital media investments.

Here is an except from Google Blog on ZMOT:

What does ZMOT mean for marketers? It means that marketers need to button up their pull marketing strategies, not only the push strategies, and find ways to connect the two. Marketers need to ensure that a consumer has a consistent and positive experience — from the Zero Moment of Truth to the point of purchase and beyond — by getting in front of a consumer with the right brand message early in the process of discovery, and staying there along the way.

PCG Develops Digital Marketing Strategies

PCG Digital Marketing is embracing the need of dealers to create a powerful set of conversion focused digital assets for the ZMOT decision.

Next month we will be announcing additional products and services to address the need for a integrated digital campaign that supports your brand during the brief ZMOT consumer timeline.

There is only a limited number of car dealers that will put in place the disciplines that will create a complete set of digital assets that work in harmony to convert.  This is not a project that a dealer can do without help from marketing professionals.

My hand is extended for those that want help creating a market dominating strategy that INCLUDES consistent messaging to address the ZMOT decision.

Keep in mind: “83% of consumer goods shoppers make their purchase decisions prior to entering a store” so do a AUDIT of ALL your current digital assets and decide if they ALL support your unique selling proposition. And of course, make sure you answer this question: Do they convert?

Brian Pasch, CEO

PCG Digital Marketing

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Brian Pasch

Let me open this article by saying that automotive advertising platforms like Autotrader.com, Cars.com, and the Automotive Advertising Network (AAN) provide marketing platforms that should be considered in a comprehensive dealership marketing strategy.  Car dealers need to evaluate existing and new methodologies to connect consumers with the cars that they have for sale.

The Internet has become more expensive to attract clicks than ever before as more dealers participate in Google Adwords and similar online marketing services. When I look at local competition in the search engines for a car dealer,  one consistent competitor appears.  Dealers are under attack  by their own OEM automotive advertising campaigns. This can come from national advertising campaigns or Tier 2 regional advertising campaigns, and I have some examples to share below.

Banner Ads of Vehicle Detail Pages

Let me give you an example of what gets my blood boiling.  A dealer makes an investment to list their cars on automotive advertising websites for many reasons.  One reason is that consumers, outside of their normal area of responsibility or PMA, may connect with a car that they have in stock.  The key point here is that for out of area shoppers, their zip code would normally be a part of another dealer’s PMA.

If you look at this example below, a Tier 2 Banner ad runs on the top and right side of this dealer’s Vehicle Detail Page (VDP).  The other areas are also advertising leaks, but not associated with a GM advertising campaign. That’s another topic called Dealer Centricity Scores that you should engage.

When you click on the top Silverado HD Banner or the right side Silverado banner, you are taken off-page to a Tier 2 Chevy website design for lead collection.  If a consumer engages with this Tier 2 website, and completes a lead form, the lead most likely will not be sent to the dealer listed on this page, rather it will go to the dealer covering their zip code.  Does anyone have a problem with this model?

So the OEM endorsed advertising campaign or Tier 2 created advertising campaign, is working against this one dealer for any consumer outside of his market.  It seems to me that this is just counter productive and is using the dealers inventory against him.

If a dealer is paying to list this car, on this site, why would he want an interactive Ajax banner ad running, that catches the consumer’s attention, to drive them to another Chevy website.   Could you say that this dealer’s advertising investment is funneling leads to his local competitors?

This is not limited to Cars.com as you can see from this Autotrader.com VDP.  Once again, a national OEM sponsored banner campaign is taking prime real estate to drive consumers to the national Cadillac website.  Anytime a consumer gets to a national site, the dealer can not be assured that the lead will be routed to their CRM system.  It’s all based on zip code or consumer choice but the action was based on this dealer’s advertising investment.

Inspecting Your Automotive Advertising Investments

I’m not sure if any other dealers agree with me that this a topic that should be discussed at OEM Marketing meetings.  A bigger issue to remind car dealers is to inspect their advertising investments.  When you take the time to inspect how your brand is being marketed online, many light bulbs start to go off.

As I conduct training seminars and webinars for the automotive industry, I often ask dealers what is their current mix between traditional automotive advertising and digital automotive advertising.

What is your mix?

In the traditional advertising category I would add radio, TV, print publications, newspaper, printed yellow pages, billboards, and direct mail costs.

In the digital advertising category I would add website costs, Google Adwords or similar Pay-Per-Click models, digital display advertising, re-marketing, social media, third party leads, OEM leads, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) services, and inventory advertising platforms like Autotrader.com and the Automotive Advertising Network (AAN).

The responses I get from car dealers vary, but can range from 10% digital to 95% digital. This large swing reflects the tsunami of change that has engulfed the automotive industry in the last 10 years. These massive changes are not limited to the automotive sector. All business owners are being faced with the challenge of being open to reconsider if the yellow pages, radio, TV, and newspaper are connecting their brand with the majority of in market buyers.

The Need Education

Recently I spoke with a dealer who had just purchased an existing franchise store that need a complete renovation. He shared all the costs associated with the refit of the building and his upcoming opening. He wanted to turn around this store and make it profitable location.

The conversation we had was focused on how he could make the biggest impact on the market with this new point. Intermixed with the conversation was frequent reminders of how much he was investing in the store, how much this place needed a capital investment, and how much he wanted to make this work.

When I asked him on what portion of his budget was allocated to digital marketing, the answer surprising. Aside from his costs to setup his new website, he had not budgeted for any other digital marketing of the dealership. His advertising plans were solely radio, TV, and print, and I won’t share what he planned to spend. When I suggested an initial investment of $3,000 a month in digital marketing strategies, he said that he didn’t have that much to spend.

Welcome to 2011 and the wide gap in knowledge and confidence that digital marketing is a core strategy for automotive retailing.

Moving Toward The Middle

It is easy to say that a car dealer that is only spending 10% in digital marketing is spending too little on new media since over 90% of car buyers use the Internet to research a car. It may also be safe to say that a dealer who eliminates all radio, TV, newspaper, and direct mail are missing a segment of their local market that is influenced by these channels.

Ignoring the extremes, I would like to suggest that to bigger opportunity is to move the majority of car dealers that under utilize digital marketing to the middle. From a survey conducting by PCG Digital Marketing with dealers across the country, the current average “allocation” for digital investments is 20-25% of a dealers total advertising budget.

I would like to see the average dealer investment in digital marketing move to 50% in the next year.

Those that say 50% is still too little, I’ll be working on another industry move in 2012! We can’t parallel park the Titanic in Manhattan without some patience.

Moving digital spending to 50% would be considered a massive change but one that this industry needs to embrace. This reallocation of traditional marketing investments will not happen without a massive effort to reeducated the dealer community. Proper education on the strategies and opportunities that digital marketing can provide will help make those steps to 50% + with confidence. Today, dealers either are not moving because of fear or they just don’t know better. Neither position is attractive to an entrepreneur.

Automotive Advertising and Education

We can assume that dealers will make this move on their own but there will be a tremendous opportunity cost for those that take the slow path to 50%; an that still is not the end game. Since first responders are rewarded in search, the sooner dealers make this move, the more they will be rewarded. This move will need a coordinated effort by industry leaders, vendors, and educational agencies to educate dealers on all of the new media opportunities and marketing strategies for automotive advertising.

Dealer principals need to be able to clearly differentiate and measure the benefits of SEO, SEM, social media, display advertising, and inventory syndication. Every time I conduct a seminar at a 20 Group meeting or at an automotive conference, light bulbs go off in the audience. Dealers are truly thankful to be shown, in plain English, why their lack of digital marketing investments is hurting their brand.

Digital Marketing Conference

We need to coordinate more “light bulb” experiences at 20 Groups, conferences, and regional teaching events. One of those opportunities for education is the 2011 Automotive Marketing Boot Camp in Orlando, April 16th-18th. The Boot Camp will be held at the beautiful Hilton Orlando hotel and has attracted a wonderful team of industry leaders and dealership employees to teach.

Dealers spending less than 50% of your total advertising budget on digital marketing and new media, need to attend and find out what is working for dealers that have made that have crossed that line If dealers wants to increase their dominant market position, they should attend to learn that latest strategies for digital marketing and social media from industry leaders.

I would also like to suggest that at least 2 people from each dealership should attend. Why? Because the best opportunity for change occurs when the dealer principals or GM learns side by side with their eCommerce Director or Internet Sales manager. Too many things can get lost in translation when one of these two roles are missing.

The good news is that attendees and educators at the Boot Camp will be willing to share exactly what is working and how they are measuring the ROI of that investment. Dealers can register for the Boot Camp and make the decision to invest in education and the future of their dealership today. The event website is located at: http://www.automotivemarketingbootcamp.com