Digital Marketing

How many times have you went to a website – any website – just to be hit by multiple ads asking you to subscribe to their newsletter or offering a coupon for a purchase, etc? My guess is that it happens quite often. Ever Google something just to come across a search result that is EXACTLY what you wanted just to click on it and find yourself teased behind a paywall? Yeah, we all have. 

Let me tell you a story. In the 1300’s, philosopher William of Ockham created a principle called Occam’s razor. [On an aside, this principle is still used today by detectives and others.] The entire principle gives the precedence of simplicity in two parts. First, at its basic, is that the simpler answer is probably the correct one and, second, that entities should not be multiplied by necessity.

In the business world, many companies defy these. They add widgets until there is no website left (other than widgets,) pop-ups that simply make consumers want to leave their website and/or so many calls-to-action that consumers get confused, don’t know what to do so rather than act, they don’t act at all. 

Imagine looking for something specific on Amazon – let’s say a TV. There are hundreds if not thousands of TVs on Amazon. How is a consumer supposed to know which to buy? By reviews? By rankings? OR, perhaps they leave Amazon and decide to go to their local Best Buy and see them for themselves?

In my last blog, “Are You Living In a Cave,” I told a story about a man in a cave that had never seen reality but only shadows on a wall. What I didn’t include is that the man in the cave, when presented with so much reality all at once, by his own choice, chose to go back into the cave to continue staring at the wall and having those shadows as his reality. Why? Because it was simple.

In many businesses, decision makers are seduced by the latest and greatest technology so much so that they stack technology upon technology to the point that, when a customer visits their website, they don’t even see the businesses’ website, only the plethora of technology popping up here and there and are presented with so many calls-to-action that they don’t know what to do when all that they wanted was information on a toaster. 

Our industry isn’t immune to this presentation or customer experience. Customers simply want information. Having a clean, well-optimized website that gives clear directions that lead a customer on a journey from the top to the bottom of the funnel will increase conversion rates, engagement, and sales. 

What irritates you when you look at a website? Chances are that they are the same things that irritate your customers. That’s because there isn’t a “fork in the road” with only two directions but that there is a road that leads 20-ways with no directions so, rather than continue on, the customer chooses to go back the way they came. 

Make sure that your website is clean, optimized, and offers the customer the paths that you want them to take. If you do that, you will see increased conversions… and won’t have to pay for them.

Zach Heller Joins Dealer World as Northeast Sales Manager

Are you Living in a Cave?

A long time ago (514a-520a,) one of our greatest philosophers shared an allegory: The Allegory of the Cave. In that allegory, he shared a person’s perspective as it relates to education and the lack of it. The story goes like this: A man lives his entire life from childhood chained and can only see a blank wall within the cave. Behind him is a fire. Other people would stand between him and the fire with puppets or things from the outside world that would cast shadows on the cave wall. Those shadows were the only thing he knew. He believed the sounds he heard were coming from the shadows. While not representative of the real world, that was his reality. At some point, the man is freed and can venture out of the cave and experience the world as it really is. This is what Plato posed to Socrates, and it has turned into an allegory that has stood the test of time.

How does this relate to the automotive space we live in?

We live in a time in which technology is advancing exponentially faster than at any other time in our history. While customer expectations and the market have changed, many dealers are still stuck in chains looking at the wall in the back of the cave unaware of what’s going on in the real world. Some of these technologies increase the dealership’s efficiency, some assist in nurturing relationships with customers who did not buy a car, as well as those who did. If you name it, it exists: social media, the Metaverse, AI, machine learning, text messaging, removing friction from website visitors, providing data and attribution and more.

Much of the time, the reason dealerships don’t adopt some of these solutions is simple. It’s because they don’t understand it, just like the man staring at the blank cave wall. Enlightenment and true reality (business solutions) can only come when a person is set free and able to differentiate the shadows from reality. Once that happens, the man has two choices: embrace true reality or run back into the cave to continue staring at the blank wall because that’s what he’s familiar with.

“We’ve always done it this way.”

How many times have you heard (or said) that? Times have changed and we can no longer live in the past. We’re living in the future. Even since you’ve been reading this, you are living in the past and any of this that comes after, is the future.

I challenge all dealerships to have an open mind and explore new technology. You might be surprised how the shadows on the wall on the back of the cave turn into a realization that you’ve been missing out on reality.

No solution is right for every dealership. Every dealer has different needs based on their market, competition, and volume. Simply knowing what exists rather than deciding to continue to look at the shadows that you have always known. Knowing is the first step. Doing is the second.

Do you want to live in a cave believing the shadows on the wall are reality or open your eyes and discover what actually exists that can help your business? In no way am I advising that you run out and adopt every new technology. Only that knowledge is queen, but education is king.

Recap: Used Vehicle Mastermind Exchange Sessions at Digital Dealer Las Vegas 2022

It’s always our pleasure to be involved in Digital Dealer. This time, I was joined by Tracy Myers, dealer principal of Frank Myers Auto Maxx in Winston Salem, NC. Throughout the four used vehicle mastermind sessions, dealers were able to dictate the topics that they wanted to discuss and get feedback from their peers. So, while Tracy and I were co-moderators, it was really
dealers running the sessions.

Here are the top six issues that dealers wanted to discuss during these sessions:

1. The acquisition of used vehicle inventory and value or implementation of buying centers: This was (understandably) a huge topic for the dealers at Digital Dealer Las Vegas as it was at DD Tampa. Dealers shared strategies that have proven effective for them. It was much different, whether a dealership was rural or urban, but overall, dealers left with ideas they could try in their markets. Attendees wanted to discuss the pros and cons of having dedicated buying centers outside of their dealerships, covering costs, effectiveness, and
   desirability amongst consumers. Will consumers feel less intimidated selling their car from a “buying center” versus going to a dealership? That and investment were the top discussed items in this topic’s session.
2. What strategies can help you stand out to consumers on ads and their website: All the noise in the world, with many businesses bombarding consumers, made dealers ask their peers about strategies to stand out from the crowd. And once a consumer is on their website, they discussed why the conversion rate is higher and what they can do to increase that. Dealers seemed split on the ad part, with the advice mostly centered around compelling creative. As for the website part, many dealers felt that the less friction a website places through the many widgets and choices simply confuses consumers, which overwhelms them. The main takeaway was that introducing less friction by having less conversion choices helps dramatically increase conversion rates. A clean, easy-to-navigate one that guides a customer through the journey that the dealership wants them to take was the consistent advice given.
3. Hiring and retaining quality staff: This topic has always been a pain point for dealers. When discussing this topic, the main challenge that a dealership has is that they struggle with finding quality candidates (not just warm bodies) that will stay. There is a lot of
   investment in bringing on a new hire, so it is arduous for them to be on a never-ending hiring mission. Dealers shared the importance of having a company culture that elicits a work environment where employees want to be out of loyalty and contentment, not just simply because it brings a paycheck.
4. Concerns about Facebook’s ROI: While Facebook has performed well for dealers (especially in the Facebook Marketplace,) with Facebook taking away automated inventory feeds that forces dealers to create listings manually, many dealers wanted to talk about whether the time it takes to do this outweighs the benefits of sales from these – or not – and what, if any, strategies dealerships are using if they are or have they given up on inventory ads and, perhaps, simply gone to branding ads or have shifted their social marketing budgets elsewhere? There were a lot of different opinions and advice given on this segment with some dealers sharing that Facebook is still performing for them while other dealers had the opposite opinion. Needless to say, it was a very divisive topic.
5. TikTok: When this topic came around, there was a lot of information shared. Many dealers wanted to know if this popular platform was worth allocating marketing dollars to and, if so, why. A lot of the conversation centered around not only TikTok – as a platform – was even worth their time and, if so, how they could capitalize it in a way that makes sense. A lot of information was shared. Everything from basic, what TikTok is and how it can benefit me to strategies they can use as well as how to optimize strategies they have been using already on the platform. The bottom line was that TikTok isn’t going anywhere, so dealers should seriously consider how best they can use it in their markets.
6. Service Business Conquesting: This topic was something that, it seemed, many dealers didn’t understand the importance of or, if they did, didn’t know how to do. Most seemed to understand that independent repair facilities are doing a much better job at gaining regular maintenance service business (at the very least) away from their dealerships and were asking their peers for advice on how they can reduce that through conquesting strategies and/or educating the customer on the benefits of doing business with a dealership.

As usual, the exchange sessions at Digital Dealer were fun for me and Tracy to moderate; the sessions gave us insights into dealers’ concerns, and attendees liked them because they were getting advice from their peers on the topics they wanted to discuss. Tracy and I look forward to continuing opportunities to be a part of the forums that Digital Dealer allowed us to participate in!

-Originally published in the November/December 2022 issue of Dealer magazine

Everyone at Dealer World Is grateful for all our clients and business partners and we are thankful for everyone who chose us to help them and hope to continue those relationships for many years to come.

With that being said, here are thoughts that our team members are thankful for this Thanksgiving holiday.

Danielle: I am thankful for my loving family, good health, a happy home, a job that I love, plus all the amenities and luxuries we have in life that are sometimes taken for granted.  I am thankful.

Troy: I am thankful for my family, my friends, our staff, and dealer partners, that keep me pretty busy and being surrounded by good people!

Terene: I am thankful for the health and happiness of my family.

Cody: I am thankful for my family (which definitely includes the cats) and old video game hardware & software!

Ryan: I’m thankful for my family, friends, direct-port nitrous injection, four-core intercoolers, ball-bearing turbos and titanium valve springs.

Lisa: I am thankful for my friends and family, good food and vacations in sunny Florida. 🙂

Jacquelyn: I am thankful for my health, my family, and my cats. 💞

Kathy: Thankful for the gift of “time”…the time on this earth to spend with loved ones and doing the things I love.

Kaitlyn: I’m thankful for all of my friends and family

Arnold: I am thankful that I’m with a great company who is exponentially growing. It is a pleasure to be a part of – and watch – all the progress being made not just with clients but also within the industry. On a personal note, I am thankful for my wife, daughter and my German Shepherd (who is the best alarm system in the world.)

Matthew: Thankful for my wife, my son and the great family/friends we have around us. Thankful for the moments in each day and looking forward to some great blessings in 2023!

Gino: I am thankful for my family and the obstacles we’ve overcome this year!

Steven: I am thankful for a place to sleep, and food to eat!

Kevin: I am thankful for Family, Friends, and Football.

Christopher: I am thankful for my girlfriend, the gym and my continued journey to being my healthiest self, my family, and my dog. My dog is really cool.

Alan: I am thankful for my family, health, job, friends, Rangers Hockey and my Guitars!!!!

Sabrina: I’m thankful for family, friends, new traditions, and pumpkin pie.

Dave: I am thankful for my family and three dogs.

Gregory: I’m thankful for the position I’m currently in with my career that provides me with the flexibility to spend more time with family and friends.

Zach: I’m thankful for being alive, healthy, family, love, and being able to make my future successful. You may ask, “why alive?”. Google Gary V odds of being born. The future successful is because anything we set our minds to; we can make it happen.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Will: I’m thankful for my friends, family, and my pet snake 🐍

Michael: I am thankful for friends, family, food and being provided the opportunities to succeed.

Once again, we hope you enjoy the holiday with your families, eat a lot of good food, watch football (if you’re into that) and, in general, just be thankful for all of the gifts that life has brought your way. Thank you and have a Happy Thanksgiving!

You let Kwik-Fit eat the market and it costs them nothing.

Visiting Paul de Vries has a rich tradition of bringing American automotive speakers to the Netherlands. At this week’s #DCDW Event, it was Troy Spring, owner of a major marketing company, who came to teach the public an – at times painful – lesson in marketing. After two hours of listening, the only conclusion is that the vast majority of companies mishandle leads, both on ‘entry’ and ‘exit’. Except Kwik-Fit.

The American Troy Spring does not have the same dominant appearance as a Brian Benstock or the reputation and slick presentation of a Brian Pasch, the two most famous Americans introduced to the Netherlands by De Vries. Spring is a website builder and quite technically oriented. The first twenty minutes of his presentation was about ‘touching the consumer’s heart’. According to him, it is first about gaining trust, ‘calls to action’ only come much later in the process. The basics were explained on the basis of well-known examples such as Apple, Tesla, Amazon and the large CarMax in America. Not to copy, but to learn from. And to ensure that the conversion of ‘spontaneous’ visitors exceeds three percent.

“Don’t show all kinds of unnecessary information.”

A number of lessons should never be forgotten, says Spring. “A good website is built in such a way that you work with baby steps towards a conversion. First, the trust and heart of the consumer must be won, only then information is requested from the consumer. And only then do you show the stock.” And you show that stock in horizontal rows of three or four cars instead of one car by car. “Then you provide an immediate overview and the opportunity to make a choice. Model, price, and mileage is initially more than sufficient. And if a consumer clicks through on a car, there must be as large a picture of the car as possible. And a logical call to action, where everything is aimed at preventing any noise. Do not show all kinds of unnecessary information, that will only distract.”

On the conversion path

Whereas before the break those present saw how it should be done by means of examples, after the break they were told how not to do it on the basis of – according to Troy – random Dutch examples. The after-sales page of Louwman’s website contains too much SEO text and lacks a logical choice field. The Wassink Autogroep website reminded Spring of Nickelodeon, but much too insistently, because Wassink immediately wants all kinds of information from the customer. At Lieuwes Roden, the vehicle page was far too messy. He thought the mobile site of Van Poelgeest (and thus of more BMW dealers) was wonderful. “But it is the worst possible site imaginable from a sound perspective. In no way is the visitor taken on the ‘conversion path’.”

Incidentally, it immediately appeared that Spring had seen the old website, the Van Poelgeest site has now been renewed and much better, according to the American.

According to Spring, every company should have a conversion manager. “That is the great loss. Now there is a website builder and there are marketers. They do their thing, but nobody is responsible for what happens to all those visitors on the site (leads). The successful companies do have them, and that’s why those sites are all built in the same way.”

“If new sales go down later, the workshop will become very important.”

Spring also saw some bright spots in all the websites mentioned, but when it comes to aftersales and service, dealers and universal car companies score downright sadly, says Spring. Whatever combination of keywords he used, such as ‘tyres’, ‘oil’ or ‘service’ in combination with a city or brand, there is rarely a dealer or universal in the search results.

Always on display: Kwik-Fit.

That’s not just a lack of marketing effort, Spring noted. “It is a matter of having the website in order and making sure that your Google settings are correct. Kwik-Fit doesn’t even have to advertise now, just because they have their settings in order, they now run off with the leads. Free. And make no mistake: if things go a little less well in car sales, the workshop will become very important in order to make a profit. Just like now is the time to anticipate the rise of EVs. Why don’t I see a single car company in the tire commercials? They are also among EVs.”

Spring – who repeatedly stated that he did not intend to become active in the Netherlands – also explained how they set up lead management for their customers. “What we now see is that a lead is forgotten after a few days. That’s really not done. Every lead must come in a CRM package. Even if this person has bought or is going to buy a car elsewhere. Our funnel extends to ten years. The only action that needs to be taken is that a cold or lost lead is classified into sub-funnels, for example those for people who bought elsewhere, or people who declined a purchase or trade-in. We then have a separate program for all those ‘trays’ in which we approach the customer. Very friendly, never intrusive, and always with the option to end the conversation.”

“Many companies are now simply doing it all wrong.”

One of the best examples for Troy is approaching customers who bought elsewhere. “After three months, they receive a message in which the company wishes them success with their purchase, states that it hopes to be able to make an offer again one day and wishes the customer the best. Nothing else. Later again they receive such a message and then after a certain time we will inform them that we have a maintenance offer, or new stock. All messages that they often do not receive from their own dealer. In this way we are increasingly able to warm up leads that seemed lost, because there comes a moment when they are ready for interaction. So, we didn’t have to do more than determine the container in which the lead belongs.”

Spring is an optimistic person: but many companies are simply doing it all wrong. “While there were smart people walking around who can arrange it well. But soon it will be a crisis and then it will be too late. Then it turns out that you have lost the battle to the Kwik-Fits and other companies that do get it. But if you learn to play the game now, it will pay itself back twice during economically more difficult times.”

Translated from Dutch. A review originally published on Automotive Management regarding Troy Spring’s keynote sessions at DCDW November 2022 in the Netherlands.

We all know that organic traffic converts into leads that end up in sales at higher percentages. It’s more relevant than ever, and it’s what has been missing all along.

Let me get right to it; as an industry, we have overlooked one of the greatest assets we have ever had our hands on and have done a very poor job of managing it. That asset is ALL of the FREE website traffic dealership’s websites currently get and what can be easily improved.

Why we missed it is pretty easy too. Google Analytics (GA), as we know it, is
compartmentalized and fairly linear. We look at organic traffic, direct hits, referrals, and Google Business Profiles, all separately. Not many dealerships (that I have met) truly lump these all together into the “asset” class of ALL FREE traffic. Once dealerships do this, it becomes much easier to see it as its own “class” of traffic and be able to look deeper.

The next thing many dealerships have missed for almost a decade (not all, but a high enough percentage for me to make a point here) is the true conversion rate of that traffic. The traffic’s conversion rates are also an asset class that needs to be managed and optimized.

Let me put it all together in a way that makes the argument why dealerships should all pay more attention to these assets. (Have I used the word “asset” enough to get you thinking?) The opposite of “free” is “paid.” I would guess that many dealerships jumped to paid traffic sources, including Google Ads, paid social media, third-party listing sites, lead generation companies, etc., before even exhausting (or even trying) all of the optimization opportunities to maximize their free traffic results.

I am not arguing that “paid” doesn’t have its place like many SEO-only companies may advise. It has its place and, in many instances, has excellent value and return on investment (ROI). I am a huge fan of a well-run paid campaign with an eye on ROI. Recently, we saw 680 leads generated at $14 per lead with a $9,500 optimized campaign. If I were a dealership, I would spend that $9,500 every day of the week. That campaign helped the dealership break records in just about every category.

Back to FREE.

I’d ask dealerships to take a look at their conversion rates first. If website analytics aren’t set up to track true “conversational conversions,” then the first step is to ensure that they are. You have to measure properly to manage it properly.

Many dealerships reading this already have that handled, but again, if a dealership does not have its website tagged correctly, that’s the first thing it should do. The next thing dealerships need to know is the conversion rates on all free traffic sources. What percentage of the dealership’s overall traffic turns into a lead – and not just any lead – but one that can be tracked and is a “conversational conversion,” a phone call, a form lead (email), a chat lead (not initiation only), and/or a text conversation.

If that number is below 3.5% to – 4.5%, then the dealership has some work to do to maximize the value of that free traffic. As an example, a properly optimized website getting 10,000 free visits per month – that is set up to convert and generate true conversions (leads) at 4.5% or above from all of the free traffic sources – will yield 250 more leads ( FOR FREE ) than a site converting at 2 percent! So, again, that is 250 more leads!

Sounds easy, sounds obvious, and maybe even trivial. If you’re thinking: Yeah, duh, Troy, we get it; that’s just simple math and makes for a great article, I’d probably agree. However, I would ask any dealership to track these metrics and let me know the results because it will be very eye-opening once a dealership completes a basic audit.

By crunching all these numbers faster, dealerships can get a sense of all the free traffic coming to their website at all conversion levels. No matter how much dealerships are willing to invest in paid traffic, converting free traffic at the higher end of the benchmarks (at a minimum) is the desired goal. So, doing this is a great place to start.

And here is why:

Those 250 more leads should yield around 20 – 25 more sales. When dealerships do use paid solutions to grow their traffic even more, they should see a better ROI from those paid campaigns if their website is set up properly to convert ALL traffic into leads and sales.

Last, I’ll tell you another little trick dealerships can use to decipher the quality of their website traffic. If a dealership’s paid traffic is not converting at the “free traffic” levels (or even higher), then the dealership has a quality problem. This knowledge will allow dealerships to optimize their campaigns, audiences, and creative content to convert at the benchmark that dealerships should see from their free traffic.

In summary, dealerships should pay (more) attention to all their free traffic. Dealerships should pay (more) attention to their overall conversion rates and treat all FREE traffic like the asset it is. By doing so, dealerships will be able to do one of two things with a properly set up website and free traffic strategy:

1. Sell the same amount of cars with less ad spend.
2. Scale easier and sell more cars for the same ad spend.

Then, there is a third. Dealerships can scale their business easier to levels they didn’t think possible. With these strategies in place, dealerships can trust the conversions from their website more, thus spending with more confidence to scale.

That, in my book, is a ton of fun and a whole lot less stressful.

Originally Published in the Sept/Oct 2022 issue of Dealer magazine.

At Digital Dealer Tampa, I had the pleasure of co-moderating multiple mastermind exchange sessions with various topics chosen by the dealers centering around used vehicles. For those that don’t know what a mastermind exchange session is, in these sessions, the dealers choose the topics and get advice and solutions from their peers. I was incredibly pleased to see packed rooms of dealers seeking advice on multiple topics.

Here are nine of the hot topics discussed during the exchange sessions at Digital Dealer:

1. Used Vehicle Acquisition – Of course, we all know that this is a huge challenge right now, with auction prices soaring based on consumer demand. Dealers discussed multiple ways of acquiring vehicles off the street directly from consumers, like using sites such as caroffer.com and paying attention to popular consumer sales sites like eBay, Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, and software solutions.
2. Digital Retailing & Value Beyond Conversions – In a group discussion, dealers
   discussed if/how they are using digital retailing tools on their websites and what they have experienced. The biggest takeaway was that offering digital retailing makes consumers feel like they have a choice on how to complete a transaction online. By making a customer feel in control of the process, customers have more options which will help with overall conversions.
3. Transportation – Dealers discussed with each other effective ways of going out of their PMA and selling cars on a national level. They discussed methods of completing paperwork, who is delivering that vehicle to the customer, and, if so, how to calculate transportation costs for a customer who is distant. For example, one dealer said they calculate at $1 per mile, and others said they have an online transportation calculator right on the vehicle’s VDP so customers can get transportation estimates on their own. Dealers shared a lot of varying opinions and options, but the bottom line was how they should make it simple for a customer to buy a vehicle from them regardless of where the customer lives.
4. Advanced AdWord Campaigns that Drive True ROI – There was discussion about whether independents should be investing in AdWords. The consensus was that AdWords was something that everyone should be using. Advice was given that dealers should be looking at cost-per-sale rather than other metrics such as cost-per-click, conversion rate, or cost-per-lead. There was an even deeper discussion on how to use AdWords to target low-funnel customers that would give them a more predictable ROI.
5. Website Optimization – Having a website that isn’t cluttered with every type of
   widget but instead focuses on aesthetics and performance was a hot topic.! Dealers discussed how industry leaders and disruptors are creating clean and user-friendly websites. By making it look and feel more relevant, consumers find an easier process and will also allow dealers to better track performance.
6. Fighting Disrupters – Disruptors told consumers what they wanted to hear with messaging like “Car buying shouldn’t suck!” These messages resonated with consumers that agreed that buying a car should be easier. Disruptors played on consumer emotions and made it seem like car buying should be easier. Dealers discussed how the way to fight back is to beat them at their own game! If a consumer has a choice between buying a vehicle they’ve never seen OR visiting a dealership 12 miles away – where they can see, drive, and kick tires, and, if all else is equal between what the disrupters offer and what dealerships do, consumers will pick the dealership! Ensuring that the customer has a better experience and telling your dealership’s story is imperative to accomplish this goal.
7. What Is and What Isn’t Working in Marketing – Dealers discussed multiple platforms like Facebook, TikTok, radio, television, direct mail, and AdWords, with the consensus being that effectiveness ultimately depends on each dealership’s market, budget, and the fact that everything is worth doing. But still, some will work better for some dealerships than others. The fact that there are so many options made this a popular conversation.
8. Dealing with Lease Terminations – The focus of this discussion was how there are some captive OEMs that don’t allow dealers to profit on the sale of a lease return. A dealer shared that his store is dealing with as many as 170 buy-outs per month, causing him to utilize his store’s human capital while losing money with no sales to recoup from them. Captive lenders and OEMs that don’t allow dealers to make any money combined with consumers who are frequently choosing to buy out their lease because there is no better option really handcuffs dealerships. Of all of the topics discussed, this was the most frustrating for them as nobody had an answer to this problem.
9. Inventory Management – This discussion centered around increasing turn rates and pricing more effectively compared to their market. There was a lot of engagement about ways to be more profitable and turn cars faster and more efficiently.

Join us for Digital Dealer Las Vegas

These were just some of the examples and topics discussed during the mastermind exchange sessions at Digital Dealer Tampa. Both Matthew and I want to thank the many dealers who chose to attend, participate and share their advice and knowledge with their peers! At the upcoming Digital Dealer Conference & Expo (Oct. 11-13, 2022, at The Mirage), Tracy Myers and I will facilitate more mastermind exchange sessions, and we hope to see you there!

Originally Published in the May/June issue of Dealer magazine.

One of the most famous stories about the Wild West was the gunfight at the O.K. Corral. There have been books and even famous movies written about it. The tale of the Earps, Doc Holliday, Clairborne, the Clantons, and McLaury brothers will always live in our history. But, as much as we believe in that story, most of it isn’t true. In fact, a gun!ght with eight people lasted 30 seconds, and it didn’t take place in the O.K. Corral. Interesting fact, yes? Maybe there are parallels in the marketing world.

When your marketing manager or agency talks to you about clicks or traffic to the site and how everything looks “healthy,” I dare you to ask them if they know whether it sells more cars?

This article is to help you navigate vendors that are hiding behind numbers that you don’t understand entirely or glaze over when reviewing your digital advertising month – that is engaging, relevant, and easy for you to digest and to understand how it affects your sales and bottom line.

For example, who cares how many clicks a campaign gets if the clicks do not convert? And when I say convert, I do not mean a goal completion based on activity on the website (i.e., a scroll, time on site, or went to another page.) I mean, how many people converted to a lead.

That is called a “User Conversion Rate” and means that out of all your users on the website during the time period you are looking at, how many of them clicked to call, initiated a text, a chat conversation, filled out a form lead or go far enough down the DR tool to become a lead. The hardest lead to get is a true conversion on your site.

How many of those did that “Healthy” campaign that provided 598 clicks into your site yield?

Why is this not your typical conversation with an agency? I think it’s easier to play the “blame game” on the website for not converting. You see, a website provider does just that, provides a website. Some of them are terri!c at helping you optimize its lead performance, and others, well, not so much. It stands to reason why an agency can say, “We drove the traffic. It’s all here! 5,678 clicks into your site!” I can’t speak for why you’re not seeing more leads and sales. You will have to ask your website rep. I am, however, calling BS on that conversation.

Someone has to stand up and say, these two things go hand in hand. I think more agencies need to dig deeper and be more holistic and accountable as to whether the site converts. We have seen sites convert up to 8% of users to leads. That is incredible! A well-designed website optimized for customer engagement that is clean, easy to navigate, and provides a frictionless journey for a customer can see eight out of 100 visitors engaging. That means visitors who initiate a chat, fill out a trade-in or buy my car form, maybe a finance form, a check availability form, start a text thread, are inspired to hit the click to call button and start a conversation with you about buying a car, truck, or SUV. When it is working right, it is a beautiful thing.

Here are a few things to consider:

1. Start tracking leads from your digital ads more than clicks.
2. Have a professional website optimization specialist set up your site to convert better.
3. Sit back and count the dollars as you talk to more leads (customers) because they did not just visit your site; they engaged with it.

While the Wild West isn’t the World Wide Web, it is still the Wild West (in a way). But you can win every shootout with a little help and a solid strategy – whether it happens at the O.K. Corral or otherwise.

Originally published in the March/April 2022 issue of Dealer magazine.

Today, one of the hot buttons of any digital campaign is “conversion rate.” It makes total sense when it comes to the true attribution of a campaign. How many visitors to your site? How many people became a “lead” from those visits? Ask any (good) marketer today and they will tell you that a true conversion is a lead or a sale in the e-commerce world. In the industries I spend most of my time in, a conversion is a phone call, a text, a chat, or a lead form (e-mail) sent in. Going further down that rabbit hole, those numbers typically get transferred to another department. Meaning that the digital team hands off the “lead” to the appointment setting and/or sales dept. We call it a BDC in the automotive business. Then web visits head down the path of final attribution.

But how many buy and for how much gross profit? To me, that is the way it should be. It is the best measurable way for you to tell if your website is set up to “perform.” I mean, having a website is great, but if it has no visitors, that is tragic to your business. I think it is even worse if you drive traffic to your website and it does not convert.

There are only two reasons for that waste of visitors to happen. 1. The traffic sucks. They are not high-quality, relevant visitors coming with the intent to research your company and/or offers. 2. The traffic is not inspired to spend time on your site (TOS) and does the proverbial bounce or it simply is not set up properly to convert with the right calls to action (CTAs) designed to move the visitor from the website visit to lead or a sale.

Bottom line: If you do not have leads and/or sales, you have one of those two problems. It is that simple. The good news is it is not rocket science. Both of these issues can be optimized by someone who truly understands the travel path of a consumer.

Here are the answers as I see them… First, make sure you are pushing high-quality traffic to your website if you are using paid search strategies. Hold your team or agency accountable for the quality of the traffic, not just the amount of the traffic. Second, and really first, is to make sure that you have as many organic traffic strategies in play as possible. SEO, GMB, YouTube, etc. Wait for it… using even traditional media “offline” strategies to push direct hits. A direct hit, if you are not privy to this term, is a customer who did not search for you in a search bar, i.e. Google, or just click into your site originating from an ad from Facebook. No, this person just typed your URL in and went directly to your site because that is what they wanted to look up, YOU and YOUR BUSINESS!

All of this traffic should be high-quality so long as the content pushing the visits is consistent with the site and the offering that you have. 2. Be sure the site, landing pages, and conversion points you have are optimized for conversions. Be sure that you are operating in today’s relevant ways by using chat, text, and other conversion tools that will lead to higher conversion rates, i.e. for the auto industry, a compelling trade-in appraisal tool. Beyond that, allow me to get to DEALEROPS | Data & Analytics the origin of this blog post, the “First Conversion”.

Much of this is rudimentary, and anyone who truly gets it is saying, no kidding Troy, this is obvious.” But for those reading this that are not trained in on-site traffic, quality of traffic, TOS, CTA’s, Direct hits, etc, what I have written so far is a good entry point to understanding it all. Hopefully, it helps executive managers and owners alike that are reading this hold their teams and agencies a little accountable. Now for the fun… I subscribe to the theory that there is a “conversion,” you must pay attention before you worry about that CTA button, lead form, or chat function (never mind the click to call button). I call it the “First Conversion.” It is the conversion of the human mind to even consider your business and/or offering. The real professionals are doing it every day… and they are winning. At a minimum, they are winning the game of attraction. The business model behind some of the best marketers in the world can be debated, but my goodness, they understand the human mind.

Take the slogan “Car Buying Shouldn’t Suck.” That will do it; Four words that attack what a consumer feels, is worried about, and is an easy target to sway to another side. In this case, it is the side of the automotive disruptor Carvana. It is conversational in a way. The consumer thinks to themselves “You are dang right. It should not suck!” And there you have it, the conversion of the human mind to start an internal conversation with the business and is instantly converted to a potential consumer. How hard do you think it is once they are on the website scoping out this new (disruptive) business and their website that makes the consumer “feel” exactly like their marketing said it would. A clean, crisp, easy-to-navigate experience which essentially says in NEON and every word communicates, “THIS DOES NOT SUCK!” Or, in the case of CarMax, “THE WAY IT SHOULD BE!” The website is set up, written, strategized, optimized, and A/B tested to make a consumer feel exactly that way.

Think I am crazy? Go to www.carmax.com and when you get to the site truly pay attention to the first line, “30 day Money Back Guarantee,” and that’s if you like it enough after your no-obligation 24-hour test drive. The next thing you will notice, as you scroll down, is the ability to shop by cars that fit your budget. Is this not sounding quite a bit like “THE WAY IT SHOULD BE?” After all, you can shop, drive and buy with no pressure and with a guarantee.

You can shop for cars that you think you can afford, and it takes the pressure off of being on a car lot and wondering if the salesman is going to give you numbers you feel pressured into or are embarrassed to say, “Sorry, I can’t afford that,” in front of your spouse and kids.

It is not until you get down that far on the website and they know how you are starting to feel, do they throw their slogan at you: “Hey this is how it should be!” THE WAY IT SHOULD BE! And at this point, you think to yourself subliminally, yes, this is exactly how it should be. Folks, this is genius marketing at work.

Many businesses think traditional media is dead and that everything has to be done digitally. But the second a consumer sees something (regardless of whether it is on TV, Facebook, Instagram, radio, etc), that is a little new, has a fresh twist on something that they wish was easier, better, different, more comfortable, has less pressure, or is more affordable, they will go to your website to check it out. If your website experience is everything you promised in your ads to make things “better,” that builds trust. Once the consumer trusts you, they will be far more likely to hit that “tell me more” button, chat button, click-to-call button, and yes, even enter their very sensitive information i.e. social security number into your lead forms. And there you have it, the “First Conversion” at work.

Convert the consumer into liking you, and BINGO, they will convert. It kind of reminds me of a lesson that we should all heed from the famous book, “How to Win Friends and Influence People,” by Dale Carnegie. Give the person who is holding what you want, what they want first, and do it with a purity and honesty that is undeniable.

I don’t know about you, but I feel more businesses could learn a thing or two from that thought process. We tend to focus on our lead forms, pop-ups, etc. and expect that technology to provide us with the results we want. Sometimes people will just sit back and wonder why someone else, who seemingly doesn’t have any better technology, product, widget, website, or even location, is kicking their ass. When and if you ever have that thought, I’d ask you to consider: whether you have made the first conversion yet?

-Originally published in the Jan/Feb 2022 issue of Dealer magazine