Now for those of you in the business of selling, we all know how Social Media can change the look, shape and appearance of your business. Whether you're selling a product or service, how you present yourself and your company to the world is important and having a strong presence in the global community with Social Media is very important.
Customers in the market for a car today look to the Internet to find more than price. They look for service, selection, convenience and ease of information. By that I mean, how easy is it to get the data they need? Is your website user friendly? Does it make it easy for the consumer to find what they need?
Quick question for you here... especially if you're in the car business, did you know that 80% of the people who visit the dealership never bother to call or email? They just show up! Now chew on this, what media source generated the highest amount of walk in traffic? Newspaper? Radio? T.V.? Did you know that 54% off all walk in traffic is due to the Internet? Imagine if 54% of the people that saw your paper ad or heard your radio spot "just showed up!" You'd literally run out of cars! Not a bad problem to have right?
So, how's your internet marketing? Most dealerships are out there winging it when it comes to marketing themselves online and they're only looking at the email/quote request to measure the results of online marketing. Bad idea when clearly the internet is what's generating most of your walk-in traffic and of this 54% of walk in traffic well over half of those folks (61%) don't call or email. Again, they just show up!
[STUDY SOURCE: AUTOTRADER/NORTHWOOD UNIVERSITY] (FYI: In less than a year, do you think this 54% has changed any???)
Look at how someone buys a Flat Screen T.V. That's how many people are shopping for cars now too. They go on line, do a little research, see a few commercials, visit a show room or two a few times, take a test drive (sometimes more than once) and sooner or later, they hook up. This process can take 24 hours up to 9 months.
So, why should they buy from you? Are you transparent, meaning do you look straight up or like a "typical" car dealership where information is hard to get? How's your online reputation? What shows up when you Google your dealership's name? How do you handle online complaints? Who's monitoring that? Everybody in every business is going to get a complaint now and again. How you handle it is what matters most. DealerRater? Yelp? Are you paying attention to what's going on over there? How easy is it to convert to a lead when they find you on line? How's your website? How do you see it, more importantly. Do you view as a necessary evil or an incredible tool? Your website is an extension of your showroom and a virtual car lot. You don't have to believe me but, a customer on your website is equally as important as a customer on the lot. How can that be? Consider how far away your competition is in the real world and know that the same competition is just a mouse click away in cyberspace.
Yes, they are making the decision to come to you based on their online experience. A well thought out and managed Social Media campaign will help you dominate in cyberspace and consequently allow more consumers to feel comfortable coming to see you and your dealership in person.
How? First have a massive presence. Be everywhere. Second, have quality content and engaging topics.
Keep in mind it doesn't have to all be about cars. What events or teams does the dealership sponsor? What's going on in the community that you can report on in a blog or on Facebook that will show transparency? Who would you rather buy from, the guy who's kid is on your son's baseball team or a total stranger? Get it? Social media can create a comfort level for the consumer akin to actually knowing someone in the business.
If you hire someone from the outside to handle this, is there someone at the dealership controlling content? Who is that? You need a car guy in there who's savvy with Facebook, YouTube and Social Media. You need someone who's sold cars and understands the process. Just because the process has moved online doesn't mean you get to skip the steps. You still need a good greeting, you still need to determine needs, you still need to present and you still need to close. The road to the sale is the road to the sale. It may be windier than before, but it's still the road to the sale. What you're closing on online is why and when the customer needs to do business with you and not the other guy who's where? Not just down the street but a mouse click away. Your Internet Department, if you even have one anymore, should be selling the appointment by showing that it's easy to do business with you first, that money will not get in the way of making a deal, and that selection and service will never be an issue.
Same only different. Who's growing in this economy and who's falling behind? Look at that and you'll see who's using and embracing Social Media and Internet Marketing. Those that aren't soon will be off in the dust somewhere hanging out with 8-Tracks, Laserdiscs and Betamax.
With that in mind, let me show you a prime example of Social Media Marketing and a brilliant, fun campaign that will result in all kinds of good things for the sponsor. I want to leave this open for comment and discussion at this point. So, here's what I want you to do:
1. CLICK THIS LINK: http://grantcardone.com/blog/c/StopDontQuitCom
2. Watch the Video.
3. Sign Up and then see what happens.
4. Take in and observe all the multitude of ways this specific social media campaign is going to help this business completely dominate in their market.
5. Come back here and leave a comment. Tell me 3 things you learned.
Customers in the market for a car today look to the Internet to find more than price. They look for service, selection, convenience and ease of information. By that I mean, how easy is it to get the data they need? Is your website user friendly? Does it make it easy for the consumer to find what they need?
Quick question for you here... especially if you're in the car business, did you know that 80% of the people who visit the dealership never bother to call or email? They just show up! Now chew on this, what media source generated the highest amount of walk in traffic? Newspaper? Radio? T.V.? Did you know that 54% off all walk in traffic is due to the Internet? Imagine if 54% of the people that saw your paper ad or heard your radio spot "just showed up!" You'd literally run out of cars! Not a bad problem to have right?
So, how's your internet marketing? Most dealerships are out there winging it when it comes to marketing themselves online and they're only looking at the email/quote request to measure the results of online marketing. Bad idea when clearly the internet is what's generating most of your walk-in traffic and of this 54% of walk in traffic well over half of those folks (61%) don't call or email. Again, they just show up!
[STUDY SOURCE: AUTOTRADER/NORTHWOOD UNIVERSITY] (FYI: In less than a year, do you think this 54% has changed any???)
Look at how someone buys a Flat Screen T.V. That's how many people are shopping for cars now too. They go on line, do a little research, see a few commercials, visit a show room or two a few times, take a test drive (sometimes more than once) and sooner or later, they hook up. This process can take 24 hours up to 9 months.
So, why should they buy from you? Are you transparent, meaning do you look straight up or like a "typical" car dealership where information is hard to get? How's your online reputation? What shows up when you Google your dealership's name? How do you handle online complaints? Who's monitoring that? Everybody in every business is going to get a complaint now and again. How you handle it is what matters most. DealerRater? Yelp? Are you paying attention to what's going on over there? How easy is it to convert to a lead when they find you on line? How's your website? How do you see it, more importantly. Do you view as a necessary evil or an incredible tool? Your website is an extension of your showroom and a virtual car lot. You don't have to believe me but, a customer on your website is equally as important as a customer on the lot. How can that be? Consider how far away your competition is in the real world and know that the same competition is just a mouse click away in cyberspace.
Yes, they are making the decision to come to you based on their online experience. A well thought out and managed Social Media campaign will help you dominate in cyberspace and consequently allow more consumers to feel comfortable coming to see you and your dealership in person.
How? First have a massive presence. Be everywhere. Second, have quality content and engaging topics.
Keep in mind it doesn't have to all be about cars. What events or teams does the dealership sponsor? What's going on in the community that you can report on in a blog or on Facebook that will show transparency? Who would you rather buy from, the guy who's kid is on your son's baseball team or a total stranger? Get it? Social media can create a comfort level for the consumer akin to actually knowing someone in the business.
If you hire someone from the outside to handle this, is there someone at the dealership controlling content? Who is that? You need a car guy in there who's savvy with Facebook, YouTube and Social Media. You need someone who's sold cars and understands the process. Just because the process has moved online doesn't mean you get to skip the steps. You still need a good greeting, you still need to determine needs, you still need to present and you still need to close. The road to the sale is the road to the sale. It may be windier than before, but it's still the road to the sale. What you're closing on online is why and when the customer needs to do business with you and not the other guy who's where? Not just down the street but a mouse click away. Your Internet Department, if you even have one anymore, should be selling the appointment by showing that it's easy to do business with you first, that money will not get in the way of making a deal, and that selection and service will never be an issue.
Same only different. Who's growing in this economy and who's falling behind? Look at that and you'll see who's using and embracing Social Media and Internet Marketing. Those that aren't soon will be off in the dust somewhere hanging out with 8-Tracks, Laserdiscs and Betamax.
With that in mind, let me show you a prime example of Social Media Marketing and a brilliant, fun campaign that will result in all kinds of good things for the sponsor. I want to leave this open for comment and discussion at this point. So, here's what I want you to do:
1. CLICK THIS LINK: http://grantcardone.com/blog/c/StopDontQuitCom
2. Watch the Video.
3. Sign Up and then see what happens.
4. Take in and observe all the multitude of ways this specific social media campaign is going to help this business completely dominate in their market.
5. Come back here and leave a comment. Tell me 3 things you learned.
I wonder if you’d be willing to get my site review my blog? I have an identical web site and usually ask web masters who talk about the same topics to exchange reviews. This is crucial for getting new visitors to ur web site and to mine as well (:
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