The auto retail industry is experiencing a “digital marketing revolution” and auto dealers need to adapt and innovate, auto and marketing industry experts told dealers attending the 2017 Auto Dealers Innovation Series hosted by Trillium Automobile Dealers Association (TADA).
“How many times a day do you think you look at your smartphone?” Sean Moffitt, Managing Director at Wikibrands, asked the dealers, GMs and other dealership staff who attended the event at the Universal Event Centre. He explained that the average person looks at their mobile telephone approximately 150 times a day. This helps illustrate the dramatic changes in how information is exchanged and how this then impacts sales.
He stressed the need for dealers to understand emerging technologies while guiding employees. “You need to invest in the process,” said Moffitt.
Moffitt kicked off the program by stressing the need to improve customer experience to increase sales and strengthen loyalty. He referred throughout his talk to Netflix as a great example of a company dealers could learn from. Netflix, said Moffitt, capitalized on its digital vision which helped it defeat Blockbuster as the digital landscape began to take hold a decade ago.
Ian Cruickshank, Vice-President of Sales and Marketing of Vancouver-based Speed Shift Media, discussed the ins and outs of VDP analytics to give dealers a good understanding of how to evaluate ROI, to make sure they’re not being taken advantage of and to spend efficiently.
Cruickshank also clarified some of the difficulties associated with measuring Internet traffic and provided insights to recognize key digital metrics that bolster branding and awareness objectives.
Is there a holy grail of Millennial marketing? “Absolutely not”, said Brent Wees, Director of First Impressions at Nextup, one of Canada’s fastest-growing companies in the traffic management and sales industries.
Wees says that every generation is suspicious of its younger element and explained that Millennials are just like all of us who “want to be respected and listened to.”
Jeff Clark, Chief Sales Officer at DealerOn Inc., a U.S.-based car dealer marketing solutions firm wrapped up the summit by highlighting auto dealer website best practices to increase fixed-ops website traffic, the conversion rate for that traffic and successful transaction for parts sales online.
Look out for the upcoming April edition of Canadian auto dealer for more coverage and photos from the event.
