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Re-targeting and Cars.com version of Re-targeting

I want to clear up a few points here:

- Car360 buys media via an ad exchange, which allows us to buy ad impressions across multiple ad networks (Google, Yahoo, AOL, Microsoft, and more) in one efficient platform. This makes more sense than one-by-one relationships with publishers or ad networks because it gives our clients access to ad inventory wherever shoppers are, not where we have made deals.

- Cars360 benefits from our ability to understand trends in consumer activity. We have a team dedicated to advancing the product based on insights gained for more than 25 million monthly visits to our site. We use those insights to make smart media buying decisions, like user segmentation, day-parting, frequency capping, time-of-day planning, and much more. It takes the burden of execution off of dealers while still providing a great deal of value, effectively making Cars360 a turnkey solution.

- We know that branding a dealership to the right audience at the right time puts that dealership in the forefront of the customer’s mind. When a consumer is looking at three different dealers selling nearly the same car, what sort of influence can you have on that consumer? How are you going to make that consumer consider you over the other two: price (you don’t really want that), distance (you can’t control that) or brand (you want that and can control that)?

I understand the product may not appeal to dealers who have an in-house person to manage real-time media from multiple user interfaces like an agency would, but we see that as the exception rather than the rule for most dealers. And it’s important to be clear that Cars360 is more than the bid management and campaign execution – it is access to our experience, access to the volume and quality of the Cars.com audience, as well as access to the opportunity to differentiate your dealership among shoppers who have shown the clear intent to buy a car.
 
Why is it that paid search only provides 6% of your website traffic as compared to 32% for organic search? (Cars own study)
It is an ad and everyone knows it is an ad. You got a recorder with your cable TV. Do you go home to see what commercials, you missed? Banner ads remind me of the disgusting uncle wanting you to pull his index finger. Nobody does it more than once.

When you hear an internet vendor talk about branding, reach and frequency, you need to back up to the wall.