AutoTrader.com Pricing???

[Lightnup (blog)]

Mark,

Who said the $620 was not accurate? That could very well be the correct number for the dealer addressed in Ian's post above, based on market, inventory size and advertising level. Please check your facts before complaining about things that you may only be imagining.

 

[Bruce K]

AutoTrader CEO Chip Perry, for instance, says the one thing dealers want to know from him is “why do you raise your rates 20 percent every year?” But they seem to get the value of a medium that is used “seven times more than newspapers,” he says — even if their spending doesn’t nearly reflect it.

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blog.kelseygroup.com

 

[Mark Bonfigli]

A lot of good points posted on this subject but to back up to a higher level I think that we may be too focused on whether or not the advertising on websites like autotrader is effective and maybe not focused enough on the real money losing ads that are being run in Newspapers, TV and Radio. I think it is really time that dealers look at reducing conventional ad spend and testing out the various local online ad sources that provide proven results and full reporting and metrics (cost per lead, cost per sale..etc) Internet is a science and it is really time that we all stop guessing with all of our ad dollars and hold advertising companies 100% accountable for the results. With that said I think there is a place for branding but not to the tune of 40k/month like many dealers are spending.

I realize I am simplifying things but if you look a the majority of US dealers, the use of local search and local online advertising is off the mark by a huge margin and only a small % of dealers are truly capitalizing on the emergence of internet shopping being the norm. Even for all the dealers worried about their 3rd party costs they should realize that many of the leads they are buying from these websites could have been theirs first gereration instead of buying it 2nd or 3rd generation for 200-300% more! Maximize your local online advertising and cut the middle man out whenever possible, that is the key!

Many new programs available now to dealers allow them to gauge the effectiveness of all of their ad sources side by side so that they can see what in fact newspaper, radio, tv and internet are doing as compared to one another. Even more related to this string of posts is that you can have all of your 3rd party lead providers side by side and gauge which produce the most leads, lowest cost per sale each day, week, month and year. At the end of the day this is all that matters and will empower dealers to transition the correct amount of money away from costly and ineffective traditional advertising spend.

This has to be the goal, too many dealers are hurting with profits and it doesn't have to be there way.

Mark Bonfigli
President, CEO
Dealer.com, Inc
www.dealer.com

 

[Joe Pistell]

Car dealers & ISM's whipsawed in "the perfect storm".

A time line as I see it.
Old School:
---Dealers loyally spend in newsprint.
---Newsprint owned the dealers for decades.
---Newsprint grew fat and happy.

New School:
---Customers Drive dealers onto the net (dealers dont like change.
---Internet Classified sites reward Early Adopters (most all of us here are Early Adopters).
---More and more "late to the party" dealers jump into the Net
---BZ was borne (the end can't be far can it?
---Internet ad spending rockeets & ROI plummets for Early Adoptors, but, it's new biz for the old school bunch.
---Internet Classified sites steal marketshare from newsprint
---Internet Classified sites want some of that "newsprint windfall"
---Internet Classified sites grow fat and happy.

New-New School
---Early Adopters, sick of the rate rape, embrace PPC and SEO
---BZ & all others attack new SEO/PPC revenue pool, most are bandaid additions to a duct-taped platform that would fail in anyother highly competitive verticle (not yours Mark B.
---WebSite builders grow fat and happy.

Where does this lead too?..ISM's still fighting for a flat. Can anyone pass me some vAuto Koolaid?

Me thinks we're in the wrong biz!
just my $0.02
Joe

 

[Alex Snyder (blog)]

The bullet is taking aim!

 

[Ashley Antonio]

Here ya go Joe. I got some VAuto Koolaid for you

Back to Autotrader and I hate to do this. Is anyone else having Alpha/increase discussions with their ATC reps? Does paying or should i say "bidding" for Alpha make sense? If it does I'll jump on it. It's a few weeks past the bidding deadline and no Honda dealership in my market has placed a "bid" yet. Now is the time!!!

Btw...this is Bad Ashley talking...

 

[Brian in Etown]

@Ashley
once you sign up they will visit your competition (bring in the big wig from corporate) tell them they can't compete without (insert package here) and tell them how great your business is since you switched to (insert package here) pretty soon your exclusive package isn't so exclusive anymore.
(this all came to me in a dream last night)
btw after your recommendation I switched to v-auto goose-aid much tastier then the old fashioned kool-aid and it's only 15.3% more expensive but you will experience a 25.3% increase in clarity.

 

[Jimmy]

Ashley, Brian is on target. What time period did they claim this placement of product would remain "exclusive". I'll take a guess that no other Honda dealers have taken the bait because they don't see the value/need for it in the first place. I know of many Honda dealerships with midline product w/Autotrader doing just fine, esp. w/certified pre-owned. I can't see them offering you"exclusivity" for more than a 6 month term.

 

[Alex Snyder (blog)]

A little bird dropped by the dealership today and mentioned AutoTrader.com reps have been instructed, from on-high, not to post on Dealer Refresh anymore!

 

[Jeff Kershner]

Alex, that's is CRAZY NEWS!! But then again, they were all posting anomalously any ways.