By: Lauryn Kowalski
“Hands-Free” Technology System Becomes “Eyes-Free” Technology System
This week at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco, Senior Vice President of iPhone software made an announcement that Apple plans on taking our driving experience to a whole new level by incorporating Siri and the new iOS 6 operating system into several brands of vehicles within the next 12 months.
Apple has partnered with Mercedes, BMW, GM, Land Rover, Jaguar, Audi, Toyota, Chrysler and Honda with a plan to integrate mobile phones and automobiles with features that will upgrade us from a “Hands-Free” technology system to an “Eyes-Free” technology system, with this new enhancement drivers will be able to control the music, send text messages, create reminders, set alarms and create events, all using the virtual assistant Siri. Siri can talk back to drivers so there is essentially no reason that they would need to take their eyes off the road or hands off the wheel thus increasing safety and the increasing the ability to stay connected while on the road.
Another feature that Apple will be offering is a new Maps program that will be part of the new iOS 6 operating system that is set to launch this fall. The new program will not only have turn-by-turn navigation but it will also be using anonymous data sourced from other motorists running iOS 6 to determine traffic patterns and they will use incident reports to tell users what the holdup is on a given route so they can reroute drivers around gridlock.
By Dan Vincent
Giving Back to the Community
As a local car dealer one of your main priorities should be to establish a strong community presence. Doing so is a great way to ensure that members of the community know of your dealership for the right reasons. Why not take a different approach than all of your competitors? When you give back to the community people will remember your dealership for being unique.
Giving back is simple and will cost your dealership little to nothing. Try some of these ideas in your area:
Everyone feels better when they are riding around in a freshly washed vehicle. The problem is not everyone has the time to do it themselves, or they do not feel like paying to have something done that they know they can do on their own. Giving out free car washes once a month is a great a way to help out people around the community.
Placing donation containers for food and other products in the waiting areas of your facility (especially service departments) is a simple way to help out in your community. People will see the containers and know that they can donate on their return visit to pick up their vehicle. You can take a proactive approach by using social media channels such as Facebook and Twitter to promote the drive. You will be giving back to the community, but at the same time you will be creating a positive image for your dealership.
There is always a need for school supplies. Supporting children and their education is one of the best reasons and ways to become known in your area. Although donating school supplies will be an expense, it is well worth it. Parents throughout the community will see that your dealership supports their youth. As a result, you will be the first on their list when it comes to buying a car.
As you establish your positive community presence, free publicity will come along with it. People in and around your area will see that your dealership is more than just a selling mechanism. This involvement will lead to a growing support for you and your cars. As a result, you will be making the sales that you desire without leaving the impression that all you are interested in is money. People will now know your dealership for reasons other than just trying to make a sale.
There are talks of a new highway getting the fastest posted speed limit in the United States at 85mph. What do you think, is this a good idea? Should all highways have a faster speed limit?
By: Yasmine Syed
In a nutshell: fuel economy. According to a new study conducted by Consumer Reports National Research Center, thirty-seven percent of study participants cited “fuel economy” as their leading consideration in car shopping. Quality was the second most important factor, trailed by safety and value. A sizable two-thirds of respondents said that they wanted their new car to have a significantly higher miles-per-gallon rating than their current vehicle. “Why”, you ask? It’s because of the economy, duh. In fact, ninety percent of the survey respondents blamed their new car buying behavior on the rising cost of gas.
The survey also found that considerably more car owners are open to downsizing their current vehicles, switching to a hybrid or even buying a car that runs on diesel. A majority of those individuals said they would strongly consider switching to a car that featured flex-fuel technology. Consumers under the age of fifty-five were significantly more willing to purchase a purely electric vehicle as opposed to a hybrid.
What should come as no surprise is that owners of large SUVs were the most open to downsizing their vehicle or, at the very least, switching to a smaller SUV or crossover. When asked to consider which vehicle they were least likely to purchase in the future, the top answers were: larger sedans and minivans. What was particularly surprising was the fact that a majority of survey respondents said that they would pay more for a vehicle as long as they could recover the additional cost by saving at the pump.
Though this news may not come as a shock, ask yourself: Have your marketing messages caught up to this obvious shift in consumer behavior? “No”, you say? Then call us. NOW!
The More Information, The Better!
What makes a good SEO Video? It has to be informative! The more information you provide, the more effective the video will be. If someone is going to spend time watching a video about a specific car, that means they are a potential customer!
Give Them What They Want!
Show everything there is to show on the car inside and out. Now, that doesn’t mean you have to say, “here’s the tire” but it wouldn’t hurt to mention, “this car has alloy wheels, and 17” tires”. Focus on the technology and features the specific vehicle offers; that is what customers are looking for. They want to know what the car offers.
It’s also important to talk about gas mileage and safety, which are possibly the most important purchasing factors for a car buyer.
I Want It, And I Want It Now!
You might think the SEO videos don’t add much value or aren’t worth the time it takes to make them. After all, the specfications on each vehicle are on your website and the manufacturer website. But let’s face it. We live in a society in which we are used to instant gratification. We don’t want to have to search for the information we are seeking; we want it provided to us in an easy and efficient matter.
SEO Videos are a great opportunity to provide potential car buyers with specific information about a precise vehicle in your inventory. So what are you waiting for? Do you provide these videos for your customers? No? We can help! contact us now and let’s get started!
By: Jenn Mayer
Previously, Google Places was always on the “SEO checklist” for dealerships and other businesses that were interested in climbing to the top of the search results page. Creating a Google Places page for your business was fairly simple and required little attention afterwards from the business owner.
All that has changed. Google recently announced its new platform for businesses, called Google+ Local. Those businesses with Google Places pages will automatically be merged to the new platform, but the time-frame for this to happen is not certain. Now, your Google presence is not just a vertical listing, but also a social media page. Google+ Local is a necessity for SEO value, but it also enhances your social media presence. However, with this new development, businesses looking to stay ahead of the competition can no longer “set it and forget it” as they could before.
Google+ Local Pages will give businesses a method to communicate with users in much the same way businesses can use Twitter and Facebook, and therefore needs to be maintained in order to keep pace with the competition. The new layout is part of Google’s mission to expand it’s own social platform, Google+. Google+ users will be able to see local businesses on their sidebar, and you must have a Google + account to review a local business. Google hopes that this will prompt people who have previously avoided Google+ to create an account and become more active users.
Google+ Local Pages will be much more visible than its predecessor. Google+ Local Pages will get precedent when a user makes a Google search for a place. So, if you have a Google+ Local Page, you will automatically get an advantage over the competition. In addition to being integrated into search, Google+ Local pages will also appear in Google Maps, the mobile version of Google and as a new tab in the Google+ sidebar. In essence, it’s crucial to build and grow your page as quickly as possible in order to appear at the top of the search results and above your competition.
A new and integral feature of Google+ Local pages is the scoring system. Since Google bought Zagat last year, they have integrated their famous reviews and scoring system into all Google+ Local pages. Because Google+ users can now leave reviews that are seen on your page and affect your score, it is essential that you are constantly monitoring your page and its content.
Another intriguing thing about Google+ Local is that Google has actually scarified a large part of its ad revenue in order to promote these pages. Now, there is only one paid aid showing up on these local searches. Now, the top organic, or unpaid, listings are even more valuable – and completely free!
Your Google+ Local page is now a vital part of both your social media and SEO efforts, and it is indispensable in placing you on the first page of the Google search results. Google uses an extremely complicated algorithm that takes hundreds of factors into account. While you can’t control all these factors, the number one driver of ranking results is a strong presence on Facebook and other social media accounts. Effectively, search is now social. If you want to be successful in search, you have to be successful in social media.
Does this new platform seem like a lot of work? Let us manage your social media presence. Contact us today!
By: Kimberly Roselle
The human body is capable of so many incredible things. Recently I watched a TV show called Lie to Me. It reminded me of how I used to try and watch actors on stage to see if their “true selves” could be seen or if they could fully embody the character. Most people are capable of lying with their words, but not with their body language. So, what does this have to do with sales?
Without realizing, your body language might be sending the wrong signals. You might be communicating mistrust or offending your potential customers without meaning to. If you know how to use body language, you will be able to avoid sales pitfalls and convey body signals that make your customers say “yes!”
I recently found this fascinating infographic: http://dailyinfographic.com/improve-attractiveness-with-body-language-infographic
Some important take aways from this infographic are:
- Words account for only 7% of our overall effective communication
- Body language accounts for 55%
How can you apply this information to your sales technique? When a customer comes onto the lot, don’t rush out to them. First, read their body language and take your cues from them. Do they have a closed posture or are they open? Are they keeping their head down and moving quickly or are they looking about and lingering over vehicles? Understanding your customers’ unspoken signs can go a long way to helping you build trust and a positive relationship with them.
In the first four seconds, people will make judgments about you and will subconsciously decide:
- I will (or will not) buy from this person.
- I will (or will not) like this person.
- I find this person kind (or not).
- I find this person intelligent (or not).
As you approach your customer they are also unconsciously reading your body language. Are you standing tall? Do you look them in the eye? Is your smile genuine? Be aware of yourself. While you can’t lie with your body, you can project the confidence and friendliness the majority of customers are looking for while shopping.
Do What You Say!
Sounds simple enough right? You’d think so, but unfortunately a lot people lack the ability to follow through on their promises. Car sales are just that – a sale. How are you going to make that sale if you don’t keep good on your word? Who will trust you? Who is going to make the conscious decision to purchase a car from someone who isn’t honest with them? If you aren’t keeping your word, then the potential customer is going to automatically wonder, “If they lie about that, what else are they lying about?”
The important thing to remember is “don’t make promises you can’t keep.” This means you shouldn’t say your going to do something if you can’t actually do it. We all know how busy a dealership can be, but make the time, because in the long run it will help you establish yourself with a customer, and that’s what’s important.
Make Sure You Follow Through
Make the phone call you said you would make. Locate the specific vehicle the customer is interested in and provide incentives and current offerings so they are well informed. Keep in mind that this is a serious investment for most customers. If you value their time and investment as much as they do, they will be much more inclined to sign the papers for the sale.
Do you know how to make your sales staff stand out and go beyond what is expected? We can help get you there. Call us now to find out how.
Anyone who is a real techno-geek about this stuff knows that there are two primary types of ads you can run through Google: text ads on the search network, and display ads on the display network.
Traditional text-based ads can only be run alongside unpaid organic search result listings on Google.com or other websites they partner with. The only images you will ever see on these pages are for related images or videos. But, in general, these are not display ads.
Display ads (often referred to as banner or image ads) show up on other websites across the Internet that provide content users are interested in. These “destination sites” partner with ad networks, like Google, to auction off space for advertisers to display their ads.
While there is far more to know about the intricacies and nuances of both search network ads and display network ads than this overview, they remain significantly different.
Until…
I stumbled upon this:
“What is that image and blurb to the right side of my search engine results,” I thought to myself? There seemed to be no mention of it anywhere online; until, digging through the depths of pages inside Google’s brain I came across this- the answer, which we will all soon become familiar with.
It’s called Knowledge Graph, a feature being rolled out to Google.com users over the next few days. I suggest checking out the video that can be found using the link above, since really only Google could explain a concept like this. If I had to take a stab at it, though, I would say it’s an intricate web of related things and places (similar to six degrees of separation) designed to make it easier for us to find things we are seeking but can’t seem to find the search terms that trigger our desired results.
Be on the look out for Knowledge Graph on your Google.com page in the next few days, and see for yourself the possibilities for your ad campaigns that this new Google feature can bring.
By: Kimberly Roselle
Enunciate, Articulate, and SPIT IT OUT! This is what the director used to say to me, when I was in the theatre. This was the best advice I have been given. When it comes to marketing it is not just about what you are saying but how you say it.
Imagine walking on to a lot and the sales person comes over to you and is slurring their words. Will you trust them? Will you keep listening to them? Most likely the answer is no. You can expound till you are blue in the face on the many virtues of a vehicle, but if your tone is monotone and you lack inflection the customer will tune you out and move on. Perhaps a salesperson approaches a customer, and every other word is “like” or “you know”, the first thoughts generally will be “no I don’t know that is why I am here” or “I’m not sure if I like it that’s why I am here”. This means that the customer has ceased listening to the details.
How do we Enunciate, Articulate, and SPIT IT OUT? Practice, Practice, Practice! Not too mention knowing your vehicles. Take a few minutes and out loud go over all of the details you would point out to a customer. Then do it again. What words are you stressing? What features should you place emphasis on? Are there any words you have trouble pronouncing? This is not a speech to memorize but knowledge that you can use to educate your customers.
A customer will not want to purchase from someone who doesn’t sound like they know what they are talking about, so take the time to practice what you are saying. Make sure you sound not only knowledgeable but are informative enough to be able to engage with your customers. If you sound like an authority they’ll believe you are an authority, helping you make the sale.
By: Jenn Mayer
As November looms closer and closer, talk of the presidential campaign is louder than ever. In this age, candidates don’t just campaign through televised debates and rallies. Rather, they take advantage of digital, email, and text message campaigns – just as you should. Their hits and misses in digitally interacting with their supporters can teach us a lot about how to manage our marketing campaigns.
President Obama was known as the “first social media president”. His use of social media, email, and mobile outreach allowed him to motivate supporters in a way that normally would have required an army of volunteers stationed around the country. His campaign relied so much on the Internet that Ariana Huffington, editor in chief of the Huffington Post, said “Were it not for the Internet, Barack Obama would not be president.”
In 2012, Obama’s Republican opponents have adopted his strategies in the form of intense e-mail marketing. This infographic (http://www.epolitics.com/2012/04/09/infographic-republican-presidential-campaign-emails-compared/) compares the last four Republican candidates standing and their email tendencies. Now that the primary is essentially over, with Mitt Romney as the likely candidate, we can analyze this infographic and see what might have helped Mitt win, and then apply that to your email marketing campaigns.
First, Mr. Romney’s e-mails were among the shortest of the field. The take away? Keep your emails reasonably short, while including relevant and attention-grabbing information. Your reader’s want to learn something from your message, but remember that they have lots of other e-mails to wade through.
Another important part of e-mail marketing is pushing your reader to your social media sites. Mitt Romney included links to his Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and personal website in his emails, while Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul did not include any. Allowing readers to continue onto your other sites makes it easier for them to form a bond with your brand and ultimately, decide to buy.
One mistake that Mitt Romney did make was sending out emails for his campaign from many different people. His campaign sent out messages from fifteen different people, while Santorum used only five. Most people decide whether or not to delete an email based on if they know the sender. Keep the message for your brand clear, and make sure the “From” line stays consistent.
Perhaps the most important part of email marketing is to encourage your readers to make a purchase from you. In the case of politicians, they want not only votes, but campaign donations. Rick Santorum’s emails explicitly requested a donation 92% of the time, while Mitt Romney’s did only 72% of the time. This might be a reflection of where they stood in the campaign – Santorum was the underdog, and needed funds to continue the fight. While you want to call your readers to action, some people are put off by too hard of a sell, especially when it’s in their personal inbox rather than TV or print ads. Similarly, voters need to learn about the candidate and trust him before they will be willing to donate to his cause. Lure your readers with why they should buy from you before you push them to do so.
In many ways, buying a car is similar to choosing whom to vote for. Both decisions are important, and will effect the next four to eight years of your life (or more!). Take a page out of the President’s book, and watch your sales increase.
