Automotive Dealers Network By Ralph Paglia Dealer Micro Sites
1. So, What's A MicroSite?
SUPERIOR DEALER SOLUTIONSsm
So, What's A MicroSite? (continued) PART 1
The use of microsites should be considered as one facet of a multi-
faceted and full featured digital marketing system. Microsites can have either
a positive or negative impact on a dealership’s overall digital marketing results
depending on how they are deployed and many other factors. The key to
microsite success is the role they play in achieving a balance and synergy
within the other components of a dealer’s digital marketing strategy. The goal
of this article is to provide a foundational understanding of what microsites are,
how they differ from landing pages and to share a few examples of the many
uses of microsites that dealers and Internet Sales Managers can consider for
potential deployment within their own digital marketing strategies.
During the Digital Dealer conference I was asked many questions about how microsites are used, what
they were, where to get them and how much was the right price… I am going to outline a few of the questions
and share my opinions as to the right answers. The following questions and my answers to them have been
set up within the context of a “how to” and “why” perspective for use in developing a dealership’s digital
marketing strategy and ongoing digital advertising campaigns.
What's the difference between a landing page, a microsite and a dealer’s website?
I get asked this question all the time, so it must be fairly relevant to many people… First off, let me say that for
all practical purposes every web site contains potential landing pages, but not all landing pages are part of a
microsite or what I would call a full featured web site, some are just plain old single page “Landing Pages”. A
Landing Page is whatever web page that a sponsored link, display ad, click-to-play video ad or any other type
of online promotion points to… Single purpose Landing Pages can be a distinctly separate tactic used in
addition to a dealer’s primary full featured web sites and microsites. Although a dealer’s primary web site
typically has sections devoted to each dealership department, as well as access to the dealer’s full vehicle
inventory, a microsite typically displays a limited number of pages primarily focused on a very specific and
limited topic, such as a specific model of vehicle or a component of the vehicle buying process… Think of the
traditional 4-square dealership worksheet and imagine a web site dedicated to each of the sections within that
4-Square. Each of them would be a microsite.
Now, I’ll describe microsites in terms that would be relevant to today’s sales management
professional at a dealership engaged in Digital Marketing activities:
q A microsite index page is attached to a unique URL that is as descriptive of the microsite’s subject matter as
possible and available to the dealership.
q The index page within a microsite that is accessed by the root domain of the URL can also be used as a campaign
landing page because it is where the consumer “lands” when they click on an advertisement, text based sponsored
link or search engine listing of that unique URL.
q In addition to the index page, which we call a home page when applied to a dealership’s full featured primary
web site, a microsite has 1 or more daughter pages that are accessible from linked text or images shown on
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2. So, What's A MicroSite?
the index page (the microsite’s home page).
q A microsite’s daughter pages must be created within the same root domain structure as the index page’s URL.
This is far different than the use of web pages hosted within another root domain structure, as when using links
to a different web site’s sections, forms or pages.
q Each daughter page within a microsite will contain additional content relevant to the index page’s primary
subject matter and is what qualifies the site as a “microsite” instead of a simple “landing page”.
Obviously, from the first part of my answer you already know that a landing page is a single web page
connected to a unique URL, but without any additional pages of relevant content connected to it that are
hosted within the same root domain structure. A good example, and the epitome of a “Microsite” (it’s even
small in size), including rich media presentations and specific vehicle component sections along with
daughter pages containing vehicle information, photographs and specifications can be seen at
www.SanDiegoChevySilverado.com.
Conversely, a good example of a true “Landing Page” devoid of any other content within
the same root domain structure is: www.ChevyPriceQuote.com. Please note
that both landing pages and microsites typically feature multiple links to other web pages
that are part of separate and distinct URL domain structures, usually within
the dealer’s primary web site, also known as “Deep Links”.
The bottom line is that every microsite contains a landing page, along with one or more additional content
pages, while the term landing page is also used to describe a single web page, usually with a form that is
linked to advertisements and text based sponsored links and is distinctly separate from any other web site.
Technically, any web page connected to outside links, such as banners and other forms of display advertisements
shown within published web sites, as well as text based sponsored links and URL listings in
SEM campaigns are “Landing Pages” because it is where the consumer lands when they click on the
advertisement or listing… However, within the car business today, the most common use of the term landing
page is to describe a single web page specially created for a specific advertisement, designed to convert
visitors into electronic leads. Alternatively, Microsites require more content to set up properly than solo landing
pages, which typically require a limited amount of text and an online form for customers to complete and submit.
When and How are Landing Pages and Microsites used?
Both microsites and landing pages are used for a variety of purposes by dealers, 3rd party lead providers, SEM
services providers, dealer advertising associations, dealer groups and car companies. Compared to landing
pages and depending on the richness of content they contain, automotive microsites usually show increasing
levels of effectiveness in generating leads over time.
There are 3 prevalent digital marketing campaign objectives that microsites and
landing pages are used for within the car business today:
Generate sales leads in the form of completed online forms, incoming phone calls and showroom traffic…
When used by SEM services providers, landing pages are typically designed to generate electronic leads
and are optimized for the highest possible Visitor-to-Lead conversion rates.
Attract unique visitors using highly specific and limited subject matter content that is indexed by search
engines as relevant to key word searches related to the site’s subject matter. When successful, a
microsite’s title and description appear at the top of specific search engine queries based on richness of
relevant content.
Generate online traffic to other dealership web sites through the use of linked objects displayed within the
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3. So, What's A MicroSite?
microsite, or within the text based content of the site. This objective is best met through the use of
managed
organic content that is search engine optimized around a subject matter that is popular among a targeted
audience that will be searching for it. Otherwise, a microsite could be misconstrued as a link farm.
If you are like me, seeing a few examples really helps to clarify a concept. If you visit www.Chevy-Malibu.
com you will see a microsite that is focused on the all new 2008 Chevrolet Malibu and nothing else. It has lots of
rich content relevant to the all new Malibu, including an interview with the dealership’s New Vehicle Director,
Scott Gruwell. At the bottom of the landing page are links to content within the store’s primary full featured
web site that supplement the forms and phone numbers within the microsite in seeking to convert visitors into
leads and phone calls. 3 months after being launched, a search for “2008 Chevy Malibu” returned a world
wide front page listing as follows:
2008 Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid from Phoenix Arizona Chevy Dealer ...
2008 Chevy Malibu. Come and fall in love with the all new 2008 Malibu from chevrolet. Courtesy Chevrolet in
Phoenix offers the best pricing and financing on ...
www.chevy-malibu.com/ - 19k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this
The model specific microsite that has outperformed any other microsite I have ever seen in generating
incremental eLeads and unique visitors to the primary web site operated by the dealership, visit www.
2008ChevyCamaro.com. A Google search for 2008 Chevy Camaro returns the following listing at the very
top of the world wide search results:
The All New 2008 Chevrolet Camaro from Courtesy Chevy in Phoenix ...
2008 Chevy Camaro. Your Valley Chevy Camaro Dealer located in Phoenix, Arizona, The New 2008 Chevy
Camaro, Courtesy Chevrolet Camaro, 2008 New Chevy Camaro.
www.2008chevycamaro.com/ - 15k - Cached - Similar pages
In July 2007 the Camaro microsite attracted over 25,000 unique visitors, of which over 1,800 of them submitted
an online lead form. This microsite also generated over 2,500 unique visitors to the store’s other web sites,
which resulted in over 50 additional leads. Courtesy Chevrolet operates the 2008ChevyCamaro.com microsite
and spends less than $100 a month hosting it. There was no paid advertising used to generate traffic, although
the Transformers movie seemed to generate a big hike in Camaro related searches.
One of the first microsite’s I created is the popular www.Tahoe-Chevrolet.com. If you Google “2007 Tahoe”
it shows up near the top of the search results as follows:
2007 Tahoe at Courtesy Chevrolet- The all new 2007 tahoe! Phoenix ...
2007 Tahoe by Chevy. Come and fall in love with the all new 2007 tahoe from Chevrolet. Courtesy Chevrolet
in Phoenix offers the best pricing and financing ...
www.tahoe-chevrolet.com/ - 20k - Cached - Similar pages
Part 2 of this 3 Part Series will be published on May 20, 2008 in Automotive Dealers Network May 2008 Vol 2
You should click on the photo galleries and specifications pages within each of the above listed microsites to
truly understand what differentiates a microsite from a landing page. I have never seen a landing page by
itself generate any significant organic site ranking.
Ralph has held positions such as OEM Partnership
By Ralph Paglia
Executive for Reynolds and Reynolds, CRM/eBusiness
Director – Digital Marketing / ADP Dealer Services
Director, New Car Sales Manager, Used Car Manager,
email: RPaglia@AutomotiveDealersNetwork.com F&I Director, General Sales Manager and General
Manager. He led the development and design of
nationally implemented CRM and eBusiness programs
for Ford, Honda, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota and other car
companies. He also designed Ford’s BDC program
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10. LETTER TO THE EDITOR
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19. Article Archive May 6, 2008
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FROM THE PUBLISHER Create Customized
Loyalty Cards
From time to time in our Professional Careers we meet
individuals that exemplify quality characteristics that
embody the hope and passion that many of us have
come to expect in our profession as well as in our daily Select an Article to view
walk. view article
5/20/2008 How Are Your Parts? By Jim
Bernardi
PRESS RELEASE What portion of your dealership's investment is no longer sellable, and how
much can you afford to invest in replacement stock? You can't you purchase
more stock when your shelves are filled with obsolescence. A store that is
520/2008 Recall Data overstocked in obsolescence needs a plan to reduce that obsolescence
Autodata Solutions, Inc, an automotive technology and prior to purchasing additional inventory. view article
data provider, introduces factory service and recall data.
The new offering keeps consumers informed about 5/20/2008 Let's Just Give 'Em Away By Bill
regular vehicle service and maintenance recommended Zahrte
by the manufacturer. view article In over 100 Years the Automobile Selling Business Hasn't Changed Much.
Here is an idea let's just give away free gas, that'll fill the showroom ... Maybe
5/20/2008 Sweet Customer Retention we should just give them free cars. view article
Bake Me A Wish is expanding its product line to include
individual size promotional cakes ideal for corporate 5/20/2008 So, What's A MicroSite? part 2 By Ralph Paglia
gifts. view article During the 4th Digital Dealer Conference and Exposition in Orlando, Florida
in April 2008 I listened to several speakers mention the use of microsites by
dealers and attribute their knowledge of microsites to yours truly. view article
VEHICLE REVIEWS
5/20/2008 Digital MicroSites By Alvin
Newton
5/20/2008 The Practical Convertible Two years ago I worked for Bob Baker Chevy Subaru, as a BDC manager
Convertibles, notorious for their impracticality, have trying to figure out how to get more leads by phone and inbound eLeads via
renewed their image. Their tops were prone to leak and the internet. When I saw the www.2007tahoe.com MicroSite, I was truly
let in a lot of noise and their bodies tended to quiver and amazed! This was cutting edge at the time. view article
flex. view article
5/20/2008 Cars for Grads
Cars.com compared three popular models - the Honda
Civic and redesigned versions of the Ford Focus and
Toyota Corolla - to see which had the goods to satisfy
teens and 20-somethings (and their parents, too).
view article
5/20/2008 Top Safety Picks
Car shoppers certainly have a number of priorities in
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21. How Are Your Parts?
SUPERIOR DEALER SOLUTIONSsm
How Are Your Parts? (continued)
It is a must to begin and develop a stock-selling process.
Therefore, it becomes important to identify and begin resolving the reasons for
obsolescence, as well as relief of the needless parts. Until that happens, it is simple
irresponsibility to do nothing with the aged inventory.
A healthy inventory has no more than 15 percent tied up in
Automatic Phase Out and Forced Stock (parts on hand with no
prior sales.) Obsolescence calculated by Stocking Status is
usually far more accurate than by aging, assuming that the
Phase Out parameters are reasonable. Each time I conduct a
Performance Evaluation we look at the aged inventory as
compared to NADA standards and determine how much of old
stock is no longer sellable.
Follow these examples & review your current inventory.
Levels of Service (LOS): Time must be taken to analyze the service levels that the existing inventory is capable of
providing, and to break it down by the service workshop, accessories, and body shop and retail/wholesale customers.
This is part of the profile that should be developed—both to establish a baseline for future growth and to set objectives
based on current attainment. Service Levels cost money: The higher the attainment, the greater the investment in
stocking part numbers. Remember, the name of the game here is selection, not depth, especially if factory’s offer
frequent opportunities to place stock orders. You should then make decisions to create inventories that support each
customer group, and to differing levels of supply from dealership stock.
Crash Parts - A good example would be support to body shops. In order to lock in a job, most body shops need
structural and paintable parts that enable them to tear down and set up the body shell. Generally, that means fenders,
hoods, decks, core supports and covers. The shops don’t need color trim and exterior badging until much later in the
repair process; in fact you can probably order that with the next stock order or the inevitable supplemental order.
Either way, you normally don’t want them on hand, and typically order based on the vehicle ID or production
information.
Service Sales - The other common example would be the service department, which has its set of rules and
challenges. Here we are pushing labor and part sales. If a technician can’t finish a job due to parts availability, both
departments lose—at least until you get the parts in. Customers are famous for not returning in a proper time to
complete the repairs, and you end up with an incomplete repair. Nobody is satisfied with this scenario, not to mention
what it may do to your factory CSI report, as well as the possibility of having an open RO on your doc report.
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22. How Are Your Parts?
Obviously, it is in everyone’s best interest to have whatever the shop needs at any time, right?
But that’s possible only if you have deep pockets and can afford the cost of carrying the number of parts
required to achieve this lofty goal. 85 percent LOS by part numbers is a strong performance, and represents
a reasonable balance between Level of Service and cost of ownership. This needs to be taken into account
when the DMS specifications are established. Or provided that your parts management team is banging on
all cylinders and has whatever you need at any time…yea right
Let’s move on...
Depth of Supply: Just how much can your dealership afford to invest in selling stocking parts, while taking
into account your existing investment in Obsolescence, Forced Stock and surplus Non Stock over 30 days
on hand without a completed sale? If a store is clean there is more opportunity than if there is a large
investment in parts that will not sell currently. Your management or advisor must take this into account,
along with the various franchise ordering and delivery opportunities.
Demand Posting: Lost Sales posting can have the ability to bring new parts into stock. This factor alone
can result in a major adjustment to the Phase-In parameters in compensation for poor dealership
performance.
Timeliness: The inventory settings in the dealership DMS are never set in stone. Just based on the above
information, you can see that the inventory situation will change based on how well you have reduced
obsolescence, your store’s financial situation and your desired attainment levels for the different sale
types. These settings will change based on your needs and market, as well as seasonal and financial
commitments. It calls for a periodic review of all of these circumstances, and occasional adjustments to
compensate for improvements or declines in performance. The person who changes your settings must
fully understand these dynamics at your store. If not properly set chaos sets in.
What the manufacturers say:
Most manufacturers have a vested interest in selling parts to their dealers. Aside from vehicle sales, it is usually
their next largest income source. More importantly, their interest is integral to maintaining the fleet that is now in owner
hands and critical to ensure the performance of warranty repairs. Needless to say, the better the dealer inventories,
the better customers perceive the brand support for their purchase. So far it all makes sense.
One of the greatest frustrations that manufacturer management has is that they are not in direct control of dealer
service operations. They work very closely with you to provide management and technician training, special tools,
technical literature and on-site field support. All of this comes at a price for both the dealer and the factories. But up
until now, factory initiatives have basically ignored the one area that is most critical to the successful completion of
service maintenance and repairs—dealership parts inventories.
Manufacturers have always maintained parts depots with substantial inventories designed to fulfill almost any
need…far more than any dealership could possibly stock. In some respects, they behave like dealers in that they
manage their selection based on demand from customers, or their dealers. Unlike dealers, however, manufacturers
work on a very broad-based input that may involve very large geographic territories, and therefore cannot relate to
the needs of any specific store. They would like to think that they can do a better job of forecasting parts needs at the
retail level, and quite honestly, in some cases they certainly couldn’t do any worse. The problem is that over the last
few years many of them have begun making “suggestions” as to how dealers should operate their inventory control
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24. How Are Your Parts?
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29. Let's Just Give Away Free Gas
SUPERIOR DEALER SOLUTIONSsm
Let's Just Give 'Em Away (continued)
As long as I have been in this business I will never understand why we let
customers run our business, control the profits and despise the car sales
industry at the same time.
It amazes me that there are still over 18,000 car dealers still in business. I
didn’t go to a preppy college or attend a fancy sales school to figure out why
some dealers are successful and some dealers are not successful. As
business people all we have to do is look in the mirror and see who is at fault.
Because we have newer and better vehicles every year doesn’t alter the fact people
are still people. No matter what the dealership sales environment seems to be
people have purchased new or used vehicles based on four basic concepts while
shopping. If these four basic needs are not solved your hopeful buyer is buying
elsewhere.
Here is how it breaks down:
You will have an opportunity to answer four basic questions, whether real or perceived. If these four basic
concerns are answered your chances to sell a product is vastly increased.
q What is it? What are you selling, how will it meet their needs?
q How does it work? Does the customer really understand the product features and the benefits of those
features?
q What’s in it for them? All those features and all the benefits, do they really meet the goals of the customer
trying to purchase the vehicle.
q What does it cost? The key here is cost. Can you justify a $20,000 to a mega money decision based on
what has been presented to the customer.
You say, “Wait a minute, customers are tough, all they do is shop, shop, shop and come into the dealership looking for
discounts, discounts, discounts.”
Before I answer the 'how to blow away the pricing and increase the possibility of closing 20 to 30 percent more
business' let’s take a look at why your customers think the car sales industry stinks. And another reason you may need
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30. Let's Just Give Away Free Gas
to look in the mirror.
Not too long ago I was involved with evaluating a survey of 26,412 buyers in 64 market areas in the USA. The
information revealed some shocking answers but also just verified my suspicions’ I have had all the many years in this
business. These 26,412 buyers had purchased a product within 12 months from the date of the survey. Keep in mind
this survey was derived from customers who had purchased.
Here we go
83% Could not recall the name of the salesperson 12 months later.
67% Would not buy from the same salesperson or company again.
81% Told the salesperson they were just looking entering the dealership.
38% Had actually shopped two other dealers before they came into the dealership.
87% Felt an attitude of indifference or concern from the salesperson.
91% Of the salespeople failed to follow-up after the customer walked-out.
70% Purchased a vehicle with-in 14 days of their first shopping effort.
74% Of the 70% who said they were just looking, 74% purchased within 48 hours.
94% Of salespeople never attempted to write a sale during the first time in.
90% Never got a complete product presentation.
91% Believed the salesperson did not know the product.
90% Were never contacted after delivery by the salesperson.
Keep in mind this survey was based people who actually purchased and their feeling of the treatment during and after
the selection process and buying decision was completed. If we were to take a survey of all who entered a dealership,
buyers as well as lookers, I think the numbers would be even worse.
Keep in mind all these percentages were based on two things. 1The customer’s attitude and 2the feelings of what went
on at the time they were the key understand the influence to make a decision.
If we were to add another element to what was an influence to purchase we could add loyalty. And what if they were
previous customers? How do you think the numbers would change if the majority of the customers in this survey were
previous customers - happy previous customers?
Because price is said to be the number one reason people move to do what they do, shouldn’t you take advantage of
that by making the price feel insignificant while the important stuff is where they purchase, how service will be
performed, that the management and sales staff really cares. Would this really make a difference?
Only if you really care.
Bill Zahrte
www.touchpointloyalty.com
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35. So, What's A MicroSite? part 2
SUPERIOR DEALER SOLUTIONSsm
So, What's A MicroSite? (continued) PART 2
During the Digital Dealer conference I was asked many questions
about how microsites are used, what they were, where to get them
and how much was the right price… I am going to outline a few of
the questions and share my opinions as to the right answers. The
following questions and my answers to them have been set up
within the context of a “how to” and “why” perspective for use in
developing a dealership’s digital marketing strategy and ongoing
digital advertising campaigns.
The following questions were addressed in part 1 which can be viewed here.
s What's the difference between a landing page, a microsite and a dealer’s website?
s When and How are Landing Pages and Microsites used?
Who creates the online digital advertising that dealers would use to help drive
traffic to microsites and landing pages?
Creating online advertisements that dealers can then place on various web sites or as sponsored links with paid
search engine advertising is typically done by the dealership’s vendors. However, all too often vendors generate
digital ads in either a size or format that is intentionally designed to prevent the dealer from using them
elsewhere. That’s why I give Cars.com a lot of credit because even when they build a Flash based ad for the
dealers that advertise on Cars.com, you can ask for the same ad in an animated GIF file format which they will
provide. This allows the dealer to use that great looking ad created by Cars.com on other web sites and further
leverages ROI from the dealer’s investment in Cars.com advertising. An example of a digital ad created for one of
the dealers I work with in San Diego is shown below:
Another example of a dealership’s digital advertising as created by Cars.com is shown below:
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36. So, What's A MicroSite? part 2
In my new position as Director of Digital Marketing for ADP Dealer Services, I am spearheading a project
where we will by supplying digital advertising content to dealers. Our first priority will be to provide digital
advertising that has already been proven effective for dealers to those who have web sites supplied by an ADP
Digital Marketing provider, such as BZ Results and ADP Dynamic Websites. This is a prototype example of the
most basic ADP Digital Marketing dealership ads:
When it comes to paid search advertising, text based sponsored links are usually created by a dealer’s SEM
services provider. However, despite the fact that there a lot of very knowledgeable SEM services providers, such
as BZ Results Search Engine Marketing, Clickmotive, Jumpstart and others, in my opinion this is a bad practice.
Outsourcing the thinking and creative promotional exercises that have historically been done either in-house or
in conjunction with a dealer’s ad agency is more likely to result in a failed digital advertising campaign. This
happens because separating digital advertising from the other forms of dealership promotional activity leads to a
disconnect with the dealership’s marketing strategies. I recommend that each dealer and management team
control and monitor their digital advertising with the same diligence and direct participation that they use for TV,
Radio, Newspaper, Outdoor, Direct Mail and all other media. Over two thirds of all car shopping is done online,
does it really make sense for a dealership’s management team to pay so much attention to the ads placed in
media used by a minority of car buyers and then ignore the ads seen by the majority of automotive shoppers?
Does a dealer have to use an outside supplier to do this, or is it something
dealers can do on their own? How do dealers organize to do this?
All or part of a dealer’s digital marketing activities can be managed in-house. Alternately, a dealer may choose to
pick and choose which components are executed in-house and which are to be outsourced, or a combination of
both. I am currently engaged in a consulting relationship with a Chevrolet store in Northern California that has
never done digital advertising before I started working with them. Their Marketing Manager, who creates all their
newspaper advertising and works with their TV and Radio suppliers, is doing a fantastic job of using his skills to
create digital advertising campaigns. ADP’s own BZ Results has created a portfolio of microsites and landing
pages for their use in online advertising campaigns.
Yes, it takes focus, time and effort, and although all of a dealer’s digital advertising needs can be outsourced to
save time, this typically results in the managers being disconnected and removed from the store’s digital
advertising initiatives. Outsourcing digital advertising concept creation can result in a lack of commitment to
making the sales to the leads generated that is required to get the ROI results. I recommend learning how to do
it, then doing it long enough so that if the dealer decides to outsource the work, they at least know what it is, how
to measure it and what it takes to do a good job. Now that I work for ADP Dealer Services, I would much rather
sell Digital Marketing products and services to dealers who know what it is and how it works, than to those that do
not know what they are buying. Other considerations are the ability to adjust campaigns daily, even hourly and
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37. So, What's A MicroSite? part 2
saving money. Most stores can save thousands of dollars by managing their online campaigns and by knowing
how to evaluate a supplier for the portion of the digital ad budget that is outsourced. Generally speaking, I
consider a blended approach of both in-house and outsourced digital advertising to be the best of both worlds,
and it keeps the vendors honest when you compare their results with the in-house results. The blended
approach also allows a dealer to shift dollars from in-house to the out-house as resources and budgets fluctuate.
How can the dealer make sure that their landing page/microsite strategy actually
delivers desirable content to automotive Internet users, and that the landing
page sites deliver on any promises made in the ads themselves?
Dealers should be consistent and transparent in their digital advertising campaign messages. In the case of paid
search campaigns, why would you want to attract clicks from people that don’t want to buy a vehicle, order parts
or get their vehicle serviced? Only if you are an SEM services vendor who is evaluated by traffic and leads
generated! (oops, that one slipped out) When doing it yourself, make sure the ad contains verbiage that
describes the landing page’s content that you are linking it to. For example, if your ad says something like
“Chevy Price Quotes… Get Discounted Prices on a New Chevy from Courtesy Chevrolet in Phoenix” and it points
to www.ChevyPriceQuote.com you can be pretty certain that the people clicking on the ad are interested in
getting a price quote on a new Chevy and that they are willing to buy it in Phoenix, AZ (duh!). The landing page
gives them the instructions and the form to complete that are in sync with the ad’s message, so it is a no brainer
for the customer to fill it out the form and find out how your store will respond.
A good example of this is a microsite I built for a Free Gas advertising campaign that you can visit at www.
ChevyGas.com. This microsite has a built in calculator that asks the customer how many miles they drive every
week, then how many miles per gallon their current vehicle gets. It then shows the customer how much money
they will spend in a year. The customer is then invited to enter a contest to win a free gas card, or to register to
receive a year’s worth of gas at no additional charge when they buy a new Chevy from Courtesy Chevrolet. This
is then promoted using image ads.
If you visit the web site by clicking on the ad, you can’t help but see that the site delivers on the promises made in
the ad itself. If the ads were linked to my primary web site’s home page, and the consumer was then expected to
find the free gas special offer from there, then it would not be delivering on the promise implied by the ad and it
would fail to produce any results. Online advertisements should be directly linked to single click access to the
promised content.
How can dealers manage multiple URLs? How do dealers ensure they get
ranked by the major search engines?
As far as acquiring and using domain names (URL’s), although a lot of dealers use low cost domain management
service providers such as www.GoDaddy.com and www.PowerPipe.com, I feel most comfortable going directly to
the source by using www.NetworkSolutions.com where dealers can buy a domain and web forwarding services (if
needed) for less than $47 a year. Significant discounts apply if registering for 3 years or more. Since it can take
up to 3 months to get a new microsite organically ranked for free search engine traffic, I recommend creating a
Google AdWords account and building a paid search marketing campaign using keyword bidding on text based
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38. So, What's A MicroSite? part 2
sponsored links that point to the dealer’s new microsite. This gets traffic going to a microsite right away, and
then if the site is built well enough to be considered relevant to the intended sales, parts or service shoppers,
you can back down the paid traffic after 3 to 6 months and let the organic relevancy of your microsite do its
magic by attracting search engine generated traffic. The people at Google have told me about a 3 month period
after a new microsite goes live as being “in the sandbox”, where it will not get organically ranked, but I have seen
exceptions made for really good microsites that covered a topic that does not have a lot of competition for
relevancy in search results. The Camaro site I previously mentioned is one of those… After your microsite is up
and running, copy the actual URL string of characters from your browser’s address bar when viewing the site,
then go to http://www.google.com/addurl and paste the microsite’s domain based URL string into the field for the
site address. Then type in a description of the site using no more than 20 words into the text field set up for it.
Next, try to decipher the garbled up characters that Google displays to keep bots from being able to do this and
type these weird looking characters displayed into the indicated form field… If you are successful in translating
the garbled up letters, when you hit the submit button you will get a confirmation page that says your site will be
queued up for crawling and indexing by Google’s spider bots. I know it sounds like a bunch of hassle, but anyone
who can figure out how to use GM’s Dealer World, Honda’s Interactive Network, Toyota’s Dealer Daily or Ford’s
FMCDealer.com can ace this stuff.
How does a dealer incorporate the use of microsites into their existing CRM tools
and processes to maximize the ability to track and manage results?
Forms, phone numbers and links… This is one of the most important aspects of any microsite because ultimately
the volume of forms submitted, phone calls generated and traffic linked to other sites operated by your
dealership is how you will evaluate your microsites. The forms used to submit leads from a dealer’s microsite
must be set up to be submitted into the dealer’s lead management tool in XML/ADF format. Each form should be
tagged to display the lead source as that microsite’s description in the dealer’s lead management tool. Each
microsite will have its own source tag so that leads and sales generated can be logged and traced to that
source. It is the same process as tracking leads from a third party lead provider, then calculating the ROI… The
only thing missing is the profit requirements of the lead provider! When done properly, microsites generate more
ROI than when splitting the pot with a lead provider that uses the same methods to generate leads and then sells
them to multiple dealers at a profit. It is important that the dealership’s staff that will be handling leads from a
microsite be shown the ads and site content used to generate those leads, so they can respond appropriately. A
best practice is to have campaign and microsite specific email templates and auto responders. Until recently, if
you submitted a lead through www.2008ChevyCamaro.com you would have see that the emails coming back are
specific to that microsite. Don’t worry about costing the dealer any money, because incremental leads from
microsites don’t cost any money… They make money.
Part 3 of this 3 Part Series will be published on June 3, 2008 in Automotive Dealers Network June 2008 Vol 1
By Ralph Paglia Ralph has held positions such as OEM Partnership
Executive for Reynolds and Reynolds, CRM/eBusiness
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43. Digital Micro Sites
Receive our E-Newsletter
For Email Marketing you can trust
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47. The Most Practical Convertibles
SUPERIOR DEALER SOLUTIONSsm
The Practical Convertible (continued)
But now there are signs of change, and these eight 2008 convertibles
present the fewest compromises to achieve top-down fun.
Current folding hardtops are marvels of engineering: A series of complex pistons and hydraulics fold the
rigid roof into sections that get sandwiched in layers and hidden in the trunk.
Like the best soft tops, retractable metal roofs typically open and close at the touch of a button and can be
raised or lowered in less than a minute. For added convenience, some models like the BMW 3 Series
Convertible allow owners to raise and lower the top from outside the car via an optional key fob remote.
All of the vehicles on this list have rear seats large enough to accommodate adults in moderate
comfort on short trips. And unless a convertible is strictly a third car in a family’s fleet, having
four seats versus two is one of the key attributes necessary to make a convertible practical
enough for everyday use.
The Most Practical 4-Passenger Convertibles & Starting Price
BMW 3 series $43,200 Saab 9-3 $39,590
Chrysler Sebring $26,150 VW Eos $28,990
Mitsubishi Spyder $25,699 Volvo C70 $39,240
Pontiac G6 $30,860 Audi A4 $39,750
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61. Automotive Dealers Network Publisher's Notes
SUPERIOR DEALER SOLUTIONSsm
From The Publisher (continued)
I have been very fortunate over the years; I have been able to make strong allegiances within the Automotive
Marketplace. I am very proud to call our Guest Writers & Advertisers my personal friends & colleagues. I also
wanted to make a personal & public appreciation announcement to our readers, subscribers and to our
wonderful automotive professional audience. A very special Thanks to Jim Ziegler, who always is willing to take
what little sleep he obtains for that stealthy frame and to give our companies the motivation and encouragement
to go another round, my friend you are a true inspiration of leadership and promise in a troubled time. A Very
Special round of applause to Bill Zahrte, who ALWAYS has the time to share his many years of Expert Analysis of
our current marketplace & find solutions that “just makes sense”. And a special Hurrah for Ralph Paglia, who
should have been a Firefighter, It would appear wherever there is heat in our business, He is often found in the
midst finding solutions to our dealers ever demanding needs.
Hats off My Friends!!
Automotive Dealers Network was designed as a Complete & Reliable Resource in Variable and, Fixed
Operations; we have the Nations Leading Experts in Compliance Regulations, Sales Operations, Service/Parts
Operations, F & I Training, Reward Programs & DMS Experts, and CRM Experts including many Guest Writers
with Global recognition. We are firm believers that every dealers needs to have that sustainable edge within
their immediate marketplace.
If you have any comments or suggestions, we would like to hear from you. Also, if
you have Industry News worthy of sharing with other colleagues please contact us.
It is our pleasure to be of service to you & we look forward to keeping you updated
with the latest & most informative e-Newsletter available today.
Sincerely,
Jim Bernardi
Publisher/CEO
publisher@automotivedealersnetwork.com
812.325.5651
Jim is a Member of the following Chapters & International Organizations:
American Business Club, Business II Business Networking, Ten-Top
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63. 2008 Safst Cars On the Road
SUPERIOR DEALER SOLUTIONSsm
Top Safety Picks (continued)
IIHS's Safest 2008 Vehicles
MSN Consumer MSN Consumer
Starting Starting
LARGE CARS User Reports
MSRP
MIDSIZE SUVs User Reports
MSRP
Ratings Score Ratings Score
Audi A6 8.5 83 $42,950 Acura MDX 9.7 80 $40,195
Cadillac CTS 9.4 84 $33,245 Acura RDX 9.8 72 $33,195
Ford Taurus (w/esc) 9.4 na $23,635 BMW X3 5.0 79 $38,000
Mercury Sable (w/esc) 9.9 na $23,935 BMW X5 9.2 67 $45,900
Volvo S80 (w/esc) 9.6 na $38,705 Ford Edge 9.7 60 $25,735
MIDSIZE CARS Ford Taurus X 9.7 na $27,030
Audi A3 9.9 75 $25,930
Honda Pilot 8.8 79 $27,595
Audi A4 9.4 77 $28,900
Hyundai Santa Fe 9.6 80 $21,150
Honda Accord 9.4 88 $20,360
Hyundai Veracruz 9.1 75 $26,900
Saab 9-3 9.3 71 $28,080
Lincoln MKX 9.8 60 $35,840
Subaru Legacy (w/esc) 9.1 64 $20,495
Mercedes-Benz M 9.8 69 $44,000
CONVERTIBLES
Saturn Vue 9.3 na $21,250
Saab 9-3 9.3 71 $28,080
Subaru Tribeca 9.7 na $29,995
Volvo C70 9.5 68 $39,240
Toyota Highlander 9.7 81 $27,300
SMALL CARS
Volvo XC90 9.3 74 $36,210
Subaru Impreza 9.0 na $16,995
SMALL SUVs
MINIVANS
Honda CR-V 8.9 74 $20,700
Honda Odyssey 9.2 91 $25,860
Honda Element 9.5 58 $18,980
Hyundai Entourage na 79 $23,995
Infiniti EX35 9.7 na $31,900
Kia Sedona na 79 $20,695
Subaru Forester na na $19,995
w/esc indicates that the vehicle makes IIHS's list only
LARGE PICKUP
with the electronic stability control option.
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69. Mandatory Stability Control
SUPERIOR DEALER SOLUTIONSsm
Mandatory Stability Control (continued)
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced
it's requiring that all future passenger vehicles have standard
stability control by 2012.
Some automakers already have made stability control standard
on all their cars.
Mercedes-Benz started installing electronic stability control in 1995 and made it standard on
all models by 1999. A study from Germany early this decade confirmed the benefits of stability
control: Mercedes cars with this technology were involved in 15 percent fewer crashes than
vehicles that didn't have stability control.
Several independent studies around the globe have shown that stability control can help
drivers maintain directional control and have fewer single-vehicle crashes. NHTSA in fall 2006
chose to give stability control the official thumbs up while giving automakers until 2012 to make
this important safety feature standard.
Several car brands already have standard electronic stability control on many models.
Besides Mercedes, they include BMW, Cadillac and Audi. DaimlerChrysler's Chrysler Group
saw fit to put standard stability control on its rear-wheel-drive cars, such as the Chrysler 300.
Ford Motor Co. announced it will have stability control standard on all consumer Ford, Lincoln
and Mercury cars and trucks by the end of 2009
Over the years, automakers have added stability control to sport-utility vehicles as a way
of reducing the incidence of skids and rollovers involving these vehicles with higher ground
clearance. Thus, every 2007 Toyota SUV comes with standard stability control, and even
Jeep's lower-priced models—the 2007 Compass and Jeep Wrangler—now include standard
stability control
Sourced from msn.com
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