Have you tried AutoMart.com and if not, why?

[TJ]

Print is dead, click & print only exists to prop up the short lifespan of prints viability, don't believe me? ask one of the hundreds of thousands of convienience stores what percentage of their classified vehicle ad books are returned to the vendor every two weeks. I took an informal survey of stores around me last year and it averaged 80% returned and not even looked at. When will online classified vendors realize it's not about "Exposure" blah, blah, blah, it's about making my phone ring from customers. I know how to buy popular in market vehicles & advertise vehicles w/great commentary & 27 photos per car, I know how to price them competitively, we get it. What about delivering a bigger in market audience for my vehicles? How some online classified sites manage to get away w/their price points is beyond me, the whole "Exposure" mantra isn't figuring in the ROI equation, at least not in our books and trust me, we pay attention to this every month. AutoTrader.com and Cars.com have the largest in market audiences, that much is a given, paying anyone from the third fiddle level below is flushing money down the toilet from an ROI aspect based on our ad spends w/Autorader & Cars.com the past year and a half alone, how AutoTrader.com will manage to stay on our radar as a vendor should be very interesting to say the least because unless they re-invent the wheel itself we're slashing them in half if not totally based on ROI alone, let alone taking on a third online classified vendor.

 

[Gary Butler]

John, the question was on AutoMart DOT COM, not the print version.

You can try and justify the old school stuff as much as you want. You can't quantify the ROI with print. Don't say you can, because you can't, and I know.

AutoMart.com is a waste of dough just like, AutoTrader.com. They show you all these BS numbers and they do a snake dance for dealers who buy it hook line and sinker. Looks like they set the hook pretty good with you. Sorry buddy, you once were a great linebacker, but you missed the boat on this one.

 

[Melanie Kovach]

Thank you for the feedback- both positive and negative. We strive to provide products that satisfy the needs of dealers.

I'm advocating that you consider AutoMart in your advertising mix based on both the quantity and quality of car buyers looking for a car to buy in our products. Because more and more consumers are car shopping online, dealers should and are moving more and more of their advertising dollars online to reach them. I would contend that AutoMart.com is in the top 3 of the most effective online advertising resources currently available. Further, AutoMart Magazine is more like the internet than it is the newspaper- free information. Consumer demand is still high for targeted free distribution photo guides and therefore dealers get a high return on their investment with the magazine, as well.

 

[Melanie Kovach]

Thank you for the feedback- both positive and negative. We strive to provide products that satisfy the needs of dealers.

I'm advocating that you consider AutoMart in your advertising mix based on both the quantity and quality of car buyers looking for a car to buy in our products. Because more and more consumers are car shopping online, dealers should and are moving more and more of their advertising dollars online to reach them. I would contend that AutoMart.com is in the top 3 of the most effective online advertising resources currently available. Further, AutoMart Magazine is more like the internet than it is the newspaper- free information. Consumer demand is still high for targeted free distribution photo guides and therefore dealers get a high return on their investment with the magazine, as well.

 

[Norm Hendricks]

Auto mart magazine flat out gets the phone calls, 80-100 calls a month. For what 2 pages a week generates, I would have to spend 4 times as much on ads in the newspapers. Although NP liner ads do work and are a value. I love hearing dealers say print is dead, yeah bud, keep thinking that and I'll keep selling from it.

I tried Automart.com, but there were alot of problems - speed related, search related, and reporting problems. One month I suposedly had 80+ website clicks, but google analytics only showed 10. Never got a solid answer there, my guess was search spider traffic that they couldn't account for on their end. The way they drive traffic to the website is through buying search engine traffic with all the majors and some minors, and I can do that on my own and spend alot less than what they charge. The magazine does pull some traffic to the website I'm sure, but if you advertise in the magazine that inventory is posted on the website for free. Trust me customers will find your cars on there even if you don't have the top tier search placement. For online leads, I use autotrader and cars.com (not top tier packages though - waste of $), and numerous microsites, and my own SEM/SEO campaigns.

 

[Gary Butler]

Sorry, that ain't gonna fly. Using the "marketing mix" or "advertising mix" line for an advertising vender, to make you more "well rounded", is like a sales man using the, "If I could would ya?", close on the show room floor.

You guys go ahead and waste your dough on these guys. You would be better off doing SEM or SEO to your own sites than wishing on a star with AutoMart...AutoTrader....same thing, same company...as a matter of fact. You old school liner guys may think the print version makes your phone ring in your market, more power to ya.

There is a better way to spend your dough guys, much better.

 

[Jeff Kershner (blog)]

Sorry everyone but I was asked to remove the graphs.

Jeff

 

[T.J.]

Gary I have to agree with you being a former AutoTrader.com employee. Feel free to check out my comment on the most recent AutoTrader.com "pricing" post.

Besides all the dough they get from your monthly rates to advertise in the yankee stadiums, on TNT, and so on they use Google Sponsored links and tout how they show up in search results so you don't have to spend the money. Of course, because if you did spend the money on that you wouldn't need them anymore.

 

[George G.]

Its a numbers game. The next time a third party lead provider calls, ask them to send you the months traffic rankings from alexa or compete. Chances are they won't because they always provide traffic rankings that are a dated or skewed. We now have the tools to see if they are reputable. Check out the links below.

You can pit three sites vs each other

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www.compete.com

The ranking site of record

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www.alexa.com

 

[Vinny Maculaitis]

I'm not sure where most of you are from, but I can say that Automart.com is like any other medium - stronger in some markets and weaker in others. The fact of the matter is I can only speak on behalf of my group and region and I can honestly tell you that we, Montrose Auto Group (7 store group with 16 brands in NE Ohio & Western PA), have made a substantial investment in the internet game and have for several years. Quite frankly, it is the thrust of our marketing dollars. Automart.com has been and will continue to be a mainstay for us! It is proven to be our #1 Domain Referring Partner - they squash Autotrader.com & Cars.com in referring leads to our website. Secondly their IM feature is second to none. Thirdly, our closing ratio is slightly higher with Automart.com than the Big 2. I don't think they make the claim of being able to provide a large quantity of leads, but surely their leads are of quality. I have to agree with an earlier statement above (Gary Butler) that the real deal is SEM/SEO. Drive traffic to your website. Learn the game folks - it works! Those of us who are not closing at a much higher rate with leads from our own website are not "getting it". And this is where Automart.com really shines! In terms of Automart.com not being a player in the search game, I have to disagree totally. They are one of the top 4 on every used car search in our market along with a manufacturer, Cars & Autotrader. Moreso, Cars.com & Autotrader.com are spending a ton of jack right now marketing. Are we seriously wondering why their rates are out of control? Automart.com ROCKS! Now I am going back to Automart.com and asking for a discount next month for the props!
Vinny Maculaitis / Director of Marketing / Montrose Auto Group