So I sent a lead from Cars.com on my own inventory. I received a list of competitor's cars in under an hour. I also got a list on day 2, 5, 7 - day 10 asked for a review. ---At least they all went to the Spam folder ---
I did the same thing, but I also did it on TrueCar as well as cars.com, So I have gotten double the follow up, both from cars.com. They asked me for a review too, But it wasn't a review link directed specifically at our dealership. I'm definitely not a fan of this follow up, because I feel like cars.com has solid branding that if the shopper wants to continue looking, they will naturally go back to cars.com.So I sent a lead from Cars.com on my own inventory. I received a list of competitor's cars in under an hour. I also got a list on day 2, 5, 7 - day 10 asked for a review. ---At least they all went to the Spam folder ---
So I sent a lead from Cars.com on my own inventory. I received a list of competitor's cars in under an hour. I also got a list on day 2, 5, 7 - day 10 asked for a review. ---At least they all went to the Spam folder ---
I did the same thing, but I also did it on TrueCar as well as cars.com, So I have gotten double the follow up, both from cars.com. They asked me for a review too, But it wasn't a review link directed specifically at our dealership. I'm definitely not a fan of this follow up, because I feel like cars.com has solid branding that if the shopper wants to continue looking, they will naturally go back to cars.com.
It made it through my Spam filter. I understand how email marketing is important, but it also adds to the barrage of emails that the customer receives. Like I said, I sent 2 leads , 1 through cars and 1 through truecar and received double the follow up - 4 emails in 10 days per lead. I do wonder what the click thru rate is for these? Since you saw the emails, how do you think the emails could be improved from the dealer perspective? I feel like they should at least insert the vehicle they were originally interested in (from our dealership) at the top, with the alternatives below it.No matter how solid your brand, one can't rely on that alone. Consistent email marketing is a MUST for a company like Cars.com. It has a direct positive impact on recurring traffic, and conversion. It also helps drive the performance of their display remarketing program. A win for all dealers on Cars.com.
Since you saw the emails, how do you think the emails could be improved from the dealer perspective? I feel like they should at least insert the vehicle they were originally interested in (from our dealership) at the top, with the alternatives below it.
Bill, thanks for your question. I believe Casey at your dealership posted a similar question last week on this thread. Since that time, our first round of testing of the email campaign came to a conclusion and now we’ve made tweaks based on insights and feedback. The next phase of our test will include some revisions to the
campaign, including building in more time for the dealer follow-up process, highlighting the original vehicle at the top of follow-up emails and highlighting additional inventory from that dealer. These revisions will continue to provide consumers the relevancy they want in addition to providing our dealer customers stronger benefits and value too. <o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
As I mentioned to Casey, our goal is to help shoppers move closer to purchase, and before instituting the campaign, 58% of email lead senders were already returning to the site after submitting a lead. What that means is consumers require additional information, and our goal is to provide that while empowering our dealer customers to influence the process.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
We’re always looking to strike that perfect balance where it’s a win-win for both consumers and dealers alike, which is why we’re testing these campaigns first on a smaller scale before we decide how they fit into our overall consumer acquisition plans. Thanks for taking the time to provide feedback.
<o:p></o:p>
That is the hard part that I am having a hard time wrapping my head around. Without the inventory feeds from your paying customers, the consumer side of your customer base would be greatly diminished if it existed at all. It is my feeling that the paying customer, your dealers, deserve a little bit more of a courtesy than that. Not to mention we found this out on our own and were never advised from anyone at your company that Cars was going to test pilot a program of this nature. Am I missing something here?