I found this study about how consumers shop for cars from the AutoTrader Dealer Learning Center www.weworkforyou.com. Nearly a quarter of all new- and used-car buyers use multiple devices to shop. Indeed, there's a correlation between everyday device usage and shopping behavior, and it's a trend that's becoming a way of life.…

What is “Showrooming” you ask?

• The practice of visiting multiple retail stores to try products, and then checking a mobile device for the best price online

The Problem:

    1 in 3 Customers Leave and Purchase from a Competitor…

Quick, what’s the first thing you do when a commercial comes on the television. The standard answers without thinking about it are: flip through the channels, go to the restroom, or get up to get a drink.

Now, think about it more thoroughly. What do you really do when a commercial comes on. The answer for many Americans and people around the world is that they grab their smartphone or tablet and do…

In 2013, there will continue to be a growing number of people who have their smartphones and tablets handy while watching television. People are multitasking more often now than ever before while enjoying their television time. They are Tweeting, posting to Facebook, and visiting websites all from the comfort of their living…

It was one of the most used made-up words of 2012 (and in many cases, one of the most annoying). Just about every marketer in and out of the automotive industry used some variation of "SoLoMo" (Social/Local/Mobile) in a blog post, video, presentation, or declaration of things to come. The underlying concept - that many people and the sites they visit are…

Earlier this year, Nielsen, xAd, and Telmetrics conducted a survey on the “mobile path to purchase” in three industries: restaurants, travel, and automotive.  The latest part of the study released pertains to the automotive category.

One of the most important things found in this study, in my opinion, is that…

There were several takeaways from Nielsen's recent mobile studysurrounding restaurants, travel, and the automotive industry, but the one that surprised me the most was that 43% of automotive searches on mobile devices…

There has been a lot more talk over the last several months about mobile. It has transitioned from a "check box" item where dealers ask their vendors the simple yes or no question, "Do you have mobile sites in your package?" Today, the questions are more along the lines of, "What makes your mobile websites better than my…

Lafayette, CO (July 31, 2012) ­— KPA announced today the launch of KPA Mobile, providing auto dealers with more leads than any other mobile website provider through a combination of fast loading pages, fewest clicks, large images in listing pages, and properly positioned call-to-actions (CTA’s).

The number of online Internet shoppers using mobile devices is…

Your dealership customers aren't just using their mobile devices to find your car dealer website, they are also using them to read the emails you send.  A recent report from the marketing agency Knotice found that more than 27 percent of emails were opened on a mobile device during the second half of 2011.  This is a 36 percent gain from the end of 2010.

 …

According to a recent Credit Suisse report, Smartphone sales are expected to reach the 1 billion mark in 2014! An estimated 472 million smartphones were sold globally last year, accounting for 31% of all mobile devices sold.

(You can read the study here if you're interested: http://reut.rs/IlSEMU).

A lot of the demand is driven by China and the cheaper smartphones now flooding the mobile market. Global sales of smartphones will top 1 billion…

While at NADA, I heard quite a bit of buzz about mobile websites. Does my dealership need one?  If I already have one, do I need to actually optimize it?  Is mobile traffic really growing as rapidly as everyone says it is?  Should I be making my car dealership’s mobile website a priority to sell more cars?

The answer to all four of those questions is absolutely, unequivocally--YES.

Some…

In a recent study from retail analysis firm, RichRelevance, iPads and iPhones make up over 90% of online purchases that don't happen on a desktop device.  That means that 9 out of 10 mobile purchases come from an Apple product, a device that can't read anything in…

Google, in an effort to help small business ensure they have an effective mobile website, has launched "GoMo".  This website (http://www.howtogomo.com) lets users learn about why having a quality mobile site is important, test how your site looks in its mobile version, and find resources to help if your mobile site isn't quite up to par.

 …

AdVantageTec, Cars.com, cDemo Mobile Solutions, DealerTrend and MotorLot are Finalists

DrivingSales (http://www.drivingsales.com) presented Dominion Dealer Solutions’ CarBinder with the DrivingSales Innovation Cup Award for the most innovative dealership solution of 2011 at this week’s DrivingSales Executive Summit in Las Vegas.

The Second Annual DrivingSales…

I recently wrote about how important it is to keep the NAP (name, address, phone number) the same across all local listing sites.  Typically this isn't a problem, but if your dealership wants to use tracking numbers for auto dealer website, you usually won't be able to keep your NAP the same across the board.

Luckily, a call…

THOUSAND OAKS, CA, AUGUST 29, 2011 IntellaCar, LLC announced today the launch of IntellaCar. 3.0, the next generation of the ground-breaking iPad app for Sales Consultants, now optimized for all automotive brands. Building on the initial momentum, the latest version of IntellaCar has enhanced functionality with a striking new interface that is visually stunning and highly intuitive. IntellaCar leverages the latest mobile technology to give Sales Consultants the information they need to close…

I am writing this post to announce that IntellaCar has completed a successful Pilot program.  Sales consultants using IntellaCar at several leading Toyota Dealers over a four month period experienced the following successes:

• Increased sales volume – 2 to 4 more vehicles per sales consultant
• Higher gross profits – up 30% for sales consultants using Intellacar
• Improved customer satisfaction – up 47%

 …



Word of mouth advertising – it’s not almost a cliché, it IS a cliché. But it’s one we must be mindful of, because it’s the one thing in advertising that not only hasn’t changed, but is even more important today than ever.

With the Internet and digital advertising, Social Media and Dealer Reviews, word of mouth advertising rules. Everything we say and do can…

Mobile Marketing – Will it Work for Car Dealers?

By NEIL GALE, Ph.D.

Let’s explore some of the different kinds of mobile advertising that are currently available for car dealers and how they work. Marketing on a mobile phone has become increasingly popular ever since the rise of Short Message Service (SMS) in the early 2000’s when businesses started to collect mobile phone numbers and sent wanted or unsolicited text…