Websites, SEO, SEM, Display, Social, Marketing

A dealer shares their success in building strong online reputation (4.7 rating with 54 reviews across multiple platforms) but struggles to measure its actual impact on customer decisions, since few customers explicitly mention reviews. The key insight from replies is that reviews likely influence decisions more subtly than customers admit—tracking this requires asking deeper questions at point-of-sale (like "why did you choose us?") and potentially using visual cues to make customers aware of where they encountered the dealership's online presence.

A vendor advocate outlines how dealers can use Google Analytics Multi-Channel Sales Funnels (MCSF) to prove that blog posts and custom content contribute to lead submissions, making it easier to justify content budgets internally. A follow-up commenter from a call tracking company highlights that MCSF can also incorporate phone call conversions, not just form submissions, and promotes their CallConvert product as a way to tell the full attribution story. The thread is brief and leans promotional, but the core insight is that multi-channel attribution tools can finally give content marketers a measurable business case inside the dealership.

A Cobalt post uses the classic toddler 'Why Game' as a metaphor for how dealers should keep asking 'why' to uncover and articulate genuine differentiators rather than blending into the industry's white noise. Commenters are largely positive, with one noting the concept feels familiar and the author confirming it's part of a multi-channel campaign spanning blogs, video, and an eBook. The key takeaway is that persistent questioning helps dealers cut through generic messaging and find their real value proposition.

JessicaRuth shares an Automotive News article about dealership transparency and highlights that 43% of new car shoppers use phones on the lot, prompting discussion about modern retail practices. She solicits best practices and examples from dealers who have implemented transparency strategies like QR codes and mobile-optimized websites. The thread explores how dealerships can adapt to changing consumer behavior by embracing digital transparency tools.

Jeff Kershner posted a original DealerRefresh cartoon humorously depicting Facebook as a toilet, likely commenting on the frustration dealers and marketers feel about wasted ad spend or declining organic reach on the platform. The thread is primarily visual and satirical in nature, inviting community reaction to the metaphor. It reflects a broader sentiment among automotive marketers questioning the ROI and reliability of Facebook as a marketing channel.

The thread discusses a strategy to convert service customers into sales by presenting trade-in valuations on their service invoices and offering to waive service charges if they trade in their vehicle. While the concept isn't entirely new, participants confirm it's an effective but underutilized tactic, with one dealer reporting success and noting that CRM integration between service and sales departments is crucial for execution but often overlooked at dealerships.

Aaron Wirtz discovered a suspicious Google+ page called "Local photos" that contains thousands of photo albums, including images from his dealership's former Suzuki inventory that he cannot remove from his Google Local listing despite flagging them. The thread documents this unusual issue and Aaron's attempt to resolve it through Google's flagging system, while fellow forum members offer sympathy for the quirky problem. The key insight is that dealerships may encounter unauthorized aggregation of their photos on Google+ pages, with unclear mechanisms for removal.

Drew Ament explains how to create video email wraps by extracting YouTube video IDs from URLs using PHP and embedding them dynamically in emails, providing a working code example. A commenter raises an important security concern about the lack of input sanitization, noting that the code could be exploited to inject arbitrary HTML unless functions like strip_tags() or preg_replace() are added. The thread demonstrates a useful marketing technique while highlighting a critical best practice consideration for implementation.

A dealer marketer seeks advice on converting mobile website visitors into leads, noting that while mobile traffic has grown from 15.5% to 39.3% of total traffic, mobile users rarely submit forms or call. The original poster has implemented sticky footer CTAs (Click to Call, Click to Chat via Text, Directions) and is redesigning VLP/VDP pages with stronger calls to action, soliciting best practices from other automotive professionals on mobile conversion tactics.

A dealer seeks recommendations for a photo hosting service to replace Photobucket, specifically needing batch upload, custom drag-and-drop organization, and multiple output format options (HTML, email links, etc.) for efficiently organizing and sharing vehicle photos. Responses suggest practical alternatives including basic web hosting, imgur.com, and Amazon Media Sharing, though the thread doesn't reach a definitive consensus on the best solution. The key insight is that no single existing tool fully met the original poster's workflow needs, indicating a potential gap in dealer-focused photo management tools.

Dealers and industry observers debate AutoTrader's rising costs and whether the platform delivers enough value to justify them. The thread draws comparisons to lower-cost alternatives like carsforsale.com ($99/month), caroodle.com ($300/month), and TrueCar's tiered independent dealer pricing, with several vendor reps jumping in to pitch their own services. The key takeaway is widespread dealer frustration with AutoTrader's pricing model, lack of performance guarantees, and long-term contracts, driving interest in cheaper competitors.

A lighthearted post by Jeff Kershner sharing a cartoon that humorously highlights the value of knowing Photoshop in the automotive dealership marketing world. No extended discussion follows, making it a quick, amusing visual break for industry professionals who handle digital creative work. The implied takeaway is that Photoshop skills are a surprisingly useful asset in dealer marketing roles.

A dealer inquires about text messaging solutions for their dealership, prompting recommendations for several platforms including AutoUpLink USA, DealerHD, and Trumpia, each offering different features and pricing models. A key insight emerges from experienced contributors that blast text messaging often backfires for dealers by adding customers to do-not-call lists, while one-to-one personalized texting conversations with accountability monitoring (like Contact At Once) proves more effective for customer engagement.

A dealer using eCarList reports a system-wide VIN decoder problem causing incorrect trim levels and vehicle options to display randomly, resulting in customer complaints about misleading listings. After discussing root causes with other dealers and vendors, the consensus points to either a data mapping issue between Dealer Specialties and eCarList or poor implementation on eCarList's side, with the suggested solution being to switch to a more robust data feed from Dealer Specialties rather than relying on eCarList's faulty decoder.

Automotive marketers noticed that dates and individual scores disappeared from Google Reviews, sparking concern about Google's reliability and its impact on dealership reputation strategies. One dealer shared a frustrating history of losing hundreds of reviews with little recourse from Google. The issue turned out to be a roughly 72-hour bug, with dates and scores eventually restored.

Aaron Wirtz makes a case for using animated GIFs as an underutilized but effective tool in automotive digital marketing and social media, noting their longevity and broad platform support including Google+. Jeff Kershner expands on the idea with a creative application: using hover-triggered animated GIFs on dealership 'About Us' staff pages to showcase personality and reduce camera shyness. The thread is lighthearted, with industry professionals embracing the concept as a simple way to differentiate dealership websites and humanize staff profiles.

A dealer shares a comprehensive guide on Google+Local reviews, highlighting that customers must have actual Google+ accounts (not just Gmail) to leave reviews under their real names. The discussion then pivots to debate the ethics of third-party review solicitation services like SureCritic, with the original poster questioning whether companies paid by dealers can truly serve consumer interests or if such arrangements present a conflict of interest.

Dealers and marketers debate why customers should choose one dealership over another, exposing how vague answers like 'great prices' and 'great customer service' amount to meaningless white noise. The thread draws on Brian Pasch's thinking and references 'The Challenger Sale' to argue that only about 14% of what dealers think differentiates them actually matters to buyers, pushing the conversation toward defining a real, defensible value proposition before investing in any marketing channel.

ML AutoCenter sought SEO and local search optimization advice for their new collision repair website. Responses focused on technical on-page SEO fundamentals including keyword placement in title tags, meta descriptions, H1 headers, and URLs, with specific recommendations to use the Yoast SEO plugin for WordPress and vary keyword phrases naturally throughout content. The key insight is that success depends on proper keyword optimization across multiple on-page elements combined with practical tools that automate SEO best practices.

A dealer reports that their website vendor is displaying inventory pricing incorrectly—with identical vehicles shown at vastly different prices or marked "No Price Available"—and claims the vendor's tech support refused to fix it, prompting discussion about vendor accountability. Community members advise publicly naming the vendor and documenting issues to force resolution, while the original poster indicates plans to create educational videos about vendor problems rather than escalate directly. The key insight is that some vendors may use dismissive responses as a tactic, relying on dealers' reluctance to pursue complaints publicly, but escalation and transparency tend to drive actual fixes.

A lead generation company asks automotive dealers how they would price third-party leads sourced from social networks, noting their current customers close 6-10% of delivered leads that include verified contact information and vehicle preferences. The thread explores dealer perspectives on the value proposition of such leads compared to other acquisition channels and whether the conversion rates justify the cost.

Dealership professionals debate whether social media is an overhyped marketing solution or a valuable tool for their industry. The consensus that emerges is that social media works best as a supporting piece of a broader marketing strategy rather than a standalone solution, with success heavily dependent on individual dealership commitment and approach rather than the platform itself.