Online analysis the key for dealer survival

Up until recently there hasn’t generally been a big push from Australian auto dealers to accurately track the performance of various enquiry sources – both digital and traditional.

But this has been slowly but surely changing, according to Timothy Dlugosz, online marketing manager for Dealer Solutions, which specialises in online marketing and is seeing more dealerships move into the digital space.

“As the online marketing space grows many dealers have begun to, willingly or unwillingly, move into the online space, to streamline their business model.

“The dealers who tend to be successful are the ones who measure what they do,” says Dlugosz. “The ones performing best are those who on a regular basis look at their statistics, not just visitors to websites, but where people are coming from, which customers are enquiring, and cost per sale is also very important.

“For example, which source is getting the dealer sales for the least amount of money?

“It still isn’t a majority, but the numbers are growing around the depth of dealerships moving or expressing interest in online marketing – we are not quite at the tipping point here in Australia, compared to the UK for example, but we are getting closer,” says Dlugosz.

“As more dealers realise how easy and powerful collecting and analysing data has become, I’m confident this trend will accelerate,” says Dlugosz, who spoke to AutoTalk on the changes and trends that are happening in the online marketing arena.

And what should dealer principals be looking into and/or implementing when it comes to attracting commercial customers, especially around finance and insurance software and marketing tools?

“Measurement and analysis is key, it’s something that all the top performing dealers we work with do actively,” advises Dlugosz. “I’d advise starting with the basics like accurately tracking the number of email AND phone enquiries, then analysing those enquiries by source to find which provides the best cost per sale value.

“In the past online measurement and analysis wasn’t very common, but lately dealers have been focusing on website statistics and tracking their leads more accurately, which is great news. Once you start doing this you begin to understand where the performance is coming from and you can start to make changes to strategy and where you put your marketing dollars,” he says.

“The clients that we see get the most benefit come from analysing their data – the more information they have the better decisions they can make, in particular we are seeing more small dealerships moving into this area, which is gret news.”

According to Dlugosz the top three trends in the online space that dealerships – both large and small – should be looking at are:

1. Google AdWords – a great place to start. It’s inexpensive to test, easy to track and gets your message into search results quickly;
2. Google My Business (previously known as Google Places) – has recently undergone a series of updates making it much easier to maintain and update. You’ll be amazed at how many customers use Google Maps to find and contact local businesses without ever leaving the Google interface. With the added benefit of being able to track engagement with insights for Google+ pages and posts, you can discover how customers search for your business, and where they are coming from. You can further enhance your Google My Business listing with a Virtual Walk-in;
3. Call Tracking is essential if you want a complete picture of where your enquires are coming from, especially when you consider that more and more customers are using their phone to communicate with dealerships.

Dlugolz points out, “before getting into these or any other trends it’s best to begin with a well presented, up to date and optimised website. This will ensure that you maximise the return you get from the customers who visit your website.”

An important tool called CallSource – which Dealer Solutions has just brought into Australia – will be another product for Aussie car dealers to keep an eye on.

“CallSource has advanced call tracking products, where calls are listened to by qualified professionals who listen to calls and then categorise the calls, so dealership staff can see how many calls they got from a particular source, but also the type of call – for example: service, parts – and if they were handled well,” Dlugosz adds.

One feature of CallSource is Dealsaver, which means if a call which is being tracked is handled badly, the sales manager can be notified by email alert. The sales manager has the opportunity to call back and rescue the deal, and give the customer a better experience.

“Eventually products like this one will become more important, but it is good to point out that this is an advanced product, which if used properly can be very useful, but there are other more basic call tracking tools out there that can be used,” Dlugosz notes.

Other areas of interest for auto dealers, according to Dlugosz, are Display Advertising, which continues steady growth amongst Australian auto dealers, and Tweetdeck, which he notes, “is a fantastic tool for managing Twitter accounts. An especially handy feature is the ability to schedule tweets which can help you prepare your campaigns in advance.”