Tangible ROI in Social Media

[joe.pistell]

Thanks for getting in on this post @JoePistell.
Site engagement stats in case this matters to you are as follows"

2000 sessions
1300 unique
3:31 average session duration (which is actually down about 00:35
20.92% bounce rate which is up about 1.5%
5.28 pages per session

My $0.02

• You've got 42 cars for sale.
• 1300 uniques = 42 shoppers per car p/month (that looks right)
• A 3:31 avg session & 5.3 pgs avg session looks right (for the inventory size)
• Bounce is normal

What's your repeat visit rate, and, has it changed much over the years?

Can you tell what % of repeat shoppers came to your site 3 times or more?

 

[Tallcool1]

My $0.02

• You've got 42 cars for sale.
• 1300 uniques = 42 shoppers per car p/month (that looks right)
• A 3:31 avg session & 5.3 pgs avg session looks right (for the inventory size)
• Bounce is normal

What's your repeat visit rate, and, has it changed much over the years?

Can you tell what % of repeat shoppers came to your site 3 times or more?

Repeat visit rate is 42%. That number has slowly climbed over time. If memory serves me correctly, that number is calculated on a 30 day cycle. I am not sure what would cause that number to move, but 18 months ago our repeat rate was in the low 30% range.

I do not know what % of my visitors have been to my site 3 times or more. On top of not knowing, I can honestly say that I have never looked or attempted to figure that out. I will go to work on that right now, and get an answer.

 

[Tallcool1]

this ties directly to:



Clint,
Your focus on utilization over features is SMART! Along that line, I think CRM is mis-named. It should be something like "People Hub". Why? CRM won't do sh*t unless you have it's users (reps & managers) happy they have it.

Today, most Decision makers see CRM as a productivity tool. The users of CRM (Sales and managers) see CRM as a P.I.A. You'll never get any ROI from CRM if the reps & managers have to fight to make it work.

In my travels, CRM made people problems worse. I committed mountains of time and money and the reps fought me and lied to me every step of the way, because no one sees the value of CRM (except you). If you can't get the entire team on board BEFORE you launch this, be prepared for frustration and failure.

Idea: have your team to do a demo of your top 2 choices. Get their feedback and get the petty whining out of the way early.

HTH
Joe

I am scheduled for a group demo on the CRM. The President of the company actually gave me the exact same advice and noted the same observations as you.

 

[joe.pistell]

Good news Clint!

I went shopping on your site...
http://clocktowerauto.com/inventory/details/used/Cadillac/Escalade/2005/Columbus/Nebraska/3248541

I wanted to know if this caddy had 3rd row and a back up camera. I looked up and down for 3 mins until I found it hidden under a button.

#RESISTANCE-KILLS-SALES.




I know what I'd do to improve your ROI, but, I suggest you heatmap your VDPs to see what shoppers are doing.
http://www.crazyegg.com/
https://www.clicktale.com/


P.S. Thoughts on your popup survey

1. I'd bet "pictures" is #1
2. Crazyegg and clicktale will tell you everything you want to know about what shoppers like and dont like.

 

[Tallcool1]

Beware unintended consequences. If you add RESISTANCE or COMPLICATION to shopping workflow, it's not what your shoppers want. You'll silently kill shoppers that "don't know you" (see below).

I see a winning idea in your thoughts.... "If you can't beat 'em. join 'em!" Let's see where this goes...

• Shoppers 'that don't know you' and come to your site from 3rd party sites would LOVE to see an special low price found exclusively on your site. Juice up the CTA by putting an expiration date on it (2-3 days out).

Next, there are only 2 kinds of shoppers.

1. Those that know you
2. Those that don't know you

Shoppers 'that don't know you' is your biggest challenge and has your highest reward.

Shoppers 'that don't know you' and come to your site need to see and hear your why-buy-from-me message. One idea is a video from the top dog at your store is what they want to see. They want to hear how hard you work at being the best and what your after-sale promises are.

NOTE: IMO, Shopper's won't care about your why-buy message until they land on a car. Don't put in on the home page, place it on your footer, or, on the bottom 1/3 of your VDP.
​

HTH
Joe

I see your logic here. I have wanted to get in front of the camera for awhile now, but for some reason have a fear of doing this. I have been doing some reading up on this over the last month or so. I need to write a script, and just do it. If it looks good, I use it. If it doesn't, I try again.

I don't want to make it hard for a website visitor. I can see that making it hard is not the answer. I am in a small market, so I know my customers and I notice when I miss someone. I bump into people that I know on a casual basis, that have purchased vehicles elsewhere. Many times they tell me that they were looking at the _________ vehicle on my website, liked it, but found one that was $_____ less money over at ABC Motors. Of course I tell them, why didn't you pick up the phone and call me!? I could have made it work. If I had a way to be able to identify this customer, I WILL sell more cars.

 

[Tallcool1]

Good news Clint!

I went shopping on your site...
http://clocktowerauto.com/inventory/details/used/Cadillac/Escalade/2005/Columbus/Nebraska/3248541

I wanted to know if this caddy had 3rd row and a back up camera. I looked up and down for 3 mins until I found it hidden under a button.

#RESISTANCE-KILLS-SALES.

View attachment 2800


I know what I'd do to improve your ROI, but, I suggest you heatmap your VDPs to see what shoppers are doing.
http://www.crazyegg.com/
https://www.clicktale.com/


P.S. Thoughts on your popup survey

1. I'd bet "pictures" is #1
2. Crazyegg and clicktale will tell you everything you want to know about what shoppers like and dont like.

Pictures 63%
Payment Calculator 18%
Specials 14%
Customer Reviews 5%

Which takes me to my heat maps. The hottest spot on any VDP is the forward arrow on the photos. Not even close. Next is the Payment Calculator, and then the Features Button.

Scroll mapping shows that I lose about 50% below the fold on my VDP's.

Good observation on the 3rd row seat!

 

[joe.pistell]

I have wanted to get in front of the camera for awhile now, but for some reason have a fear of doing this. I have been doing some reading up on this over the last month or so. I need to write a script, and just do it. If it looks good, I use it. If it doesn't, I try again.

Practice fixes everything. Experiment and find your voice on your AM commute. http://www.engadget.com/2014/09/08/dash-cams-explainer/

I don't want to make it hard for a website visitor. I can see that making it hard is not the answer. I am in a small market, so I know my customers and I notice when I miss someone. I bump into people that I know on a casual basis, that have purchased vehicles elsewhere. Many times they tell me that they were looking at the _________ vehicle on my website, liked it, but found one that was $_____ less money over at ABC Motors. Of course I tell them, why didn't you pick up the phone and call me!? I could have made it work. If I had a way to be able to identify this customer, I WILL sell more cars.

You've got plenty of competition...


Look at this map and think...

Car Shoppers make 2 Big Decisions

1. What Car
2. Which Store

You have to out work your competitors. Your shoppers have to leave your site and think "...these site was really helpful and staff looks helpful and they got great prices///"

REMEMBER: Most customers don't know cars. The internet shopping journey is long and confusing, so, they like to go to a store that has 1-2-3 cars that catch their interest. Shoppers visit less stores than ever, so, your site's job is to be a finalist, you need to get the shopper hooked on 1 or more cars.

Once that happens, then, they say "who are these guys?". If you can win this game, then, they'll come into your store and talk about what they know... price.

 

[Alexander Lau]

I hate Google+ as a social media platform. Personally, it is not something that I use. Technically, I have an account, but I couldn't tell you the last time I actually posted to it. Business-wise, yes of course I see the value of a business listing on Google and I do understand the impact of Google reviews. The rest of it for me is just going through the motions just to play nice with Google. As far as Facebook, allow me to clarify. I feel like there are two different aspects of promoting a business page: Interactions (brand-awareness) and Advertising (leads). I have no problem with FB generating revenue with ads. They can be highly targeted and extremely effective. The part I disagree with, is the other side of things. If a customer deliberately chooses to follow our brand(s), why do we still have to pay FB to show them our posts?

I agree with everything you said here, I haven't posted to Google+ in I don't know how long. I love almost everything else they do, I use a lot of their apps because they work great, and using them with Drive(the cloud) and can access my stuff anywhere(googles remote desktop app is awesome if you haven't tried it). Google+ I totally ignore, I wish it was better.

It has alway upset me on FB that without paying you can't get the reach you can get on a personal page. Their targeted ads are great if you're not doing some you should start now. I attached a screenshot of our better performing ads on Facebook.

Use all avenues made possible to you. Don't ignore Google+, just because you personally hate it (there are many benefits to posting to Google+ and frankly it's probably much more valuable -- insertion into SERPs -- than posting organic content to Facebook, which holds a dismal amount of reach). You never know where or how you'll influence someone, there are all types out there. Are you using a tool that allows for post aggregation to all popular social networks, such as HootSuite, etc.?

 

[Tallcool1]

The direction that I am leaning is to put some variation of a "Get E Price" button on my VDP. This way, customers can see what the vehicle is priced at and if they want to see if there is a lower price, they can provide their contact information.

Our pricing methods are structured. When we bring a car into inventory, we know how it will be priced and how long that price will stand. We know when the vehicle will be lowered and we know what that new price will be. What I am considering is to queue up the next price break into the "E-Price" system, so that if a customer is willing to share their contact information in order to see a lower price they will see our next price in queue. What I don't want to do is just knock $100 off. If I am going to drop a price $650 tomorrow, I would rather offer the new price to a customer that is serious enough to share their information.

My website provider is working on the code to deliver this "E-Price" via Text Message. This way, we know that we are getting valid contact information, as well as a text opt in.

@JoePistell has talked a great deal about Invisible Shoppers. I am looking for a way to give some of these shoppers an actual reason to reveal themselves a little.

 

[Alexander Lau]

The direction that I am leaning is to put some variation of a "Get E Price" button on my VDP. This way, customers can see what the vehicle is priced at and if they want to see if there is a lower price, they can provide their contact information.

Our pricing methods are structured. When we bring a car into inventory, we know how it will be priced and how long that price will stand. We know when the vehicle will be lowered and we know what that new price will be. What I am considering is to queue up the next price break into the "E-Price" system, so that if a customer is willing to share their contact information in order to see a lower price they will see our next price in queue. What I don't want to do is just knock $100 off. If I am going to drop a price $650 tomorrow, I would rather offer the new price to a customer that is serious enough to share their information.

My website provider is working on the code to deliver this "E-Price" via Text Message. This way, we know that we are getting valid contact information, as well as a text opt in.

@JoePistell has talked a great deal about Invisible Shoppers. I am looking for a way to give some of these shoppers an actual reason to reveal themselves a little.

You guys high-jacked this thread... ha ha