Pub. 12 2013-2014 Issue 1

N e w J e r s e y C o a l i t i o n O f A u t o m o t i v e R e t a i l e r s 21 new jersey auto retailer w w w . n j c a r . o r g 4. Facebook Advertising with Polk Data – Dealers who have been waiting to see how they can leverage Facebook to in- crease incremental sales do not have to wait any longer. Facebook has partnered with Polk to match Facebook users with the year, type, and price of the vehicle that is in their driveway. This new feature will allow New Jersey dealers to create highly targeted ad campaigns for car sales and service campaigns. Test a few campaigns and you will be surprised just how effective targeted advertising on Facebook can be! 5. If You Like Television, Test Video Pre-Roll – Dealerships that have traditionally invested in cable and broadcast TV should allocate a portion of their budget to online video pre-roll. Video pre-roll is more cost effective in driving a localized video message to in-market car shoppers. Video pre-roll will also drive relevant and quantifiable traf- fic to the dealership website. Pre-roll mes- sages are normally 15 seconds in length and are played to lo- cal consumers before they watch a video. Pre-roll videos should not be the exact same messages used on TV spots. Pre-roll mes- sages need a script that engages and that also has a call to action to drive click traffic to the dealership website. 6. If You Like Radio, Test Digital Radio – Buying radio time in the NJ/NY Metro market is expensive. If a dealership wants to communicate an audible message to in-market car shoppers, consider investing in Pandora radio. Automotive clients that are advertising on Pandora are getting great “branding” as well as direct clicks to their website. Traditional radio does not generate measureable clicks like digital radio delivers, so give it a test! As with video pre-roll, Pandora scripts and banner messages need to be unique to Pandora to get the maximum impact. Do not use existing radio scripts for Pandora, create your own. 7. Get Your Customers to Engage With Online Reviews – A dealership that ignores their online reviews is a dealer that is disconnected with the realities of today’s car shopper. Deal- ers must deliver outstanding service to compete in today’s online world. That level of service will translate into positive online reviews. Dealers must invest in the processes to connect their satisfied customers with online review websites that consumer’s respect. If a dealership outsources the reputation management process it will never achieve the desired results. 8. Social Media Engagement With Analytics – New re- search is showing how consumers are using social media as part of their shopping process, so dealer’s who have delayed a strong investment in social media need to wake up. Tools are now pro- viding better reporting and analytics for car dealers to see just how their social media investments are paying off. For example, Google Wildfire; a new social media marketing platform owned by Google, allows dealers to see the impact of contests, promo- tions, and advertising on social media platforms like Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Pinterest, etc., with detailed analytics. Dealers have been asking about the ROI of social media marketing and the data is now available. Is your dealership leveraging all eight powerful online market- ing strategies? If not, make the investment to audit your current marketing spend to see where you can adjust budget allocations to lock in these winning strategies. Successful dealers in New Jersey will use a mixture of traditional and digital marketing channels. However, dealers who are not using these eight online advertising strategies are spending more than they need to increase car sales, which reduces profits. Brian Pasch is CEO of PCG Digital Marketing & Consulting, a digital agency and consulting firm. Brian can be reached at 732.450.8200 or via email at brian@pcgmailer.com. Successful dealers in New Jersey will use a mixture of traditional and digital marketing channels.