Category: Articles

Unlock Greater Profit Potential with AI-Driven Marketing Automation 

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Introduction

The right automotive marketing strategies can boost your business’s profitability. Marketing automation has become essential for reaching shoppers, nurturing leads, and driving sales—but the real opportunity lies in using these tools to their fullest potential. Increasingly, AI is helping marketers unlock new levels of efficiency and effectiveness. 

Connect Your Digital Marketing Solutions to Your Marketing Strategy

Failing to fully integrate your digital marketing solutions with your overall strategy can spell disaster. A disjointed approach risks missed opportunities and crippling inefficiencies. Don’t let your business fall behind—ensure seamless integration now.  

  • Align Goals and Metrics: Ensure that your digital marketing KPIs are in sync with your overall business objectives. This alignment helps in tracking performance and making data-driven decisions.  
  • Unified Platforms: Use unified marketing platforms that bring together various digital tools such as CRM systems, email marketing, and social media management. This will allow for a more cohesive strategy.  
  • Cross-Department Collaboration: Encourage collaboration between your marketing, sales, and service departments. For instance, integrating fixed operations into your digital strategy can significantly boost profitability, as highlighted in the DDC Managed Services document.  
  • Support the Process with AI: By analyzing data from multiple sources, AI and automation help you identify patterns and preferences to inform your messaging and timing. 

Connect Consumer Behavior Using Data

Understanding consumer behavior is the key to personalization, and AI makes it scalable. Here’s how you can do it:  

  • Data Activation: Use data to deliver personalized ads, emails, and website experiences. AI enables real-time customization based on individual shopper behavior, preferences and intent. 
  • Behavioral Insights: According to the 2024 Cox Automotive Car Buyer Journey Research Summary, consumers are eager to do more online. Use these insights to enhance your online presence and provide a seamless experience that meets consumer expectations.  
  • Predictive Analytics: Employ predictive analytics to anticipate consumer needs and behaviors. This can help in crafting more effective marketing messages and offers.  

Turn Your Data and Insights into Actions

Data and insights are only valuable if they lead to actionable strategies. Here’s how to turn your data into impactful actions:  

  • Real-Time Decision Making: AI tools enable dynamic adjustments, such as refining audience segments, updating creative and reallocating budget instantly. 
  • A/B Testing: Continuously test different strategies to see what works best. This iterative approach can lead to significant improvements in your marketing efforts. 
  • Performance Metrics: Track key performance metrics to evaluate the success of your campaigns. Use this data to refine and optimize your strategies continually.  

Build Trust and Transparency Through Data-Based Decisions and AI 

Building trust and transparency with your audience is essential, especially when leveraging advanced technologies like AI. Here’s how you can achieve this:  

  • Transparent Communication: Be clear about how you use consumer data. Transparency builds trust and fosters a positive relationship with your audience.  
  • AI-Powered Personalization: Use AI to create personalized experiences that feel genuine and tailored. This can significantly enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty.  
  • Ethical AI Practices: Ensure that your AI practices are ethical and unbiased. This will not only build trust but also enhance your brand’s reputation.   

Conclusion

Unlocking the profit potential in your marketing automation is not just about implementing the latest technologies; it’s about creating a cohesive, data-driven strategy that aligns with your overall business goals. By connecting your digital marketing solutions to your marketing strategy, leveraging consumer behavior data, turning insights into actions, and building trust through transparency and AI, you can transform your marketing efforts and achieve unparalleled success. As AI continues to evolve, it will offer even more ways to streamline operations, personalize experiences, and drive profitability. 

Ready to take your marketing automation to the next level? Explore how AI-powered tools can help your dealership deliver smarter campaigns, deeper personalization, and measurable results. Watch our Bridging the Gap series 

Sources: https://www.coxautoinc.com/news/2022-car-buyer-journey-study/  

What Shoppers Want: Convenience, Choice and Flexibility 

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As the digital age continues to advance at lightning speed, consumer preferences are evolving just as quickly. Understanding these shifts is crucial in providing an excellent customer experience while driving business success. Based on insights from the Cox Automotive 2023 Digitization of Car Buying Study, it becomes evident that convenience, choice, and flexibility are paramount for today’s consumers, including in the automotive industry. 

Convenience: The Cornerstone of Modern Purchasing 

Consumers today are juggling busy schedules and expect brands to accommodate their need for convenience. In the realm of car buying, this means offering a seamless, end-to-end digital retailing experience. According to the Digitization of Car Buying study, nearly all dealers believe digital retailing positively impacts their business, particularly in customer experience and satisfaction. 

Key Insights: 

  • High Satisfaction: Consumers appreciate digital retailing solutions, with personal connections emerging as a significant benefit. 
  • Seamless Experience: Shoppers prefer a seamless transition from online to in-store without having to repeat information, emphasizing the need for integrated systems that facilitate this. 
  • Frictionless Process: Digital tools in-store enable a frictionless sales process, saving time for both customers and dealers. 

Providing a convenient shopping experience will keep your customers coming back. 

Choice: Empowering Consumers with Options 

In an era where personalization is king, offering a variety of options is not a luxury but a necessity. Consumers want to feel that their unique needs and preferences are being met, and this extends to their car-buying journey. 

Key Insights: 

  • Online Purchase Process: Forty-nine percent of dealers are offering customers the ability to complete each step of the deal online, providing the choice to engage with the buying process in a way that suits them best. 
  • Hybrid Environment: Many shoppers appreciate a hybrid shopping environment where they can start online and finish in-store. Dealers are embracing new tools to enhance this experience. 

When consumers have options, they feel empowered and valued, making them more likely to choose your dealership over others. 

Flexibility: Adapting to Consumer Needs 

Flexibility in purchasing options isn’t just about offering various channels; it’s about adapting to the consumer’s changing needs and preferences. The Cox Automotive report highlights the importance of digital interactions and the willingness of shoppers to provide personal information for a more tailored experience. 

Key Insights: 

  • Personalized Interactions: Shoppers are willing to share detailed information like income, credit score, and vehicle usage data to enable an ideal, personalized experience. 
  • Open Communication: Consumers often reach out to dealers with deal-related questions remotely while preferring to manage the later stages of the deal in person. It’s important be ready for how and when consumers want to engage. 

By being adaptable, you can meet your customers exactly where they are, making the entire buying process smoother and more enjoyable. 

The Value of Multi-Channel Purchasing Options 

Whether it’s through a robust e-commerce platform or digital tools in-store, multiple channels allow consumers to engage with your brand in the manner that suits them best, enhancing overall satisfaction. 

Ecommerce has revolutionized the car-buying process. Consumers can now browse inventory, compare prices, and even finalize deals from the comfort of their homes. This level of convenience and flexibility is invaluable, especially when dealing with high-ticket items like vehicles (read this blog about where we think automotive ecommerce is today). 

  • Enhanced Customer Experience: Ecommerce platforms streamline the buying process, reducing friction points and making it easier for consumers to make informed decisions. 
  • Consistency is Key: Ensuring price and inventory consistency across all channels is crucial. Discrepancies can lead to frustration and a negative customer experience. 
  • Data-Driven Insights: Online interactions provide valuable data that can help improve accuracy and the verification process, ultimately leading to higher customer satisfaction. 

Giving Car Buyers What They Want 

Today, consumers value convenience, choice, and flexibility more than ever. Leveraging these insights to enhance your digital retailing capabilities can lead to significant business benefits. By offering a seamless, multi-channel purchasing experience, you can meet the evolving needs of your customers and stay ahead of the competition. 

Making the buying process as smooth and enjoyable as possible will leave a lasting positive impression on your customers. 

Ready to take your dealership to the next level? Embrace multi-channel retailing and offer your customers the convenience, choice, and flexibility they crave. With Cox Automotive solutions, you enhance customer satisfaction and drive your business forward in this digital age. 

Where is Automotive Ecommerce Today? 

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Author: Paulo da Silva, VP of Ecommerce Operations

finger touches digital tablet showing car website on screen

The idea of consumers buying their vehicle completely online used to sound like a crazy idea, right? As the automotive industry has evolved—and quite frankly online shopping in general—the desire and capability to buy vehicles completely online has taken the automotive industry by storm. Let’s take Mark. He saw an ad for his dream car, started searching online and found it at his local Honda dealer website. After he personalized his payment, he was able to start the financing process, provided required personal documents, signed a contract, and now his dream car is being delivered to his front door. All this is being done in the comfort of his home without having to engage with dealership staff via phone, email, text, or in person. During this online shopping process, however, support is still always available should the consumer decide to engage with a salesperson from the dealership.  

With this shift in the car buying process, there’s an amazing opportunity for dealers who are ready to supplement and transform their business by implementing true ecommerce into their operations to stand out from the competition. As we define true ecommerce today, it provides time savings for consumers and dealers through automation capabilities, allowing them to complete a full transaction from end-to-end. 

Through research at Cox Automotive, we discovered two growing segments of car shoppers:

  • Efficient Independents: Mostly open to buying completely online in the future and prefer test drives and purchase delivery.
  • Guided Innovators: Have an increased want to start the car buying process online and seek website that allow them to complete more purchase steps online.

75% of these of these two fastest-growing car shopper segments said within the next five years they would buy ENTIRELY online. The shoppers in these segments are forward-thinking and already – do 10 out of the typical 13 car-buying steps online. Preparing for these consumers who will make up most of future car shoppers is crucial to ensuring your dealership is not left behind. 

In this two-part blog series, you will get a glimpse of what we think the current state of automotive ecommerce is, and what dealers should know about what the road forward could look like for consumers buying cars completely online.  

Where is automotive ecommerce today?

Ecommerce is an emerging channel, and we are seeing consumers who want to go through the car buying process entirely online, from end-to-end, with minimal handholding from retailers. The convenience and flexibility that it offers is an attractive option for consumers.

But while industry ecommerce adoption is still in the beginning stages, dealers who want to get ahead of the curve can be strategic by investing where consumers are going to be in the mid to long-term.

Dealers who are ready to embark on this journey need to commit to the long game, so their ecommerce business is built in a way that’s sustainable. If a dealer is expecting 30% of their sales to come from full ecommerce straight out the gate, those dealers are probably not in the position to really start seriously investing. Dealers should strive to be trusted sources as this ecommerce journey continues to ramp up, but need to recognize that the economics of this are going to improve over time. Thus, understanding the importance of getting into the ecommerce space sooner, rather than later, will make the difference between the dealerships who come out on top. 

Why is it important for dealers to execute an omnichannel approach that still involves the in-store experience?

There will be a growing segment of your business that’s going to be truly 100% online and this segment will continue to grow over time. However, through our learnings in 2023 the majority of consumers prefer an omnichannel approach to car buying. Omnichannel is considered that idea of back and forth during different points in the transaction from online to in-store, and often back online again. Omnichannel ecommerce can be a bridge that dealers could use to get more and more experience at guiding consumers from online to in-store at different parts of the journey.    

But omnichannel is also the destination itself. Even when ecommerce is at maturity, we expect the majority of transactions to still involve the in-store experience in some way. This means that the majority of consumers are still omnichannel, and dealers still need to focus on the in-store experience and creating a seamless journey no matter where the consumer finalizes the deal. 

What role do digital retailing tools play in becoming ecommerce ready?

Digital retailing allows dealers to help consumers do pieces of the car buying experience online. Through this process the consumer starts the deal online and can take the deal from a credit app submission to sometimes even a credit decision, but at that point, dealership personnel will need to engage with the consumer to usher him or her through the deal​. So, while technology plays a big role, the digital retailing process is largely supported by a person in the dealership. While digital retailing is not true/full ecommerce, implementing DR tools is a step in the direction of ecommerce. which is just pulling in more and more pieces of the transaction online. 

Digital retailing helps lay the groundwork without requiring major channel strategy shifts because at the end of the day, the consumer still wants to come in to complete the deal so it can mirror the existing in-store approach.  

What other things should dealers be focused on to prepare for the ecommerce road forward?

We will dive deeper into these focus areas in the next blog, but there are three areas dealers should focus on:  

  1. Building trust and rapport through content: Provide content about cars that answers consumers’ questions before they ask.  
  2. Establish a mature review program: Proactively collect reviews, and showcase high-quality, detailed reviews—providing incentives where it makes sense.  
  3. Prepare for a data-intense world: Partnering with companies like Cox Automotive that help uncover the full picture of the consumer.  

These three focus areas will lay the foundation dealers need to fully adopt an automotive ecommerce world. And there are so many benefits of being an early adopter in this space versus taking a backseat approach. These are things that you must start doing today to be ready for what will be an expectation down the road.  

In our next blog, we will walk through the key focus areas. We will explain the value of building an extensive set of positive reviews online, creating relevant content and maximizing your data so you can start working out the process kinks while scale is relatively small. This will ultimately help you appeal to a new segment of customers and reach new markets.  

In conclusion, ecommerce is a preferred pathway for a growing group of car shoppers and dealers should be thoughtful and patient with their implementation of these new tools. It’s important to remember that ecommerce shouldn’t be a siloed part of your strategy. It should be integrated into your existing channels to work cohesively, not with separate teams, brand and inventory. This shift will not happen overnight but is a long-term strategy that will pay off with diligent preparations and consistency.

To find out more about Cox Automotive eCommerce, visit our website here: https://www.coxautoinc.com/solutions/ecommerce/   

How to Connect Your Plan to the Future of eCommerce 

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where is ecommerce today blog image

While many dealerships work hard to reach shoppers, there are three compounding challenges that leave profitability in a dangerous place.   

But when you know what the gaps causing potential problems are, as well as how to bridge them in today’s times, you’ll be able to plan both around and for them as you work towards building a solid foundation for how you’ll do business with the future of eCommerce.  

The Main Gaps

It’s not always easy seeing gaps in your business and strategy, but most profitability gaps in the eCommerce landscape fall into one of these two categories: 

Disconnected Solutions: Complex and misunderstood digital solutions need to be connected to truly unlock their full power. When this isn’t done right, you’re only getting a fraction of their intended impact and intended use, making it near impossible to personalize your marketing and experience.  

Data Insights and Actions: We all want, need and use data to make critical decisions about marketing and our business – but it’s important to remember data is just numbers. Often times insights are not used to their full potential and aren’t activated, which severely limits your ability to effectively engage and convert shoppers into buyers.   

When you connect both your data and your digital solutions, you can ultimately build a better shopping-to-buying journey and overall experience for both the consumer and your internal organization. And with consumers continuing to show that what matters most to them is a seamless, personalized experience, it’s time for dealers to plan for a more connected future in order to meet that demand.  

 

more than a catch phrase

In a recent learning series we released “Bridging the Gap” (you can register to access all sessions of the series here) we spoke of revolutionizing how you did business to prepare for the eCommerce future that was already knocking on your front door.  .

Disconnections in personalization, 
data, and solutions are leaving 
money and opportunities on the table.  

The strategy behind bridging the gap and changing how you do business online refers to connecting your data and solutions to your consumer experience is to build that seamless, personalized journey we mentioned consumers wanting above. And the good news is once you learn how to do this, the end results are immediately measurable – your dealership should be able to see improvements in ROI in your marketing spend, higher customer satisfaction and CSI scores, and overall profitability.  

Connecting the Dots: Keep the deal moving

In order to keep the deal moving, and help consumers connect the dots that hopefully lead them to you, dealers must plan and strategize for a connected eCommerce experience. Especially as it relates to their online to in-store experience.  

As dealers, like you, move more of the automotive buying experience online, it’s important to keep the deal moving—even as consumers move from online, to offline, and back online again. Each time there’s a transition in the deal, there’s an opportunity for your customer to be captured by your competitor. And there’s an equal opportunity for you to capture what should be your competitor’s consumer if they’re not providing a personalized frictionless experience.  

If a consumer experiences disconnection during the deal, they are likely to completely stop the deal. Bottom line: If your digital solutions are disconnected, and your data doesn’t sync, you won’t build the seamless shopping experience necessary to succeed in today’s times.   

However, a transition in the deal also represents an opportunity to secure the deal.

Stay on Track with the Following Strategies

Consumers have come to expect personalization, especially in our highly targeted online world. It’s what builds, or breaks down, trust. And it’s what will capture their attention in a crowded and noisy online space – someone that knows who they are and what they want.  

Personalized experiences are a part of everything modern consumers do. During the pandemic businesses had to raise the bar to connect with consumers virtually – and it drove significant change in nearly every industry. The automotive industry is no exception.   

The bar was set high. And as we all know and have experienced ourselves… once the bar has been set high, there’s no lowering it. Each and every time a consumer has an interaction with you either online or in-person they have an expectation of it being better than the last.  Connected data and solutions can help you meet that demand and continue to have the ability to raise the bar.  

  • Connect Solutions to Your Marketing Strategy: Make sure your messaging meets the right people, at the right time with connected digital technology solutions. Now take that a step further and make sure it’s done in the right way!   
  • Connect Consumer Behavior Using Data: Tailor a personalized shopping experience for each lead using activated data. Look and interpret your insights and the actions they’re mapping out for you to take to capture both the consumer and the deal. 

It’s Time to Supercharge your Digital Marketing

Your dealership either thrives or struggles with data. At its core, the information that comes from your consumer data platforms isn’t useful just in itself, it’s what you DO with your data that matters. How you read and interpret it.  

An important question to ask yourself is what solutions do you have that turn your data and insights into actions? Once you get those actions, how are they enacted on? Gaining these behavioral insights will supercharge your data into understanding and having the ability to market with focus on:  

  • • Who’s your shopper?  
  • • What are they interested in?  
  • • How likely are they to buy?  
  • • What is their budget?  

This information should inform your online messaging, empower your sales team for in-person interactions, and build a personal and relevant experience for potential and existing customers.  

Plan to Increase AI

The connected experience goes way beyond traditional, and even non-traditional, car buying. Efficiency for the dealership depends on your ability to build trust and transparency through data-based decisions.   

While digesting insights via multiple data sets grows more and more complex, the role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is becoming more promising. AI can help you connect the most important behavioral insights to the needs of your sales team. This will not only help your sales team take more targeted actions that matter to drive business but help them get a more complete picture of the consumer to get them in the funnel faster.  

When planning your eCommerce strategy for the future, look for connections and actions AI can help you make, especially when bridging online and in-store experiences to fast-track them and make them more personalized. 

For the Road Forward

Technology is designed to deliver data to drive your business forward. But it’s very likely that your dealership solutions are disconnected, not capitalizing on what they were truly built for… to power your business and fuel your marketing. If they’re not set up to deliver the data in a way that is useful to your sales staff, it’s time to take a step back and do a hard reset.   

As you do, you’ll have a huge opportunity to ensure that the level of personalization you’re bringing to the table is meeting your customers’ high expectations. Not just now, but into the future. The bar has been set very high, and there’s no reason not to aim to exceed it when you have the ability to by connected your solutions, data, insights and actions.    

Cox Automotive has the most connected and comprehensive view of the automotive industry and offers unmatched data and insights into consumer behavior, automotive trends and operational best practices. Whatever your goals, we can help you get there faster to stay a step ahead and successful in today’s marketplace.    

For more insights on activating these capabilities and a deeper dive on unlocking the profit potential in your marketing automation, watch the full Bridging the Gap video / audio series. 

Sources: https://www.coxautoinc.com/news/2022-car-buyer-journey-study/  

Get The Most from Performance Management 

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At Dealer.com we believe partnership and accountability are key to lasting success at your dealership.  

That’s why we have a talented team of Performance Managers to offer expert digital marketing for car dealers. From delivering monthly insights to tweak your short-term digital marketing strategy, to ensuring you’re using our technology to seize every opportunity, your Performance Manager is always focused on your success.  

Are you already a Dealer.com and want to know how to best partner with your Performance Manager? Or are you thinking about partnering with the only end-to-end digital marketing in the industry? Here’s an overview of how our digital marketing experts can give you the tools to run a successful dealership. 

What to Expect 

You can expect your Digital Storefront Performance Manager to work with your team to show you the dos and don’ts of digital marketing and retailing, the strategies that drive sales, and the winning formulas that have worked with other dealers. With Dealer.com, you get  

  • Direct access to a skilled digital marketing expert with extensive experience in the automotive industry 
  • Proven marketing and branding strategies to help you stand out from the competition 
  • Best practices to work into your marketing, digital retailing, and sales processes 

The Power of True Digital Marketing Partnership 

Your Digital Storefront Performance Manager is always focused on your dealership’s success. Through regular consultation meetings, you get expert digital marketing and digital retailing advice and insights to customize your digital marketing strategy and ensure that you’re getting the most out of your solution to seize every sales opportunity. 

“We could not be happier with our experience from the website management to the automotive digital advertising. But most importantly the genuine team effort that our Performance Managers bring to the table.”  

Kara Berry Marketing & Communications Coordinator, Keller Ford, Michigan 

Get The Most from Performance Management  

With an average of at least three years of experience in automotive sales, Digital Storefront Performance Managers deliver digital marketing expertise, unrivaled industry knowledge, and a unique understanding of Cox Automotive technologies to help you run a successful digital dealership. Follow a dedicated support model with a team comprised of directors, managers, and digital marketers committed to implementing strategy changes. 

Ready to put the power and expertise of our Digital Storefront Performance Managers to work for your dealership? Schedule a consultation today.  

Noah Lee Education Series: KBB My Wallet

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At Cox, we’re all about creating a frictionless, end-to-end experience for customers. And with so many Cox Automotive solutions, we strive to create valuable connections between our solutions to deliver dealers and consumers real value.

That’s why we believe Cox Automotive marketing solutions—Dealer.com, Autotrader, and Kelley Blue Book— just work better together.  

One valuable connection that was unveiled at NADA Show 2023 that really takes the power of connection to the next level, is Kelley Blue Book My Wallet now being integrated into Dealer.com dealer Websites who have Accelerate My Deal.



Noah Lee, Senior Director of Product Consulting at Dealer.com, provides a quick overview of KBB My Wallet. He also demos how car shoppers can navigate the My Wallet tool on Dealer.com websites and easily complete even more steps of the car buying journey online with Accelerate My Deal.  

As the only end-to-end auto digital marketing agency, Dealer.com wants to help transform your digital retailing and increase your car buyer leads with a truly connected, end-to-end experience for consumers.

Schedule a demo today.   

What does Cookieless Future mean to Dealer.com Dealers

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Cookieless Futures

One of the many benefits of digital marketing is the ability to track and measure. Tracking has always allowed marketers to optimize the consumer experience and better understand behaviors to deliver more relevant messages. There are changes coming to how we track and measure online behavior, and you may have already heard about the “cookie-less future” and “updates to third-party cookies.”

First, let’s explain what a cookie is, what will change and how those changes will help automotive dealer in the US.

What is a cookie?

Technically, cookies refer to files or bundles stored on a user’s computer that hold data. They are two types of cookies

  • First-party cookies are unique to a specific website, and user data can only be collected and activated on that one specific website.
  • Third-party cookies are added to a device by other parties in agreement with the website they are visiting. Third-party cookies allow marketers to follow users around the internet to learn about their behaviors, and, in many cases, retarget them and build custom audiences.

As a marketer, the more we know about behaviors online, the more relevant ads we can present. 

What is changing with third-party cookies and how it affects dealership marketing?

As consumers have expressed increased concern over personal privacy and data, and as new regulatory laws have been passed, companies have had to adjust. Apple sparked the beginning of the end when it started blocking third-party ad tracking to protect its users. Google followed suit, it is currently set to phase out third-party cookies in Chrome by 2024.The new changes to stop supporting third-party cookies are designed to benefit the consumer.

These changes will have a major impact, though audience size may decrease, audience quality will increase. Placing third-party tags all around the web, to make a bunch of guesses about human behavior, is a poor way to build an audience. This practice can waste time and money and is not very effective. 

In reviewing many automotive data companies, there seems to be a lot of guesswork when building marketing audiences that are being resold. This system doesn’t help the car shopper or the marketer and can waste a lot of money — quickly.

And as you’re building out your audience strategy, there are some important questions to ask your potential conquest/big data partner. Make sure your potential partner can answer these questions with facts, stats and deep knowledge.

  • How are you collecting or buying data?
  • How are you activating on an audience?
  • How are you identifying in-market car shoppers?
  • How often are your consumer insights updating?

Make Intentional Changes to Make the Most of Digital Retailing

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Make Intentional Changes to Make the Most of Digital Retailing  

While sales and service activity are beginning to bounce back to normal rates for approximately 70% of franchise dealerships, according to the 2020 Cox Automotive COVID-19 Consumer & Dealer Impact Study, many of the changes implemented in dealerships appear to be here to stay. One of the most rapid and critical shifts in automotive digital marketing and operations is the rise of digital retailing.  

According to the same Cox Automotive study, 61% of shoppers want to do more of the purchase steps online compared to the last time they purchased a vehicle. In addition, 74% of franchise dealers have a digital retailing solution in place—a percentage that has remained steady since April.  

The ability to make virtual car sales may have once been a nice to have, but dealerships who have embraced digital retailing are proving how critical it now is to success.  

According to the latest research from Cox Automotive, dealerships whose staff have successfully embraced working in a digital environment are faring much better than others when it comes to generating automobile leads. Among dealerships who staff have not successfully adapted to a more digital environment, 60% are experiencing a sales decline and 50% are concerned about going out of business. Compare that to dealerships with a staff that has successfully adapted to a more digital environment; only 39% are experiencing a sales decline and 18% are concerned about going out of business.  

Dealers who have adapted to an online environment are experiencing higher performance. But adapting means more than buying a digital retailing solution; it requires meaningful, intentional change on dealers’ part. Here are a few key changes our team of experts recommend to make the most of digital retailing.  

Keep new customer preferences top of mind.  

“Consumers don’t want to go to a bunch of different spots online and have a disjointed experience. They want one connected experience. Today’s consumers want to feel in control of their car buying process, and they also want to know how to get help from a dealer without going into the showroom. That is a big shift in preferences.” 

-Wayne Pastore, Vice President of Operations, Dealer Marketing, Cox Automotive Dealer Software Solutions 

Market your offerings consistently.  

“Make sure you offer a consistent digital shopping experience across channels: your dealership website, third-party listings, both traditional and mobile. Allowing a customer to continue an experience, rather than start over, offers significant advantages and is a better experience overall.”  

-Mo Zahabi, Senior Director of Product Consulting, Dealer.com, Cox Automotive Digital Retailing, and VinSolutions 

Implement flexible processes.  

“As expected, consumer engagement with digital retailing has skyrocketed since March. Going forward, though, we have to realize though that there are different levels of digital retailing adoption, and today’s dealers need to be able to accommodate uber progressive customers as well as traditionalists.”  

-Chase Abbott, Senior Vice President of Sales, Dealer.com, Cox Automotive Digital Retailing, and VinSolutions  

Think about digital retailing beyond your website.  

“An interesting trend we’re seeing of late is an increased use of digital retailing tools for normal walk-in and lead traffic. As these tools become better and better and more integrated with all your dealerships sales and marketing tools, we’re seeing some dealerships use digital retailing for every deal—even if an old school customer walks in the door, the salesperson still puts that customer into the DR process themselves. Of course, you have some customers who will never go online only, but recent Cox Automotive research has shown us that a lot of more customers are considering it.” 

-Chase Abbott, Senior Vice President of Sales, Dealer.com, Cox Automotive Digital Retailing, and VinSolutions  

To learn more about how to move your dealership forward, download the Digital Marketing Playbook or contact your team of Cox Automotive Performance Managers. 

3 Silver Linings for Dealership Digital Marketers

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Thanks to an environment of social distancing and ever-changing ordinances, your dealership undoubtedly looks different than you expected it to at the beginning of the year. While there have been many barriers to success in the car business this year, several silver linings have emerged as well.  

The rapid shifts in the automotive retail industry – and the world in general – have created opportunities for your dealership to leverage technology to ensure business continuity and prepare for a more digital future.  

Challenge yourself and your team to see the silver linings of this challenging time, including these three for your dealership digital marketing department.  

1. Customers Are Providing Better Data – and More of It  

Digital marketing becomes more effective the more accurate data you have, and your customers are giving you more and better data as they shop and buy online. According to the 2020 Cox Automotive COVID-19 Consumer Impact Study, 71% of shoppers want to do more of the purchase steps online compared to the last time they purchased a vehicle.   

Customers have long wanted a personalized car-shopping experience, and that experience starts with targeted, relevant marketing. With more of the buying process now taking place online, customers are giving you more details digitally about what they are shopping for in their browsing behavior, including alternative vehicles of interest and payment options. With that new abundance of rich data, your dealership can personalize emails, website experiences, and more – quickly, efficiently, and at scale.  

2. Technology Translates Data into Value  

While increased online shopping and purchasing helps your dealership collect more data, it is efficient, integrated tools that help translate that data into bottom-line value for your business. Many valuable dealership marketing solutions, including video advertising and automated website experience optimization, already exist and are delivering results for digitally forward dealerships.  

Over the last eight weeks, dealers using video to present additional service recommendations to customers earned an average of more than $4.4 million in incremental fixed ops revenue, according to an analysis performed using 1,700 Xtime Spectrum Inspect dealerships. In addition, the number of shoppers submitting digital deals increased 108% from January 2020 to May 2020, according to Internal Consumer Use Data from Cox Automotive Product Analytics.  

3. Efficiency and Experience Will Set You Apart from the Competition  

We’ve seen that customer data and technology have proven to boost dealership results. Despite this, there are dealerships that still aren’t ready to make a long-term commitment to digital-first operations. Cox Automotive’s 2020 COVID-19 Impact Study indicates that half of dealers are considering going back to their old, non-digital methods once their communities “go back to normal,” despite overwhelming consumer preference and increasing gross profits associated with a more digital process. 

This means that your dealership has an opportunity to be set apart from the competition. Now is the time to quickly and intentionally implement the digital tools that will improve efficiency and customer experience. The truth is there is no “normal” to return to. Consumers now expect a faster, more convenient, digital experience when they buy or service a vehicle, and dealerships that recognize that now will be the ones who win long-term.  

Transforming an industry is hard, but you can do this! From the rise of the internet in 1999, to the Great Recession of 2008, to the crippling recalls of 2016, this industry has proven its resilience before. With a focus on these silver linings, you’ll continue to succeed by adapting to meet car buyers and service customers wherever and however they want to engage you.  

To learn more about how to move your dealership forward, download the Digital Marketing Playbook or contact your team of Cox Automotive Performance Managers.  

Specials Campaign Manager: Group Distribution & Prioritization Now Available

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By Marissa Coolidge, Product Delivery Manager – Dealer.com Websites

This fall, our engineers released some exciting updates to Specials Campaign Manager–based on your feedback. Specials Campaign Manager helps you quickly and easily create, manage, and distribute specials across your website experience and now, across multiple rooftops.

Let’s dive into the new functionality.

Group Distribution of Assets

Many OEMs and dealer groups syndicate creative down to individual rooftops. Sometimes these assets are required to appear first, and sometimes they are optional. We’ve enhanced Specials Campaign Manager to allow dealers to set their own rules and preferences for optional OEM branded and dealer-driven assets.

New: Distribution List Manager

Those who wish to syndicate specials to selected dealerships within a group now have ability to do so. Distribution Lists can be created and maintained in ControlCenter within Distribution List Manager. Check out these features, shown in Figure 1:

Figure 1: Distribution List Manager

  1. Create new distribution lists (+).
  2. Review and edit your existing lists.
  3. Rename, delete, or export your existing lists.
  4. Lists are ordered based on actual account hierarchy. Now you can distribute content from ANY group site, no matter how many or few rooftops it has.
  5. Quickly select all child accounts within a group.

New: Specials Campaign Manager Group Distribution

Specials Campaign Manager now also features convenient group asset syndication using the lists you’ve created using Distribution List Manager.

  • Dealer Groups and manufacturers can publish required specials to ensure compliance with brand guidelines.
  • Optional specials can now be easily distributed from a group or OEM to their applicable dealerships. This is especially helpful for rooftops without in-house design resources.

Figure 2a: Group Distribution
Group distribution of specials campaigns is easy.

Dealer.com Group Distribution
  1. Promote any vehicle matching make, model, and trim. Set and forget rules for including the vehicles or incentive content you want to promote. During the month, new inventory arriving on your lot that matches the special will automatically be included. There is no need to manually add additional stock to the special once it arrives after a special is created.

Figure 2b: Group Distribution, continued

Dealer.com Group Distribution 2
  1. Select from multiple website placement options. Content can be published for use across the website in slideshows, banners, and specials pages in one easy step—there is no need to create separate specials for each location or device.
  2. Distribute specials to dealership lists you’ve created and saved in Distribution List Manager. You can use as many lists as you need to make sure content is being pushed to the right stores.
  3. Convenient start and end dates. Publish content and custom assets across devices and locations all in one workflow, and expire content automatically.
  4. Assist dealers in promoting thier brand. Decide whether the content you’re distributing is required or optional for your dealers to display.

Viewing Your Active Specials Campaigns

By selecting Prioritize within Manage Campaigns, dealers can now see which campaigns are required by the OEM or group, (shaded in the example below), can quickly see where the specials were published from, reorder specials, and see offer end dates.

Figure 4: Campaign Prioritization
View and manage all of your specials campaigns in one place.

Dealer.com Campaign Prioritization
  1. View all required specials. Dealerships within a group can quickly see the order that required offers will appear on their website.
  2. Easily see where a special was published from.
  3. Re-order specials. Dealer-created and optional creative from the group can be moved easily by dragging and dropping.
  4. Easily identify special type. Flexible configuration options on the website easily filter what types are shown in which areas.
  5. Set up priority for the month all at once. As active offers expire, they will drop off the site, and the offers below them will move up to take their place. You can prioritize both active and pending specials all at once, when you enter your offers for the new month.
  6. Conveniently reference which distribution list(s) a special has been published to.

Who Is Getting the Release?

These enhancements to distribution and prioritization are automatically available for any Group, and reordering is available for any user with access to Specials Campaign Manager.

Need Additional Information?

Dealers with questions about Specials Campaign Manager or these enhancements can contact their Performance Consultant or Digital Strategist.

Our User Experience team is constantly evaluating ways to increase efficiency, website engagement and lead conversion—and deliver a digital storefront experience that helps you sell cars and service your customers.


Marissa is a 13-year veteran of Dealer.com, and has been working on advancing the Website Platform since 2009.