National Auto Dealers Association convention sweeps into San Francisco with industry on a roll 

In a recent report by IBM, “Automotive 2025: Industry without borders”, discusses the future of the automotive industry among OEMs, automotive suppliers, and other auto industry participants. The authors Ben Stanley and Kal Gyimesi ask this question,

“How can you form relationships with newer, non-traditional industry participants to provide the digital relationship and customer experience that today’s drivers and passengers demand?”

The answer, left open for you to do some soul-searching, has one obvious answer:

Invest in live chat.

Live chat is a proven…

Once you get over the beauty of the 1970 Dodge Charger in the picture, you might ask yourself, "What does a 45-year-old muscle car have to do with automotive content?"

We've been asked the same type of question multiple times pertaining to content we publish on dealer websites. Sometimes, it's dealers asking. Other times, it's other vendors wondering what we're doing or "tattling" to the dealer about it. The funny part is that when compared to the automotive marketing "gurus" who question it, the dealers tend to understand the philosophy much more quickly than the vendors.

I'm not here to insult anyone. I totally understand why it's hard for many vendors to get, especially the larger ones who have mechanized content, search, and social strategies. The reality is that based upon…

Some people want it to happen,

some wish it would happen,

others make it happen. ~ Michael Jordan

Anybody with even a passing interest in sports in the 80’s and 90’s has vivid memories of basketball legend Michael Jordan defying gravity to fly through the air and slam dunk a basketball. Again, and again, and again. The man was virtually synonymous with Nike’s ‘Just Do It’ slogan, because he did. Such was his dominance not only of the game, but of sports branding, that he still pulls in nearly $100 million a year on branded gear.…

Due to popular demand I bring you the extended cut of a recent Think Tank Tuesday where I explain my secrets to achieving digital success.

Live Chat isn’t a website novelty any more. It’s a major communication channel between businesses and their clients, and the rollout of Weight Watchers’ new live chat coaching program is a huge example of this trend. Can the weight loss giant serve as an example for car dealerships that have yet to deploy live chat on their websites?

Major customer service leaders, including Nordstrom, Disney and Home Depot have chat available for their customers. And now Weight Watchers offers an “Expert Chat” program that allows subscribers to chat live with a coach around the clock.

“…the hope is that the 24/7 chat and personal coaching sessions will be able to take aspects of the Weight Watchers group meeting format and recreate them for customers who would prefer to interact online at their own…

AutoMotion’s comprehensive Location Targeting technology now includes beacon micro-targeting capabilities.

Minneapolis, MN – AutoMotion, the leader in mobile app technology for the automotive market, today announced integration of beacons into its Location Targeting technology.

The AutoMotion mobile app Location Targeting technology has revolutionized the way in which dealers communicate with their customers.  The technology allows dealers to target shoppers based on location and provide relevant messaging directly to the smartphone.  From the showroom to service, targeted messaging has resulted in tremendous customer engagement, permitting dealers to close more deals on the lot and bring cross-shopping customers back to the showroom.

New beacon integration with Location…

On January 11, the New England Patriots faced the Baltimore Ravens in a contest that would dictate which team moved onto the AFC Championship game. Going into the game as heavy favorites to win, the Patriots quickly found themselves losing the game 14-0 quickly. Undeterred, they powered through trading touchdowns with the Ravens for the remainder of the game to ultimately win. The real story that comes out of this win, however, is how the Patriots reached into their bag ‘o tricks to achieve what they had come to – win.

Several players on the Ravens were quoted as follows in an article in the Boston Globe

“They pulled out every trick play in…

While a blog is a great place to talk about your business and build valuable search engine authority, it can also help you gain a loyal following of customers and admirers that will help you see steady growth for a long time to come.

A blog builds trust with customers, allowing people to better connect with your business. That does not come overnight, and may not come at all, but there's a formula for successful blogging that can help you tackle this new, powerful type of marketing.

One example of a business that embraces blogging and content marketing is Moz (formerly SEOMoz). The…

As website communication tools go, chat has grown at the fastest rate of adoption on car dealer websites for years. It’s not new, but more dealers are embracing what chat can do for them to engage with people visiting their website.

There are two primary reasons that it wasn’t a fad that died away like so many other website addons over the years. First, it is an ideal method of communication for the expanding number of people who prefer to use their phones for texting rather than calls. Our society is shifting towards testing as more people embrace it and chat is the closest thing to that type of communication available on a dealer’s website.

Forms and emails do not have the real-time dialogue abilities that text and chat have. Scientific research has shown that many people avoid…