Tag Archives

Posts with digital marketing tag.
DrivingSales Executive Summit 2012: A To Unmarketing

The 2012 DrivingSales Executive Summit has closed its doors with an amazing, energetic event to show. Congratulations to the entire (growing) DrivingSales team, you have left a higher bar to be measured against, once again. With nearly 1000 in attendance, primarily dealers, the vibe was strong around leading-edge strategies. And the expectations were high…

Opening in one of the Bellagio's main ballrooms, with the shortest intro of the four-year event by Jared Hamilton, emcee Charlie Vogelheim introduced Dennis Galbraith to talk about "big data" for dealerships, emphasizing the importance of executable data-based strategy, followed by Luke Wroblewski, renowned mobile expert. The information shared by the former Yahoo design guru wowed the crowd. While not industry-specific, the impact of traffic and studies was easily translatable to both OEM and dealership tactics. The big question was, why are we not better around mobile strategies? The opening reception definitely reflected the excitement for the event.

Florian Zettelmeyer opened up day two with a deeper drive into "Big Data" with a focus on national brands. Like Luke's presentation the evening before, the practical application into automotive was significant and it turned quite a few heads. Feedback from dealers was overwhelmingly positive, and interesting. So were some tweets: one suggested a drinking game each time "Big Data" was heard, the other coining "Big Data" as the…..well you'll have to find and read it.

Rand Fishkin was next and the SEO oracle delivered. Talking points included off-site, social signals, long-tail and other critical search components. The feedback from the session was that it was top-notch. The SEOmoz founder gave dealers (and many vendors) information points that area critical to success, especially given lots of "enterprise" information that is typically given to the industry.

One of the marquee events of the DSES was next…the Best Idea competition. It's best to watch the videos on DrivingSales TV since this post can't quite catch the passion that the dealers being to the table. Everything, at the end of the day, is about the dealer and the industry moves as the speed of retail. So go watch! After the first round of breakout sessions, it was back into the main ballroom for the Innovation Cup. This year cDemo came out on top. Next year those in the running are going to watch to polish up their presentation and explanation skills….

Cobalt was next with their presentation that was supposed to hit on research and, wait for it…. Data that the industry could use relevant to websites and traffic. Some of the points were relevant while many points were already part of existing marketing for most of the dealers in attendance. Then, the full-capacity crowd was rewarded with a gem of a presentation from Billy Beane. The Oakland A's General Manager, who doesn't make public speaking a regular practice, talked about how businesses must be smart, agile and customer-centric, plus saving some tongue-in-check monologue about Moneyball. The audience paid full attention to his ideas, quotes and stories.

Tuesday opened with Facebook and Google…and a heavy dose of anticipation. The two biggest subjects on the industry's mind, Google reviews and Facebook advertising, were not covered due to both companies request. Tom White did as good as possible a job without a full quiver of questions to ask, still leaving some important aspects to be covered by both the search and social giants.

Then one of the most highly anticipated sessions in the industry in 2012: Jared Hamilton hosted TrueCar's Scott Painter for a one-on-one Q&A. Whether Jared took it easy or was tough on who represented the industry's pariah about a year ago or not is of opinion, there were some great questions and responses with some in the crowd wondering what position TrueCar will play into 2013.

Jim Dance followed with a leadership focused presentation that should immediately impact dealership operation. Rich in examples and strategy, Jim did have a post-lunch audience (always tough) that revealed many taking notes. Packed afternoon breakouts brought the event to the evening's joint keynote with JD Power's Automotive Marketing Roundtable. Mini's marketing head Tom Salkowsky talked about their passionate customers and gave chimerical and video examples of just how dedicated Mini owners are.

Then, Scott Straten of "Unmarketing" fame stepped on stage and gave the packed ballroom plenty to laugh, cry and think about. Between chanting "stop it" in regard to mediocre marketing and technology use to bits of "Awesome", his words danced throughout the mix of dealers, OEMs, agencies, media and portals packed i for the following conference. Sick as a dog, Straten simply engaged the audience with the same style and techniques he begged attendees to use.

Amazing event. What will the DSES team due to make 2013 shine? We only have 12 months to find out…

Special announcements: Jared Hamilton introduced industry veteran Kevin Root as President/COO of DrivingSales and revealed that in April 2013, the DrivingSales Automotive Presidents Club featuring Seth Godin. For dealers who want to attend the New York event, go to www.drivingsalespresidentsclub.com

 

Best Practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

October 27, 2012 by Gary May 1
Go Ahead, Keep Rebuilding The Mousetrap. Tip: You’re Trying To Catch A Cheetah

Stop what you're doing. Right now! Look back, quickly. Look back for a while. No, not over your shoulder silly. If you've been at least somewhat involved in the digital realm over the past 3-6 years, take a hard look back. What have you done? Where did your advice come from? How much time have you lost? How much momentum have you gained? How many wins have you had? And how many losses?

Everything changes, we know that. We also know that one man's garbage is another man's treasure. So in your looking back, what have you really learned? This is a little beacon asking you to close the door (or if you're in a cube or BDC or somewhere without a door, pretend to) and think about who, what and to where you were following. This is not a call to go back to basics, which is garbage, however it's a call to think. For yourself.

Too often we go with those that have been penned as the thought leaders, gurus, experts, published authorities, subject matter experts, pros, top of their gamers and the like. So that begs a question: what has been constant in your digital presence for the last three years? Four? Five?

Chances are, not much.

Fact is a lot of people, namely business owners and executive management, are scratching their heads over the past months asking themselves "why did we go down the (fill in initiative here) road?". Is SEO alive or dead? Does social media work or not? Did the new close work or deter customers? Was mobile marketing right or wrong? Great questions. Think about it this way: did your last tent event sell lots of cars? But….that's not digital, right? A tent event or massive offsite lot sale is not, true. Neither should your thinking.

All those things promote traffic, sales, new customers, conquest, retention and more. Of course they do…you can ALWAYS sell. Digital strategies are no different than picking up a good book. They're cause to make you think. Not copy! Short term gains never win over long term thinking. And to think you need to know or be on the path to knowing better.

Sometimes it's funny how operators operate. There's a lot to be said about how dealers are afraid. They're afraid to spend or try new things or go off into unchartered territory. Not to defend them, the truth is they're bombarded. And by everyone that has something to sell from $.02 pens to $20M facilities. And the shiny new thingamabob fits squarely somewhere in between.

So in your reflection, look as specifically as possible at what was done over your foray into the digital world, and what was not done. You see a lot of people are selling new mousetraps and reworking the old ones. Yes, for the most part they work better. You can only be a judge, just like with a book or white paper or study at a conference, after the fact. And quite a few have benefitted over the past years due to their desire and ability to win in the digital realm and congrats to those who have.

Just a heads up that you're trying to catch a cheetah, not a mouse. A cheetah can still run at over 60 miles per hour with a mousetrap clipped onto its paw. That is until it gets smashed to smithereens and the cheetah goes on as if nothing ever happened. There are so few mice in the digital realm today and most have mousetrap detectors.

There are some big things coming. Here is a heads up that the next big thing is not in hardware, software, advertising, marketing, mobile apps, CRM, retargeting or templates. You'll have to think about it. For those that do get it the remainder of 2012 and 2013, as well as going forward, will be easier.

If this was a hard one to understand, keep reading and coming back. And thank you.

If you got this, see you at the DrivingSales Executive Summit October 21-23 at Bellagio in Las Vegas…and please keep reading. We'd love to hear from you, you're our kind of business.

 

Best Practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

 

October 9, 2012 by Gary May 0
Searching For The Digital “Leg Up”? Jump All In!

The mad scramble to do the crawl, walk and maybe run is still in full force. Yes, more are shifting toward digital but 2012 is nearing half way through and we're likely still under 20% of budgets going to true online and integrated strategy across 17,000+ franchise dealerships. We're talking the talk, ladies and gentlemen, but we're not walking the walk…

As a matter of fact, you might just say that the "Leg Up" everyone is looking for is only one jump away. But while you're looking at (and impressed with) your knee moving up, you miss the view of the real goal is a good leap away. And at the same time, our indsutry is being bombarded with new vendors, software and services along with the current ones continually trying to reinvent themselves. And for what?

What moves results? Sustained efforts. On top of solid education. Supported by execution. Surrounded by measurement. Without the entire package, not just the slick sale pitch that got you to buy, you might as well cut yourself off at the knees. No digital leg up for you! But why????

Because, for the most part, we allow vendors to pull the wool over our eyes. It's not about having the newest and greatest or even starting from scratch for your first time. It's outlining what success looks like, making enterprise commitments for training and utilization, how technology gets us there, insights to customers' technology use, understanding how people find us and so, so much more.

It is 2012, you're not in the game if you're simply buying a new website! Your website has to be completely integrated with your inventory. The dealership's CRM has to allow you to work remotely. Salespeople must enter data about their customers. You will not get a leg up in digital marketing or eCommece results if there are workarounds of any kind. This goes for everyone on the showroom floor to executive management.

One out of 100 customers are drive-bys today. There shouldn't even be a "drive-by" in the sourcing options of your CRM. Fudging a prospect's email or driver's license number to get a key for a test drive "just do to it later" is as effective as not having a customer sign the purchase contract but letting them drive off the lot. Having a website without real SEO, integrated incentives down to VDPs, model (and if called for) trim landing pages that are not copied from or framed in from your OEM, future models and everything people actually come to websites for is also unacceptable. Everything that you want to make easier with a digital leg up is real work. Yes, it takes real work. And it never, never, nover ends.

And here's a newsflash: It's not all about the acronyms:

SEO – Shove Everything Overboard
SEM – So Everything's Mobile?
PPC – Perpetually Perform Catastrophically
CRM – Can't Review Monthly
SME – Social Media Euthanasia
SMO – Senseless, Mindless, Objectiveless

Now you're left with one thing to do…SOS! 

SOS – Shiny Object Syndrome

You can't and won't win the digital marketing war purely by spend while staying immersed in traditional media or by making incremental movements while the world is forging forward in digital consumption at 200 MPH. Dealers and managers, don't excuse yourself or your staff because that is followed by your customers excusing you to go down the street.

A digital leg up is going at your entire presence all the time, both online and offline. On the web and in the store. If you're not making the experience the same, don't ask an app or a CRM to save you.

Last weekend I participated alongside roughly 13,000 cyclists to raise money for Multiple Sclerosis in a ride form Houston to Austin, TX called MS150. Most finished. Some quickly. Many slowly. For those that didn't finish, some had mechanical issues due to their bicycles not being properly ready. Some had accidents which took them out, which is to be expected when thousands converge on a small area at the same time. And finally some just couldn't make it, their hearts completely in the game but their bodies not. They wanted to. But they didn't get the results they expected due to the fact that they didn't jump in. 167 miles is a long way in two days for most people, period. And my hat's off to everyone that participated. But to win, you can't just get a leg up or start "training" the week before. You have to jump all in.

Digital marketing and success online as well as in your store doesn't happen by will power alone. There needs to be a plan, equipment, partners, inventory and more. Make sure that your multi-million dollar investment doesn't have a nickel-and-dime presence online. And take the time to understand what it takes to go all in. If your vendors only want to give you a leg up and are not willing to jump in with you, you might as well stick your head between your legs and kiss your store goodbye…

 

Best Practices: Prefessional Insight, Powerful Results


April 24, 2012 by Gary May 0