Pub. 3 2013 Issue 4

21 Special Offers The Ultimate Car Shopper Carrot BY EDDIE CAWLEY , DIRECTOR, DEALER LEARNING, AUTOTRADER.COM W hen was the last timeyou bought a TV at full price? How about that new golf club or bag? Truth is, as consumers, we’re all conditioned to look for deals, sales or specials on virtually anything we buy. It’s what we expect. Same goes for car buyers.Yet, onlyabout 44%of dealers promoteany specialson the third-party sites where they list their cars. 1 In less than a decade, the Internet has made today’s car buyer far smarter and sav- vier about the car-buying process than ever before, and that genie is never going back into the bottle. The 2013 Polk Automotive Buyer Influence Study confirmed what had long been suspected about car shoppers’ online shopping behavior, and that is they spend three-quarters of their shopping time online. And the actual numbers are even more dramatic: Out of the nearly 14 hours new car buyers spend in the car shopping process, 10 hours is spent online; for used car buyers, the numbers are even bigger: 12 hours online out of 15 hours total shopping time. Over the course of that time spent on- line, shoppers are researching prices, com- paring makes and models, viewing photos and videos, reading reviews and looking for the right dealer. And the tipping point that helps drive them to a specific dealer? Spe- cial offers, dealer rebates and incentives. In fact, according toAutomotiveNews, 74%of shoppers considered “Special Offers” when choosing a vehicle from a dealer. 2 Special Offers Win Customers and Keep Them Coming Back While car shoppers’ top concerns are pricing and payments, never lose sight of the fact that their overarching goal is to get the best value, which can be everything from how you frame your value proposition as a dealer (service, experience, quality, etc.) to creative incentives for doing business with you. And since your goal with any car buyer is to build a relationship to the point where they make you their go-to car-buying and maintenance source, incentives are a great way to start. Indeed, promoting your dealership specials and special financing, along with OEM incentives and rebates are going to do a good job of moving shoppers from a Search Results Page to a Vehicle Details Page and then into your actual dealership. For example, New Vehicles with a special get 34% more VDPs than those without. 3 But today’s car buyer also expects better service, and you’ve got competition for every aspect of the car business – other car dealers, quick lube operations, tire retailers, brake and muffler franchises, and general repair retailers, to name a few. So cultivating good post-purchase relationships with service specials can trump a lot of that competitive unpleasantness andkeepa satisfied customer coming back for more. Get the Word Out Promote all of your incentives, leasing offers and so on everywhere your dealership is online – your ownwebsite and third-party sites – and with display ads on local sites as well as automotive sites.Use your third-party partners, such as AutoTrader.com, to stay abreast of what’s going on at your OEMand turn on your specials feature through your partner! Ensure that anything related to a special offer is visible and easy to find so the shopper doesn’t have to search for this information. Mine your CRM and create email campaigns; use social media. Mix in traditional media, too, and be sure you that you’ve got plentyof signage and in-storemer- chandising that support your offers. Granted, there’s extra work associated with creating specials online, but if you do it with a third-party partner such as Auto- Trader.com, you can automate the process. Remember, only about a third of car dealers promote their specials online, and in many major markets it’s even less than that. So for the dealers that put in the extra effort to pro- mote their specials, it’s an excellent strategy with minimal competition. For more information, download “Tips for Successful Online NewCarMarketing”, “Influence Shopper Decisions with Special Offers 1-sheet,”or themerchandising excerpt from the “Online Marketing Handbook” in the Dealer Learning Center.  Eddie Cawley is the longtime leader of AutoTrader.com’ s highly respected Dealer Learning team. A true visionary, Cawley has helped thousands of dealers nationwide maximize their success in online advertising through various roles at AutoTrader.com. 1 Source: 2013 AutoTrader.com Site Data/ Web Analytics 2 Source: Automotive News, October 2010 3 Source: comScore Media Trend Report, May 2011—Apr2012 (monthly average)