Using Cars.com - We are doing about 14 e-mail leads for both new and used together per month. And about 16 phone calls per month. I'm wondering is anyone doing better, or is this pretty much typical? About 200 new and used cars in the inventory. I find this to be a bit disappointing? Our prices are middle-low, cars have 2 paragraphs of comments each, about 10 photos each, etc.
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Cars.com & Autotrader.com Are you all really doing that great of #'s? v. Leads?
- Thread starter kcar
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- Dec 30, 2009
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- Dec 2, 2009
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Sounds about par for the course with AT. My personal opinion is that AT does too much to encourage shopping, and not enough to encourage traffic/lead submission.
In other words, AT is not close enough to bottom-funnel as they advertise, or charge. I think AT attracts a TON of traffic still in the "consideration" stage, disproportionate to the "decision" stage, hence accounting for the major lack of SRP and VDP results vs. Actual Leads and the origin of the (myth???) AT Ghost Shopper (those that pick their cars on AT then just show up magically on your lot).
Bottom line: don't expect a plethora of email or phone leads from AT, no matter what.
In other words, AT is not close enough to bottom-funnel as they advertise, or charge. I think AT attracts a TON of traffic still in the "consideration" stage, disproportionate to the "decision" stage, hence accounting for the major lack of SRP and VDP results vs. Actual Leads and the origin of the (myth???) AT Ghost Shopper (those that pick their cars on AT then just show up magically on your lot).
Bottom line: don't expect a plethora of email or phone leads from AT, no matter what.
For what it's worth, I have always done well with display advertising. Kcar, if you are priced in the middle of the pack, you are not going to do well. The price is set by the market and that is the internet. I agree with John, in that over 60% of shoppers just show up on your lot. Is that a bad thing? I took pride in the fact that I could influence a lot of people to do business with the store. My department closed about 20% of the leads that came from Cars.com and AutoTrader. I was an Alpha/Premium dealer and our ROI justified that decision. Cars.com, because of the lower price had a higher ROI.
What I think is key:
* Market-based pricing
* Good custom descriptions with major options in the first sentence
* A call to action (I prefer a phone call to an email)
* Lots of good quality pictures at least 9 for new and over thirty for used
* I like videos
Joe had a thread that discussed the new Google Panda. I took that doing what I described would influence traffic to my individual websites. Joe????
What I think is key:
* Market-based pricing
* Good custom descriptions with major options in the first sentence
* A call to action (I prefer a phone call to an email)
* Lots of good quality pictures at least 9 for new and over thirty for used
* I like videos
Joe had a thread that discussed the new Google Panda. I took that doing what I described would influence traffic to my individual websites. Joe????
- Apr 7, 2009
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Yag,
You confused me again. Either your 4 drinks into happy hour, or, am I looking at that language barrier thing?
- Apr 7, 2009
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I'm in JQ's camp:
We are in a special industry, Compare car buying to buying an airline ticket.
This is where AutoTrader/Cars breaks from Orbitz/Expedia. Airline shopper buys online, Car shopper does not. This puts AutoTrader/Cars.com into a box that limits it's value to the shopper. If I were an exec for either team, I'd be deeply exploring this "shopping process disconnect" and trying to find ways to create bridges between buyer and seller (aka LEADS).
On this fresh DR thread http://forum.dealerrefresh.com/f21/autotrader-vs-cars-com-value-comparison-2340-5.html#post20656 I explain this in more detail and offer up an AWESOME and creative solution.
We are in a special industry, Compare car buying to buying an airline ticket.
- Husband: "Honey Let's buy a... (vacation/car)"
- Wife: "can we afford it, how much is it?"
- Husband: "I went to Kayak/Cars.com and I see the price is ____"
- Wife: "is that the final price"?
This is where AutoTrader/Cars breaks from Orbitz/Expedia. Airline shopper buys online, Car shopper does not. This puts AutoTrader/Cars.com into a box that limits it's value to the shopper. If I were an exec for either team, I'd be deeply exploring this "shopping process disconnect" and trying to find ways to create bridges between buyer and seller (aka LEADS).
On this fresh DR thread http://forum.dealerrefresh.com/f21/autotrader-vs-cars-com-value-comparison-2340-5.html#post20656 I explain this in more detail and offer up an AWESOME and creative solution.
- Apr 28, 2009
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We have started tracking source code from phone shoppers and here are the top three we are hearing on phone calls. This is when the salesperson asks, how did you hear about our dealership.
1. Dealer website
2. AutoTrader
3. Craigslist
As we collect more data and improve our reports, I will share more information.
1. Dealer website
2. AutoTrader
3. Craigslist
As we collect more data and improve our reports, I will share more information.
- Dec 30, 2009
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There's a fine line between brilliance and insanity. Luckily for Joe he is firmly planted on the right side of that line.
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✨ AI Highlights
A dealer asks whether their 14 email leads and 16 phone calls per month from Cars.com and AutoTrader is typical for a 200-car inventory, prompting discussion about lead quality from these platforms. Multiple experienced dealers agree that AutoTrader and Cars.com attract mostly early-stage shoppers in the consideration phase rather than ready-to-buy customers, explaining why direct leads are lower than expected—with one dealer noting that 60%+ of their buyers simply show up on the lot after browsing these sites rather than submitting leads. The key takeaway is that success on these platforms depends on market-based pricing, strong descriptions, quality photos, and clear calls-to-action, with Cars.com generally offering better ROI than AutoTrader for mid-market dealers.
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