Advertising Can Turn Your Web Site On!
By Jim Boldebook
Don't invest a ton of dough building the world's greatest Web site with tons of chrome and lots of bells and whistles. Do the basics well and then spend money advertising your Web site and following leads! That's the advice from some of America's most successful Internet sales leaders.
When you visit the Web site of a dealer selling 100 units or more a month on the Internet, this is what you'll discover:
The sites producing the most sales:
- may not present sale price, but generally offer at least the MSRP and often the invoice
- load fast - even on a laptop in a hotel room
- are easy to navigate
- provide easy access to an e-mail address and contact information
- are user-friendly
But these attributes alone won't sell a lot of cars on the Internet. The secret to success is a dealership's commitment to development of its Web site as a core business. And that includes an advertising schedule to let people know where you are on the dial. Most of the dealers producing 100 or more Web site sales a month indicate they have a separate advertising budget for their Web sites. The majority employ some form of broadcastingradio, broadcast television and/or cableand all of the dealers include substantial mention of their Web site in print ads.
Before you turn the advertising up, be sure you're ready to do business. When ranking Web site success ingredients by importance, rapid response to a customer's inquiry is a solid number one. The top selling dealership Internet sites respond to customer e-mail requests within minutes-not hours-minutes.
The top selling Internet sites also employ dedicated sales teams that focus 100% of their efforts on greeting and closing leads generated on the Web site. Interestingly, the dealerships enjoying the highest grosses on Internet sales report a ratio of 10 sales per Web site employee, about the same ratio as on the showroom floor.
The business of selling cars to people is still about people. If you don't have the right peopleand the right trainingno amount of advertising can help you gain sales.
Once you have the basics in place, run a separate ad schedule for your Web site.
In a radio ad, be sure to repeat your Web address clearly at least three timesespecially at the end of the ad. If you're on TV, keep your Web address on the screen throughout the entire spot.
Make sure you schedule Web site ads to run at the most appropriate times for best direct response. You may want to consider advertising on different media at different times or days of the week in order to ascertain the quantity and quality of responses. This is much easier to do on a Web site than in the showroom.
Spend enough money to make something happen. That may require a substantial investment in the first few months. Project an advertising expense of 15% of your gross, based on the monthly gross you expect within six months. When you attain that goal, leapfrog to the next level.
Manufacturers have made it clear that they intend to invest in share-of-mind on the Internet. Their goal is to control that electronic retail channel. You've got an opportunity to beat them to the punch in your market by establishing a strong identity for your own Web site now. Build it and they will come. But first you have to advertise-so they know where to go.
Jim Boldebook is president of Creative Broadcast Concepts (CBC), an advertising/ marketing agency working with some of America's most successful dealerships.jboldebook@dealeronline.com
