4:36 pm, July 15, 2009
WHEN I was asked to share my industry insights in a regular column, I thought “why not, I’ve been doing this longer than most”.
Having launched online a total of 12 cars from the Porsche Boxster in 1996 to Jaguar’s XF in 2008, four motorsport teams (two in F1), Sony’s Gran Turismo 5, Ann Summers’ best-selling electronic consumer product (!) and the myTelegraph website, I can honestly say that the common thread is always how to use digital to acquire, convert and retain customers and reduce marketing spend.
I’m not going to bang on about autotorq.com even though they’re getting great customer feedback following two years of major investment. Instead, I will demystify what digital is all about and how dealers can improve the way they use the internet to drive more sales.
Today, simply having a great-looking website is not enough. It’s what you do with it that counts: so focus on results. I know that many dealers have less than two leads a week from their website and take days to respond to customer enquiries; I also know that some dealers have 50 to 100 leads a month and are selling more cars as a direct result of their digital activity.
Over the coming months, I’ll cover the four principles
of digital marketing that I know will make a difference to your online business. There will be no jargon, just straight talk and I’ll continue the discussion in my blog (http://blog.autotorq.com) and on twitter (twitter.com/autotorq) so you can join in and have your say.
Whatever happens, I hope to help you better understand what your digital supplier is doing – from social media, to search marketing, website design and CRM, I’ll keep it informative and entertaining.
So, let me leave you with one thought. If traditional marketing is about placing an ad and hoping to catch the right person (right time, right place and subject to chance – poor odds), Web 2.0 marketing is about taking the message directly to those that have held up their hand, and by knowing in advance what they’re interested in, you can target your message (better odds).
Who is Clive Jackson? Clive is the founder and CEO of autotorq.com and Global Beach digital agency. Autotorq.com are the headline sponsors of the Car Dealer Ewards 2009 and Clive will be writing for the magazine every month in an exclusive column.
HOW TO ENTER…
Submitting your website couldn’t be easier. Send an email to [email protected] and in the subject box type the Eward category name you’re entering. So, if you’re a franchised dealer, write ‘franchised’. In the email, include the following details:
1 Your name and position
2 Company name
3 Website address
4 Name of the agency who designed the website, or if in-house, state this
5 Finally, 50 words saying what makes your site an Eward winner
If you entered last year, that doesn’t mean you can’t enter these Ewards, but you will need to send us details again.
