Hal Hoadley
asked:
Who Else Wants To Increase Their Direct Mail Promotion Using the Internet?
A new research project sponsored by “Black Book” revealed that 72 percent of all franchise auto dealerships plan to increase spending on their websites over the next 12 months. To help accomplish this task, dealers reported that they plan to reduce spending on sales events, traditional direct mail and customer loyalty rewards programs in the next year. As you look deeper into this new research project, they found that 75 percent of auto dealers said they will remain constant or increase their investment in Internet leads generated by third-party providers during the same time frame.
Traditional advertising of all types is expected to decrease. Study results revealed that 20 percent of dealers will reduce spending on radio advertising, where 44 percent of dealers said they will decrease display and classified newspaper advertising. Additionally, 58 percent plan increases in direct email promotions of online inventory to prospective customers in 2008, according to the research project.
New car buyers find the internet to be one of the most helpful media sources for information throughout the entire car-shopping process, dwarfing traditional media. According to officials, the Internet is second only to the dealer visit, where car shoppers can interact with and test drive a vehicle, as the overall most useful source of information throughout the entire car seeking experience.
“As an industry, we’ve got to do a better job of giving customers online access to the information they want. The manufacturer, dealer groups and dealerships should be directing more of their informational advertising to the Internet because that’s where the customers are focusing their attention,” stated.
Interestingly, 2006 National Automobile Dealers Association data indicated 27.3 percent of dealer advertising dollars were spent on newspapers, 19.5 percent spent on TV and 18.1 percent spent on radio.
Meanwhile, only 11.5 percent of dealer advertising dollars were spent on the Internet. Direct mail accounted for 10.2 percent of dealers advertising. These statistics show a huge disconnect between where the car shoppers are looking and where the advertising dollars are going.
Most importantly, whether you hire an outside firm to supply a Web site or you take advantage of the Web site that the manufacturer supplies, you must maintain your Web site and keep the information current. When trying to drive more traffic to your Web site many auto dealers are planning to invest in search-engine optimization.
To find out more about Internet marketing: http://www.lahpromotions.com
