Category: Articles

Unlock the Profit Potential in Your Marketing Automation

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Introduction

The right automotive marketing strategies can boost your business’s profitability. We’ve identified several best practices for success: personalizing customer interactions, integrating multi-channel approaches, and continuously analyzing performance metrics. By focusing on these, you can unlock the true profit potential of your marketing automation tools. Let’s dive into these practices and see how they can transform your marketing efforts. 

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. 

Connect Consumer Behavior Using Data

Understanding and leveraging consumer behavior is fundamental to creating a personalized shopping experience. Here’s how you can do it: 

Data Activation: Utilize activated data to tailor personalized experiences for each lead. Whether it’s through targeted ads, personalized email campaigns, or tailored website content, data-driven personalization can capture both the consumer and the deal. 

Behavioral Insights: According to the 2022 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: Implement AI tools that allow for real-time analysis and adjustments. This agility will enable you to respond quickly to market changes and consumer behavior. 

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. 

Ready to take your marketing automation to the next level? Don’t miss out on our Bridging the Gap series for more tips and best practices. Watch the series now 

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. 

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?