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Do you try to capture early stage leads?

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Reactions: Alexander Lau
The premise of this article is good - sorry to be so late to the show here, but... The trouble is who only pays $1.50 for a lead? From any vendor? Anywhere?

Let's take a look at what she's really saying here - capturing *and* converting a site visitor before they bounce all over the digital world - ATC, Cars.com, Edmunds, Google Display, Bing, etc. - should in theory save you money. I get the article was designed to be simplistic to prove a point, however it is also greatly exaggerated in terms of cost per lead, etc.

Real and true ROI calculations are necessary to determine so much of where and why we, as dealers, spend on lead providers, sources and advertising.

Reminds me of that old car biz saying - "If you want to make more money, just close more deals." Right?
 
The premise of this article is good - sorry to be so late to the show here, but... The trouble is who only pays $1.50 for a lead? From any vendor? Anywhere?

Let's take a look at what she's really saying here - capturing *and* converting a site visitor before they bounce all over the digital world - ATC, Cars.com, Edmunds, Google Display, Bing, etc. - should in theory save you money. I get the article was designed to be simplistic to prove a point, however it is also greatly exaggerated in terms of cost per lead, etc.

Real and true ROI calculations are necessary to determine so much of where and why we, as dealers, spend on lead providers, sources and advertising.

Reminds me of that old car biz saying - "If you want to make more money, just close more deals." Right?

The cost per lead was random, and as you said, an example to simplify for the audience. It's all proportional, so just fill in what you think the cost per lead is, and then calculate the cost per lead with remarketing and retargeting, and believe me, the cost will go up. That's the idea here.. hope you can make the connection.
 
This might be a bit off topic… but I find it interesting that so many dealers spend so much effort on trying to generate “inbound” leads that are not real leads. Your goal is to engage with local market and provide greater value then your competition. When you flood your CRM with these “mystery leads” you will end up with a poor closing ratio and sales personnel that is not willing to make the necessary follow-up.

Concentrate on generating the best quality leads possible through inbound and out bound efforts combined. Did you ever wonder how many people are posting on social media asking car related questions within 20 miles of your dealership? How many people are posting cars online for sale by owner because they want to see what they can get private party before they go into the dealership? How many local people complaining about service related issues with their car? All of these people are your local prospects that are in emotional state ready to do something, yet your sales staff is chasing someone who filled out a form online to win a free car.

As the pace of life evolves dealers need to reconsider how they approach lead generation. Consumers want personal service and solution to the problem they have. They don’t want to be sold.

It’s time to get creative with local lead generation. I would recommend reading this article by Lisa Gevelber @ Think with Google. https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/art...ess-reveals-auto-marketing-opportunities.html