Many professionals in the auto industry love their numbers: Impressions are up. Clicks are down. Conversion rates have reached 15%. Organic traffic has doubled over the past month.
Of course, all of these statistics are important and can oftentimes measure the level of success your digital campaigns are achieving. However, if you don’t take these figures and compare them to your sales efficiency and physical foot traffic, you’re not seeing the complete picture of your dealership’s performance.
Start by cross referencing Urban Science’s competitive model series sales efficiency report with your dealership’s sales numbers and digital statistics. By doing so, you can begin to understand what your consumers are seeking, as well as what types of campaigns you can run to improve sales. For instance, you may find that demand in your market for midsize sedans is suffering. With that in mind, you can modify your advertising campaign to increase awareness.
Be sure to cross-compare data as well. Perhaps your VPD views are up, but your leads are down. This situation could indicate that you’re not attracting quality traffic through your content and SEO, but it could also mean that your VPD pages provide too many options for consumers. When there are too many options, consumers are more likely to get overwhelmed and abandon a page without submitting a lead.
Similar to comparing digital performance with real-world traffic, your dealership needs to focus on creating a working synergy among its high-level players. Bring your agency together with your key performers, as well as your regional rep and anyone else involved in the success of the dealership as a whole. For instance, your district manager could bring up an issue that your agency could solve simply. These meetings are essential to a successful advertising plan, digital presence and dealership performance overall.
As the market continues to change and consumer behavior further evolves, strategy no longer involves isolating pieces of the puzzle and acting accordingly. By gaining a big picture perspective that includes each key area of performance and developing a plan from that understanding, you can work with your vendors to optimize your performance on every front for each situation that comes your way.
Learn more about optimizing your dealership’s digital performance and strategies to solve your sales efficiency problems by attending my session “Insights from Google” at the 22nd Digital Dealer Conference & Expo, where I’ll be joined by Tannis McKenna from Google.
