Lead generation to vehicle purchase: What’s The Weakest Link?

The Weakest Link

The path leading from ‘searching for a vehicle’ to ‘purchasing a vehicle’ involves many information transactions. The buyer often starts by searching online, looks at vehicle detail pages, initiates contact with some sellers (by phone or email), corresponds a few times to narrow down the field, schedules appointments with some subset of the sellers with whom they corresponded, and finally purchases one of the vehicles.

Links in the chain
From an industry standpoint, the path that follows is like a chain: The generator, the lead itself, the dealership, and the staff member working the lead are all links in that chain. There are strong and weak lead providers who produce strong and weak leads; there are strong and weak dealerships that employ strong and weak staff. By the time leads have run the gauntlet of links from lead generation to vehicle purchase, they have had several opportunities to hit a weak link. As long as the links in the chain stay strong, the lead progresses toward a sale; as soon as there is a bad link, the lead is most likely dead. If it goes really poorly with the staff member link, you not only lose this sale but probably also lose the opportunity for service business or future vehicle sales with this lead. The point is that the chain is only as strong as the weakest link and your success with each lead hinges on having a strong chain.

Taking control
As a dealer, you have little control over how a lead is generated; however, you do have some control over how your existing and potential customers are treated by your staff, which determines, in the minds of consumers, whether or not you are a good or bad dealership. You also have control over the staff you employ and their training. This is link in the chain that you must focus on, if you want to get more out of your leads.

The dilemma
The salespeople working the leads have made no investment and are therefore less inclined to really work every lead. Often, the staff will take only a single pass or not work leads at all and just blame the lack of success on lead quality. I suggest a new model for your consideration: Let your staff invest in the leads! Have them buy the leads themselves or share in the cost with you and provide a performance-based way for them to earn their investment back. If your staff is invested in the leads they work, they will be much more likely to work those leads until they buy or die, which will produce an immediate, profound change in your lead closing ratio.

Keep making sales
Yes, sales are down, way down. However, people are still searching for cars, buying cars, and selling cars. Traffic, searches, and private party listings have held relatively steady throughout the economic downturn. Of course, there wass a slight drop in all three areas, it was not nearly proportional to the drop in sales at dealerships. Sales are out there but in the current economic climate staff must work harder to get them: Don’t let a staff member be the weakest link in your chain.

NOTE: POWERHOUSE USA HELPS CLIENTS GENERATE QUALIFIED LEADS THROUGH VARIOUS SOURCES INCLUDING THE INTERNET. BY USING DEALER WEBSITES, THIRD PARTY WEBSITES, CUSTOM LANDING PAGES, MICROSITES, GOOGLE ADWORDS, YAHOO!, MICROSOFT BING!,VARIOUS OTHER SEARCH ENGINES, SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING, SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION, VIDEO ADS, TEXT ADS, YOU TUBE AND THE LIKE. POWERHOUSE USA IS A FULL SERVICE MARKETING ADVERTISING, PROMOTIONS, SPECIAL EVENTS AND INTERNET ADVERTISING COMPANY LOCATED IN ORLANDO, FLORIDA THAT PROVIDES CREATIVE BUSINESS SOLUTIONS TO COMPANIES OF ALL TYPES. FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT WWW.POWERHOUSEUS.COM

Internet banner ads most ignored,says Harris Interactive survey

Television Ads Considered Most Helpful to Americans
Internet banner ads most ignored
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – July 1, 2009 – One of the main purposes of advertising is to help
consumers decide what products and services they should buy or use. With so many
different types of advertising being used today the question becomes what types are
considered most helpful, that is they help people decide what products or services to
actually purchase and which ones are most likely to be ignored or disregarded?
These are some of the results of a new AdweekMedia/The Harris Poll of 2,521 adults
surveyed online by Harris Interactive between June 4 and 8, 2009.
What Ads Are Most Helpful?
Over one-third of Americans (37%) say that television ads are most helpful in making
their purchase decision while 17% say newspaper ads are most helpful and 14% say the
same about Internet search engine ads. Radio ads (3%) and Internet banner ads (1%)
are not considered helpful by many people. Over one-quarter of Americans (28%),
however, say that none of these types of advertisements are helpful to them in the
purchase decision making process.
Half of people aged 18-34 (50%) say television ads are most helpful while three in ten
(31%) of those aged 55 and older say they find newspaper ads to be most helpful.
There is also a slight regional difference. Two in five Southerners (40%) say they find
television ads most helpful, while only one-third (33%) of Midwesterners feel the same.
What Ads do People Ignore?
Almost half of Americans (46%) say they tend to ignore Internet banner ads. Much
further down the list are Internet search engine ads (17% of people ignore), television
ads (13%), radio ads (9%), and newspaper ads (6%). One in ten Americans (9%) say
they do not ignore any of these types of ads.
There are age and regional differences. Half of those aged 35-44 (50%) and 51% of
Midwesterners say they ignore Internet banner ads compared to 43% of 18-34 year olds
as well as Easterners and Southerners. One in five Americans 18-34 years old (20%)
say they ignore Internet search engine ads while 20% of those aged 55 and older say
they ignore television ads.
So What?
While advertisers scramble to create their ad campaigns, one thing they need to
remember is that, even if viewership may be down and even with the increased use of
digital video recorders so people can fast forward through commercials, television ads
are the most helpful to consumers. Also, while an Internet strategy is essential for a
comprehensive ad campaign, Internet banner ads are not considered helpful by few and
are ignored the most. People are more likely to ignore ads on their computers but are
more likely to pay attention to those on their television.

Google to Target Users by FICO Score

Published on June 30, 2009

Google plans to experiment with targeting ads based on credit scores, offering users with high FICOs more expensive, luxury goods and services than those with lower scores.

The initiative will be launched in tandem with Compete, which has a database of about 2 million web users that agreed to provide info on their credit scores when they applied for a new credit card, says Google’s senior industry marketing manager for financial services, Masha Korsunsky, writes Mashable (via MarketingVOX).

Advertisers that want to reach consumers with a high FICO score, and who applied for mortgages in the first quarter, could be given access to a list of websites on the Google content network that index against this segment, Korsunsky said.

Although the data will primarily be used to target users looking for a credit card (especially those within the Super Prime segment, who have a FICO score of 720 or more), companies that sell luxury goods or services might also be interested in displaying ads only to customers with a high credit score.

In an email from a representative at Google, the company took pains to add that Google did not see, and will not see, consumer credit scores. “The distinction is incredibly important, as consumer privacy is incredibly important to us,” wrote Google’s Sandra Heikkinen. “There are no plans for Google to use FICO related targeting for any of its products or offerings, and we don’t collect or serve ads based on personal information without user permission.”

Online ad revenue optimization service PubMatic recently released a tool called Ad Price Prediction that can help publishers predict the cost of an ad unit in real time.

Last month, Yahoo launched a new effort for Smart Ads, whereby it will partner with third-party ad technology firms to expand behavioral display ads to mobile.

Internet is most popular source of news for majority of adults in U.S.

US: Internet is most popular source of news for majority of adults

Adding credence to the notion that more than ever people are relying on the Internet as their primary source of news, the latest poll by Zogby International shows a majority of Americans view the web as the best source of information. When presented with a scenario in which they had to choose only one source of news, 56% of adults picked the Internet.

Where Americans are getting their news on the web is striking. Nearly half said the web sites of national newspapers are important and 43% said the same for national TV sites. Internet-only operations fared much worse. Less than 30% stated that blogs that shared their political views were important, and just 14% said the same for blogs with the opposite political view. And social networking sites? Forget it. Ten percent of adults named Facebook as an important source of news, and a mere 4% said the same of Twitter. The percentages of adult Americans who would prefer to use TV, newspapers or the radio as their sole source of news information were significantly lower than that of those who would pick the Internet – 21% would go for TV, 10% newspapers, and 10% radio. (Respondents could also pick “Other/not sure.”)

When asked which was the most reliable source of information, the Internet was again far and away the leader. Forty percent of those surveyed chose the web, whereas 17% opted for TV and 16% for newspapers.

Nevertheless, the importance Americans place on the websites of newspapers and TV networks indicates that overall the mainstream media is still the most significant source of news – just in a different form. The websites of local newspapers and TV stations fared almost as well as their national counterparts in terms of importance to Americans. Even if they haven’t yet figured out how to best capitalize on online content, newspapers and other traditional media have clearly succeeded in drawing readers to their sites.

The significance of the web as a news source in the US is likely linked to the prevalence of the Internet in Americans’ lives, in a country where 84% of adults have Internet access. Worldwide, a similar survey would probably produce very different results. As Gavin O’Reilly, president of the World Association of Newspapers, pointed out at the WAN Power of Print Conference in May, newspapers reach 41% more adults than the Internet.

One remarkable piece of data from the US poll that Zogby chose to highlight: print media are far more popular for those on the left of the political spectrum. Whereas 17% of Democrats would choose newspapers as their only source of news, a paltry 5% of Republicans said the same. The percentages of those who would prefer the Internet were almost the same for Democrats and Republicans, meaning that those on the right must be relying on TV and radio.

It would be useful to know the demographic breakdown of each response, especially in regards to age. The term “adult” covers a broad spectrum of people. How do the answers of those under 30 compare to the baby boomer set? After all, the younger generation will ultimately define the shape of the news industry in the years to come.

Which news source Americans see as being the most dominant in five years time is telling – 84% think it will be the Internet, 13% said TV, and a measly 0.5% picked newspapers. That would appear to be a clear indication that traditional print media will have to change the way they operate if they want to remain significant in the eyes of American readers in the next five years.

Study Says the Unclicked-Upon Ad Has Value

OPA-comScore Study Says the Unclicked-Upon Ad Has Value

By Catharine P. Taylor | June 18th, 2009 @ 12:36 pm

 Online Publishers Association and Internet measurement firm comScore yesterday released the results of a comprehensive study which they say demonstrates that just the mere act of seeing an ad is valuable, in the hopes that it will make advertisers think twice before just counting clicks. Here are some of the things they discovered after observing 80 brands, across 200 sites, over a month’s time:

• One in five people did a search on a brand advertised on one of these sites.
• Those who saw the ads spent 50 percent more on the brands of sites they saw than those who had not.
• That people who saw these ads spend 10 percent more online than others and spend even more on brands in the categories of ads that they saw.

It makes a kind of gut sense that exposure to an ad, even if the person who saw it doesn’t immediately act upon it, has more of an impact than never seeing the ad at all. One possible anecdotal example of this is Microsoft’s early success with Bing, for which the company launched one of the most ambitious online ad campaigns ever, in part using the OPA’s new super-sized ad units. Early data shows that Bing is claiming some search share — it doesn’t take a rocket science to note that people have to know about something in order to use or buy it.

But none of this means that the OPA and comScore have, with this study, forever solved the problem of how advertisers measure their online ad buys. Far from it. Even if branding ads are the prevalent form on TV, and usually don’t even have a direct response mechamism, in online, expectations are different — it will take a lot of studies for that perception to change.

For one recent story I did on the search for metrics beyond the click-through, I was told that some advertisers insist on buying on a cost-per-click basis, knowing full well that, because click-through rates are so bad, they’ll get the media cheap while still benefiting from impressions of those who did not click. It’s going to be a long road.

MICROSOFT Not-So-Idle Threat to Yahoo: Do You Feel Lucky?

Ballmer’s Not-So-Idle Threat to Yahoo: Do You Feel Lucky?

Kara Swisher
Several years ago, when I once asked Microsoft (MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer about if the software giant was ever going to be able to catch No. 1 Google (GOOG) in market share in the increasingly lucrative search arena – despite years of trying and billions in investment in its Web businesses overall – he said something I shall never forget.

“We don’t actually have to catch the leader,” said the pugnacious tech leader. “We just have to surpass the No. 2 to have a great business.”

At the time, Ballmer meant Yahoo (YHOO), of course, and his intention was clear to me. While it was probably well-nigh impossible to get into the pole position Google (GOOG) is in, Microsoft could begin an attack if they could crush Yahoo first.

Easier said than done, of course, with little movement in share so far–even after early labored and expensive organic efforts, a failed takeover attempt to buy Yahoo and endless but still fruitless talks about a partnership with the Internet giant.

But now with a very credible and consumer-friendly revamped service called Bing, which is getting a big slug of marketing money, Microsoft might actually have a product that at least has a better chance to gain market share.

While by no means certain or lasting, early results from surveys are promising and–combined with distribution deals the software giant recently signed too–could give Microsoft the kind of momentum is has long needed.

This is obviously not good news for Yahoo, which will doubtlessly be the one losing market share if it is to be lost, a situation that its CEO Carol Bartz has said it could not do.

In a recent onstage interview with me at the seventh D: All Things Digital conference, in fact, she said Yahoo definitely needed to maintain its 20 percent share.

Bad news for her then, when yesterday Ballmer shot another one across the Yahoo bow, by telling a group of business execs at a luncheon:

“Our shareholders, I told them we were willing to spend 5 to 10 percent of operating income for up to five years in this business, and we feel like we can get an economic return.”

Since it is cash-spewing Microsoft – more than $20 billion in operating income last year – that’s a lot of money.

And, even if history has not been kind of Microsoft’s like-a-drunken-sailor spending before in the Internet space, there is no question the company has an obsessive commitment to eventually gain ground, grinding down companies like Yahoo if need be.

And within the larger context of Ballmer and Bartz in hot-and-cold discussions about a search and advertising partnership deal, his statement is clearly a signal to Yahoo to get on the Microsoft train or run the risk of getting run over.

Thus Bartz has got to ask herself one question as she ponders what to do: Do I feel lucky?

Local Advertising Slumping – but Will Soar on Handhelds

NOTE: NOW’S THE TIME FOR BUSINESSES TO START WORKING WITH LOCAL SEARCH AND EXPERIMENTING WITH MOBILE.=DP
Local Advertising Slumping – but Will Soar on Handhelds

Local advertising across newspapers, direct mail, TV, radio, yellow pages, outdoor, magazines and online is expected to slip to $144.4 billion by 2013, down from $155 billion last year, says BIA.

Local ad revenue may hit a low of $135.8 billion in 2010, before climbing a bit in 2011, according to BIA (via Adweek).

Some media, including newspapers, local TV, radio, print yellow pages, and local regional magazines, will need to rethink their traditional business models and look to the internet to find new revenue streams in order to survive. Radio and TV internet revenue will climb to $1.9 billion in 2013, from $805 million last year, according to some estimates.

But other media, including outdoor and direct mail, may be in for a tougher challenge.

Local mobile advertising will be the next hot trend, particularly in terms of local mobile search, BIA’s The Kelsey Group predicts. Local mobile ad revenue will hit more than $3.1 billion in 2013, up from $160 million last year. Mobile search will reach $2.3 billion. Local searches made up 27.8% of all searches in 2008, but are expected to hit 35.1% in 2013.

The mobile market might have boomed sooner, were it not for the economy. Currently, 54 million people use the mobile web; that number should reach 95 million by 2013. Local search will make up more than half of mobile advertising (56%) though local search will only make up just over 35% of all searches.

“Mobile gets you closer to the point of purchase because it goes with you to the store,” says Michael Boland, a senior analyst at The Kelsey Group. “When we come out of this, we’ll see a sudden interest and demand in mobile marketing.”

Boland points out that advertisers will still need a “point of entry,” like an advertising network. No company has truly packaged local mobile search for advertisers yet, he says.

Google Adwords For Fountain Auto Mall

Powerhouse USA is now managing a Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Campaign through Google Adwords for Fountain Auto Mall, www.fountainautomall.com and Fountain Acura, www.fountainacura.com, exclusively.

This search engine marketing tool will boost the dealership’s recognition and subsequent sales numbers in the target market.

The campaign is set up into three different categories: Auto Mall, Acura DMA, and Courtesy Acura Target. Organizing the campaign is the first critical step to ensure success in Google Adwords. Next, each campaign category has subsequent “Adgroups” underneath, specifying what keyword searches go with which text ads. Adgroups for Auto Mall include: Buick, Pontiac, Mitsubishi, New Cars, Used Cars, etc. It is important to be as specific as possible with the Adgroups themselves.

To recap, the structure of the campaign goes like this:

• Campaign Category
• Adgroup
• Keywords and Text Ads

It is important to note that each category has a geographic target, atleast in our campaign for Fountain Auto Mall. We have designed the campaign so that when someone in Orlando searches for an Acura in Orlando, we are highly visible to that consumer. In fact, the goal is to show up as the first listing the consumer sees after the search has been performed on www.google.com–

Fountain Acura is #1 for

Powerhouse USA, Inc. is proud to announce this new interactive services arm to the Powerhouse marketing toolbox for its clients. The internet is the new Yellow Pages, among lots and lots of other things, and everyone knows that when they want to find information or a local business, they don’t find the dusty old yellowpages book– the search for it on google! As marketers, we are crazy if not to take advantage of this new way to reach potential qualified consumers at the point when they are IN the market, searching for information and a vendor to choose their next vehicle.

Powerhouse has also just recently extended these interactive services to several other clients, including Ford of Clermont www.myfordofclermont.com and Hyundai Lincoln Mercury of Gainesville, www.gvilleauto.com . The details of their campaigns and the thought process behind it — coming soon….