Highline Franchise Marketing

[Shereef]

Mike,

I've went from Toyota to Mercede to Nissan to Volkswagen.

When you say "a lot of the marketing strategies I used with Toyota don't work with the highline buyer" - can you elaborate a little more?

In the end - my findings show their is little difference. What does differ at times with luxury dealers is your AOI. Many luxury dealers have a much larger AOI. This can change your mediums.

The luxury buyer is rarely a need buyer. They're a want buyer that tend go in and out of the market much faster (before making their purchase). They typically take a little longer to make a purchase. Long term follow-up becomes even more important.

All the best marketing practices still follow the luxury brands. Though I would suggest open up the budget a little more for display remarketing. Let's follow those potential customers around for awhile with our brand and message.

I've found the MB buyer isn't as much a niche buyer like the BMW or Porsche buyer. Half of the buyers of MB (from my experience) didn't know if they were driving a V6 or a V8. They knew it was an E-Class Mercedes-Benz. My point - their not as "tuned-in" as you might expect.

Don't allow yourself to get too brainwashed from upper management with the "That's not how our customers shop" or "our customers are different". They're not that much different.

I've always been successful with a strong email maketing campaign with the luxury buyer. They would trend with a higher open and engagement rate. Not really sure why.

The luxury customer LOVES a bargain just as much as the Kia buyer. Heck - maybe even more.

I've seen a few studies that show the Luxury buyer is MORE engaged with social. This study is a little dated - What Vehicle Manufacturers have the Highest Social Currency?

What have you done thus far that worked for Toyota but not for the Benz dealer?

Mike,

I could repeat a lot of what Jeff said, but after reading his post, find it easier to agree completely. I went from being a GM at Nissan to being an Independent Dealer, to MB, then BMW. Your message needs to be more focused on the luxury experience, but your methods to reach out will be the same. The Mercedes buyer is more focused on luxury, appeal, services, and status. You will still need to keep lease specials and low rate deals in the spotlight, but the luxury experience message needs to be a big part of everything you do. Highline buyers want recognition, extra respect for their time, and expect a higher level of service (Going the extra mile is expected). When I worked at Benz it was a common practice to go above and beyond to make things as easy as possible for the buyer…Home delivery might be something you mention in a marketing campaign, or loaner cars, or anything above and beyond that your dealership offers. The easier you make it for the highline buyer (Luxury Experience) the more cars you will roll over the curb. It’s the same game, different set of cards, and a nicer poker table....

 

[mcampo2501]

Yago, In reading through the vast majority of posts from other dealers, the conclusion seems to be that a successful craigs list approach includes keeping lower priced inventory and having access to sub-prime lenders. My dealership doesn't do either of these things. We keep 35-45 used cars, most of which are certified Benz, and with an average inventory price between 35K-40K. Beyond that, we deal with very few lenders. None of which do any sub-prime lending. If the bulk of the people on craigs list are looking for cash cars and can't get financed, how is spending money on a craigs list service a good idea for a situation like mine? I'm not trying to offend, as I understand your a very sensitive poster, but if you were writing the advertising checks at a dealership like mine, would you really spend money on craigs list?

That's really what I'm trying to dig for here. I need to get leads that are going to turn into sales. The work I've done here so far has gotten our VDP printouts at least doubled within our autotrader and cars.com listings, and I'm fairly certain that any increase in floor traffic is due to that work. What I can't figure out is why I can't get ADF/XML leads that close over 12%. My follow up process is solid and I've been setting appointments successfully for half a decade, so I know that's not the problem.

Does anyone out there have any idea as to what kind of lead source produces the most quality internet leads, outside of autotrader, cars.com, and the dealer website. I don't want to suggest to my GM that we invest in a lead provider thats just going to make the numbers look worse. To me, it makes more sense to try and drive a more qualified customer to our website. That's why my main question here was with regard to social media marketing. Does any believe that spending money on social media (facebook, twitter, dealer rater, etc) actually equates to qualified web leads to the dealer website? And if so, do you think that the affluent buyer is among those that are using these mediums to car shop?

 

[yagoparamo]

Yago, In reading through the vast majority of posts from other dealers, the conclusion seems to be that a successful craigs list approach includes keeping lower priced inventory and having access to sub-prime lenders. My dealership doesn't do either of these things. We keep 35-45 used cars, most of which are certified Benz, and with an average inventory price between 35K-40K. Beyond that, we deal with very few lenders. None of which do any sub-prime lending. If the bulk of the people on craigs list are looking for cash cars and can't get financed, how is spending money on a craigs list service a good idea for a situation like mine? I'm not trying to offend, as I understand your a very sensitive poster, but if you were writing the advertising checks at a dealership like mine, would you really spend money on craigs list?

That's really what I'm trying to dig for here. I need to get leads that are going to turn into sales. The work I've done here so far has gotten our VDP printouts at least doubled within our autotrader and cars.com listings, and I'm fairly certain that any increase in floor traffic is due to that work. What I can't figure out is why I can't get ADF/XML leads that close over 12%. My follow up process is solid and I've been setting appointments successfully for half a decade, so I know that's not the problem.

Does anyone out there have any idea as to what kind of lead source produces the most quality internet leads, outside of autotrader, cars.com, and the dealer website. I don't want to suggest to my GM that we invest in a lead provider thats just going to make the numbers look worse. To me, it makes more sense to try and drive a more qualified customer to our website. That's why my main question here was with regard to social media marketing. Does any believe that spending money on social media (facebook, twitter, dealer rater, etc) actually equates to qualified web leads to the dealer website? And if so, do you think that the affluent buyer is among those that are using these mediums to car shop?

Cheap cars work in Craigslist, but is there a place other than the Rob Report where cheap cars don't work!?

A lot of that talk also has to do with the per-assumptions about CL that people in the car business has. It also has to do with the evolution of CL; 7-8 years ago people went to CL looking for household items and nowadays people go there to buy cars and real state (yes, go check the housing market in CL).

If you can sell a $500,000 house in CL why can't you sell a $30,000 car? seattle-tacoma real estate - all classifieds - craigslist Real state listings are PAID so I'm sure the agents would not be putting them if it wasn't working.

That being said, you will never get the same call volume on $12,000 cars than on $30,000 cars.

Some of the dealer that we have done the best in California have been the high line Autonation stores.

As a personal experience; I sold my practically un-useful 2006 Dodge Viper in less than a week in CL to a guy that drove from Spokane (3-4 hours away from Seattle) after not selling it for over 3 months consigned at at friends dealer that had it on Autotarder, cars.com, etc.

 

[mcampo2501]

Okay, a few things to say. In my investigating HookLogic, I got to read about what a big deal Mr. Kershner is! I've spent the last five years as an internet manager and have been somehow isolated myself from the rest of the industry. That being said, let me tell you how excited I am to see that this world exists. I digress...

Having spent the last few weeks trying to get my feet under me at Mercedes-Benz, I'm finding that my internet customers are showing up at the dealership and (in most cases) buying cars. If you consider the internet sales that close on the floor along with the deals that I'm personally responsible for, the close ratio isn't as bad as I had thought. This brings me to conclude that affluent buyers are affected by what they see on line, but are less likely to complete their transaction on line. Once they have the information they want, they walk into the dealership. This thinking leads me to believe that a product like hooklogic is a better solution to driving business to my dealership than third party leads and social media.

I still have a little more research to do but I think before I'll suggest that we spend money on new e-leads or social media marketing, I'll suggest we move forward with a combination of some kind of newsletter and something like hooklogic. Perhaps I'll wait for digital dealer to make sure there's nothing else out there I don't know about...

 

[Agrrip]

Okay, a few things to say. In my investigating HookLogic, I got to read about what a big deal Mr. Kershner is! I've spent the last five years as an internet manager and have been somehow isolated myself from the rest of the industry. That being said, let me tell you how excited I am to see that this world exists. I digress...

Having spent the last few weeks trying to get my feet under me at Mercedes-Benz, I'm finding that my internet customers are showing up at the dealership and (in most cases) buying cars. If you consider the internet sales that close on the floor along with the deals that I'm personally responsible for, the close ratio isn't as bad as I had thought. This brings me to conclude that affluent buyers are affected by what they see on line, but are less likely to complete their transaction on line. Once they have the information they want, they walk into the dealership. This thinking leads me to believe that a product like hooklogic is a better solution to driving business to my dealership than third party leads and social media.

I still have a little more research to do but I think before I'll suggest that we spend money on new e-leads or social media marketing, I'll suggest we move forward with a combination of some kind of newsletter and something like hooklogic. Perhaps I'll wait for digital dealer to make sure there's nothing else out there I don't know about...

Who hosts your website? Dealer Track? Do you have another independent site for the dealership or only the Mercedes Corp site? Who currently handles your SEO?

I highly suggest that you work on your SEO, Google Reviews and Dealer Rater Reviews.

SEO: When I type, "Mercedes-Benz of Cincinnati" into Google's search box, the very first suggestion is, "mercedes benz of cincinnati lawsuit."

Google Reviews: When I looked at your Google reviews, you only have 6 reviews averaging 2.5 stars. I would suggest that you contact as many of your satisfied customers as you can and have them give you a good review on your Google Places page. Also, your last review was back in October of last year.

Dealer Rater: You have 3 reviews averaging 1.3 out of 5.

As you well know luxury car buyers expect a certain level of service. I can assure you they are looking online before they buy; and, if they search for "Mercedes Cincinnati," they are not going to see a very reassuring reputation for the dealership.

Just my .02

 

[mcampo2501]

Who hosts your website? Dealer Track? Do you have another independent site for the dealership or only the Mercedes Corp site? Who currently handles your SEO?

I highly suggest that you work on your SEO, Google Reviews and Dealer Rater Reviews.
SEO: When I type, "Mercedes-Benz of Cincinnati" into Google's search box, the very first suggestion is, "mercedes benz of cincinnati lawsuit."

Google Reviews: When I looked at your Google reviews, you only have 6 reviews averaging 2.5 stars. I would suggest that you contact as many of your satisfied customers as you can and have them give you a good review on your Google Places page. Also, your last review was back in October of last year.
Dealer Rater: You have 3 reviews averaging 1.3 out of 5.

As you well know luxury car buyers expect a certain level of service. I can assure you they are looking online before they buy; and, if they search for "Mercedes Cincinnati," they are not going to see a very reassuring reputation for the dealership.

Just my .02

Our SEO is done by a company called Pinkeny Marketing. I would imagine the reason you see what you do is because we aren't optimized for the Plano, TX area. When I do the same search, I'm on the 5th page before the lawsuit comes up. Our website is hosted by motortrak and is the MB corp mirror site. What do you find to be advantageous in having the other site, outside the extra search result? I am to understand that we had a seperate site before I got here but that we weren't benifitting from having it and the powers that be didn't want to pay for two websites that provided the same result. I'm aware of the reputation management stuff, but am not sure how to go about fixing it. How do you drive so many people to go and rate you?

 

[Agrrip]

Our SEO is done by a company called Pinkeny Marketing. I would imagine the reason you see what you do is because we aren't optimized for the Plano, TX area. When I do the same search, I'm on the 5th page before the lawsuit comes up. Our website is hosted by motortrak and is the MB corp mirror site. What do you find to be advantageous in having the other site, outside the extra search result? I am to understand that we had a seperate site before I got here but that we weren't benifitting from having it and the powers that be didn't want to pay for two websites that provided the same result. I'm aware of the reputation management stuff, but am not sure how to go about fixing it. How do you drive so many people to go and rate you?

I'll send you a PM.

 

[mcampo2501]

Thanks. I'll be looking for it.