Map Views worth counting for conversion?

[Alex Snyder]

Cobalt has shown Map Views as part of the overall conversion metric to be just as important as leads and phone calls for years. Admittedly I have no idea what they're doing today as I haven't looked at one of their reports since leaving the dealership. However, I'll never forget the day I showed my boss our first VW Cobalt report years ago and how his response to the map views seemed to click for him. He understood that part better than the leads and calls section. It is one of a very small number of things I can thank Cobalt for in my early career.

In my younger days I believed this metric to be a gimmick for Cobalt to show an inflated conversion rate because this was never provable. Today I'm beginning to question whether we should all start looking at this metric as solidly as we look at lead counts and call volume. At the end of the day this is still a much more believable and viable metric than anything we ever looked at from traditional media sources.

What do you all think?

Has Cobalt been onto something for the last decade?

 

[Jeff Kershner]

I would want to see another "layer" of behavior included before placing a simple map-view over into the conversion bucket.

What was the path before (and possibly after) visiting the Map page?

Sales:
- Time on site before map-view
- VDP views before map-view
- Referring domain or campaign

Service:
- Time on site before map-view
- Service coupons viewed / printed
- Service scheduled online after map-view
- Referring domain or campaign

Was there time spent or some type of engagement performed on the Map/Directions page?

I wanna see what led to the Map-view before calling it a sales or service conversion.

If anything, what would you add to my list above?

 

[john.quinn]

What do you all think?

Has Cobalt been onto something for the last decade?

Do you still count the conversion when the customer looks at the map and says, "25 miles? No way am I driving that far."

There's a few reasons to look at a map -- you can only reasonably discern "vague interest" in knowing the physical location of the dealership by a simple map click.

 

[craigh]

I know some of the Dealer.com sites, and I'm sure many others, have a "Directions" widget.
I should have a client push something like this hard in the navigation and then track the usage of it.

Would be interesting to see if clients go to the "Find Us" or "Location" page instead of the Contact Us page if given the option.

Something to think about for sure.
Jeff, I like your list and I think it makes sense. A good portion of that could be extracted from existing reports too.

 

[Manny Luna]

I would have to yes, It can be another way to capture leads from clients that are just looking for directions to the dealership.

 

[cmjerry4531]

VDP views before map-view

What's your ideal metric for this measurement? More VDP views would suggest that the person is either struggling to find what they are looking for, or are just shopping in general.

The few times I ran iPerceptions surveys on websites I've had a consistent 60-70% answer that they were just looking for the price on a vehicle. Granted, this metric is only off a few hundred answers, but it has been pretty consistent in various markets. Point being, less views may mean that people didn't enjoy your website experience, or that they found what they wanted quickly. More may suggest that they enjoyed your website experience, or they are struggling to find what they want.

For a better understanding of the conversion you would really need to put all the data into a bar graph to see how many VDP views a typical conversion takes. Even an average with a standard deviation would give you way better insights.

Back to the original question, I would definitely say that people should make map views one of their goals in Google Analytics. You can make a VDP view a precursor for a sales goal, and a service view as a service goal.

 

[kevinfrye]

I would want to see another "layer" of behavior included before placing a simple map-view over into the conversion bucket.

What was the path before (and possibly after) visiting the Map page?

Sales:
- Time on site before map-view
- VDP views before map-view
- Referring domain or campaign

Service:
- Time on site before map-view
- Service coupons viewed / printed
- Service scheduled online after map-view
- Referring domain or campaign

Was there time spent or some type of engagement performed on the Map/Directions page?

I wanna see what led to the Map-view before calling it a sales or service conversion.

If anything, what would you add to my list above?

One of your "goals" in Google Analytics should be visits to your map/hours page, and then you can use multi-channel funnels to see the behavior before folks actually visit the page

 

[ryan.leslie]

Do you still count the conversion when the customer looks at the map and says, "25 miles? No way am I driving that far."

There's a few reasons to look at a map -- you can only reasonably discern "vague interest" in knowing the physical location of the dealership by a simple map click.

JQuinn,

I agree with you on map views, there isn't enough there to know the influence. Do you feel the same about "Map Prints?" That would seem to indicate more intent to me since there is a cost associated with the action.

That said, I'd never print a map... I have a digital one in my pocket.

 

[john.quinn]

JQuinn,

I agree with you on map views, there isn't enough there to know the influence. Do you feel the same about "Map Prints?" That would seem to indicate more intent to me since there is a cost associated with the action.

That said, I'd never print a map... I have a digital one in my pocket.

If I'm very eager to show "conversions," then sure, there are less reasons to print a map than show a map.

But honestly, to me, the debate here centers on Internet Managers trying to prove their worth, doesn't it? Do we really still have to do that? Do we still need to prove how valuable the website is? (I know we do... sad...)

If I'm running a store, there is no conversion until I'm introduced to an actual human being -- that can be a digital handshake, an analog handshake, or a flesh and bone handshake -- the word "conversion" indicates a transformation -- to me, it's a transformation from anonymous to known.

 

[ewalraven]

If I'm running a store, there is no conversion until I'm introduced to an actual human being -- that can be a digital handshake, an analog handshake, or a flesh and bone handshake -- the word "conversion" indicates a transformation -- to me, it's a transformation from anonymous to known.

Bingo!

There's just not enough data for me personally to count this as a conversion. If I tell the GM that we got 25 conversions last month that aren't in the CRM (map views). Without any solid info about the customer (name, number, e-mail, etc.) it's hard to count this as a lead/conversion.


I mean, I get it. A customer could easily goto the website. Print/click on the map and come to the store.


Obviously, I'm putting a lead and conversion in the same bucket as well.