It really isn’t that complicated. The easiest way for car dealers to move the needle on sales is to dominate the two venues that allow for utter domination: search engines and social media. On all other platforms, you’re relegated to moving up or down based upon budget. The more you spend with third-party sites, the[…]
Search. Social. Domination.
By JDRucker Automotive PPC, Automotive SEO, Automotive Social Media, Dealer Authority, General, Philosophy, Uncategorized Apr 24, 2014
I Said WE – Get Over It!
By Subi Ghosh Dealer Authority, General, Philosophy, Uncategorized Apr 24, 2014
I just got reprimanded by someone in the industry for saying WE as I am no longer one of THEM. Now, they were most likely joking… I hope. And it got me thinking, “Why is it an us versus them?” A dealers vs vendors? Why can’t it just be we? Aren’t we all just car[…]
Calling Out Vendors on the PPC Service Fee Percentage
By JDRucker Automotive PPC, Dealer Tips, Philosophy, Uncategorized Apr 21, 2014
This is definitely going to be an unpopular post with many vendors, particularly in the automotive industry. It’s a debate that has been raging since before I even hit the vendor side of the business and I still recall a conversation about it that I had with a company when I was at my last[…]
SEO is About Traffic, Not Rankings
By JDRucker Automotive SEO, Dealer Tips, General, Uncategorized Apr 20, 2014
It’s amazing how the measurements of SEO strength have remained obscured for so long. We can’t claim pure innocence here; when showing wins for our clients or presenting during product pitches, we point to rankings from time to time as well. However, this is not a true indicator of SEO prowess in most cases. Search[…]
Car Dealers, Why Would Someone Be ‘Handling’ Your Social Media?
By JDRucker Automotive Social Media, General, Uncategorized Apr 19, 2014
There are dealers that are putting effort into social media and those who are not. Both of these categories of dealers are perfectly acceptable; social media is an all-in or all-out thing. There are strategies that work for those who are putting in the time, money, and effort to make it a business-driver and there’s[…]
Get Your Cars in Front of More Shoppers
By JDRucker Dealer Authority, Dealer Tips, Philosophy, Uncategorized, VDP Marketing Apr 18, 2014
It's easy to complicate things. Both car dealers and automotive vendors have a tendency to get aggressive and approach their marketing from a scientific perspective, driven by data and focused on results. This is a good thing. However, it can also lead down the wrong path if you try to over-think it. The reality is[...]
Internal versus Outsourced Social Media: Why a Hybrid Makes the Most Sense
By JDRucker Automotive Social Media, Dealer Tips, General, Uncategorized Apr 12, 2014
There are three basic types of customers that we work with when it comes to social media. That’s not to say that we classify our clients or anything – they all get the best in a way that fits in with their needs and assets. In automotive social media, the results are all that really[…]
Why the Internet Sales 20 Group Works
By JDRucker Automotive Conferences, General, Uncategorized Apr 11, 2014
I’ve been at home from the Internet Sales 20 Group for about an hour and a half and I already have to blog about it. We are both skeptical and cynical by nature when it comes to conferences; there seems to be so many in the automotive industry nowadays. The IS20Group stood out for us.[…]
Why We Love Lotlinx
By JDRucker Dealer Tips, General, Uncategorized, VDP Marketing Apr 06, 2014
It’s pretty simple, really. Our company has been very selective with our partners since our inception, but Lotlinx stood out as a real winner for our clients. They possess three primary qualities that make them ideal as a part of our product offering.
We Apologize. The Free Social Media Trial Was More Successful Than We Could Bear.
By JDRucker Automotive Social Media, Dealer Authority, Dealer Tips, News, Uncategorized Apr 03, 2014
As Harry Doyle would say, the expectations we set for our social media trial was, “Juuuuust a bit outside.” Bob Uecker‘s iconic play-by-play character in Major League watched a pitch fly seven feet off the plate, which is about how far away our estimates were. We thought we would get a handful and run the[…]