Blog Archives
Win a Chromebook at NADA
Visit Us at NADA in Orlando Feb. 8-11, Booth #A193
Hopefully you’re getting ready for the big NADA Convention & Expo coming up Feb. 8-11 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando. I know we are. Last year’s show in Vegas was a great opportunity for us to meet up with old friends and make new ones. We left Vegas with the strong sense of a revitalized auto market after years of slipping sales, and that positive outlook proved to be accurate. We’re hoping that this year’s show will have everyone coming away similarly reenergized.
We hope you’ll take the time to come visit us at Booth #A193 during the show to find out how Dealer Online Marketing can help your dealership reach the next level. Of course, we look forward to seeing our current and past clients, as well. As an added enticement, we’re giving away Google Chromebooks each day of the show.
Just text “domnada” along with your full name and company name to 35350 to enter for your chance to win one of our Google Chromebooks (one entry per contestant). You don’t have to buy anything. We just want the opportunity to show you how Dealer Online Marketing can boost your digital presence, leads and sales, so you do need to be present to win. We hope to see you at the show!
January 14, 2013
Gear Up for December Sales
It’s The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!
The final week of December has traditionally been the strongest week for car sales in the United States. Customers are typically looking for extra savings on vehicles from the soon-to-pass model year, and dealers are eager to move inventory to make room for models for the new model year. This is usually coupled with additional incentives on vehicles for the new model year, which have now been in the showroom for a few months.
Now is a good time to start planning accordingly for the expected influx of customers by boosting your advertising budget. If you’ve contemplated doing a Search Engine Marketing campaign in the past but held off, this month is a great time to test out a limited text search or display campaign. Retargeting campaigns can also keep your dealership at the forefront of customers’ minds.
If you usually make a point of increasing your traditional media buys as the holidays near, take a moment to consider the benefits of allocating additional funds to your digital campaigning, as well, or even shifting some of that traditional media money toward digital media. Eight of 10 new car shoppers now start their search online, with 70 percent checking prices online, and having a strong digital advertising presence (whether text or display) nearly doubles the likelihood that a given shopper will make a purchase from your dealership.
So don’t get caught short this holiday season. Plan on boosting your digital campaign now, at the beginning of December, so that your ads already have traction when the final week arrives.
December 3, 2012
Our Biggest NADA 2012 Take-Away
It’s been a few weeks now since the NADA Convention in Las Vegas, which has given me some time to step back and really digest the event and all that it encompassed. And the thought I keep coming back to is this: Walking the halls of the NADA Convention this year was like walking into a well-run dealership.
Let me explain.
When I walk into a dealership (and I visit several each week), I can instantly tell you if that dealership is profitable and well-run. I can do this simply by feeling the air in the dealership. Is it light? Is it customer-centric? Was I greeted when I walked in? Did the staff go out of their way to make me feel at home?
Or was it the opposite? Was the air heavy? Did a salesperson size me up as a vendor, walk right past and not bother with me? Was the receptionist more interested in getting back to her private phone call than in greeting me properly? Was it dirty and uninviting? And the ultimate litmus test for dealerships: Was the bathroom clean?
My takeaway from the NADA Convention was that there was a genuine lightness in the air, born of the promise that the market may have finally turned a corner. From the speakers to the vendors to those walking the floor, I heard the same mantra again and again. Gone was the fatalism of “This year just CAN’T be worse than last year … can it?†I’ve heard all too often these past few years, replaced by genuine optimism that consumers are ready to buy again, and in significant numbers.
If the positive vibe I felt at the NADA Convention is any indication, 2012 should be a very good year for dealerships as the economic recovery continues … so long as they’re willing to share that good-spiritedness with each and every potential customer.
February 24, 2012
DOM Unveils New Corporate Website. Take a Look Around!
Well, we did it. After several weeks (and some long nights) of development, planning, creating and coding, the new Dealer Online Marketing website is live and ready for viewing!
We hope that you’ll find our new website to be informative, educational and (at times) entertaining. We’ll be keeping you updated regularly with blog posts like this one about what’s up at DOM, as well as items of interest (created by us and others) that we think will help you and your dealership.
So take a look around and kick a tire or two, and please feel free to leave a comment to let us know what you think of our new website.
February 22, 2012
DOM Attends NADA Annual Convention in Las Vegas
We’re sitting on the tarmac of LAS ready to head home to Greenville after a successful NADA convention. Adrianna, Darryl and I had a great time meeting with many of our clients, suppliers and partners, as well as meeting several new potential customers.
The expo on Saturday was an excellent opportunity to check out the latest and greatest of what the automotive industry has to offer. The NADA University Workshops provided validation that the path DOM is on is most definitely the correct one. (Thanks, Google!)
We also had an opportunity to hear several of the guest speakers. I was especially moved by Aron Ralston’s story of survival and courage. Being an avid cyclist myself, I found myself relating to his continued desire to chase the rush of the outdoors even after such a traumatic experience. I did promise my wife, though, that I’ll make sure she knows where I’m headed on bike treks from now on.
Thanks to everyone that we had a chance to meet while in Vegas, and my apologies if we didn’t. I’m looking forward to doing it all again next year.
February 6, 2012
