
More and more American used car buyers are finding the vehicles they end up buying on the web... According to a new study released by J. D. Power and Associates, the number of used vehicle buyers who discovered their vehicle purchase online increased substantially in 2008.
The newly released research shows that 61…
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Added by Ralph Paglia on December 22, 2008 at 8:00pm —
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If there has ever been a time to realize the benefits of creating and executing on new strategies, it is the coming year. For those who went digital, got behind online completely, build their brand and reputation where the public actually spends their time, engaged their clientele via effective software and database activities, you will already have a great look into how your 2009 will sort out. Keep doing what you're doing and don't worry.
Now, if you haven't spent time assessing,…
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Added by Gary May on December 22, 2008 at 11:34am —
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INTEGRATED MARKETING STRATEGY AND CURRENT eBUSINESS PROCESS ASSESSMENT
The following series of questions focus on 7 key areas where strategy, tactics and consistent execution are key to the success of all dealership Internet sales and marketing programs. This questionnaire was designed by Ralph Paglia for use by AAISP Certified Internet Sales Managers. A file formatted with Microsoft Word is available for download by ADM members using the link inserted towards the bottom of…
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Added by Ralph Paglia on December 22, 2008 at 6:00am —
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The following is a report that my company produced for our clients in efforts to steer them the correct way in marketing during these market conditions. This report was done after much market research and many man hours actually "on the ground" in the trenches with car dealers across the country. Our firm has over 40 years of combined experience in the trenches with Special Finance dealers and our partners have led some of the largest most respected Special Finance dealerships in the country.…
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Added by Dan Henderson on December 21, 2008 at 10:32pm —
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Automotive advertising agencies support AgencyOnline.Net to leverage their resources to compete in a very competitive market. Automotive advertising vendors on the site are doing the same and
EveryCarListed.Com has taken the social networking element of the online auto industry community to a new level with the creation of their own “Auto Industry Insights” forum…
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Added by Philip Zelinger on December 21, 2008 at 9:57pm —
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Google Base is a classified advertising system developed by Google; the system is still in Beta. The listings can be displayed on Google related properties at the discretion of Google but most people go directly to Google Base to search and buy goods.
Google Base is currently free and allows anyone to post an item for sale. Postings will stay in their system for up to 30 days. All items that are posted are categorized and highly searchable through Google Base's simple user…
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Added by Brian Pasch on December 21, 2008 at 10:30am —
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Here are Three things I've come to realize as an retail ecommerce expert turned automotive marketing professional:
1. The interactive dealership body has exploded over the past 5 years.
2. Dealership website are looking all too much the same.
3. Dealerships are falling victim to the "Cookie Cutter".
If your dealership isn't leasing a web solution from Dealer.com, your likely running on a TK Carsite, eBizAuto or Dealerskin web platform. Wow....Not much room…
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Added by John Cisar on December 19, 2008 at 2:00pm —
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Automotive advertising agencies are travelling in unchartered waters when advising their auto dealer clients in today’s troubled times. AdAgencyOnline.Net is a welcome resource for
automotive advertising agencies that prefer to rely on established real world media to market to the growing number of Internet car shoppers. Philip Zelinger, the President of Ad Agency Online, L.L.C. and host of the free…
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Added by Philip Zelinger on December 18, 2008 at 2:33pm —
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Source Interlink owns a variety of sites which include Automotive.com, Motortrend.com, Internetautoguide.com, www.Intellichoice.com and Automobilemag.com.
We generate over 17 millions unique visitors as well as 22 million classified page views a month.
We are currently having a pay per email lead program where your used cars are listed free of charge and you would only pay for email inquiries. Phone calls and click throughs are free. The agreement term is month-to-month so…
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Added by Sam Khoury on December 18, 2008 at 9:29am —
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In today’s troubled auto industry it is common to blame the O.E.M.s – specifically the “Big Three” including General Motors, Chrysler and Ford – for the problems being faced by auto dealers and their automotive advertising agencies. Philip Zelinger, the President of Ad Agency Online, L.L.C. and host of the free automotive advertising portal
AdAgencyOnline.Net, challenged that negative opinion - of Ford at least - when he commented on his respect…
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Added by Philip Zelinger on December 17, 2008 at 1:00pm —
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Dealers/General Managers and General Sales Managers, this is where the accountability starts: You and Process. I've not yet entered a store where the Internet business excelled despite management (ok, for more than one month). Heading into 2009, you must understand all of the fundamentals, be able to speak to the critical points with ease, know your vendors along with holding them accountable and stay up on what's happening in your store as well as outside.
The opportunity to hide…
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Added by Gary May on December 17, 2008 at 9:51am —
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In past articles in this series, we’ve talked about the emerging meme of phone-car convergence. It is difficult to predict what sorts of automobiles will emerge, or how innovative automobile companies are willing to be in this volatile economic climate, but as we study trends in the two seemingly distinct technology areas of automobiles and cellphones, it is becoming clear that cars are well on their way to…
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Added by M.S. Butler on December 16, 2008 at 1:11pm —
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Little fish in a big pond or big fish in a little pond? If you have process, vendors that back you and a great staff, it doesn't matter. In the event that you're looking for some smaller companies that 'fit the bill', you may want to check these out:
Customer For Life: CRM is not just emails. No, seriously! Get the most out of your database, at least until someone at your dealership actually gets to them. Having worked with…
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Added by Gary May on December 14, 2008 at 8:41pm —
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Philip Zelinger, the President of Ad Agency Online, L.L.C. and host of the free automotive advertising networking portal – AdAgencyOnline.Net - will be addressing the growing concern expressed by automotive advertising agencies regarding the pending bailout and/or bankruptcy of the “Big Three” automobile manufacturers. Mr. Zelinger has announced that the blog talk radio station featured on AdAgencyOnline.Net –…
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Added by Philip Zelinger on December 13, 2008 at 12:30pm —
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Scott Monty heads up social media efforts for Ford Motor Company, an effort he began in July. In that role, he’s responsible for internal and external adoption of social media strategy to help improve Ford’s overall reputation. I sat down with Scott last month to discuss his approach, before what could only be categorized as an extremely active period for Scott.
We spent an hour discussing audience, tools, tone, content mix and etiquette. During our conversation, I was impressed by…
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Added by M.S. Butler on December 12, 2008 at 8:43pm —
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AdAgencyOnline.Net is attracting automotive advertising agencies who share their vision to “blur the line between the real and the virtual automobile dealership showroom.” The free
automotive advertising resource portal is hosted by Ad Agency Online, L.L.C., a national network of independent affiliated automotive advertising agencies linked by an online operating system…
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Added by Philip Zelinger on December 12, 2008 at 10:00am —
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Ad Agency Online, L.L.C. is a national network of affiliated automotive advertising agencies linked by the online communication/distribution system developed by Philip Zelinger, the President of Ad Agency Online L.L.C. and host of their free automotive advertising resource site, AdAgencyOnline.Net. A shrinking auto industry has forced automotive advertising agencies to cut costs. To accommodate dictates from their auto dealer clients to deliver…
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Added by Philip Zelinger on December 11, 2008 at 4:06pm —
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I recently started as a Sales Manager for Mercedes-Benz of Encino, in Southern California. Previously, I had been with a very large Ford Dealer, with 8 other brands, for nearly 13 years. I have to tell you, stepping out of the Domestic Market into the Highline Luxury Market is a whole different world. One thing I have found that does not change is the Sale Professional and the selling process. I think I was imagining stepping into a world of better Sales People, with better skills and who…
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Added by Phil Englander on December 11, 2008 at 12:46pm —
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We don't touch on service much here...time for a little breather!
More dealers than ever are floating (or simply sinking slower) on the revenue from their service department. This trend should be supported with an overwhelming conviction to completely satisfy customers. The risk is just too large to lose clients both on the front and the back end of the store.
Things being what they are, it should come as no surprise that achieving such a goal is as far away as the next 20…
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Added by Gary May on December 10, 2008 at 10:06pm —
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Hey everyone I just thought of a great way to communicate and link to your website, or websites. Have you ever thought about using Skype? Thats right Skype. Go through all of your e-leads you received in the last few months and look at the ones with bad phone numbers, or people you just could not get a hold of.
If you have a Skype account do a search for Skype users, plug in there email address and "WHAM BAM THANK YOU MAM" you may find that they are a user of Skype. Send them an…
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Added by Alvin Newton on December 10, 2008 at 5:46pm —
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