I talk to dealers every day, even (sadly) when I’m on vacation. The general consensus is that the market is down and it’s time to cut costs. Thankfully, cutting costs doesn’t necessarily mean cutting
corners.
Despite how bad it is out there in the automotive industry, the online
marketing aspect of the industry is getting a well-deserved spotlight
shone on it. Dealers are being forced to take their tremendous
television, radio, and newspaper budgets and cut them while still
getting the same (or better) bang for the buck.
Economy
is where Internet marketing shines. As we develop new technologies to
streamline our efforts, automotive vendors are able to offer more
exposure for less money then they ever have before. Between websites,
microsites, landing pages, search engine optimization, pay per click
marketing, and automotive social media, it is easy for a dealer to have
a complete presence attacking the market exactly where their customers
are waiting for them: online.
In other words, it’s time to get aggressive. We have 2 dealers in
particular who have slashed their traditional marketing budgets (one
went all the way to $0 offline) and sunk everything into Internet
marketing. The results have been profoundly better than even we
expected. Three years ago, dealers were spending just under 10% of
their marketing budgets online. Last year, it was 20%. This year and
into next year, we expect more dealers to "see the light" and invest
30%, 40, 50%, or more of their marketing budgets in the one area where
EVERYONE does their automotive research.
So few people even get the newspaper anymore. Tivo and general "tuning
out" have made television advertising a dinosaur. Radio stations are
changed from the steering wheel when commercials come on (unless
they’re listening to XM radio, in which case they aren’t getting your
message anyway). Direct mail - prices are rising, results are dropping.
The Internet. I can’t say any more than what you already know. When I
was running multiple Internet departments, I knew back then that the
Internet was the way of the future. Now that I’m working on this side
of the table, I can see it all happening right before my eyes. The
automotive industry is far from dead. People are going to buy cars.
They have to. Being where the people are looking (and being there
aggressively) is the key to surviving and flourishing for years to come.
This article was written by James Rucker of TK Carsites. You can contact TK Carsites at 714-937-1239 and their website is http://tkcarsites.com
