I wish the clarity of thought and precision of language was mine, but that was all Dale Pollak!
-
This thread is just the tip of the iceberg.The people ahead of the curve aren't Googling for answers — they're already in here, having the conversations you haven't found yet. DealerRefresh is free.Get the full picture →
See You Later Autotrader!
- Thread starter jon.berna
- Start date
- Dec 30, 2009
- 1,885
- 477
- First Name
- Yago
Yago, I appreciate you trying to translate what I said into whatever language you posted that last comment. Thanks!! (I think??!?!?!)
hahahahahhahaha....
Yago, you have the skin of a Rhino, else I'd never take a shot...
Sometimes we forget that ATC was bringing those huge call reports just 5-6 years ago and that many (many!) ISMs have been in the business just that long. It is good to understand where things come from, it helps guide you to where things may end up.
BTY- Very-very thick skin. Wasn't born with it, it grew over time.
Ed, I value vAuto as a great tool for used cars and we use it in one store and am pushing to have it in the other. I understand that vAuto's focus is on used vehicles.
The eCommerce Director for a large group told me that display advertising didn't work for new vehicles. She said it was a waste of time and money. This has not been my experience.
I've been watching Sonic Automotive for nearly two years since I noticed a change in their marketing on third party sites. Before venturing in the internet, I was a Used Car Manager in one of their stores. Three years ago, many of their former employees were writting them off. Being public, their financials are easily obtained. One of the latest press releases said:
New vehicle retail volume up 15% in Q4; Exceeds industry growth of 10%
Used vehicle volume up 11% for the quarter; Up 14% for full year; Record annual sales volume
So what? Check out any of their stores on third party sites. Doesn't matter which one because they all are consistant. Low days to market, good pictures, good descriptions, good placement. They refer to it as their "new car playbook". They haven't sent me a copy but their internet presence is the only change that I see. Having friends in the organization, they use the velocity approach and turn their inventories fast. When I became too nosey, they clam up. They have become very profitable and are obviously strong believers in display advertising for new and used vehicles.
The eCommerce Director for a large group told me that display advertising didn't work for new vehicles. She said it was a waste of time and money. This has not been my experience.
I've been watching Sonic Automotive for nearly two years since I noticed a change in their marketing on third party sites. Before venturing in the internet, I was a Used Car Manager in one of their stores. Three years ago, many of their former employees were writting them off. Being public, their financials are easily obtained. One of the latest press releases said:
New vehicle retail volume up 15% in Q4; Exceeds industry growth of 10%
Used vehicle volume up 11% for the quarter; Up 14% for full year; Record annual sales volume
So what? Check out any of their stores on third party sites. Doesn't matter which one because they all are consistant. Low days to market, good pictures, good descriptions, good placement. They refer to it as their "new car playbook". They haven't sent me a copy but their internet presence is the only change that I see. Having friends in the organization, they use the velocity approach and turn their inventories fast. When I became too nosey, they clam up. They have become very profitable and are obviously strong believers in display advertising for new and used vehicles.
Last edited:
Yago, it shouldnt be always about cost. We all pay more for excellence and especially if it makes you money.
Your friend,
Marco
Your friend,
Marco
Alex - just getting around to seeing this and thought I should thank you for your reply. I can appreciate the cost per VDP argument but cannot figure out how to compare across sites...it is my understanding that Cars.com counts VDP's differently from ATC and my own experience is that Cars.com is also unwilling to provide a more comparable metric - even one that simply does not include New Car VDP's separate from Used Car...
Please feel free to contact me offline to discuss further - the sales/support staff in the field simply does not have the ability to get to the bottom of this.
Thanks - Ed
- Dec 30, 2009
- 1,885
- 477
- First Name
- Yago
Marco,
Sorry I missed your post.
Could not agree more with you, but for that you need professionals like you that not only are committed to the product and the dealer but that also have the freedom from their company to do so. Autotrader was not long ago the guy that came to your dealer and told you about the photos, the feeds, the comments, etc, they were internally called ISCs (Internet Sales Consultants) and they truly helped dealers. They moved away from that into a different type of business and a lot of those people moved into other things. I've been for 11 years in WA and not even 1 of the original Autotrader team members still there yet most of them still working in the automotive business as vendors for other companies.
I believe that if I had a dealer and you were my Cars.com representative that I will get more from you than a mere exchange of dollars for leads. Sadly that is not the case for most other companies.
I'm sure every market is different but I feel as though my AT performance makes up for the cost...especially as compared to Cars.com...
In March....AutoTrader sent 105 customers to my website....cars.com referred 26
AutoTrader had 199 map views to the dealership...Cars.com got me 18
AutoTrader sent 22 emails....cars.com sent 17 emails
AutoTrader 62 phone calls...cars.com 32 phone opps.
The biggest thing that's stands out to me is the referrals to the website...
In March....AutoTrader sent 105 customers to my website....cars.com referred 26
AutoTrader had 199 map views to the dealership...Cars.com got me 18
AutoTrader sent 22 emails....cars.com sent 17 emails
AutoTrader 62 phone calls...cars.com 32 phone opps.
The biggest thing that's stands out to me is the referrals to the website...
Yago, my experience with AutoTrader has been completely different in Dallas and Phoenix from what you describe in Washington. I didn't see much turnover in Texas and my rep, here, was with AutoTrader (magazines) and now dot Com for a total of 26 years. I just signed up for a new package with Cars.com which I am hoping will be good for us. I did cancel the new leads plus package which had given a zero ROI.
- Dec 30, 2009
- 1,885
- 477
- First Name
- Yago
You are absolutely correct, all digital advertising companies are really one name and 50 different companies (one experience per state). But my goal was not to blame ATC but perhaps if you read some of my previous comments I think more of an evolution of how digital advertising has changed for the auto industry. In the end they are a 'for profit' organization just like the rest of us.
Yago, being on the left coast but hearing that you don't consider profit a vulgar term, I assume that you are not part of some occupy movement.
✨ AI Highlights
A dealer questions Autotrader's value after comparing cost-per-opportunity metrics across Autotrader, Cars.com, and first-party advertising, finding AT 2-3x more expensive while generating similar showroom traffic. The thread debates whether traditional performance metrics (calls/leads) fairly measure Autotrader's value, with disagreement over whether AT's high traffic volume justifies its cost versus its actual conversion to sales, and whether dealers should account for branding impact or focus purely on bottom-funnel ROI. Multiple dealers report canceling Autotrader subscriptions based on similar cost-per-lead analyses and in-house customer surveys showing minimal attribution to the platform.
Replies
Views
137
81,573
Started
Last Reply
