I’ve learned a lot this month from visiting many dealerships to attending NADA in Orlando. So, I thought it would be best to close out the month with a thought that defines the new era of building more digital traffic. This should be your new mantra for your process in the ever changing world for growing your digital sales footprint.
“To move your dealership to the next level digitally you have to TEST, MEASURE, ANALYZE and ADJUST – that’s all there is to it”
TEST: Do not be afraid to test new things to generate digital traffic, as long as you do not take away from what is working. Always be looking at your lower performing digital sources. Look for new ways to allocate those dollars to drive better traffic.
MEASURE: The beauty of the Internet is you cannot hide or lie about the numbers. Your tactics are either generating traffic or they are not. Your traffic is either converting to leads and phone calls or it is not. Your leads and phone calls are either turning into sales or they are not. You can measure the Internet better than any tool in the history of all advertising – so use it.
ANALYZE: Pour through the date, the metrics and look for anything and everything that shows results. It would take all day to name all the ways you can measure your traffic and lead sources so I will spare you the diatribe. Just as you measure the results you must analyze what the effect the execution had on your business and does the return warrant the investment.
ADJUST: Gayle Rogers our Digital Director says this is a cyclical process and it repeats itself every 30 days. There are no annual plans when it comes to Internet marketing. The budget for the Internet is the fastest growing among all STRONG LLC dealers. So you can have a base plan, but you have to be willing to adjust weekly if not monthly when you see more opportunity. The biggest crime a dealership can make is to set a certain amount of money for digital advertising and leave it at the same level all year without reviewing how and when it should be increased.
There you have it. My TEST, MEASURE, ANALYZE and ADJUST method of digital marketing.
See you in March!
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John Paul Strong
John Paul Strong combines his two decades of automotive marketing experience with a team of more than 150 professionals as owner and CEO of Strong Automotive.
