Ed,
Google's ThinkAuto conference on ZMOT introduced me to John Ross, CEO of Shopper Sciences. There are few people who's words & observations Rock my foundation and throw my work into hyper-drive. IMO, John Ross is to ZMOT, as Dale Pollack is to the Used Car Industry. Were talking rare, world class talent.
My post on John Ross is here http://forum.dealerrefresh.com/f43/pricing-strategy-oejust-tactica-1895-5.html#post15411
I took a screen shot of one of his slides, annotated it and included it on that post.
Simply put... Of all of the "touch points" A shopper makes in their journey, none influence the final decision more than the visit to the dealership.
Granted, if your stimulus and ZMOT blows, you'll never see the up, but, from my seat, visibility is a separate marketing task. Once visibility is in place, My John Ross/ZMOT lesson is that if the visit to the dealership is the consumers strongest influencer, then all ZMOT content needs to put all of my shoppers "un-answered worries" to rest (is the sales rep pushy, is the dealer reputable, will the manager be there for me if the car I buy is a junker, what's the warranty, if my credit is fair, will they screw me... Etc)
There are dealers out there now that communicate this message very well. SuzukiofWiticha.com, auctionDirectUSA.com, carsense.com, carmax and others. The winds of change are among us, enter in…the Game Changers.
This is how I see ZMOT.