News for the Week of 1.6 

Pinterest Privacy Policy

Pinterest recently updated its privacy policy in order to make the user experience feel more personalized and be more useful.  Users can now connect their Pinterest accounts to different apps to Pin…

News for the Week of 12.30 

Google 360-Degree Storytelling on YouTube

Storytelling is BIG and YouTube doesn't plan on missing out. Google Spotlight Stories are now available for select Android users on the YouTube app, bringing an in-the-moment, virtual reality feature to users. Now,…

What’s the Difference for Your Dealership? 

Ever wonder about the difference between your CEM and CRM?  What are the specifics of each, and how do they benefit your dealership—both individually and when strategically positioned to work together?  At first glance, it’s easy to think they’re synonymous, and while they have overlapping features, there are definitive…

Facebook Reviews Matter

Look out, Yelp.  Facebook has joined the latest list of sites vying for consumer attention when it comes to user reviews and ratings.  With its recently-launched Best Professional Services site, it joins a crowded market that caters to local businesses and organizations seeking…

Creating Original Content for Your Social Media Platforms

There’s no denying auto dealerships have traditional marketing channels down to a science, but modern consumers find every way they can to skip over ads. In response to this problem, content marketing has become one of the most successful ways to engage consumers across the internet and social…

The automotive industry has seen an influx in sales stemming from online traffic over the last few years, and consumers are not letting this trend die down any time soon. Dealerships that take to heart customers’ demands in the online realm will boost their bottom line by integrating live chat software on their sites and utilizing responsive website…

It's the Holiday Season

The holiday season makes it the perfect time for your dealership to join in the spirit, get customers excited, and make sure you’re the go-to destination for their holiday car shopping.  Not only are consumers looking for big-ticket items like vehicles, but they’re also on the lookout for stocking stuffers like service gift certificates, oil…

Virtual Reality 

The car-shopping journey has become primarily virtual. Consumers now do most of their research online and learn about dealerships via the internet, and in turn, 70% of the buyer journey is complete before shoppers even…

Consumer Experience Meets Technology 

Consumers are continuously putting information and data about themselves into the online world, and in order to take your dealership to the next level, it’s important to focus on what’s being said.  Creating a positive overall customer experience is integral to the success of your dealership, and that begins where shoppers are…

News for the Week of 12.9

Facebook Messenger Arrives at a Website Near You 

Facebook recently introduced new Page plugins for Messages and Events, allowing users to message your business easily and check out what’s going on with your Events directly from your…

December is here, which means the holidays are right around the corner. When we think of Christmas, several things come to mind, one of them being good ol’ Saint Nicholas—or Santa for short. 

The holidays are the perfect time to appeal to consumers and find innovative ways to bring in-market shoppers into your dealership. A simple way to attract more business…

By now, pretty much everyone has heard about the power of social media and the effect it can have on businesses that are leveraging it to enhance their bottom line. What may or may not be known—even by the businesses that are using social media to their advantage—are the actual numbers that are churning behind the scenes of specific social campaigns. So how can…

Automotive Future 

Autotrader’s recent Car Buyer of the Future study shows only 17 out of 4,002 people prefer the current car-buying process, with the rest saying they want significant changes. This means the industry needs…

News for the Week of November 30

Snapchat Story Explorer 

Snapchat introduced Story Explorer, a unique way for users to share experiences through the eyes of the community.  With Story Explorer’s technology, after viewing a Snap, users can see more of the story simply by…

How to Track Consumer Behavior and Leverage What You Learn

If your dealership is able to take advantage of the right tools, you can easily tell which consumers are in the car-buying market and what vehicles they’re searching for. This knowledge, however, means your employees’ approach is key in making sure they attract potential customers instead of scaring them off. …

Social Media News for the Week of November 23

Brand-New Google+ 

Google will look different for users due to its latest updates to Google+. Latest improvements focus on Communities and Collections, placing those features front and center for Google social media…

News for the Week of November 16

Pinterest Visual Search Launched

Pinterest lovers, rejoice!  The new visual search has launched, which means users can now search for items that appear in pins simply by tapping the built-in search tool and zooming in on objects of…

Knowledge is Power

Today’s consumers are more educated than ever, and that plays an enormous role in how they interact with your dealership and what they expect when they set foot onto your showroom floor. It’s important your dealers are prepared to interact with a generation that has access to endless information online and prefers utilizing it by researching their options…

Bridging the Cross-Device Gap

For consumers, the car shopping journey has morphed into an online, cross-device journey. Now that you’re able to appeal to consumers who are taking the cross-device journey to purchase their vehicles, it’s important to continue that momentum by bridging the gap and pulling more consumers into your dealership. As discussed in Part I, it’s…

Smartphones and Tablets and Laptops, Oh My!

A Virtual Experience

A car shopping journey isn’t simple anymore, and consumers are using more devices and types of technology than ever to make their purchases. That means dealerships are striving to create the best cross-channel experiences for their consumers.

For consumers on car-buying journeys, devices and…