Category: Digital Marketing Strategy

Enhance Your Digital Marketing Strategy: Key Insights from the 2023 Car Buyer Journey 

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The automotive industry is constantly evolving. To keep up with the changing demands of the industry, the annual Cox Automotive Car Buyer Journey (CBJ) allows dealers and OEMs to stay informed about the state of car buyer satisfaction with the overall vehicle shopping and buying experience.  

The 14th annual Car Buyer Journey study was released earlier this year, based on nearly 3,000 respondents who purchased or leased vehicles in the previous year. It sheds light on two significant points: 1.) The industry is NORMALIZING, and 2.) Dealers and third-party aggregators are RESILIENT.  

While we all might define ‘normal’ differently, particularly because of inflation, record profits, inventory fluctuations, and rapid digitization, we may finally be transitioning from those not so ideal times into a more stable place. The CBJ findings mark a turning point. 

Let’s explore the top 5 takeaways from the study and how they can contribute to enhancing your digital marketing strategy.  

#1: Vehicle Ownership is Not Going Anywhere  

91% of consumers told us they intend to use their own vehicle as their primary mode of transportation in the future, up significantly from 2018 (77%). With ride sharing and vehicle subscription trending in the last 5-8 years, there were predictions that consumers were moving away from personal ownership. However, we’re seeing the opposite.   

With personal transportation needs rising due to personal safety concerns since the pandemic, we see personal vehicle ownership is here to stay.  

Fewer consumers agree that ownership is NOT necessary (down from 43% in 2018 to 35%). And, nearly all consumers tell us they intend to leverage their own vehicle as their primary mode of transportation in the future (91% vs. just 9% who plan to use an alternative).    

WHAT TO DO: It’s more important than ever to enhance the customer experience – with personal vehicle usage up and the desire to own more than one car. In fact, there was a 36% increase in the number of buyers motivated to own more than one car in their household from 2022 to 2023. Ask yourself: 

  • What re-targeting campaigns are in place to retain your existing customers?  
  • What advertising strategy do you have in place to attract new customers? 

Leverage your CRM and activate your first-party data. Reach out to consumers in their preferred method and follow up with past customers to ensure they know how much you appreciate their business.  

#2: Satisfaction with the Shopping Journey Increased  

Overall satisfaction with the shopping experience is higher for both new and used car buyers: 73% for new (70% in 2022), and 68% for used (58% in 2022). The increase was influenced by three factors: 

  1. Better vehicle selection. Fewer consumers felt that there was limited inventory to choose from—39% in 2023 compared to 56% in 2022. 
  1. Better prices. 49% of consumers said prices were higher than expected in 2023 compared to 54% in 2022. However, these numbers are still significantly higher than they were in 2021. This indicates that affordability is still a pain point and even more so among the price-sensitive used buyers.  
  1. More dealer outreach with good deals. There’s been a significant increase in the number of consumers who mentioned that a dealer contacted them with some appealing incentives or some type of deal – 17% compared to 14% in 2022 and 12% in 2021.   

WHAT TO DO: It’s no secret that as inventory rebounded, so did shopper satisfaction with the overall purchase journey – now, with incentives rolling back in, ensure you are getting the right message in front of the right customer at the right time and in the right way. 

This starts with taking an in-depth look at your digital marketing strategy and focusing on your:  

  • Website: Ensure your website showcases relevant information your shoppers want to see. You have a short window to grab their attention, so your website should be personalized, easy-to-navigate, and data-driven.  
  • Advertising: Ensure you are utilizing the correct channels to target your in-market shoppers and serve them the information they want to see. Dealer.com’s Machine Learning and Real-time Bidding platform can analyze prior ad performance, vehicle detail page engagement, and browsing trends in real-time to ensure your ads are served to the most relevant buyers in your market. 

#3: Improved Online Efficiency 

Shoppers spent 1 hour and 8 minutes less when shopping in 2023 (13:31) than 2022 (14:39) as the experience became more efficient. This time spent means you have a shorter window to influence shoppers during their journey, so you must be more strategic and targeted. Delivering personalized content during the entire purchase process to keep shoppers engaged is crucial.  

Third-party sites have been resilient throughout the pandemic and chip shortage – consumers find them to be trustworthy, reliable, and unbiased. We found in our data that buyers are 57% more likely to visit third-party sites exclusively without having to visit the OEM sites especially among used buyers. 

WHAT TO DO: Take the data and insights you receive from third-party sites such as Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book™ and ACTIVATE them. These insights can be used to personalize messaging to stand out as the one to do business with because you know the shoppers wants and needs and can provide them with the experience they’re seeking. 

#4: The Retailing Experience was Top Notch 

Overall satisfaction with the shopping journey surged in 2023 from 61% to 69%. With inventory levels returning to pre-pandemic levels, your buyers are back heavily shopping your vehicle inventory. Contributing factors include heightened vehicle availability, the return of incentives, and a continued shift toward a more digital process. 

Encouraging shoppers to submit an enhanced lead yields higher satisfaction than a basic lead. In fact, satisfaction with the dealership was 10% higher AND 21% more rated their experience as better than their last purchase in 2023. The more you know about your shoppers, the more you can provide a personalized experience, and in turn, shoppers will be more satisfied with their interactions. 

WHAT TO DO: Elevate customer satisfaction to new levels by promoting enhanced lead submissions from your shoppers. The more shopper information you have means you can foster a more personalized experience that ultimately results in higher satisfaction throughout the buying journey.  

#5: Digital Retailing Continues to be Highly Beneficial 

Buyers are moving toward an omnichannel experience—a mix of both in-person and online steps. The key is to have different ways to buy based on the shopper’s preference, then ensure that the deal carries forward no matter online or in-person. Seamlessness is the name of the game, and the modern dealers that make this the focus of their strategy are seeing some pretty big payoffs in both consumer satisfaction and driving profits. 

WHAT TO DO: There’s ongoing opportunity for improvement in dealmaking processes, particularly with the ongoing shift towards digital retailing. 81% of shoppers surveyed said digital retailing improved the overall buying experience. Consider mapping out the necessary steps for your dealership to embrace a more digital future, while addressing current gaps such as financing. This includes integrating digital retailing solutions seamlessly onto your website and providing comprehensive content to educate customers on utilizing the available tools effectively. 

Adapting to consumer behavior, regardless of economic challenges or industry shifts, is key to staying ahead. By aligning your dealership and digital marketing approach with the desires, needs, and preferences of today’s shoppers, you can provide a customer experience that not only attracts their attention but also leads to successful sales. 

Utilize these insights to elevate your digital marketing efforts and access our latest infographic for a bite-sized overview of the top five takeaways. 

Delivering a Consumer Experience Online – The 5 Key Steps 

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The next great phase of the automotive consumer experience is happening online. Your buyers are not only purchasing online, but they’re also making intelligent decisions about payment plans, researching competitors, and weighing their options. And they’re doing it all in a matter of minutes.  

The good news is—if you’re smart—you can have an important role in this journey from the very first moment using insights and data from connected technologies and solutions designed to deliver the best-in-class consumer experience.  

Delivering the digital promise of a faster, more convenient experience for your buyers is within reach for any dealer looking to modernize. And when you follow the following five key steps, that are pillars for delivering an extraordinary online experience, your future will include higher quality leads that result in higher profits and increased business.   

#1: Build a Strategy to Capture More Leads  

More of the car shopping process is indeed moving online. But capturing a virtual shopper isn’t as simple as publishing or updating your website and waiting for your next buyer to offer up their information.  

Car shoppers are leaving hints about their intentions in various ways and it’s up to intelligent data and insights to connect and decipher who and what to do with that information. According to the most recent Car Buyer Journey study from Cox Automotive, 57% of those surveyed visited a third-party site without visiting an OEM site.1  

What does this ultimately mean to your business and marketing strategy? There’s no more room to sit back and passively wait for your next buyer to hand over their information. Dealers need to build a strategy focused on taking the data and insights from third parties like Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book and turn them into actions to take. That their solutions and team can act on easily and swiftly. 

How much of a difference could those third-party listings sites possibly make? Consider this: Autotrader attracts over 29 million unique visitors each month. How many additional car shoppers would you like viewing your listings? Build a strategy around that and align your business objectives with the partners that can deliver. 

Autotrader sees 29 million unique visitors per month. 2 

#2: Measuring Quality in a Quantity Focused World 

Once you set into motion the right strategy mix of tools and digital marketing solutions needed to drive higher volume to your listings, you’ll notice that not all leads are created equal. Although quantity is typically a focus, quality should be the true measure. 

It’s no longer about how many leads you get each day, but whether those leads are quality leads comprised of ready-to-buy shoppers — and how quickly your solutions and sales teams can tell the difference.  

There’s a stark difference in leads more likely to convert vs. leads that simply clog up your sales pipeline. So, what’s the primary driving differentiator? Smart data. Take for example Cox Automotive’s vast treasure trove of first-party shopper data drives nearly twice as many purchases to dealerships than any other third-party listing site. 

Chasing a few bad leads here and there may not seem like a big deal… until you do the math. Let’s say two salespeople working on 200 bad leads per month, at 10 minutes per lead, making calls, sending emails, videos and texting. Add it up and you’ve just wasted 16 hours of their time per person, every single month. Now look at what that looks like over a calendar year and you’re looking at 192 hours – that’s close to 5 full work weeks! 

Be sure to set up metrics and have discussions with your marketing team and leaders at your dealership or within your organization to discuss why quality vs. quantity should be your goal and map out how you’ll reach that. 

#3: Connect with Digital Consumers with Powerful Personalization  

As the old saying goes… It’s not just what you say, but how you say it. Now layer in and how the message is received when it comes to marketing around any large purchase decision—especially one as big as your next car.  

Total time spent by consumers researching and shopping is 13:31 

Personalization in digital marketing matters to your car shopper. Before you even begin building your strategy, make sure you have a partner by your side willing to work just as hard to understand your unique business goals, to provide personalized solutions and give expert guidance. At Autotrader, we’re constantly innovating our consumer experience to attract and retain more qualified, ready-to-buy shoppers and deliver higher-quality leads that close. 

Every month, over 4 million unique shoppers use Kelley Blue Book® My Wallet to help them find a vehicle within their budget and determine their estimate monthly payment.2 

2 Source: Autotrader and KBB.com Google Analytics January – August 2023 

Here are some insights revealed in the annual Car Buyer Journey Study to help you with delivering an experience with personalization which ultimately increased consumer satisfaction levels even more. Consider this a check list for you and your team to strategize around how to be the one that stands out to the consumer: 

Are you leveraging your consumer data to uncover shopper insights?  

Everyone has data – first party, second party and third party – but what are you doing with that data to activate it and turn it into actions you and your team can take to drive profits? That’s the key to data, use it to personalize your interactions and show you know who the shopper is, what they want, and you are the one they should do business with.  

Are you taking it a step further and tailoring your strategy to meet the consumer’s needs? 

Data and insights should reveal actions you should take, especially when it comes to how to personalize your marketing strategy. When you do this, you’ll have the ability to tailor the experience based on what the consumer is showing you they prefer and prioritize.  

Are you utilizing the power of personalization to lessen the chance of attrition? 

With increased cross-shopping happening due to affordability hurdles many of today’s shoppers are facing, it’s important to remember you can use personalization to not only capture new shoppers to you and your brand, but also to re-conquest previous customers and retain existing ones. Make sure to stay in front of your customers, in the right way, at the right time. Remind them why you are their dealer of choice… because you KNOW them! They already like and trust you – so build off that. If you lost some clients over the past few years, reach out to them showing you still know and value them and are ready to deliver the personalized experience they both want and deserve.   

 Kelley Blue Book ® My Wallet Enhancements  

To lead more shoppers successfully through the early stages 

of the shopping funnel and into the buying funnel, 

Autotrader is adding new features to Kelley Blue Book My Wallet, 

including Payoff Quote, Credit Verification and Lease Configuration tools, 

which will allow shoppers to get more personalized, accurate payment 

and price information, resulting in richer sales-ready leads for dealers.  

#4: Deliver the Digital Retailing Experience that Drives Shoppers to Purchase  

As more of the deal becomes digital, the car buying experience will become faster and more personal for your buyers. (That’s the goal, at least.) Miss the mark at that, and your buyers will go looking for a smoother, easier experience somewhere else—and quickly!  

90% of dealers surveyed claimed digital retailing had positively impacted at least one area of their business. 

Fortunately, on-line deal building has been a bonus to businesses as 90% of dealers surveyed claimed digital retailing has positively impacted at least one area of their business. As you unlock new digital paths, each new solution should pull shoppers deeper into the purchase funnel to drive faster, smoother and even more profitable deals. 

#5: Leverage the right experts and partners to accelerate profits  

Leveraging the right partners is essential to amplify your digital presence. Be sure to align your partnerships with experts that can show with data (and results!) active in-market car shoppers are on, active and engaged on their sites. Saying it is one thing, but showing results in the form of consistently accelerated profits is another thing – the thing you should be most focused on. 

Third party sites have proven they weather the changing conditions in the marketplace. In the most recent Car Buyer Journey study, it was discovered in the data that buyers are 57% more likely to visit third party sites exclusively without having to visit the OEM sites, especially among Used buyers.  

So stay in front of consumers on third party sites because that’s where they are, and they’re entertaining different brands, different makes and models, and different types of vehicles than they might have originally intended. 

36% Higher Gross Profit Per Lead than the closest competitor 2 

It goes without saying, having the right experts and partners in your corner can make a huge difference in driving business. Enhanced dealership marketing solutions from Autotrader crush the competition resulting in higher profits than the closest competitors. It’s possible to reach farther, close faster and profit more when you lean into automation, digital retailing and solutions designed to deliver quality leads. 

For the Road Forward 

When you deliver, meet and exceed today’s consumers’ expectations by creating a more personalized shopping and buying experience, you end up with more sales-ready leads for your sales team. It’s a win-win!  

At Autotrader, we’re constantly innovating our consumer experience to attract and retain more qualified, ready-to-buy shoppers and deliver higher-quality leads that close.  

Discover how Autotrader can help you connect with today’s digital consumers and capture more leads, delivering the automotive experience that drives ready-to-buy shoppers further down the purchase path in this guide: The Difference Better Leads and Higher Profits Can Make for Your Dealership: Experience that moment when you close more leads with 36% more profit. 

Sources: 

1 2023 Car and Buyer Journey Study 

2 Comscore data, Autotrader and KBB.com traffic combined, Jan to Aug 2023 

The Cookieless Future has Arrived

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Close-up view on conceptual keyboard - Cookies (red key)

As a leading provider of digital marketing solutions for the automotive industry, Cox Automotive has been closely watching and keeping our partners apprised of developments that affect their ability to reach consumers and grow their business.   

For nearly two years, we have been anticipating a time when consumers’ desire for web browsing privacy – and regulators’ intention to mandate it – would come together to kill the tracking cookie as we’ve known it. With the September 2023 release of Google’s Chrome browser update, we’re seeing that moment inching closer.  

Until recently, any website could add a cookie to a user’s browser and track them wherever they went online, storing the information on the site’s server. Often companies would partner to exchange this data to get more insights into a user’s behaviors and preferences. This allowed them to target their marketing more effectively to consumers who had demonstrated their interests.  

With the Chrome update, Google now stores user behavior and activity data within the browser where advertisers cannot access it. The Google Chrome developers’ site says it is phasing out support for third-party cookies beginning in mid-2024.  

Wondering what this could mean for your business? We addressed some focus areas and most asked questions that Cox is prioritizing to stay abreast of the cookieless future so our dealers can continue having success.  

AUDIENCE SEGMENTATION AND ACTIVATION

To address ongoing cookie loss when using third-party pixels, Cox is moving to Server-Side Data connections and APIs. This will allow us to have more durable data signals while remaining privacy compliant. We will also consider Clean Room solutions to provide a secure environment to bring data from different places together for joint analysis. Adhering to privacy parameters and creating the safest place for data sharing and transfer will be extremely important.  

For first-party pixels, we’ll continue using Cox Automotive Identity Graph to help us track and use specific IDs or personal consumer information. To maximize this approach, we want to help ensure your dealer websites are focused on collecting identifiable information, like consumer email addresses or logins during browsing sessions.   

CAMPAIGN AND CONSUMER ANALYTICS AND TRACKING

Campaign Performance and Tracking 

We expect to see fewer conversions being tracked overall. We also expect to see increases in discrepancies from our data verification partners since some data points that are monitored rely on cookies. (e.g., Our verification partner may see the user as being outside their geography when the delivery platform does not.)   

 Server-side will be able to handle signal resiliency issues for the platforms that have Conversions APIs available (mostly social platforms). For other platforms, curated solutions are in developed.   

Consumer Journey Analytics 

Some blocking solutions on browsers will strip some of our tracking mechanisms by default. This would impact some reporting elements for dealers. Since the consumer journey will rely more heavily on identifiable information collected during website visits such as email address or logins, it’s more important than ever to focus on first-party data activation. Read this Dealer.com article on how to collect, connect, and activate your first-party data as you prepare for the cookieless future.  

Additionally, Chrome released an article in August 2023 about Related Website Sets. This may be a solution to customer journey breakage that relies on first-party cookies.   

At Cox, we are committed to helping our dealers throughout the deprecation of third-party cookies. We will continue working on ways to ensure our dealers feel confident with this industry shift and will be there every step of the way to ensure maximum success. We will continue releasing information about the approach we are taking to tackle the future with no third-party cookies.  

Progress, not Perfection. How to Take Your Advertising Up a Notch.  

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Author: Shane Unrein

Advertising SME Blog

Listen, I get it! Staying on top of all-things advertising can be a daunting task. This is a fast-moving space that seemingly evolves daily. From Google rolling out new campaign-types each quarter, like pMax+, to Meta offering verified business checkmarks that help customers feel confident they’re dealing with a legit brand, all these changes affect your advertising in very real ways. We constantly see new advertising capabilities surface that can help dealers reach their customers in what can feel like an endless space.  

However, taking your advertising to the next level does not have to be a massive, time-consuming evolution. It is worth remembering that there is no such thing as “perfection” in this sometimes-confusing space – that is an illusion – we aim for progress! 

Something I’ve learned in my years as Director of Advertising at Dealer.com is that many dealers are only on the cusp of what their advertising strategy can do. Excuse me for taking advantage of a few overused clichés, but there is almost certainly some low-hanging fruit that could mean more traffic on your website and your showroom floor. I’m not talking about reinventing the wheel here or buying a whole social media platform just to change the name to a single letter for the sake of headlines.   

A stale strategy is paramount to failure. But there are steps you can take to beef up your advertising strategy, small things that we can do today can have an impact. 

As we have known for decades, most organisms will grow to the size of their environment, reaching out towards the limits of their domain and then slowing their expansive growth at the edges, becoming rigid – a marketing campaign is no different. Like most successful species, innovative advertising strategies need to be elastic, have room to flex, and be ready to push your boundaries with a diversified media plan.   

Allocating just 8-12% of your monthly advertising budget to evolving your marketing and communications channels can reveal a lot about the topography of your space. You’ll get a better view of what works for you – and what doesn’t – and how much room you have to grow.  Try something new for 45 to 60 days, assess the results, and pivot accordingly.  Avenues that you wrote off a few years ago may prove fruitful, or perhaps a channel you hadn’t considered is now blowing up because of technological strides in targeting or audience capabilities.  

 

Ip targeting

While doing channel discovery testing (which is distinctly different than traditional A/B asset testing) it is important to note that what works for some advertisers doesn’t always work for everyone. And what worked in the past won’t always work in the future!  So many external factors affect the market and buzzy trends tend to capture industry headlines.  But continued and repeated channel testing can often lead to breakthroughs, even on a seasonal basis.  

Why are you not using data?       

In today’s ecosystem, the key to staying in front of high-value car shoppers is with first-party data and audience targeting is the keystone. First-party data allow you to: 

  • Predict Auto Shopper and Consumer Behaviors 
  • Gain Audience Insights 
  • Personalize Content and Advertisements 
  • Define and Map Out the Customer Journey 

First-party data also gives you valuable insights into audience demographics, product-interest engagement metrics, lease or financing options, and service specials, just to name a few. This data also informs us on what customer behaviors are prevalent within an individual’s web activity, which gives you the ability to not only understand more about your consumer but have a clearer picture of how you can effectively reach them at the right time.  These are insights that third-party cookies or purchased list data just can’t compete with. 

 

3rd party data

How many of you are using your own data?  

There are three areas that immediately come to mind when thinking about how to activate the first-party data that you probably already have at your dealership, information you’ve been collecting since the first day you opened your doors.  

Your CRM – This is direct access to your customers’ behavior and can help you with lead management and marketing. Your CRM can be a treasure trove of information on your customers that you can harness to get your message in front of the right people.  

Your Website – Uncover the pages that shoppers have visited on your website, what specific offerings or vehicles they’ve looked at, when they signed up for email specials or price alert notifications, or any of the other ways they’ve engaged with your site.  

Your Email Engagement Strategy – Your consumer emails give you insights into what your target audience engages with. You’d be shocked if I told you most dealers don’t focus on analyzing and activating these insights. You can have a clear picture of what that consumer is interested in so you can use it to tailor your marketing to them and create those critical personalized experiences.  

If you’re already advertising with Cox then you have access to our huge dataset, hyper IP targeting, and cookie-less household addresses. But setting aside just an hour per month to format and upload the info you already have, which we layer onto our own data, can help give a more accurate picture of your customer’s path to purchase, and that’s something we can really use! 

We live in a visual world, now more than ever. 

 

Gosling meme

You heard about Barbenheimer, right? 

Here’s a secret; every agency uses the same providers. Google, Facebook, Instagram, CTV/OTT, etc. are essentially the same platform no matter who is at the wheel. What sets agencies apart is their data – which we talked about above – and the ability to manage creative, especially when it comes to visual mediums like CTV/OTT and Display ads, and creative collaboration is a big part of any successful equation. Fresh, professional-looking creative can make or break the success of a campaign.   

One thing we’ve seen over the years is that, despite best intentions, visual assets often become an afterthought for many clients.  The focus of strategy discussions invariably drifts to campaign budget allocations, search ad copy, or keywords, but these things are slowly disappearing as our world increasingly becomes more bite-sized and visually oriented.  Google’s Performance Max campaign type relies heavily on custom static creative and video messaging, as does CTV/OTT, and Cox’s proprietary audience-targeted display and dynamic remarketing.   

Evergreen Visual Assets – In this new world, it has become imperative that dealers have evergreen assets that act as an anchor for these newer, visually engaging channels.  Crafting an overarching message about your business, that speaks to the customer not about individual products but branding of the buying process, must be the core of these campaigns.  From there, we can build on the message for more seasonal messaging that is more surgical in nature; monthly specials, limited-time deals, or rare inventory, to name just a handful. 

Whether you supply your own custom assets or have our Content and Creative teams build them out, it is important not to let this slip through the cracks. 

Build on momentum.  Finding what works for your business can be uniquely individual. We can analyze broad consumer data to get the broad strokes, but identifying what has worked for your dealership, in your market, is the key to unlocking the inertia within the data.  Using the Email Engagement Strategy above as an example, we can see what types of imagery and verbiage worked well to guide our digital strategy.  Did people respond to a specific deal or phrasing, did they respond to a specific product image or color, or is the market culture focused on a specific topic that is locally relevant?  

Our Barbie meme above show just how much outside “momentum” can affect outcomes. 

With a little coordination, the momentum you get from a well-crafted marketing blast, physical mailer, or even signage can all be reproduced in your digital campaigns, especially as the industry moves quickly towards a more-visual mindset. 

At the end of the day, though, the best way to find success is to test, fail, and test again.  And make no mistake, just because an idea isn’t a homerun this time doesn’t mean we can’t learn from it!  Frequent testing and refinement, combined with continually evolving audience data, is the new normal for digital advertising.  

Cox Automotive Channel Intelligence

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Channel Intelligence uses Cox Automotive’s vast consumer dataset to provide tailored recommendations for automotive advertising to targeted audiences.

How does Channel Intelligence work?

By analyzing consumer behaviors, our advanced machine-learning algorithm identifies the most effective advertising channels. This personalized approach optimizes channel performance, resulting in more leads and cost efficiencies. By reallocating advertising funds based on recommendations, businesses can maximize marketing efforts and achieve better results, reducing the need for ineffective strategies.

Interested in learning more? Have a look at our Channel Intelligence infographic:

Better Sales Start with Better Advertising

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When most dealers think about advertising, it’s either afterthought or treated as a siloed piece of a dealership marketing plan. And it’s often thought of as the last part of the marketing plan, when in fact it should be the first piece of consideration to really build out a full-proof, lead-generating, profit maximizing digital marketing plan.   

Advertising is:  

  1. One of the first touch points you can have with a customer  
  1. The entry point to your website  
  1. The first step into your digital retailing process   

In today’s automotive world, dealership websites must do more than navigate shoppers the car inventory. But here is the thing, having a good website on its own is only a partial solution to getting more quality leads and turning cars on the car lot – dealers must take a holistic approach to beef up their entire digital marketing strategy. Without effective advertising, they’re truly missing out. 

The Automotive Industry is Changing. Is Your Marketing Strategy Keeping Up?   

In today’s tumultuous world, in-market auto shoppers have new and different considerations during the shopping journey, such as fluctuating interest rates, inflation concerns, inventory shortages, and more.  To stay competitive, dealers must have new and different ways of grabbing their attention. A successful strategy should be firmly centered on meeting consumers where they are. No longer a linear path, consumers follow the purchase path in different ways, at different times, and take different steps in a different order. 

It’s no longer enough to rely on contextual targeting to capture the attention of the right buyer, right when they’re most impressionable. Broad contextual placements generate waste through low-value impressions and low engagement. On the other hand, audience targeting leverages the intelligence of behavioral data and serves your message to the shoppers who are most likely to buy. 

Modern Challenges Require Modern Solutions. 

There are many factors contributing to the need for dealers to focus on perfecting their advertising strategy:  

  • Consumers are spending more time online. 52% of buyers who reported limited inventory selection said they spent more time researching and shopping online as a result. This presents an opportunity to strategically target car shoppers with cars they want to see based on their shopping behaviors. With access to exclusive Cox Automotive dealers can leverage these insights to serve up the exact car consumers are looking for. 
  • The cookieless future is upon us. We’ve all heard it – third-party cookies are going away. Dealers must have access to first-party data that allows them to gain insights on their customers to effectively market and advertise to them. Will your dealership be ready? 
  • Digital retailing is the road forward. Advertising can be the entry point to your dealership digital retailing process. And because 70% of shoppers are more likely to buy from a dealer if they can start their deal online, it’s important to use targeted advertising to reach potential car buyers.  
  • A new way to buy ads across Google Ads inventory. Google PMax was created to help advertisers reach customers more effectively and drive better results through automation. These ads allow the dealers to promote their inventory to interested and relevant shoppers online by featuring them in the most desirable real estate on Google’s search results page.  

Dealer.com Advertising delivers data-driven intelligent advertising so dealers can own the moments that matter most for their customers. With the right data, the right partner, and the right innovations to bring it all together, Dealer.com Advertising helps reach the right consumer with the right message at precisely the right time in the buying process and service selection, providing a superior dealership experience. 

+28% More Advertising Leads 

And as dealers think about creating an effective Advertising strategy, the need three things: the right data, the right technology, and the right expertise.  

The Right Data: In the fast-approaching world without third-party cookies, dealers can use our Cox Automotive proprietary data to build audiences on each buyer’s intent and predict the make with 90% accuracy and exact model with 55% accuracy that those evaluators lowest in the funnel will purchase in the next 30 days.  

The Right Technology: Choose the channels that work best and adjust your strategy in real-time. With proprietary Advertising Management software, dealers can identify opportunities for growth and optimization, so they can shift with their market and maximize the impact of their advertising spend.  

The Right Expertise: With Dealer.com Advertising, dealers can achieve your advertising goals with the help of our highly trained Advertising Architects who specialize in every area of marketing strategy, understand how to leverage the largest first- party data source in the automotive industry, and help dealers get the most out of your advertising spend. 

With Dealer.com, you get a data-driven partner that delivers real results, powered by exclusive Cox Automotive data. 

+13% More Website Visits  

+25% More Vehicle Display Page Views 

Advertising is usually a siloed piece of a marketing plan, but it must be considered at the front end, not the back. If you are just worried about website reach and closing deals, you are too far down the funnel because it all starts with advertising.  

Want to learn more about beefing up your dealership advertising strategy? Download our guide for the effective practices being used by today’s top dealerships.  

Step by Step: How Car Consumers are Reshaping the Road Forward

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Having a digital presence as well as online capabilities is something every auto dealer needs in order to do business in today’s times. However, it’s not just a Field of Dreams scenario – if you build it, they will come. Today’s consumers have specific wants, needs and preferences in how they can purchase cars, and it’s reshaping the process for consumers, dealers and the industry alike on a whole.

In order to plan for the road forward, successful dealers know mid-year is the perfect time to take a look at both their current business and marketing strategies, as well as map out how they plan to step into and bridge into the eCommerce future that is already knocking on their front door.  

To do this, it’s important to understand where consumers are, where they’re heading, and what your business should be moving toward for the road forward.

Consumer needs and preferences are reshaping the purchase process

When thinking about today’s consumer, it’s important to remember there’s been an evolution in the way they research, shop, and purchase cars. Especially over the last few years. In-market auto shoppers have new and different considerations during the shopping journey, and you must have new and different ways of strategizing and running your business than you did in years past.

A successful strategy should be firmly centered on meeting consumers where they are. No longer a linear path, consumers follow the purchase path in different ways, at different times, and take different steps in a different order.

But by focusing on personalization and offering a frictionless purchase path that both aligns with their needs while simultaneously overcoming their pain points, you’ll still arrive at the end goal of making the sale and giving your customer the experience, they desire. Staying in front of them, no matter where they’re at in the process, is key.

With so many different types of shoppers that your dealership comes across online, it’s important to take a step back and do a deeper dive into who those customers are, what their pain points are, and how you can offer solutions to not only capture their attention, but also gain their trust and business.

Cox Automotive’s recent Car Buyer Journey Study identified five (5) segments of consumers, and the two (2) categories that they fall in – one shrinking in the market and one growing.

Growing Segments:

Comprised of two different segments, the growing category includes Efficient Independents and Guided Innovators. Efficient Independents comprise roughly 18% of today’s market, and they’re mostly Gen X’s (1965-1980) and Millennials (1981-1996). The largest sector is the Guided Innovator. They make up a quarter of in-market auto shoppers. They’re the youngest – being comprised mostly of Gen Z (1997-2012) and Millennials.

Both growing segments prefer to buy online – with 75% of them saying within the next 5 years they would buy entirely online and currently complete 10 out of 13 purchase process steps online.

Shrinking Segments: It’s also important to note that the three (3) other segments found in the shrinking category are more likely to still buy in-person, however they still take some steps online during the purchase process. The Researchers, Traditionalists and Resisters prefer a process they are familiar with and that’s worked for them previously, that’s very straightforward and simple. These shoppers typically only complete 4 out of 13 shopping steps online.


So, what are the opportunities here for you? We can see how consumers want to do business online, but it’s important to remember it’s still new for them. Focus on educating them and bringing them along the purchase path with you. Your business and marketing strategy should be dialed into those growing segments. They’re online, and in our “Amazon world” they’re open to or moving toward buying high ticket items online, like cars, predominately online both now as well as in the very near future.

Advantages to stair stepping your digital retailing tools into eCommerce

Not every in-market auto shopper wants the same things from their online experience, but one thing they all do want is options. Our research shows that consumers don’t want to follow a prescribed sales process. In fact, 9 of 10 consumers prefer a flexible, personalized car buying experience.

With a complete full service-connected digital retailing experience, like that provided by Cox Automotive, you can give them just that.

Unlike digital retailing, eCommerce directs customers to complete the purchase through an online store.

When it comes to promoting and marketing digital retailing and eCommerce, there are several different strategies that businesses can use.

Digital Retailing Strategy:

It’s important to focus on creating a user-friendly experience for customers when it comes to digital retailing. This includes optimizing your website or mobile app for search engines, ensuring that customer service is top-notch, and using targeted advertising to reach potential customers. You also want to give shoppers the tools to explore the information they are comfortable researching or calculating on their own (inventory, trade-in values, financing terms/payments, F&I products) and make it easy for them to move and bridge the process to the dealership when they’re ready. Being able to easily pick up where they left off will increase their confidence, satisfaction and willingness to do business with you.

eCommerce Strategy:

Businesses should focus on creating a visually appealing online store that’s easy to navigate as they shift toward the full eCommerce experience. Other strategies to consider include using social media to reach customers, running targeted ads, and optimizing content for SEO. Additionally, businesses should consider using customer relationship management (CRM) software to store customer data and track customer activity. Everything from the car, to add-ons, to financing, to delivery and so on should be connected and seamlessly lead into each other.

Overall, digital retailing and eCommerce are two very different forms of retailing. However, both can be successful if dealerships take the time to properly promote, market, and educate the consumer on them and how their business integrates them. By taking advantage of strategies such as SEO optimization, targeted advertising, and actively using the many features of CRM software, dealerships can maximize their chances of success for their business in both digital retailing and eCommerce.

Is automotive eCommerce the way of the future?

Automotive eCommerce is becoming more and more popular as a way of retailing because it’s all about convenience. With eCommerce, customers have access to a much wider selection of vehicles and access new markets than they normally would. Additionally, they can browse through different models and features at their own pace and make informed decisions before making a purchase.

Today’s consumers both want and expect a flexible, personalized car buying experience on their timeline. And eCommerce provides exactly that.

What can you do now to prepare for the automotive eCommerce revolution?

In the beginning as you work step-by-step from having a few digital retailing solutions toward being fully eCommerce enabled, it’s essential to have a strong online presence. This may sound easy, but it involves more than you may think, and it’s built brick by brick, step by step.

Sure, this strategy includes setting up a high functioning easy-to-navigate website, creating a social media presence, and using SEO and PPC, but it also includes building strategies around integrating eCommerce technology into your business plan and timeline as it is adopted within your business and how you’ll market it. When you plan for the shift, it will make it easier for you to track customer preferences and trends if you make it possible for your customers to browse and buy vehicles directly from your site.

For the road forward

The automotive industry is on the cusp of a revolution, and working toward stair stepping your digital retailing into eCommerce is at the forefront of this change. By creating an online presence and integrating eCommerce technology into your business model, then supporting it with a thought-out marketing and consumer educational plan, you can ensure that you’re prepared for the future of the automotive industry.

Reshaping is and will continue to happen to the auto purchase process. And as times and consumer preferences change, so must your business plans and strategy. When you leverage the power of mixing, matching and modernizing your digital retailing toward full eCommerce capabilities, you’ll not only reach more customers and streamline operations, but you’ll also have the ability to unlock the potential for your business’s future success.

Want to hear all the ways to fully activate your first party data to plan for a more successful road forward? Catch the replay of a unique webinar opportunity with Automotive News hosted by Jade Terreberry and Noah Lee. They share examples of actions you should take now, and outline strategies successful dealerships and OEMs are implementing to make the most of your marketing efforts and dollars.

Access the on-demand replay.

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.  

The 3 Ways Today’s Auto Dealers Should Reinvent their Digital Future

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After taking in the results to Cox Automotive’s annual 2022 Car Buyer Journey Study, it was clear that the impacts of digitalization were not only being felt by today’s consumers, but should ring a loud sounding bell for dealerships and OEMs alike to reexamine and reinvent how they do business online.  

Some of the results from the over 10,000 auto shoppers surveyed were a surprise, while others were something our industry had predicted to see continue to trend. But whether a surprise or a given, the undercurrent sentiment of today’s consumers’ wants, needs and preferences all pointed to 3 specifics things.  

Together, let’s take a different look at your business and marketing plans, and consider the 3 ways successful auto dealers are reshaping their current and future digital strategies to stay profitable and stand out to their ideal customer as the one to do business with. 

#1:  Online research – An opportunity to capture and recapture 

With inventory shortages being a headline last year in our industry, it probably isn’t a surprise that auto shoppers had to spend more time online researching when it came to purchasing their car.  

Thankfully, inventory challenges have started to ease, but we’re still seeing fluctuations within the industry. Some dealerships still have little to no inventory, while on the other hand others with a flip of a switch suddenly had a full lot at the end of last year. And still, many dealers are struggling to keep a consistent inventory of cars that have the packages and features their consumers actually want.  

One other important thing to note is that the number of vehicles available, especially new vehicles, is still much lower compared to this time just a few years ago. For that reason, cross-shopping activity has grown within the last year and brand defection is happening at heightened rates.    

This presents an opportunity to gain and stand out to new customers, especially if competitors aren’t putting the needed focus and investment into retaining their customers.   

  64% of buyers considered both new and used vehicles, 

which is up significantly from 55% in 2021  

Today’s auto shopping experience has become less about finding the perfect vehicle, and more about finding any vehicle that ticks some of the boxes and fits within a consumer’s budget with increased interest rates and reduced manufacturer incentives.    

It’s time to reset your CRM 

Seeing that consumers showed less loyalty to dealerships and brands in 2022, especially new vehicle buyers, moving forward this will be an important segment of car buyers dealers should focus on and win-back. Staying alongside and in-front of them will take on an even more important role at the dealership over the next few years. 

Traditional cadence vs. Needed cadence: Take the time within your CRM system to really look at what cadence and automations you currently have set up. Timelines have shifted due to inventory fluctuations, interest rates and doing more of the deal online – so the old ways of mapping things out in 7 day, 10 day, 30 day, 60 day, 90 day and so on may no longer be relevant.    

You’ll have to set different timelines and different funnels depending on the shopper’s or previous customer’s situation, and you should be fast-tracking and educating the ones that are actively communicating with you what the possibilities are.   

Lease Customers: In your CRM, don’t just rely on the OEMs automated lease notifications to your customers. It’s important to elevate your spotlight on these customers. They might need a different interval and set of communications based on if your brand isn’t really offering attractive lease incentives or if you know that you’ll probably still be facing some inventory challenges when that customer comes off lease. Remember, many lease customers were originally captured due to the attractive pricing, or having a new car every few years that is worry free.  

Activate your CRM by reaching out to them well ahead of the normal curve, say 9 months before, educating them on the situation now, what they’d most likely face, and remind them of the advantages your brand and dealership offers. That way if they’d like to stay in a lease – great! You can pre-order a car or ensure one will be available for them. Or… if they want to buy but need help planning for financing options – you can help facilitate and ensure you keep them as a lifetime value client.   

Remember – there is extreme financial value in lifetime value clients, and you don’t want to lose their loyalty or have them cross-shopping if you can be proactive with your CRM and stay alongside and in front of those clients.  

Content influences vehicle choice 

Let’s face it, customers are less likely to find their first-choice vehicle, so they do have to look for alternatives. With more cross-shopping, consumers are more reliant on content to help influence their vehicle selection.   

69% of new car buyers who changed their mind 

during shopping cited content as the most important factor 

for learning about other brands and vehicles   

For example, a Honda loyalist may be searching for a Honda Accord. If Honda currently has a lean inventory level, a Honda loyalist may have to cross-shop. Let’s say online content appears for a Hyundai Sonata during their research. They would have to gain more familiarity of the other brand, make and model, and determine if a Sonata is the right choice.   

This is why content is crucial to cross shopping. You should be frequently evaluating not just how you show up to your current customers or consumers that already know about your brand, but also the frequency and way you show up to your competitors’ customers. Make sure you know the wants, needs and preferences of today’s auto shoppers, and tailor your content accordingly. 

Videos: There have been significant shifts over the last 2 years. And it’s not surprising to see online videos move up in the rankings, now in the top 3. In particular, we found online test drive videos from an expert to be significantly more influential. Content like a test drive video allows consumers to engage in immersive digital experiences, especially as the purchase process moves more online.   

Testimonials: Consumer ratings and reviews remain at the top of the list as well. Gen Z and Millennial buyers like to see and hear what others think, and let that help shape their interest and opinion. Remember, in an “Amazon” world we’re used to leaning on what another consumer experiences after the purchase, and you should be frequently highlighting this is your digital content. 

 

#2 – Car shoppers prefer online purchasing – have options  

In today’s digital world, it also probably doesn’t come as a shock that there is continued growth in consumer preference for completing most, or all, of the auto purchase experience online with the dealer or retailer. 

 68% Say they will do most or all 

of their vehicle purchase process online in the future

80% Think it’s a good or great idea 

to buy entirely online  

Where they are vs. where they want to be: Today, shoppers continue to show enthusiasm towards doing more parts of their shopping journey online, and they are still indicating that they want to do even more online in the future.   

68% of shoppers say they would do most, or all of their purchase process online in the future, which is higher than ever before. But even more important to note is that 4-in-5 consumers think it’s a good or great idea to buy entirely online. It’s time for you, as well as our industry, to prepare to meet consumers where they are today and where they plan to be in the future, which is online.  

Look at what digital retailing capabilities you have today and map out which ones you will need to adopt over the next few years. And remember, just because you build a “Field of Dreams” does not mean the consumer will just naturally come. You have to make sure that your marketing strategy includes educating and demonstrating to the consumer you have the capabilities they want and are willing to show them how to use them. 

Highlight the benefits of online car shopping: The good news is that transacting digitally is a win-win for both consumers and dealers. The benefits recognized by consumers are largely time spent on a whole purchasing a car and pricing.   

But it’s important to remember that although consumers recognize time saved at the dealership and overall efficiency as the top benefits of digital retailing, it’s still a newer process for them. Buying a $25 item online is quite different than buying a $40,000 car in their mind.  

So be sure to highlight that the differences aren’t as big as they think and that purchasing a vehicle online has the same benefits they’re looking for in their other digital interactions: seamlessness, less friction, saving time and better price transparency.  

A better car- buying experience and higher customer satisfaction: Digital retailing can and should lead to a better buying experience overall for the consumer, and you should be making sure your customer knows this with your marketing strategy as well as in-store experience.   

A recent Cox Automotive study compared “Mostly Digital” buyers (those who did at least 50% of their purchase process online) to “Light Digital” buyers (those who did 20% or less of their purchase process online). The results found that “Mostly Digital” buyers are more likely to be satisfied with price, time spent, and overall experience.  

Most importantly, it uncovered that “Mostly Digital” buyers tend to be more loyal to the dealership and brand. So make sure that your strategy includes options and optimizations for these customers as the segment will only continue to grow. 

Bridging the online experience into an in-person dealership experience should not only include a strategy, but at this point be a consistent pillar of focus on how you do business. Make sure the experience online seamlessly blends into that same amazing experience they get in-person, and that they everyone is able to pick-up the deal wherever it was left online.  

#3 – Connect and reimagine your dealership’s digital retailing capabilities 

Consumers recognize the benefits of digital retailing… and it’s safe to say that dealers do too.   

In the annual Car Buyer Journey study, we asked dealers what they’ve been doing with their digital retailing solutions since 2020, Many of them remain happy with their investments, with 87% saying that digital retailing has had a positive impact in at least one area of their business – time, ease and efficiency being the top areas, but also sales, profit and their relationships with their customers.   

H3: A closer look and self-audit: All dealers evaluate how they would rank the top reported positive impacts listed on the graphic above, especially noting the consumer and dealer advantages of: time spent on deal, ease of completing the deal, staff efficiency, and customer relationships. 

If you were to have your new sales staff, or some of the other newer staff, run a 360-degree audit for you going through all the steps of the online purchase your dealership offers using what digital retailing tools you have, how would they report back to you on time spent, ease, efficiency, and the relationship / experience on a whole?   

How to audit your dealership’s online car-buying process: 

– Have your sales staff initiate a purchase process and time how long it takes from beginning to end. 

– Ask them to note what was hard to do, and what was easy to do online. 

– Make sure to ask them to be aware if they were retargeted at all when visiting other sites, if you have those capabilities enabled.   

 – Have them test the ease or uncover any bottlenecks you might not be aware exist during the end-to-end purchase process: research, discovery, scheduling a test drive, financing, etc. 

– Ask them to do part of it online and see if one of your existing sales staff knew exactly where to pick up in-store – rate congruency and if the experiences matched. 

 – Remember, the advantage of having newer employees complete this audit is they still have a bit of a zoomed-out lens and will spot things that the older staff are just “used to” as a way of doing business. Lean on them to give suggestions and offer examples that work on other sites. 

 By consistently doing this 360-degree online audit monthly, or quarterly, and looking at your competitors in these same categories, you’ll have a proactive strategy to capture more of your ideal customers’ attention online. You’ll also be able to funnel them faster through the deal increasing satisfaction and improving your odds of gaining or retaining the sale. 

Additionally, you’ll be able to form a blueprint of the capabilities of your current online digital retailing tools and strategize the tools you’ll need to add in order to provide the full eCommerce experience in the future. According to our research, when it comes to deal-making capabilities, consumers have high expectations of what they can accomplish on dealer websites in terms of digital retailing milestones. So make sure yours are mapped out and easy to find.    

Know what your customer wants, needs and prefers digitally: In today’s times, you need to know your customer, know your business, know the experience you offer your customer, and make sure that your digital retailing tools are working for you!  

This should be aligned with your business and regional goals. For example, a dealership in rural Iowa will have different consumers than that of Laguna Beach, California.  Take a deeper look at what your customers and consumers want when it comes to an omnichannel and an ecommerce experience. Then make sure you build and work around what their preferences are today, as well as plan to build it for the future when it comes to your digital retailing and online capabilities. 

New car pre-order: Dealers and OEMs should also be focused on a consumer’s interest in, and increasing appetite for, new car pre-order. By reevaluating how your brand and dealership not only handle it but promote and educate around it online during the entire car buyer journey, you can reinvent your marketing strategy to include this growing capability and demand. 

With today’s continued fluctuating inventory, coupled with the rise in consumers saying they want to and are willing to complete new car pre-order now, and in the future, it should be a larger focus of your online and digital retailing strategy for years to come. But remember, this is still “new” to many consumers, and you must educate and assure them of the benefits, as well as show them how it’s successfully done online. 

For the road forward 

By understanding what today’s car shoppers’ wants, needs and prefers are, you’ll be able to strategize and capitalize on the digital opportunity for growth. It’s time for dealerships to re-examine their marketing and business strategy to connect and extend their capabilities to attract in-market auto shoppers as well as retain their existing customers. 

By implementing the 3 ways listed above into your strategy, you will not only have reimagined a more profitable way to run and operate your business, but you will be aligned with where consumers are headed currently and in the future. 

Autotrader provides you with qualified leads for people that want cars. We have the data, and we have the shoppers. We know what they want, and our goal is to match them with our dealer partners, driving quality leads and delivering a 35% higher gross profit on average. We connect you with customers virtually, to move shoppers to you, so that you can focus on building and letting your brand shine. 

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 and to stay a step ahead and successful in today’s marketplace.  

See what’s new: The latest digital marketing solutions

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And that’s a wrap for the NADA Show 2023! Thanks for stopping by the Dealer.com booth and demoing our latest innovations.  

Dealer.com does more than provide websites, we’re the premier end-to-end digital marketing solution for your automotive dealership. And whether you are current or new Dealer.com customer, now is the time to get started on your digital marketing goals in 2023. 

If you did not get a chance to visit our booth, no worries. There’s still an opportunity to demo the new products and enhancements we unveiled at the show. In the meantime, here’s a recap of what we debuted:  

KBB My Wallet on Dealer.com Websites 

Kelley Blue Book® My Wallet, a personalized shopper tool on Autotrader and KBB.com, will now be automatically integrated into all Dealer.com dealer websites. This means dealers will have even more information on consumers than ever before. 

You can get everything from down payment, trade-in, and financing information – the data you need to speed up the deal-making process and get more accurate leads for your dealership. 

Local SEO 

Take complete control of Search Engine Results Page (SERP) beyond just your organic and paid listings as Google prioritizes local experiences when consumers search for cars. With Local SEO, dealers can promote their dealership and inventory to local car shoppers at exactly the time they are searching for your business.   

New Car Customizer  

With more consumers shopping online for cars than ever before, dealers must ensure their website has the tools consumers need for a seamless shopping experience while displaying a modernized web design.  

Our new car customizer allows shoppers to find the vehicle they are searching for, even when dealers do not have the specific vehicle in inventory. 

These are just a few of the solutions we got to share with dealers at the show. Be sure to sign up for a demo today!