Our previous post explained the importance of converting your vendors to a pay-for-performance ad model. That is, knowing your cost per lead across your various online traffic sources. When it comes to measuring your cost per lead, we see top performers achieve at $70, while typical dealers perform around $100.
But once you have those figures in hand, what tactics should you employ to get the most from your online ads? First, make sure your online ads are standing tall. Here’s what I mean.
- Include all the details that influence a customer’s decision. Dealerships can be chaotic, making it hard to manage the finer details of your online ads. But the reality is that you’re a digital dealership now. You would never leave gaping holes in your front line or on your showroom floor. But too many dealerships post incomplete listings, leaving gaping holes in your digital dealership. Photos, prices, and complete vehicle descriptions are essential components to drawing customers to your dealership.An AutoTrader.com survey found that dealers who include original photos and prices with their postings had significantly greater traffic to their vehicle detail pages (VDPs) than those who didn’t. Including this information increased VDP views by 140 percent and shopper interaction by 110 percent. And don’t try to cut corners — the survey revealed that listings with stock photos didn’t perform much better than listings with no photos at all.
- Monitor your ads. Staying on top of the details requires a commitment. The old saying “you can’t expect what you don’t inspect” isn’t just a cliché. You need a digital performance management system in place to measure the effectiveness of your ads. A digital performance management system, like MAX, can alert you to issues in your online inventory that need immediate action, such as missing photos or vehicle information.
- Make sure a human is keeping tabs. Technology alone isn’t enough. You also need someone in place who’s responsible for overseeing the program. Whit Ramonat, executive vice president of Penske Automotive Group’s central region, regularly reviews an exception report that shows him which of his dealerships have cars with incomplete online listings, or no listings at all. Because he employs this and other digital performance measurement practices, Penske’s dealerships are among the top performers on most benchmarks across all sites.
The bottom line is that the more customers that click through to your VDPs, the more likely they are to interact further with your listing, including details on your dealership. And as I mentioned in a previous post, when your sales force knows where your leads are coming from, they’ll be better positioned to get the necessary “ups” to close a sale.
This is the first of three posts to show you how to reach the ranks of the top performers. My next post will cover the importance of getting your inventory online quickly.
