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There’s no arguing it: Thanks to mobile devices, consumers are always connected to the Internet—and the constant stream of information that comes with it. I spoke about this topic at the DrivingSales Executive Summit in Las Vegas, and in this six-part blog series, I’ll recap the highlights.

Part I: The new-car shopper

Part I begins with understanding today’s consumers, and, more importantly, their shopping and research behavior.

We’ve known for a while that the majority of people are doing an extensive amount of research online before buying a car; according to Pew Research Center, as many as 55 percent of those shoppers are going online through their mobile devices — up from 31 percent three years ago.

Consider these other staggering statistics:

•    According to CNW Research, only two percent of new-vehicle shoppers were using smart phones to gather vehicle information in 2008. In just three years it has jumped to 27 percent.
•    More than 5 million people visit Cars.com and AutoTrader.com each month from their mobile devices.
•    30 percent of Cars.com traffic comes from mobile devices.
•    In 2012, AutoTrader.com mobile application downloads surpassed 1 million.

What’s more, tablet use is exploding, and it means big dollars for online retailers. Monetate predicts that the percentage of traffic to online retailers from tablets will hit double digits by this year’s holiday season, and people spend more via tablets than they do via PCs ($123 vs. $102). Admittedly, most consumers aren’t buying cars online — yet. But the implications of this mobile shopping behavior are heavy.

Part II: Mobile influences

In Part I, we delved into how today’s consumer — and specifically, today’s car shopper — is using mobile to research and shop. In this post, we’ll explain what it all means to you, and how online mobile content is influencing people.

First, why should you care about the fact that consumers are researching cars through their mobile devices? After all,  … consumers aren’t buying cars directly from their smart phones and tablets — at least not yet.

But consider this fact: According to a recent report from Deloitte, mobile will influence $158 billion in in-person sales in 2012. Translation? The mom who just spent several hours researching cars from her iPad may ultimately make an on-lot purchase based on this mobile research.

So what exactly is helping them make their decisions? Online reviews are big: More than two-thirds of car shoppers say reviews swayed their decision to visit certain dealerships, and, ultimately, their purchase decision. These days, online reviews are everywhere: Edmunds, Cars.com, CitySearch and Yelp, just to name a few.

A large chunk of this review consumption happens via mobile, with 40 percent of traffic to Yelp coming from mobile devices. On weekends, Yelp traffic from mobile becomes the majority.

Now that we’re clear on the fact that consumers are using mobile to make car-shopping decisions, what’s the best way to get your dealership online in a way that makes sense for mobile?

Part III: Hooking mobile consumers

We’ve established the fact that consumers are doing car research on their phones — and that the content they find has a major influence on them. Next item of discussion: How to take advantage of this new mobile reality.

First and foremost, your cars must be online. Since we’re on the topic of mobile, there are countless apps that allow you to easily upload your inventory and get it into the appropriate online channels.

But there’s a more important question when it comes to mobile: Is the content you put online mobile-friendly?

It’s important to understand that mobile consumers are only online for short bursts of time. CNW reports that 88 percent of mobile users tap into their devices “as time permits”—on a lunch break for example. This means that your online content needs to get to the point—and quickly.

Let’s take a mobile Google Maps search, for example: A consumer wants to check out his options in his hometown and searches “Toyota Camry.” Two results appear on the map: one is a targeted ad that links directly to a list of the dealer’s Camry models; the second is a regular map result that links to a general dealership home page.

With the Google AdWords listing, the consumer lands directly on his desired content, in one click. With the second, non-specific dealership result, he must take several actions (clicks) to get to what he’s looking for.

Considering that this consumer is likely using his phone for a very short amount of time before he slips it back in his pocket, which is the better option? Clearly, the more targeted ad that appears on the map results page. Minimizing the number of clicks needed to get to valuable content is just one way to optimize for mobile.

Editor's Note: Jacob Solotaroff is the chief operating officer of MAX Systems. The complete blog entry can be found at www.getrelevantordie.com.