Hiring a Full-Time SEO and Internet Marketing Manager for your Dealership

[Dan Perry]

Are you thinking about bringing someone into your dealership full-time for online marketing initiatives?

If you aren’t, maybe you should. Considering that dealerships need to not only be versed in SEO and SEM but also analytics, reputation management, video SEO and social media, it seems only natural to bring someone in to do internet marketing full-time.

Over the last few years, I’ve seen more and more companies, large and small, go this route. In fact, for larger companies, it’s at the point where they’re building out teams of internal marketing employees. This may be happening for a number of reasons:

• Dissatisfaction with agencies and third-parties
  
• Difficulty justifying the cost of outside resources
  
• Diminishing or unsatisfactory returns
  
• All of the above

Bringing someone into the dealership full-time may not fix all of these problems, but there are some definite advantages. With an in-house person, you:

• Can talk directly to the employee at anytime (there is reduced risk of miscommunication).
  
• Work with someone who always has your best interests in mind.
  
• Shift the focus on the quality of traffic, not the traffic itself. ROI rules.
  
• Create quicker turnaround times for changes in strategy, budget, etc.
  
• Enjoy readily available expertise for quick questions, thoughts, etc.

Are dealers ready for this?

What do you look for in these employees, and where do you find them?

Are dealerships ready to hire someone as a full-time internet marketing manager (Note: "Sales" is not in the title.), or is the position simply a passing phase?
About the Arthor: Dan Perry is the SEO Manager for Cars.com. He also has his own interesting Golf [slash] Internet Marketing Blog.

 

[Billy]

Before taking an offer I couldn't refuse, until 3 weeks ago I was one of these in-house eCommerce/Marketing Directors.

My background, while I'm more than capable technically, is very heavy on the marketing side. Online and traditional.

This, I think, is the most important aspect of the success we had with our online presence. Most dealerships put individuals in that position for one of three reasons.

1. They can turn on a computer
2. They're somebody's daughter
3. They fit the "geek" mold

After reading a post such as this one, many dealers in the 3 areas above would say "We already have someone that handles that" which is why, until the GM or Dealer Principal "gets it", they will underperform in regards to internet sales.

Another issue is money.

Most GMs are not going to see the same value in an eCommerce Director as they are in a desk manager, F&I Mgr or top salesperson. In order to get someone in place that truly understands eCommerce and has the proven track record, the dealer is going to have to not only get out of the "back in the day" mode most dealers are in regarding sales but also commit to offering what it takes to get the right person in place.

IMO, a top-notch eCommerce Director should be at a level of compensation relative to the GSM and/or F&I Director.

How much have they been paying different vendors to attempt to fill that position?

 

[Gregg Hunter (blog)]

Virtually every dealer in the country is in need of somebody to handle e-marketing. Too often, this function is treated as a side show. Just take a look at dealer websites, they're all the same, with only a few exceptions. I was just demoted from internet manager because I didn't produce instant results, even though only one of my many suggestions were implemented. We still have a poor website, hit or miss lead management, poor email follow up and few sales from the internet. While the internet marketing function can be a huge black hole where $$$ get wasted, done properly you'll sell more vehicles at a lower cost per unit.

 

[Joe Pistell]

There are few people on our planet that can speak more authoritatively on this topic than your ol' pal Joe here... So here it comes!

The larger your operation, the more marketing leverage your web site has.

In our new Internet Marketing World… Inventory is advertising. The larger your inventory count the more "advertising units" you have to hold your visitors attention. The more units you have on the ground, the more ROI an Internet Manager can generate.

Sounds utterly simplistic, but the best ideas are!

I wrote a blog post over at Dale Pollak's vAuto blog last week, here's a snippet:

>>>...From my research, this general rule applies. For every 100 units you have under your umbrella, you can expect to keep your visitor for 1 minute. That means if you have 300 units on the ground, you can expect to keep shoppers tied up and kickin’ tires for 3 to 4 minutes per visit. Like wise, if you have 1,000 units, 10 minutes per visit is quite normal.

To put this into perspective, AutoTrader.com and Cars.com keep their shoppers tied up for 12 to 15 minutes per visit. So, if you have the size, you can offer up a shopping experience that rivals the classified sites.

I say use every ounce of your marketing energy to create the best web shopping experience you can muster. Pull every string, twist every knob, dangle every carrot you can find, get them to your web site and get them warm safe and comfortable...<<<

link to the full post:

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www.dalepollak.com

So, if this makes sense then what profit generating tasks does the Internet Marketing Manager need to execute?

2 topics rule my decision making process
#1). DIGL
Does It Generate Leads?
#2). DISC
Does It Sell Cars?

More utter simplicity! yess!

List everything an Internet Marketing Manager needs to do, then hold these 2 simple rules up to each task and rank them.

Quick Example:

Inventory Photos taken to Perfection?
Inventory Options Deeply Detailed?
Specials Updated?
Site Design, DIGL & DISC?
SEO
SEM
Analytics
Reputation management
Video SEO
Social media

List your duties and rank them for DIGL/DISC value. I am here to remind us all that NOTHING is more important to motivate a shopper than killer photos and digging for "hot options" and placing the HOT OPTIONS into a custom description. What good are SEO/SEM analytics efforts if your pics suck and your vehicle options collection people just bust ‘em out and have never been audited? If you’re looking for DIGL and DISC, get this boring basic stuff done right! You’ll never have a higher ROI than here.

Speaking of site design, Can someone tell me why 99.3% of the dealer web sites look the same 24/7/365? Don’t we all reinvent ourselves every 30 days? We all run special promos; would you run the same newspaper ad all the time? Is not a web site the most easily addressable form of media on the planet? DUH! Wake up you web vendors!

IMO, an Internet Marketing Manager is in charge of DIGL and DISC. They use analytics to help keep score of their efforts to sweeten the visitor’s experience (bounce rate, % return rate, visitor loyalty, time on site, avg. page views and on and on...).

Finding this unique person is quite a chore. IMO, they need more marketing skills than geek skills. They are part car guy/gal. They need to be creative and disciplined too. They need to work with other departments and should be the boss of the web data entry players (photos and options). They need to sort out technical problems and find “work-around” solutions all the time.

Just my $0.02.
Joe

 

[Billy]

Great comments Joe.

While I do agree that inventory obviously does play a part, there are several factors that are just as important if not more.

I can think of several reasons for low conversion rates regardless of your inventory. Here's just a few.

1. Ease of navigation. If your site visitor has a difficult time figuring out how to get where they want to be or you want them to be, you're going to lose them. I cringe whenever I see a site packed with blurbs, info, links, images on the homepage. back button

2. Presentation. Properly presenting your inventory i.e. - quality of photos, details, etc... is essential.

3. Call to action. Having created over 500 commercial websites in 15 yrs, I've tried to use the same philosophy on each and every one. "Sell them in 12 seconds or lose them". Give them a reason to continue spending time on your website in the first 12 seconds after they click on your link. NOT after the page loads.

For various reasons, the inventory at the stores I've handled has gone up and down. I think the truest test of a successful eCommerce Director would be whether that person can make the most out of their inventory. Not the amount of inventory making the eCommerce Director look good.

We had several prime examples of this the last few years with customers visiting our site, not finding exactly what they wanted in our inventory but, because of their experience, asking us to find them the vehicle they're looking for and in most cases, we were able to.

You do cover some of this in the paragraph above regarding duties but in my experience, no amount of inventory makes up for poor visitor experience.

 

[Billy]

Gregg,

What most dealers do not understand is that on average, you can produce better results spending $30k on internet marketing, leads, site, etc... than $100k of traditional advertising.

I've been fortunate to have been associated with a GM and dealer group that truly does "get it" for the last 3 yrs and while they are suffering some losses from the economic situation, nowhere close to what the industry average is.

For most of the time I spent with them, our dealership totally blacked out TV and Radio and did very little newspaper. In both dealerships I handled full-time, we were able to greatly increase market-share and lead the state in one store and so far in the other lead a highly competitive zone with 20+ dealerships of the same make.

 

[Matt Watson (blog)]

It all comes down to having the right people with the right talents. And with high turnover in the industry, how long will you have them once you find the right person? How much a month would a full time employee cost versus out sourcing?

There are definitely plenty of seo tools available for the dealer to do everything on their own.

Outsourcing may be best though because they will have more expertise and experience. A good vendor could also help guide the dealer on what they can do in house while assisting them with what they can't do.

 

[Joe]

Billy,

I must have caught you with some concepts that you haven’t wrestled with before.

You wrote:

***While I do agree that inventory obviously does play a part, there are several factors that are just as important if not more...***

Ahh... Inventory plays a part? A part of what?

I was talking about how size of inventory is directly related to time on site which is tied to the Internet Marketing Manager EASE of creating ROI. If you read my blog post on vAuto, you’d see that time on site is an opportunity to sell the value added goodies and keep your shopper tied up. Look at Gregg Hunters recent demotion. They have 72 units used in stock. They have no room in their budget for an Internet Marketing Manager (let alone a real Internet Manager). HANG IN THERE GREGG!

Billy, we are talking about MARKETING, my studies have led me to believe that each vehicle is like an advertising unit, like a TV commercial. The more units you have on the ‘net the more “Advertisements” you have out there.

There are so many marketing advantages to mega dealers its not a fair marketing fight.

LEVERAGE EXAMPLE: Consumers have a finite amount of time to shop. More inventory takes away time spent with your competitor.

LEVERAGE EXAMPLE: If your inventory is large enough and your home site is excellent, then your home site becomes a "go to" shopping site along with AutoTrader.com and Cars.com. You tweak the shopping experience with the metrics seen in analytics.

LEVERAGE EXAMPLE: If your inventory is large enough and you have time to hammer home your value added items (buyers clubs, car wash, oil changes, etc..)

More Inventory = More Advertisements = More Audience Viewing Time = More Marketing Leverage = Easier ROI. Next.

Billy writes:

***I can think of several reasons for low conversion rates regardless of your inventory. Here’s just a few***

Low conversion rates?

What low conversion rates? Who were you reading? I was talking about all of the VARIED tasks an Internet Marketing Dir. has and my silly little simple method to prioritize the tasks (aka DIGL, DISC).

Billy, to address your other comments,

If you feel that improving Site Navigation will sell more cars and generate more leads than improving Vehicle Presentation (photos and options) then that’s ok, that's your opinion. You call BZ, Cobalt, etc.. and work on navigation. I'll get a wide angle high-def camera and audit the options on each car. My efforts will be levered not only on my home site, but AutoTrader and Cars.com too. ALSO, my effort will cost less and will take place tomorrow, while you'll fell like a snowball in Arizona asking & waiting for the dealer template builders to mod the navs.

Billy writes:

***I think the truest test of a successful eCommerce Director would be whether that person can make the most out of their inventory. Not the amount of inventory making the eCommerce Director look good.***

I think I can try to connect your dots. I think you are saying that "it’s the man not the inventory" that is the truest test of success. Connect that comment to my observation that marketing leverage is found with size. You (somehow) personalized it.

Your serve has been returned, make your reply a good one!!

Joe

 

[Billy]

Joe,

I'll let the first comment in your reply go. Things like that are better left to more qualified individuals.

Marketing, however, is how I make my living and have most of my adult life. For the last 15 years, more specifically internet marketing.

Couldn't begin to tell you how many thousands of websites have failed regardless of the amount of inventory of whatever product they had.

Simply put, if nobody sees it, they can't buy it.

Let me use examples for you.

The dealership I just left had 200 preowned units in inventory in March. Average time spent on site approx 3.4 minutes. Sales of pre-owned internet 28.

Ahead to September. 115 preowned units in inventory. Average time spent on site over 6 minutes. Sales of pre-owned internet 56.

What changed between April and September?

Our presentation - finished photo booth and new site with much easier navigation.

site traffic - increased traffic substantially.

processes - significant changes in respect to lead response, response time, etc...

advertising - shifted advertising funds from TV and radio to internet.

While I do believe you can "leverage" your inventory to create more opportunity, it's much more than "build it and they will come"

 

[Kevin Frye]

Uh... wow... I still can't get past this picture you posted Jeff, I'm speechless for once...