Websites, SEO, SEM, Display, Social, Marketing

Jeff Kershner opens a discussion about where dealers are falling short in digital and customer experience, referencing a Google guidebook that highlights how consumers now visit fewer than two dealerships before buying and expect a frictionless online process. The thread explores the gap between where the industry says it needs to be and how dealerships are actually executing on digital strategy. Key insight centers on the disconnect between acknowledging digital's importance and genuinely delivering a modern, consumer-driven purchasing experience.

Multiple Cadillac dealers' Facebook pages simultaneously posted an article about using human blood to poison mosquitos, raising concerns about wasted advertising spend and quality control. A respondent diagnosed the issue as a content management problem where a deleted Cadillac article was redirected to Brink Wire's homepage, causing Facebook to pull an unrelated mosquito story's image due to missing Open Graph tags. The thread highlights the risks of outsourced social media management and emphasizes the importance of dealers creating their own original content with proper quality assurance processes.

A dealer inquires about Yelp's WiFi offering and whether it's worth granting the platform access to customer data. The discussion compares Yelp's paid WiFi system unfavorably to free alternatives like Facebook WiFi and Cloud4Wi, with participants weighing the tradeoffs between customer data collection and marketing benefits, ultimately concluding that consumers are generally willing to trade personal information for free WiFi and relevant ads.

A dealership marketer transitioning from agency work struggles with tracking form submissions and abandonment on CDK Global and Dealer.com platforms, which lack standard thank you pages needed for ROI measurement. Responses recommend using Google Analytics custom goals and event tracking as workarounds, with Google Tag Manager as a last resort, while acknowledging that vendor lock-in and OEM requirements intentionally limit flexibility in automotive dealership software. The thread highlights a broader frustration with automotive industry practices around analytics transparency and control compared to open web standards.

Dealers debate the effectiveness of new car promotions, with discussion ranging from gimmicky giveaways like $20 gas cards (which may attract tire-kickers rather than serious buyers) to more strategic approaches like targeted emails, model-specific offers, and creative cross-promotions tied to local institutions or industries. The consensus emerging is that true specials require a well-thought strategy with proper website presentation, inventory curation, and email campaigns—not just flashy incentives—and that managers need to measure actual conversion rates to distinguish between customers already in-market versus those genuinely attracted by the promotion itself.

Daniel Brandon Able seeks recommendations for managing marketing operations across four dealerships, including organization tools and communication strategies. Multiple professionals recommend project management platforms like DivvyHQ, Asana, Wrike, and Notion as superior alternatives to Trello for handling multi-store campaigns, with several emphasizing that tool selection matters less than proper organizational discipline and integration with communication systems like Slack.

DealerRater announced an enhancement to Salesperson Connect that allows shoppers to view salesperson profiles, reviews, and biographies on Cars.com and contact salespeople directly before visiting the dealership. The feature reportedly increases closing rates by 89 percent for customers who select a salesperson based on reviews, highlighting the significant value of salesperson-level ratings for both dealer conversion and consumer decision-making.

At NADA 2018, Cars.com launched Cars Social, a new social media advertising product designed to help dealers reach in-market shoppers more effectively. The company also announced it would offer Conversations™, an AI chat solution from recently-acquired Dealer Inspire, to select dealers visiting their booth. The announcements reflect Cars.com's strategy to expand beyond classifieds into integrated digital marketing and customer engagement tools.

The thread critiques self-proclaimed internet "gurus" who use modest income levels as proof of success while giving financial and business advice, arguing that such credentials lack credibility. Participants note that DealerRefresh has avoided attracting this type of personality due to strong moderation that encourages respectful challenge of ideas, contrasting this with the automotive industry's tendency to follow flashy personalities and buzzwords. The key insight is that genuine credibility comes from sustained, proven results and humble communication rather than ostentatious displays of wealth or credentials.

Dealer Inspire announced two new technology products at the 2018 NADA Show: Website Voice Search, which enables customers to search vehicle inventory using voice commands instead of typing, and Metal, a next-generation inventory management system. The announcement highlights the company's focus on modernizing the digital car-shopping experience to adapt to evolving consumer preferences and dealership needs.

Rick Buffkin initiated a thread asking DealerRefresh members attending NADA to share photos and notes from conference sessions they found valuable, starting with insights from a panel featuring representatives from Facebook, Google, and Twitter. While Rick shared substantive content from Google presentations, the thread was derailed when Alexander Lau posted unrelated humorous memes about presentations instead of actual conference takeaways. The thread ultimately failed to achieve its intended purpose of crowdsourcing useful training information from the event.

Dealer Authority's JD Rucker asks the DealerRefresh community to evaluate chat software and managed services for dealerships, challenging vendors to share performance data and case studies. The discussion identifies three primary chat providers as market leaders—CarChat24, ActiveEngage, and Contact At Once—with CarChat24 receiving the most consistent praise for lead quality and managed service expertise, though participants note that chat software itself is largely commoditized and effectiveness depends heavily on implementation strategy and staffing quality.

A dealer discovers that Cars.com is linking directly to dealership VDPs (Vehicle Detail Pages) from its listings and questions whether this is a new feature. Responses reveal the feature has been available for 5-6 months as a paid upgrade (costing roughly $300-400/month as part of larger packages), though some dealers note competitors like Autotrader and KBB offer similar linking for free, and one dealer suspects the original poster may have this feature active without realizing it. The thread concludes with skepticism about whether customers would actually use such links enough to justify the extra cost, with one dealer sarcastically suggesting someone made a billing "mistake."

Brian Pasch surveys dealership managers about their cable TV advertising experiences as cable companies develop digital multi-device strategies to reach consumers across platforms despite cord-cutting trends. The thread is brief, with only a clarifying comment from Alex Snyder noting that survey results will be shared with the DealerRefresh community after the NADA conference, suggesting this is part of an ongoing research initiative rather than a concluded discussion.

Matt Murray argues that online reviews have become a critical differentiator for dealerships competing in a near-perfectly competitive market where products and prices are similar. The post draws on car buyer journey data to show that shoppers increasingly evaluate dealerships online before visiting, making reputation management a direct driver of sales outcomes. The thread positions review strategy not as a marketing nicety but as a bottom-line necessity.

Dealers discuss why traditional digital marketing tactics are becoming less effective as competition intensifies, with replies emphasizing that strategy should differ based dealership size—mega stores can afford upper-funnel awareness campaigns while smaller dealers need sniper-like precision targeting. Key insights include the importance of proper sales attribution to identify which marketing channels actually drive sales, and recognition that the market is shifting toward competition based on execution excellence rather than channel innovation alone.

Chris Leslie questions how to assign monetary value to "assist" touches in multi-touch attribution models when evaluating marketing ROI, arguing that if marketers move beyond last-click attribution, there must be a concrete method to quantify those assists' contribution to sales. The discussion reveals disagreement about attribution's feasibility—while Adam Murray advocates for incorporating "gut instinct" given attribution's inherent complexity, and Steve Stauning expresses skepticism about attribution models being oversold, Chris remains focused on finding a practical framework within Google Analytics to measure the actual value of multi-touch data.

Steve Stauning argues that rotating image carousels and homepage slideshows on dealership websites should be eliminated, citing data that suggests they do not help sell cars or increase service revenue. He challenges the assumption that OEMs, dealer groups, and individual dealers have actually measured the impact of these elements, implying most are using them out of habit rather than evidence. The thread likely draws on UX research and conversion data to make the case for cleaner, more focused homepage design.

ErikJonker asks whether Google Places 360 virtual tours provide SEO value and whether switching to call tracking numbers affects rankings. Alexander Lau confirms that while Google doesn't explicitly state it, updating 360 tours likely provides modest SEO benefits and improves user experience, but cautions that switching to tracking numbers can create citation consistency problems across the web that are difficult to reverse.

George Nenni questions why CDK lead forms require zip codes and phone numbers on mobile, arguing these fields create unnecessary friction and lower conversion rates compared to desktop. After discussion, DrewAment reveals that CDK actually allows dealers to disable or customize these "required" fields, suggesting the real issue is dealer/OEM configuration rather than a CDK platform limitation. The thread highlights that simpler mobile forms with fewer fields can improve conversions, but ultimately dealers have more control over their form fields than the initial complaint suggested.

Google My Business has automatically created service and parts department pages for many dealerships, often containing significant errors that need correction. Gerry Foster, a new Local SEO expert to the automotive industry, explains how to locate these department pages by searching dealership names in Google Maps and zooming into the location. The thread raises questions about the benefits of these department pages and hints at scalability challenges for dealers managing multiple locations.

Automotive dealers across multiple brands reported record website traffic and sales during July 2009's Cash for Clunkers program, with traffic increases ranging from 20-85%, particularly for domestic brands like Chrysler, Jeep, and Ford. Early SEO efforts targeting location-specific and brand-specific "Cash for Clunkers" keyword phrases proved highly effective, though dealers faced challenges with depleted new inventory and high volumes of trade-in clunkers. The thread demonstrates that the federal stimulus program successfully drove consumer demand and online engagement, validating dealers' digital marketing investments, though some expressed concerns about inventory replenishment and unpaid deals.