Jennifer Murphy - For most, rebranding or repositioning a business is a choice. Today for some dealers, there isn’t much of a choice involved in their rebranding and repositioning efforts. With the bankruptcies of two domestic automakers, well over 2,000 franchise signs had to be taken down.
Jim Rucker - It doesn't matter how much traffic you drive to a site or how big your Facebook fan page is if they aren't optimized for lead conversion. The process is very simple:
Todd Swickard - Since the world is changing, your marketing strategy needs to change too, or you’ll be left in the dust. It’s time to trade in your old ways of doing things to get the most mileage out of your marketing budget. So, here are a few tips for how to go about reviewing your strategy to make sure it’s ready to roll.
Glynn Rodean - All incoming sales calls and every lot up should be ad-sourced and lead-sourced—no exceptions. Determining the source of every lead allows you to generate a report that will show you whether your dollars are being spent effectively. Without this reporting, you may wind up wasting thousands of dollars a month.
Kimberly Long - Several years ago, any dealership that had an online strategy was looked upon as forward-thinking and cutting-edge. Today, however, the Internet has become an advertising staple for almost all dealers. Indeed, most in the industry now believe online advertising is an absolute necessity for success.
David Keller - Now the Cash for Clunkers promotion is over, you can breathe a little. Wrong! You’d better get going and decide what to do now that customers are not walking rapidly into your store ready to sign contracts without expending a lot of sales effort or advertising on your part.
David Keller - The most important, and very disturbing, thing I see happening in the automotive industry right now is the lack of lenders willing and or able to loan funds to dealers to capitalize their operations, finance a dealership purchase or new equipment, or just loan money on existing collateral.
Jennifer Murphy - The evolution of an auto dealership can be a slow process; however, Suzuki of Wichita is constantly in motion, quickly adapting to a changing industry. Led by Scott Pitman, president and chief evangelist, the Wichita, Kan., dealership claimed the number-one spot for new Suzuki sales in July 2009.
Kimberly Long - “It was one of those middle-of-the-night ideas,” said Amy Schlueter, vice president of Schlueter Automotive Group in Waterloo, Ontario, referring to their innovative new campaign, the Twitter Test Drive.
Glynn Rodean - We can’t wait for success to come to us. We have to go after it, and technology can help in a lot of ways. Technology can enhance communication with prospects, target certain segments of past customers, locate new customers who are in the market for a vehicle and simplify certain BDC processes.
Kimberly Long - Nearly every dealership these days seems to have some kind of online presence, although to varying degrees. Some have just a Web site, while others have a Web site and listings on sites like AutoTrader.com or cars.com.
David Keller - Here we are and our automotive world has changed so much we hardly recognize it anymore. Who would have thought a few short years ago we’d be in this spot today?
Harlene Doane - First came what is known as Web 1.0, which was basic Web design that included a number of static pages that basically pushed information out to online shoppers.
Thomas B. Hudson - “No. Why should we pay ABC Forms Company 58 cents a form for those things? My brother-in-law says he knows a printer who’ll run them off for us for 12 cents each. Give me a copy of one of the ones you have left, and I’ll get us a bunch made.”
Jim Jackson - Twitter, Facebook, blogs, grapevine—of these four choices, which do you think has the potential to provide tremendous growth in leads? If you said Twitter, Facebook and blogs, you’re right.
media brand
The secure and easy all-access connection to your content.
Bookmarked content can then be accessed anytime on all of your logged in devices!
Already a member? Log In
