May 17 2013

Can Dynamic Pricing Become More Acceptable for Car Buyers? – Automotive Digital Marketing Professional Community

Can Dynamic Pricing Become More Acceptable for Car Buyers?

Dynamic Pricing Helps Keep Pace with Savvy Consumers Across Multiple Retail Verticals…

Can this Marketing Strategy be Applied to Car Dealers?

New technology is making dynamic pricing available to more consumers on a wider range of products…

As we watch online retailers gain gross profits and margin advantages through the use of dynamic pricing, should we consider applying this model to automotive retailers? “Dynamic Pricing” is a marketing term used to describe the practice of changing prices based on market conditions, consumer behavior and competitive intelligence. A new eMarketer report, “Dynamic Pricing: What Retailers Need to Know About Competing in Real Time” explores and reports on the growing use of Dynamic Pricing in web based marketing models.

Amazon.com has used Dynamic Pricing in various guises since the turn of the century and as the technology has become widely accessible, more retailers have adopted dynamic pricing in order to compete with the dominant pure play, undercut one another and woo the ever price-sensitive American shopper.

The ability to react in real time presents opportunities for retailers but is not without its challenges. For many, strategy and execution haven’t caught up with the volume and variety of data available.

Once only available to retailers with substantial tech budgets and in-house talent, pricing intelligence tools are becoming mainstream as more third parties begin to provide affordable services.

Price-monitoring platform Dynamite Data’s research showed just how marked the frequency of price changes have become. Looking at a two-week period around Thanksgiving, when retailers use the holidays as a testing ground, major retailers made more daily price changes in the 2012 Thanksgiving season than in 2011. Both Amazon and Sears manipulated prices daily on around one-quarter of their products during the holiday period last year.

Though online battles between high-profile companies like Target, Wal-Mart and Amazon make headlines, a vast number of retailers do not use pricing intelligence.In the 2013 edition of Retail Systems Research’s (RSR’s) annual pricing survey, just 13% of retailers around the world had fully deployed any solutions. That may sound small, but the option wasn’t even included in the 2012 survey. Fifty-four percent of respondents were somewhere between exploring the idea and rolling it out. Separately, 23% cited gaining margin advantage through dynamic pricing as one of the top three business opportunities related to pricing.

Even as there’s huge potential for leveraging data, most retailers are stuck somewhere between the hypothetical and executable.

When RSR looked specifically at pricing, lacking all types of accurate data was a leading barrier to more effective practices for retailers worldwide. Internal resistance to change was of equal concern, and lack of talent was close behind.

Knowing as much as possible about one’s own products is fundamental, and that goes beyond pricing. Kris Kubicki, co-founder and chief architect of Dynamite Data, elaborated: “It’s the stock status, the availability, the ratings and the reviews of those products before you even start building a model. You’ve got to have everything set up before you start jumping headfirst into it.”

via Automotive Digital Marketing Professional Community.

Mar 24 2013

Promote Your Live Chat Feature and They Will Come – Dealer Website Marketing

Promote Your Live Chat Feature and They Will Come

We’ve already emphasized that at least 57% of your customers are looking to chat while online shopping. Now we need to discuss how to get those customers to your website in order to use your live chat feature.

I recently did a Google search and found that when I entered:

“Honda dealership in Florida with live chat”

I was brought to a ton of different links from a third-party site, however if I Googled:

“Honda dealership in Florida”

I was brought straight to several main dealership websites. Some of them had a live chat feature, while others did not.

In doing so, I learned that if you have live chat, the reason your website isn’t getting all the traffic you are hoping for may be because you are not promoting that you have a live chat feature!

Third-party sites are marketing this feature EVERYWHERE, which tells Google to direct your potential customers to a third-party site first, instead of your own website.

The Live Chat feature can give you a tremendous advantage if you market it properly!

Where should you be promoting that you have Live Chat?

Your Contact Us page
TV Advertisements
Radio Advertisements
Emails
Any content you write – Blogs, Forums, Videos
Social Media sites

…EVERYWHERE!

Marketing your live chat feature as much as you can will put your dealership in the top search results for those customers looking to chat. The 57% of customers who want to be helped by a live chat representative, or the 83% who need some kind of support, will be thankful that your dealership was easy to find and that you have the help they are looking for when shopping online.

The more customers who know you have Live Chat, the better the feature is going to work for your dealership!

Make a direct connection between your website and your customers who are looking to chat, and cut out the search-competition that third-party sites are taking advantage of with their marketing strategy.

Remember, your dealership website has the power to transform your Internet sales. Make sure your website promotes the use of your live chat feature to encourage online shoppers to get their questions answered RIGHT AWAY!

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Do you have a marketing strategy for how you use your Live Chat feature? Post your comments below, and you can also download our FREE ebook, 7 Reasons Live Chat Fails, by clicking here.

via Automotive Digital Marketing Professional Community.

Mar 13 2013

Timing May Not Be Everything For Email Marketing, But It Does Matter!

Email Marketing: Timing May Not Be Everything, But It Does Matter!

Most Car Dealers send targeted email campaigns in the AM – Yet, the Best Results are seen with Emails sent in the Evening…

As part of its Q4 2012 Email Marketing Quarterly Benchmark Study [download page], Experian Marketing Services has analyzed the best time of the day to send emails.

Experian cautions automotive marketers by pointing out that the data is retrospective rather than controlled. The study included all industry segments, (US based) with automotive being just one of the multiple segments analyzed (Multi-Channel Retailers). It is wise to note that logic would dictate that optimal deployment timing will vary by industry, and in the case of automotive, perhaps even by brand. But, despite the naysayers that often want to shove their heads in the sand and ignore all objective data that doesn’t come from themselves, it doesn’t hurt to take a look at the Experian study’s results.

Not surprisingly, at least to me and anyone else who has ever used email marketing at a dealership for any length of time, the Experian study shows somewhat of an inverse relationship between email volume and performance. Plainly stated, the more email a prospective customer receives during any given time segment, the less likely that your dealership’s email will get opened and read… (less results).

For example, looking at time of day, the study finds that a plurality 40% of emails were deployed between 8AM and 11:59AM, with that range accounting for 42% of transactions. But, the 16.1% unique open rate and 2.4% unique click rate of this time period counted as the lowest of the 6 distinct time periods.

To some extent, that could simply be a function of volume, meaning that it could be harder for email marketers to differentiate themselves in the morning, when consumers are receiving the highest volume of inbound emails.

Interestingly, the transaction rate (.13%) in that morning period also was the lowest of any time range, revenue per email ($0.17) was among the lowest, and average order value was middle of the pack, at $174.

When looking at the time of day that got the smallest share of volume and transactions (2% each) – between 8PM and 11:59PM – the picture changes considerably. During this time period, unique open rate (21.7%), unique click rate (4.2%), transaction rate (0.34%), revenue per email ($0.48), and average order value ($246) for eCommerce businesses submitting data were all considerably higher than during any other time of day. Experian doesn’t offer any suggestions as to why this might be the case, but it could be related to consumers simply being more engaged at that time of the day and more apt to submit an inquiry (lead) or spend money.

The Experian report also analyzes performance by day of the week, finding again that the days with the lowest volume of emails (Saturday and Sunday) boasted the best response rates (each with a unique open rate of 17.8% and a unique click rate of 2.9%). Saturday (9% of email volume) also sported the best lead submission (CPA) and transaction rate (0.16%) and revenue per email ($0.20), although average order values lagged for the eCommerce businesses submitting their data.

The Experian CheetahMail 2012 Q4 Benchmark Study also shows the changes in overall email campaign performance across all industries on a year over year basis. It is interesting to note that a significant reduction (28%) in overall email bounce rates using the Experience email services branded “CheetahMail” has occurred and may be something for dealers to use in comparing with their current email marketing service provider. A reduction in bounce rate translates into higher deliverable rates for a variety of reasons, beyond the simple mathematics…

Regardless of the specifics by industry, region or brand, what the Experian study clearly shows is that when it comes to car dealers using email marketing, timing does effect an email campaign’s performance. The actionable item for car dealers reviewing this information is to start comparing results from your email marketing campaigns using the metrics that Experian has identified, such as open rates, click through rates and engagement rates (inquiries/leads submitted). Identify the best time segments and days of the week for your dealership, your brand and your location to get the optimum results…

Just remember what Digital Ralph has said hundreds of times; “Random is the Opposite of Optimized”. Don’t let random selection be the means by which you time the deployment of your email campaigns, know the nest days and times to deploy campaigns by their offer type and targeted audience, then put planning in place to ensure that your dealership’s email campaigns are deployed during those optimal day and time segments.

Data Source 1: MarketingCharts.com/most-emails-deployed-in-morning-best-results-se…

Data Source 2: Experian.com/email-marketing-quarterly-benchmark-study-q4-2012

ADM Professional Community members can download the Experian Research report in PDF document format using the following link:

Email-Marketing-Benchmark-Metrics-Study-Q4-2012.pdf

via Email Marketing: Timing May Not Be Everything, But It Does Matter! – Automotive Digital Marketing Professional Community.

Mar 11 2013

Come join me on Social Media Marketing Business

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Jan 30 2013

Kelley Blue Book Ranks Top 25 Used Cars – Automotive Marketing

Kelley Blue Book Ranks Top 25 Used Cars

Kelley Blue Book Ranks Top 25 Used Cars Based on Traffic to Their Information Pages at KBB.com

Posted on Auto Remarketing by Editor Joe Overby

On Monday, the Michigan Wolverines and Kansas Jayhawks became the latest in a revolving door of teams taking the No. 1 spots in the NCAA men’s college basketball rankings this season.

But consistency seems to be the name of the game in the used-car market. The Honda Accord has continued its reign as the used car pulling in the most online traffic for Kelley Blue Book, and though there were some moves on the list, much of the 25 most-researched used vehicles on KBB.com this month held steady from December.

Same as last month, the Honda Accord and Honda Civic took spots one and two, respectively, and were followed by the Toyota Camry (No. 3), Ford F-150 (No.4) and Toyota Corolla (No. 5).

The Chevrolet Silverado 1500, which was No. 8 in December, moved up to sixth this month. It switched places with the Nissan Altima. Placing seventh again was the BMW 3 Series.

Also swapping spots were the Ford F-250/F-350/F-450 Super Duty (moving from No. 10 to No. 9) and the Ford Mustang.

These were two of the eight Ford models on the list; no other automaker had more.

Honda was represented by four vehicles, while Chevrolet and Toyota each had three. Jeep and Dodge combined for three spots.

There were two Nissan models to make the list; Volkswagen and a BMW each had one.

The complete top 25 is as follows:

Honda Accord
Honda Civic
Toyota Camry
Ford F-150
Toyota Corolla
Chevrolet Silverado 1500
BMW 3-Series
Nissan Altima
Ford F-250/F-350/F-450 Super Duty
Ford Mustang
Jeep Grand Cherokee
Jeep Wrangler
Volkswagen Jetta
Toyota Tacoma
RAM 1500
Ford Focus
Honda CR-V
Ford Explorer
Ford Ranger
Ford Escape
Chevrolet Impala
Chevrolet Tahoe
Nissan Maxima
Ford Taurus
Honda Odyssey

Joe Overby can be reached at joverby@autoremarketing.com. Continue the conversation with Auto Remarketing on both LinkedIn and Twitter.

via Automotive Digital Marketing Professional Community

Dec 31 2012

Google Analytics for Car Dealers

Dealers who are looking to measure the ROI of their digital marketing investments need to master the basics of Google Analytics. Dealers need to know how to customize reports that will give them ACTIONABLE data to increase the profits at the dealership. Since a dealership website is the new “storefront”, does it make sense to ignore the

rich insights and reports that Google offers car dealers for free? Absolutely not!

Brian Pasch will lead dealers through three workshops on Google Analytics. Check out the full listing of workshops at DMSC this year. Each Google Analytics session will also feature a leading industry expert showing attendees how to practically apply Google Analytics for car dealership management. Taking a general Google Analytics workshop will not give the same impact of a customize series of classes designed for car dealership websites.

Three Part Workshop Series
The three workshops that will be lead by Brian Pasch on February 6th are:

“Part I – Segmenting Your Data For Better Marketing Analysis” 9:00 am
“Part II – How To Attribute Influence To Website Traffic Using Napkin Math” 1:30 pm
“Part III – Creating Custom Reports To Guide Your Business” 4:00 pm

Brian will introduce the power of measuring “In Market Shopper Activity” (IMSA), a concept first defined by Thomas Gage of Autotrader. Attending these workshops will allow you to measure the In Market Shopper Activity on your website.

Attendees will learn which advertising sources and strategies are INCREASING In Market Shopper Activity. As a special bonus, Thomas Gage will join Brian Pasch in Part II of the series to share his work with dealers and Google Analytics.

Learn how to diagnose your website for problems as well as comparing the impact of new advertising investments, merchandising choices, and website design changes. This is a must attend set of workshops for dealership staff responsible for website conversion, marketing budgets, and car sales.

Special Bonus
Dealers that attend all three Google Analytics workshops will receive $1,000 in merchandise credits from PCG Consulting that will automate Google Analytics reporting as well as reporting on all their marketing investments.

That’s right, attendees can gain access to a customized marketing dashboard to view the most critical elements of their website data for six months, free. The dashboard has dozens of widgets to show you things about your marketing strategy and website that you never knew!

This software bonus covers the cost of attending DMSC and will help dealers master their marketing budgets and website traffic in 2013.

Location:Orlando, FL

Nov 6 2012

Integrated Phone Tracking For PPC Campaigns Creates A Vivid Reminder – Automotive Marketing Professionals

Integrated Phone Tracking For PPC Campaigns Creates A Vivid Reminder

: Image via CrunchBase

Many car dealers are using Google Adwords as part of their advertising strategy yet there are still some website platforms that don’t natively support replaceable phone numbers for paid search campaigns.

When a consumer clicks on a paid search advertisement, banner ad, or retargeting campaign to visit the dealership website, you want to be able to have the phone numbers “change” everywhere on the website for that visitor session. This is because you want to associate the call with the click.

Why is this important?

It’s critical because consumers are calling more than they are completing lead forms.

Need proof?

Here is data from October 2012 for four dealers that using Google Adwords that breaks out the leads generated by paid search into calls and form leads.

As you can clearly see, if you don’t have replaceable phone numbers in your campaigns, you would be missing the positive impact paid search is delivering to connect with local car shoppers via phone.

This is not a new revelation for many readers but I would estimate that over 25% of Adwords campaigns being operated on behalf of dealers do not have phone tracking installed.

The second reminder for readers seeing the data table above is the importance of phone skills and phone scripts that increase appointments. In the past year, working with Jerry Thibeau, PCG clients have seen appointment rates double as a result of phone training and accountability.

So, if you have a heavy investment in paid search, doesn’t it make sense to put an equivalent emphasis on phone skills and clear customer communication strategies if your PPC campaigns are making the phone ring?

via Integrated Phone Tracking For PPC Campaigns Creates A Vivid Reminder – Automotive Digital Marketing Professional Community

Nov 5 2012

Google Declares Existing Web Metrics Obsolete: A Sea Change in Dealer Website Analytics – Automotive Digital Marketing Professional Community

Google Declares Existing Web Metrics Obsolete: A Sea Change in Dealer Website Analytics

The 2012 Google Analytics Summit theme is “Next Generation Measurement”, and considering the bombshell Google dropped on day 1, it couldn’t be more fitting.

Google Analytics is set to make a seismic change to its very core, shifting from sessions to users. “Sessions don’t spend money,” as Google Analytics Principal Engineer Sagnik Nandy put it, “users do.”

For too many years, dealer website reporting systems have looked at visits in a vacuum, focusing on single visitor sessions in a short-sighted attempt to understand customer behavior and falling out of touch with today’s automotive consumer who jumps from one web device to another, desktop to mobile, mobile to tablet, and reaches dozens of touch points before purchasing a vehicle or getting one serviced. With the release of “Universal Analytics”, Google is set to redefine automotive marketing’s relationship with web data to accurately capture customer behavior across every device, every visit, and every action – even when new and used vehicle shoppers go offline. Gone are the days of looking at Internet sales leads and service appointment requests as the primary goal; showroom traffic and sales are what matters, and that’s exactly what this next generation of dealer website measurement targets.

With Google’s new Universal Analytics, visitors are given a clean and simple User ID that replaces the current mountainous number of tracking cookies packed with reams of confusing variables and micro formatted data. This unique User ID is like a customer number in your DMS, but it is stored on Google’s end, and is identifiable across any number of devices and locations. So if your customer first visits your dealership’s website on her home desktop after receiving a promotional email, then returns a week later on her iPhone, but waits a month before seeing a display ad from your store’s online advertising and finally converting by pulling turn-by-turn directions from work to the dealership on her work laptop, all of those interactions will be attributed to a single visitor. And that initial, month-old email will be given credit, along with the last-touch display ad, and any other touch points in the sales process.

For businesses with the right technology, User IDs will be sent directly to your CRM software. When customers walk in after visiting virtually, you will be able to log every visit and view them in Google Analytics. You now track all customer points of contact – online and offline – and finally get the complete picture of a customer’s journey from seeing an article your dealership published, researching your make and models, to purchasing on your showroom. A reporting trail that provides the insights and metrics for car dealers to learn which marketing channels actually bring you sales… While ignoring those that generate leads to nowhere!

Marketing and Advertising Channel Attribution Gets More Accurate

Google’s Universal Analytics includes a new attribution modeling tool that uses a data-driven model to assign value to touch points in the sales process. Every interaction is now weighted according to its frequency and position in the purchase process, instead of always being given equal credit. And a more complete picture of every sale can now be more accurately configured with cost data that users upload directly into Google Analytics and update daily. Track the effectiveness of your dealership’s entire ad spend to realize the true profit on every sale – all without leaving Google Analytics and wrestling with dozens of media and advertising reports.

Analytics no longer begins with a single online session only to end with a disconnected form submission that depends on an email address that blocks messages from your dealership as spam. It begins the moment a customer first engages with your dealership’s websites, blogs and online assets. And it never stops… Welcome to the new marketing reality of Universal Analytics from Google.

via Automotive Digital Marketing Professional Community.