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Online Online Automotive Review A look at the past, present and future of automotive Internet A Bi-Monthly Report by J.D. Power and Associates • October 2007 In This Issue Copyright © 2007 J.D. Power and Associates, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Demystifying Search Engine Marketing: Driving Sales with the Digital Marketplace -4- Google, Yahoo, and MSN Your Web Site -10- J.D. Power and Associates 2007 Dealer Satisfaction with Online Buying Services Study SM -16- State of the Internet -17- Branding on Dealer Sites -24- Making Video a New, Powerful Part of Your Online Marketing Arsenal -32- Landing Pages and Micro Sites: Big League Search Rankings for Dealers of all Sizes -37- Vendor Source Book— Search Engine Marketing Services -49- Dealer Edition Subscription Information: Logon to www.OnlineAutomotiveReview.com for the all-new Online Automotive Review— Dealer Edition Blog. Archived issues are also available on the Web site. Questions? E-mail us at [email protected] Fall is here, and with it comes many changes in the world around us. We here at the Online Automotive Review–Dealer Edition also have many changes planned for the season. Starting with this issue, the OAR–Dealer Edition will be transitioning to a blog format available at www.OnlineAutomotiveReview.com. Those of you familiar with blogs and blogging will understand that the new format will allow for an increased number of articles on online marketing for dealers, available in a more timely fashion. Those of you less familiar with blogging as a communications medium will have an opportunity to sharpen your skills and share your comments on issues related to online retail marketing. During the next few months, we will continue to publish the PDF version of the publication and make it available for download at the blog site. All archived issues will also be available at the site. You can post comments on the site and discuss implications and trends with other industry leaders. We encourage you to take the new format for a spin and let us know what you think! In This Issue The theme of this issue is search. Search engines assist vehicle shoppers every day online. Forty-six percent of new-vehicle Automotive Internet Users or AIUs—buyers who used the Internet during their shopping process—said that a search engine helped them find a dealership Web site. Thirty-six percent used search engines to find dealerships in their area. It is imperative that dealers use search engines effectively to drive shoppers to their site and ultimately to their store. Demystifying Search Engine Marketing: Driving Sales with the Digital Marketplace addresses the basics of and opportunities available to dealers via search engine marketing (SEM) and search engine optimization (SEO). The article, Google, Yahoo, Search engines helped me find the following types of sites... 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 70% 60% 50% 80% % of AIUs Finding Site Via Search Engine Manufacturer Sites 75% Independent Sites 59% Dealership Sites 46% Search engines helped me in the shopping process by... 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% Narrow down the list of vehicles I was considering 59% Decide what price to pay for the vehicle I wanted 56% Find dealerships near my neighborhood 36% Decide which vehicles to shop for 33% Research my financing options 11% Other 6% Based to Automotive Internet Users (AIUs); new-vehicle buyers who used the Internet during their shopping process. Source: J.D. Power and Associates 2006 New AutoShopper.com Study SM (NAS)
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Page 1: J  D  Power  Associates  Online Automotive Review  Car  Dealers

OnlineOnline Automotive ReviewA look at the past, present and future of automotive Internet

A Bi-Monthly Report by J.D. Power and Associates • October 2007

In This Issue

Copyright © 2007 J.D. Power and Associates, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Demystifying Search Engine Marketing: Driving Sales with

the Digital Marketplace -4-

Google, Yahoo, and MSN Your Web Site

-10-

J.D. Power and Associates 2007 Dealer Satisfaction with

Online Buying Services StudySM -16-

State of the Internet -17-

Branding on Dealer Sites -24-

Making Video a New, Powerful Part of Your

Online Marketing Arsenal -32-

Landing Pages and Micro Sites: Big League Search Rankings for

Dealers of all Sizes -37-

Vendor Source Book— Search Engine Marketing Services

-49-

Dealer Edition

Subscription Information: Logon to www.OnlineAutomotiveReview.com for the all-new Online Automotive Review—Dealer Edition Blog. Archived issues are also available on the Web site.

Questions? E-mail us at [email protected]

Fall is here, and with it comes many changes in the world around us. We here at the Online Automotive Review–Dealer Edition also have many changes planned for the season. Starting with this issue, the OAR–Dealer Edition will be transitioning to a blog format available at www.OnlineAutomotiveReview.com. Those of you familiar with blogs and blogging will understand that the new format will allow for an increased number of articles on online marketing for dealers, available in a more timely fashion. Those of you less familiar with blogging as a communications medium will have an opportunity to sharpen your skills and share your comments on issues related to online retail marketing. During the next few months, we will continue to publish the PDF version of the publication and make it available for download at the blog site. All archived issues will also be available at the site. You can post comments on the site and discuss implications and trends with other industry leaders. We encourage you to take the new format for a spin and let us know what you think!

In This IssueThe theme of this issue is search. Search engines assist vehicle shoppers every day online. Forty-six percent of new-vehicle Automotive Internet Users or AIUs—buyers who used the Internet during their shopping process—said that a search engine helped them find a dealership Web site. Thirty-six percent used search engines to find dealerships in their area. It is imperative that dealers use search engines effectively to drive shoppers to their site and ultimately to their store.

Demystifying Search Engine Marketing: Driving Sales with the Digital Marketplace addresses the basics of and opportunities available to dealers via search engine marketing (SEM) and search engine optimization (SEO). The article, Google, Yahoo,

Search engines helped me find the following types of sites...

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

70%

60%

50%

80%

% of

AIU

s Find

ing Si

te Via

Sear

ch En

gine

Manufacturer Sites

75%

Independent Sites

59%

Dealership Sites

46%

Search engines helped me in the shopping process by...

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

Narrow down the list ofvehicles I was considering

59%

Decide what price to payfor the vehicle I wanted

56%

Find dealerships nearmy neighborhood

36%

Decide which vehiclesto shop for

33%

Research myfinancing options 11%

Other 6%

Based to Automotive Internet Users (AIUs); new-vehicle buyers who used the Internet during their shopping process.Source: J.D. Power and Associates 2006 New AutoShopper.com StudySM (NAS)

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cars_espn_jdpower(outline).indd 1 9/6/07 8:45:00 AM

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�Copyright © 2007 J.D. Power and Associates, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Online Automotive Review—Dealer Edition October 2007

Introduction (continued)

and MSN Your Web Site, walks dealers through a more hands-on approach of how to make your site more search engine friendly. In a special in-depth report, Ralph Paglia talks to OAR about Landing Pages and Micro Sites: Big League Search Rankings for Dealers of All Sizes. This article addresses how dealers can use micro sites and landing pages to increase the effectiveness of their sites in search engine rankings. We wrap up the issue and theme in the Vendor Source Book, which highlights search engine marketing firms that can assist dealers.

This issue also includes a recap of the recently released J.D. Power and Associates Dealer Satisfaction with Online Buying Services Study.SM Dealers provided feedback on their online buying services and we report the results and award recipients.

Every once in a while it is good to step back and see where the Internet stands today. We provide you with the State of the Internet—trends on who’s using the Internet along with how and why.

Making Video a New, Powerful Part of Your Online Marketing Arsenal discusses the opportunities that dealers have in using videos as part of their online marketing campaigns. Chip Perry, CEO and President of AutoTrader.com talks about the proliferation of video online and why dealers should embrace and implement the technology.

And finally, we look at how the dealership Web site can play a part in branding. Branding is often viewed as an upper-funnel function and therefore associated with manufacturer sites, but dealers can also contribute to branding efforts on their sites. Read Branding on Dealer Sites for more on the topic.

Don’t forget to check out the new Online Automotive Review–Dealer Edition blog at www.OnlineAutomotiveReview.com. You don’t have to wait until December,

we’ll have new, updated information weekly!

We wish you the most profitable reading possible.

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Online Automotive Review—Dealer Edition October 2007

Copyright © 2007 J.D. Power and Associates, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Demystifying Search Engine Marketing: Driving Sales with the Digital MarketplaceBy Chris Orton, Director of Search Marketing at eBay Inc.

Your next customer is searching for a vehicle online. They may not be ready to buy today, but consumers are researching makes and models, looking for reviews and guides, and reading feedback from vehicle owners. J.D. Power and Associates says customers spend on average more than five hours online researching make, model and features.1

The buying cycle on considered purchases is a natural fit for search engine marketing (SEM) and search engine optimization (SEO). Dealerships can build relationships with new customers early during the consideration and planning phase while also building a loyal customer base that will return to the site or come to the dealership when ready to purchase.

When dealers promote vehicles through third-party automotive sites such as eBay Motors, Autotrader.com, and Cars.com, they are essentially purchasing that site’s SEO and SEM expertise in addition to the listing itself. Well-established automotive sites have invested years of time, money and experience into learning the nuances of search marketing and driving traffic to their respective sites.

eBay is the largest buyer of paid search listings and is one of—if not the largest—in SEO on every major search engine. The company has a dedicated team that works solely on search engine optimization and marketing and is well-versed in the art and science behind it.

While some consumers are starting the decision process online, an ever-increasing number of consumers are finalizing their purchases on the Internet, too.

While some consumers are starting the decision process online, an ever-increasing number of consumers are finalizing their purchases on the Internet, too. According to a study by The Cobalt Group, 67% of auto buyers research their purchase online prior to visiting a dealership. They’re looking for the best value when they determine what it is they want to buy.

Search engine optimization also can be referred to as natural search. Search engines such as Google and Yahoo! crawl Web sites and index keywords and phrases that people may use when searching.

� J.D.PowerandAssociates2006NewAutoShopper.comStudySM(NAS)

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�Copyright © 2007 J.D. Power and Associates, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Online Automotive Review—Dealer Edition October 2007

Demystifying Search Engine Marketing (continued)

When a dealer Web site offers an array of guides and vehicle specifications with pre-planned keywords and phrases, those Web pages likely will rank fairly well in a natural search. Consumers searching online during the research phase tend to look at natural, or unpaid, search results as the most credible because they want to hear from other owners and third parties to gauge experiences.

Later in the buying cycle, people tend to look to paid links, or search engine marketing, because they want credibility with their purchase, with a more exact price attached.

Dealers who want to increase their presence on the Web may want to consider a program that involves SEO and SEM together, rather than one in isolation.

For instance, if your search engine optimization rankings are strong with vehicle guides, then you could use search engine marketing strategy focused on driving buyers in the purchase phase to your site. If your goal is to drive consumers to your vehicle guides to build name recognition for your company, you could reinforce that same message in your paid search. Each method is dependent on the company and its objectives.

Whichever tactic you use, it’s good to have a plan in place and a goal in mind. Think about where your strengths are and the status of the overall marketplace. Consider whether other dealers are advertising through search and research how these dealers fare when you conduct a search.

A site that has targeted words and phrases and updates pages frequently will stand a better chance of securing a higher ranking.

Half of new-vehicle shoppers2 and 64 % of used-vehicle shoppers3 will end up at a dealership Web site, according to J.D. Power and Associates. Therefore, savvy dealerships investing in an online presence that includes a strong search engine strategy are more likely to be found easily by prospective customers.

Probably the biggest benefit to SEO is that it’s free. Search engines want to index more pages to provide the most relevant matches to those who use the site. Also, early on in the shopping process, Web site users target natural search results more frequently as they look to other people for opinions and information before committing to a purchase.

A site that has targeted words and phrases and updates pages frequently will stand a better chance of securing a higher ranking. Search engines also take into account a site’s popularity or relevance by noting how many other sites link to it.

2 J.D.PowerandAssociates2006NewAutoShopper.comStudySM(NAS)� J.D.PowerandAssociates2006UsedAutoShopper.comStudySM(UAS)

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Online Automotive Review—Dealer Edition October 2007

Copyright © 2007 J.D. Power and Associates, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Algorithms are sets of rules that search engines use to rank Web pages. Search engines never publicly reveal their methods, but most follow general rules such as analyzing how pages link to each other, measuring click-through rates and penalizing sites that repeat words or phrases hundreds of times in an attempt to increase search rankings. Hundreds of other factors are also taken into account.

Every search engine uses different algorithms to find and index Web site pages. It is impossible for each search engine to have a complete understanding of every nuance of jargon in every industry, so natural search results can and do vary on each search engine. In addition, the search engine may link to specific pages within your site when you’d rather have links to a different page to drive a user action.

It is impossible to learn a search engine’s algorithm. They are in a constant state of change as the search companies update methods in a continual quest to improve search results.

To receive better rankings in search results, try to incorporate descriptive terms that make sense to human intuition and that search engines are able to figure out. For example, not all car buyers would search “fully loaded” or by named option packages but rather would search for specific features such as “sun roof ” or “side air bags.”

To receive better rankings in search results, try to incorporate descriptive terms that make sense to human intuition and that search engines are able to figure out.

Search engines have several nuances, as well. It pays to be specific as possible when creating all text, images and Web site coding. Best practices include using hyperlinks for company, product and personal names instead of the term “click here.” Also, use HTML tags to their fullest extent by using the actual image name (1998 Chevy Impala) instead of the file name (image123.jpg).

Many companies complement SEO with SEM. SEM is paid, and with that comes added control. Dealers can target a paid search listing with a tailored message to reach a specific customer demographic. You also control which page the link goes to and, therefore, the user experience once the consumer reaches your site.

For example, if you have a review guide for a 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe, a search engine may index the page with specifications for the LT model. However, you may have a financing offer with the LTZ model and you would prefer to direct readers to that page.

SEM is powerful because it can be measured very accurately. When you buy an advertisement on television, you may never really be sure of how many sales are direct results of that ad.

Demystifying Search Engine Marketing (continued)

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�Copyright © 2007 J.D. Power and Associates, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Online Automotive Review—Dealer Edition October 2007

With SEM, if you have a tracking system in place, you have access to specific details and results. You’ll know when someone clicks on your ad, the path they go through on your site and if that eventually results in a call, a visit or a purchase. You’ll have the statistics to show the impact of your marketing dollars.

A dealership has several options to start utilizing search engines to drive traffic and add customers: 1) appoint someone internally who handles online marketing, 2) outsource it for a fee to a third party, or 3) list inventory on an automotive site that already engages in search marketing.

To become search-marketing pros, dealers should keep in mind standard practices such as having a tracking system in place, monitoring click-through rates closely, setting up custom Web pages, and planning to invest time in addition to funding to make the program a success.

If you pay for search engine marketing, you’ll want to make sure you track all activity. Actively monitor which words and phrases are working and change or end those that are not. Some entities are buying hundreds if not thousands of keywords, so you are competing with those companies for click-throughs. Even a small improvement can mean a huge increase in visitors to your site by increasing your click-through rate.

Once you have that visitor on your site, you need to make sure your landing page is driving your desired action.

Search engines all have programs for businesses of every size to purchase keyword ad programs and track click-throughs. The programs also have performance data on various keywords so you can see what has worked well in the past and what terms you may want to avoid because of poor performance. In addition, you’ll want to see what is drawing users through your landing page and what paths they take once they land on your site.

Because a vehicle purchase takes research and consideration on behalf of the buyer, visitors to a dealer’s site probably are not clicking a link and pulling out their credit cards. Fifty-five percent of online consumers have researched a product online and then purchased that same product offline, according to a Forrester research report.

However, if a site visitor clicks on a link, comes to the site and fills out a form requesting a call, eventually building a relationship with a salesperson and making a purchase, then it can be tracked back to search engine marketing. Some search marketers just want to drive traffic to their Web site and build brand awareness, so they would concentrate on monitoring increases in overall site traffic rather than specific sales results or actions.

Demystifying Search Engine Marketing (continued)

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Online Automotive Review—Dealer Edition October 2007

Copyright © 2007 J.D. Power and Associates, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Once you have that visitor on your site, you need to make sure your landing page is driving your desired action, whether that visitor is filling out a form, picking up the phone or browsing your inventory. Watch closely to see how many people are landing on that page and what path they are taking. In your Web site metrics on your dealership site, you should be able to see if people move on to another page, fill out a form or if they leave after browsing the landing page.

Each of these search engine marketing elements takes a precious commodity: time. A dealership will need to determine how much time and money it is willing to invest in SEO and SEM. More often than not, results are tied directly to the amount of time invested. If you do not monitor and actively refine your key words, the system may not work for you as efficiently as it could. Also, by removing the words that are not working for you, you will not be paying for the clicks of the users who are not your desired target.

eBay uses search to drive millions of potential buyers to eBay sellers every day. The team of search experts applies their traditional brand marketing expertise to conduct analytical modeling, build a technology infrastructure and create longstanding business relationships with search engines such as Google, Yahoo!, MSN, AOL and Ask. In addition, eBay manages local paid search operations around the globe. SEO and SEM help play a pivotal role in ensuring eBay Motors is consistently ranked the No. 1 automotive site on the Web by Nielsen//NetRatings.

Search engine optimization and marketing can be powerful tools when used correctly and monitored frequently.

Consumers who repeatedly see the same ad, whether it’s an image or wording, become immune to the message, which can be referred to as ad blindness. To maintain online traffic, dealers will need to tweak and refine messages to stay relevant with consumers.

This is something to consider when determining whether to handle search marketing in-house, through a vendor, or with a partner site. Outside vendors may be better equipped to actively update search listings and scour other sites to determine the competitive landscape.

When you choose keywords, you first need to use test and then retest approaches. Know which other dealers are advertising and what keywords they are using. Perform some searches on the most popular search engines of the most relevant words to your business to see if other advertises are there and if your site comes up in a natural search. If not, modify and add words on your Web site pages to improve SEO and make a list of words you may want to purchase for SEM.

Ideally, you want the right people clicking at the right time to the right landing page to get the right results. This happens by knowing your audience, what words they use, what actions you want them to perform, and constantly refining your process.

Demystifying Search Engine Marketing (continued)

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�Copyright © 2007 J.D. Power and Associates, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Online Automotive Review—Dealer Edition October 2007

Search engine optimization and marketing can be powerful tools when used correctly and monitored frequently. Consumers continue to use the Internet to research products and services, and an increasing number are making large purchases online. To make sure those consumers notice your dealership, consider a search strategy to drive increased traffic and serious shoppers to your site.

SEO and SEM TipsTest, test and test again. Monitor your paid key words and change them often if they’re not performing well

Make sure your message is aligned with your creative

Create a landing page specifically for your search efforts

Have a tracking/metrics system in place

Know your audience: What words or phrases will they be using?

Terms definedSEM: Search Engine Marketing

SEO: Search Engine Optimization

Meta Tags: Tags in the HTML coding of a Web site that users don’t see but search engines use to index pages.

Title Tag: The tag in the coding that defines the Web site and contains specific key words to enhance search.

Crawlers and robots: Automated scripts used by search engines that browse Web sites methodically to index and categorize data about those sites.

White vs. Gray vs. Black Hat: Search techniques defined as good (white), risky (gray) and those that will get you in trouble with search engines (black).

SERP: Search Engine Results Page

Chris Orton is the Director of Search Marketing at eBay Inc. He manages Paid and Natural Search for eBay.com, eBay Express, eBay Motors, and Half.com.

Demystifying Search Engine Marketing (continued)

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Online Automotive Review—Dealer Edition October 2007

Copyright © 2007 J.D. Power and Associates, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Few would argue the importance of getting your Web site to appear prominently in search engine results. As discussed in the article, “Demystifying Search Engine Marketing,” Search Engine Marketing (SEM) and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) are key techniques for gaining visible placement and driving additional sales. SEO is particularly compelling because after the initial set up, it is a free source of site traffic and therefore leads. Unfortunately, since dealers usually outsource creation and maintenance of their Web sites, they too often are not involved enough to achieve the best possible results.

Regardless of your own level of technical ability, testing the search engine visibility of your Web site is easy.

1. Build a list of terms/phrases that vehicle shoppers and owners might use in search engines. For example, include terms such as your dealership name, vehicle brand + city, “new car” + city, “vehicle service”, etc.

2. Test these terms on Google, Yahoo, and MSN. Although Google is by far the most frequently used search engine Yahoo and MSN command 25% and 13% of searches, respectively,1 and are important sources of site traffic.

3. Review the results. For terms such as dealership name or brand + city, your Web site should appear among the first few results. For other important terms, your site should appear on the first page, since users rarely look beyond that.

Anyone who is searching for your Web site will find it. But what about someone who is just looking for a local Honda dealership?

Or any dealership?

Anyone who is searching for your Web site will find it. But what about someone who is just looking for a local Honda dealership? Or any dealership? What about owners who need their vehicles serviced? If you’re ranked poorly or not at all for these kinds of search terms, then you risk losing business to rivals that are better positioned online.

� comScoreqSearch,June2007

Google, Yahoo and MSN Your Web SiteBy Amit Aggarwal

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11Copyright © 2007 J.D. Power and Associates, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Online Automotive Review—Dealer Edition October 2007

In the article, “How to Optimize the Dealer Site for Search Engines” in the October 2006 edition of OAR-DE, we discussed techniques for improving a Web site’s search engine performance. Although technical and programming techniques have their roles, content is the most important means of making a Web site more visible to search engines. The following is a quick summary of methods that help a Web site perform better in search engine results:

Replace any generic text with text specific to your dealership, the vehicles it sells, its service, etc. Keep in mind that clear and concise text for consumers equals good input for search engines.

Make sure the terms or keywords Internet users would actually type into search engines can be found on your site. It can also be helpful to include these terms in the meta tags section of your page (this needs to be done by a programmer).

Add a site map that links to the most important pages, e.g., new vehicles, used vehicles, sales, service, parts, address/directions, contact information. This helps search engines find all your pages and makes your site more useful to visitors.

Some dealer Web sites are extremely effective at applying these techniques. To identify strong performers, OAR conducted a field test of 10 dealer Web sites. Following the same steps listed earlier in this article, we built a set of search terms,2 applied them to Google, Yahoo! and MSN for all 10 sites, and then examined the results to find examples of good and poor SEO techniques at work.

The dealerships that did well were BMW of Nashville (Nashville, TN), Crest Honda (Nashville, TN), Roush Honda (Westerville, OH), and Santa Monica Ford Lincoln Mercury (Santa Monica, CA). For all four, the dealer site showed up in the first 10 results (the first page for most users) for almost all terms across all three search engines. Even more impressively, these sites often linked directly to a relevant internal page rather than the home page. This allows site visitors to get directly to the information they want.

Sites with more extensive content have more opportunities to capture vehicle shoppers. For instance, searching for “Honda Accord Westerville” brings up Roush Honda in the first five links on Google, Yahoo, and MSN. More importantly, clicking on the link takes shoppers directly to an Accord Coupe page with an overall description, breakdown of trim levels, links to other models, and links to Accord Coupe inventory. By making detailed information immediately available, Roush has given itself a good chance of capturing shoppers and given shoppers no reason to visit other sites or cross-shop.

2 Searchtermsused:“[dealername]”,“[brand][city]”,“[brand][model][city]”,“[model][city]”,“sedan[city]”,“newcar[city]”,“dealer[city]”,“cardealer[city]”,“dealership[city]”,“oilchange[city]”,“vehicleservice[city]”

Google, Yahoo and MSN Your Web Site (continued)

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Online Automotive Review—Dealer Edition October 2007

Copyright © 2007 J.D. Power and Associates, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Roush Honda

The top dealer sites also did well with local search results on Google and Yahoo (MSN does not incorporate local search into its standard results). As shown below, local search results appear above regular search results and are accompanied by location, phone number, and a mapped location for the dealership. Internet shoppers are accustomed to using local search and this makes it much easier for them to get to the dealership site, even if they never previously visited your dealer site. Note that in this example, BMW of Nashville has also paid for a sponsored link. The overall impact is that the top results on keywords “bmw nashville” for standard search, local search, and pay-per-click all lead to the same dealership, greatly increasing the chances of capturing shoppers using these search terms.

Paid ad

Local search result

Standard search results

Google

Google, Yahoo and MSN Your Web Site (continued)

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1�Copyright © 2007 J.D. Power and Associates, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Online Automotive Review—Dealer Edition October 2007

All four strong performers incorporate descriptive text throughout their site, again highlighting the importance of content. There was less consistency regarding other SEO techniques. For instance, Roush Honda does not use any meta tags, while the other three dealer sites use them extensively. Additionally, although site maps can be helpful, only two of these four sites use them.

The weaker-performing sites generally did not utilize site maps, used fewer keywords in their meta tags, and were stingy with text throughout their sites. This latter point is easily demonstrated by comparing the following two used-vehicle inventory pages from Nashville-area dealerships.

Beaman Pontiac GMC

BMW of Nashville

Both sites offer effective inventory functionality, but the second example (from BMW of Nashville) incorporates introductory text with relevant key words, while the first has none. While page text is not the only factor impacting search engine rankings, it is without a doubt one of the most important factors. In this case, the second site is highly ranked on all three search engines, while the first doesn’t even show up on the first page of any of them.

Google, Yahoo and MSN Your Web Site (continued)

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1�

Online Automotive Review—Dealer Edition October 2007

Copyright © 2007 J.D. Power and Associates, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Weak performers tended to do well on the “must-have” search criteria, such as dealership name and brand+city. In other areas, performance was much more uneven. For instance, most of these dealerships didn’t show up in service-related searches, cutting out a potential avenue of new business. They also showed up near the bottom of results (if at all) in a general dealership search such as “dealership [city]”. Instead, potential shoppers would find:

Other dealerships

Dealership listings on OEM sites or local sites, e.g., cardealersinnashville.com for Nashville-based dealerships. Your dealership may only be an additional click away, but most shoppers won’t make that extra click.

Third-party sites such as Edmunds or Yahoo Autos that would be all too happy to lure shoppers in, provide information, and turn them into leads that are sold back to you or another dealership.

Organic traffic from search engines is a cost-effective way to get business in your door, but good search engine rankings do not happen by chance. While vendors can obviously assist in this process, the dealership must make the commitment to creating the right content and invest the time (and money) to make it happen.

Google, Yahoo and MSN Your Web Site (continued)

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Call 1-800-458-1690 today, and find out how theCostco Auto Program can refer members to your dealership.

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1�

Online Automotive Review—Dealer Edition October 2007

Copyright © 2007 J.D. Power and Associates, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

J.D. Power and Associates 2007 Dealer Satisfaction with Online Buying Services StudySM

AutoTrader.com ranks highest in satisfying dealers with online buying services for new- and used-vehicle leads, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2007 Dealer Satisfaction with Online Buying Services StudySM (DSOBS).

“As products and services offered by online lead service providers continue to evolve, so does dealer satisfaction with those services,” said Steve Witten, executive director of marketing/media research at J.D. Power and Associates. “However, with dealer satisfaction averaging 585 on a 1,000-point scale for the new-vehicle lead segment and 613 for the used-vehicle lead segment, there remains considerable room for improvement in delivering the level of service dealers expect. In particular, the quality of leads is of prime importance to dealers regarding new-vehicle leads, while quantity is emphasized for used-vehicle leads.”

The study finds that dealers typically respond to online leads with a personalized e-mail or phone call within 48 minutes. The study also reveals that 46 percent of dealers report they respond to online leads in 30 minutes or less, while nearly three-fourths of dealers claim to respond in one hour or less.

J.D. Power and Associates 2007 Dealer Satisfaction with Online Buying Services StudySM

Dealer Satisfaction Index Scores (Based on a 1,000-point scale)

New-Vehicle Lead Services Segment

Dealer Satisfaction Index Scores (Based on a 1,000-point scale)

Used-Vehicle Lead Services Segment

AutoTrader.com 628

Dealix 616

605AutoUSA

605Cars.com

Autobytel Inc. 584

CarsDirect 559

eBay Motors 541

Vehix.com 503

New-Lead ServicesSegment Average 585

AutoTrader.com 672

Cars.com 668

Autobytel Inc. 601

eBay Motors 554

Dealix(UsedCars.com) 588

Used-Lead ServicesSegment Average 613

Included in the study but not ranked due to small sample size are: Autos.com, CarSoup, iMotors.com and Jumpstart Automotive Media.

Included in the study but not ranked due to small sample size are: AutoExtra.com, AutoMart.com, BeepBeep.com, CarsDirect, CarSoup, Sam’s Club Auto Buying Program and Vehix.com.

Charts and graphs extracted from this article must be accompanied by a statement identifying J.D. Power and Associates as the publisher and J.D. Power and Associates 2007 Dealer Satisfaction with Online Buying Services StudySM as the source. Rankings are based on numerical scores, and not necessarily on statistical significance. No advertising or other promotional use can be made of the information in this release or J.D. Power and Associates survey results without the express prior written consent of J.D. Power and Associates.

Page 17: J  D  Power  Associates  Online Automotive Review  Car  Dealers

1�Copyright © 2007 J.D. Power and Associates, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Online Automotive Review—Dealer Edition October 2007

In any discussion regarding the Internet, one can safely assume many central tenets—most U.S. consumers are online and more are going online almost daily; search is important; Google, MSN, and Yahoo! have been big for some time while others such as MySpace and YouTube have more recently skyrocketed in popularity; and the list goes on. This article explores the data behind these types of assumptions and takes a look at where the Internet is today. 1

Internet Penetration

As of early 2007, 71% of adults in the United States were Internet users, up from 62% five years earlier, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project. The increase in Internet adoption was rapid in the late 1990s but has leveled off more recently as those who could easily go online already have.

Figure 1: Percentage of U.S. Adults Online

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

70%

60%

50%

80%

Mayto

Jun95

Mayto

Jun04

Mayto

Jun05

Aprto

May98

Julyto

Aug00

Augto

Sep01

Marto

May03

Mar00

Feb01

Feb04

Febto

Apr06

Jan02

Jan06

Jan05

Sep02

Sep05

Jul96

Nov97

Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project Surveys, March 2000–April 2006, Pew Research Center for People & the Press, May 1995–May 1998.

� ThisarticledrawsfrommultiplesourcesofdataregardingInternetpenetration,usage,etc.,eachwithaslightlydifferentfocusandmethodology.Whilethereisrarelyperfectagreementontheexactnumbersbetweensources,theyallshowthesametrendsandcanbeusedtogetherwhenmakingbroadgeneralizations.

State of the InternetBy Amit Aggarwal

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1�

Online Automotive Review—Dealer Edition October 2007

Copyright © 2007 J.D. Power and Associates, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Age, education, and income are the biggest demographic drivers of Internet usage, which is not surprising, considering that going online requires technical familiarity and discretionary income to purchase computer equipment (outside of use at public access areas such as libraries), as shown in Figure 2. In fact, in 2007 55% of households with annual incomes below $30,000 subscribed to an Internet service at home compared with 93% of households with annual incomes above $75,000.2 Even so, Internet usage is surprisingly widespread across most demographic subgroups.

Figure 2: Internet Penetration by Demographic Groups (February–March 2007)

0% 20%10% 30% 50%40% 60% 80%70% 90% 100%

GENDER

AGE

GEOGRAPHY

HOUSEHOLD INCOME

EDUCATION

Total Adults 71%

Women 70%

Men 71%

Age 18-29 87%

Age 30-49 83%

Age 50-64 65%

Age 65+ 32%

Suburban 73%

Urban 73%

Rural 60%

Less than $30,000/yr 55%

$30,000-$49,999 69%

$50,000-$74,999 82%

$75,000 + 93%

Some College 81%

College + 91%

Less than High School 40%

High School 61%

Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project, February 15–March 7, 2007 Tracking Survey

State of the Internet (continued)

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1�Copyright © 2007 J.D. Power and Associates, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Online Automotive Review—Dealer Edition October 2007

Broadband penetration, on the other hand, has continued to increase rapidly. In May 2007, almost 82% of U.S. households with computers had high-speed connections, up 10 percentage points from 72% in 2006. This increase has been fueled in part by greater availability and reduced costs—residential high-speed connections are now available in some parts of the country for as little as $20 per month. The article “Making Video a New, Powerful Part of Your Online Marketing Arsenal” in this issue of OAR-DE further discusses the rise of broadband and the online video boom it has enabled.

Figure 3: Broadband Adoption Growth Trend—Home Users (U.S.)

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

100%

Month (starting at March 2005)

Mark

et Pe

netra

tion %

Mar-0

5Ap

r-05

May-0

5Ju

n-05

Jul-0

5Au

g-05

Sep-0

5Oc

t-05

Nov-0

5De

c-05

Mar-0

6Ap

r-06

May-0

6Ju

n-06

Jul-0

6Au

g-06

Sep-0

6Oc

t-06

Nov-0

6De

c-06

Jan-0

6Fe

b-06

Mar-0

7Ap

r-07

May-0

7Ju

n-07

Jul-0

7Au

g-07

Sep-0

7Oc

t-07

Nov-0

7

Jan-0

7Fe

b-07

Broadband %

Poly. (Broadband %)

Source: www.websiteoptimization.com/bw/0706/, extrapolated from Nielsen//NetRatings data

Site Visitation

Internet users can go to a variety of sites. The top U.S. properties in terms of site visitation are shown in Figure 4. Note that a “property” combines the multiple sites run by a single entity—for instance, Microsoft Sites include all visitation to MSN (search, maps, etc.), Microsoft.com, and Hotmail.

State of the Internet (continued)

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Online Automotive Review—Dealer Edition October 2007

Copyright © 2007 J.D. Power and Associates, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Figure 4: Top U.S. Internet Properties—June 2007

Rank Property% of Internet Users

Visiting Site in Past Month1 Yahoo! Sites 74%2 Google Sites1 69%3 Time Warner Network2 69%4 Microsoft Sites3 65%5 Fox Interactive Media4 47%6 eBay 45%7 Amazon Sites 30%8 Ask Network 29%9 Wikipedia Sites 26%10 Apple Inc. 25%11 New York Times Digital 24%12 Viacom Digital 24%13 The Weather Channel 22%14 Adobe Sites 20%15 CNET Networks 17%16 Gorilla Nation 17%17 AT&T, Inc. 17%18 Target Corporation 16%19 Expedia Inc 16%20 Facebook 16%

Total U.S.—Home, Work and University Locations Source: comScore Media Metrix 1Includes YouTube 2Includes AOL 3Includes Hotmail 4Includes MySpace

This demonstrates one clear message: Internet visitation is truly fragmented. For instance, although ESPN.com is the most popular sports Web site, it ranks 41st overall and is visited by only 9.8% of all Internet users. Even the Web giants often require multiple disparate services—such as Microsoft’s various offerings—to achieve such high rates of visitation.

State of the Internet (continued)

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21Copyright © 2007 J.D. Power and Associates, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Online Automotive Review—Dealer Edition October 2007

There is, however, concentrated power within specific types of sites. Search, for instance, is dominated by Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, and to a lesser extent, Ask.com. Google is the clear leader and has significantly expanded its dominance during the past year, despite efforts by the other sites to improve their offerings and compete more effectively.

Figure 5: Search Engine Market Share

July 2006

Google Sites46.2%

Yahoo! Sites29.8%

Microsoft Sites 12.4%

Ask Network 5.0%

Time Warner Network(AOL) 6.6%

July 2007

Google Sites55.2%Yahoo! Sites

23.5%

Microsoft Sites12.3%

Ask Network 4.7%

Time Warner Network(AOL) 4.4%

Total U.S.—Home/Work/University Locations Source: comScore qSearch 2.0 Represents each property’s % of all searches done

The above charts actually understate Google’s dominance—AOL’s search is powered by Google, so the search giant’s share has actually gone from 52.8% to 59.5% in just the past year. Most of this gain has come at the expense of Yahoo!.

There is similar concentration of power when it comes to online video. Google, whose sites include Google Video and YouTube, is the clear leader in this category, as well. One major difference, compared with other rankings, is the presence of major media sites such as Viacom, ABC, etc., which have television and related content that attract online viewers.

State of the Internet (continued)

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Online Automotive Review—Dealer Edition October 2007

Copyright © 2007 J.D. Power and Associates, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Figure 6: Top U.S. Online Streaming Video Properties* By Video Streams—May 2007

Property Share (%) of Video Streams Google Sites1 21.5%Fox Interactive Media2 8.1%Yahoo! Sites 4.6%Viacom Digital 2.8%Time Warner Network3 2.2%Microsoft Sites 2.0%ABC.com 1.2%Disney Online 1.0%ESPN 0.7%NBC Universal 0.7%

*Rankings based on video content sites; excludes video server networks Source: comScore Video Metrix 1Includes YouTube 2Includes MySpace 3Includes AOL

Looking Forward

The Internet’s short history has shown that accurate predictions are difficult to make—new and disruptive sites and technologies can rapidly transform what and how consumers act online. Google completely changed the nature of Internet search and online advertising with targeted advertising (in this case, based on search behavior) that is highly effective and profitable. Social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook have transformed the way that teens and young adults interact online and offline. YouTube has made online video immediately accessible to the masses. And the list goes on.

But there are a few claims that we can make with reasonable certainty: Internet and broadband penetration will continue to grow; advertising dollars will continue to flow online at the expense of media such as newspaper and television; the explosion of richer and more interactive content will continue; and new sites will continue to explode onto the scene. As Internet users, we can delight in the new experiences and personal benefits afforded by the continuing onslaught of innovations, while as business people we must remain tuned into the changes so that we can take advantage of them—or at least avoid being blindsided.

State of the Internet (continued)

Page 23: J  D  Power  Associates  Online Automotive Review  Car  Dealers

DON’T BELIEVE OURSENSATIONAL CLAIMS.BELIEVE OUR CLIENTS’

TO FIND OUT HOW JUMPSTART AUTOMOTIVE MEDIA CAN HELP GROW YOUR BUSINESS AND MAKE YOU A BELIEVER, CALL ROB BOLLINGER

AT 888.280.4542 OR EMAIL HIM AT [email protected].

Jumpstart has taken a lot of guesswork out of our (online) advertising. We are having some of our best months since startingwith Jumpstart.

– ASHLEY ANTONIO, PARAGON HONDA ACURA

Jumpstart helped Courtesy succeed with online advertising in one of the most competitive markets in the country. I know we sold morecars online last year because of all their help.

– RALPH PAGLIA, COURTESY CHEVROLET

Jumpstart has given us the edge we need to win over our market. We posted record numbers in April when the entire industry was showing a drop in sales. Jumpstart is not a vendor to me, they are a partner.

– PANCHO DIEZ-RIVAS, ESSERMAN INTERNATIONAL

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2�

Online Automotive Review—Dealer Edition October 2007

Copyright © 2007 J.D. Power and Associates, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Dealers make decisions about how to use their brand hundreds of times a day: in advertising, promotions, sales presentations, recruiting, correspondence, point of sale, accounts receivable and the receptionist. Every one of these independent actions contributes to an overall brand portrait. This includes online branding decisions, those made on dealers’ Web sites.

A brand is a promise that time after time, day in day out, year after year, the customer experience will be of a certain type and standard. A brand helps consumers simplify the purchase process, especially in expensive goods, such as cars and trucks. A product does something, while a brand stands for something. While a product may change often or occasionally, a brand is more permanent.

While a product may change often or occasionally, a brand is more permanent.

The distinctions are important, especially in the automotive industry, in which there are multiple brands at work in a purchase: the OEM brand, the make brand, the model and series brands, and the dealer brand. Sometimes there are even third-party brands (Harley-Davidson, Bose) and OEM specialty brands (Nismo, MOPAR). Each type of brand plays a role in the selection, purchase, and repurchase of new and used vehicles.

Dealer brands play a crucial role in this mosaic: the dealer must deliver on all brand promises. In the end, the dealer brand—above all others—should have a distinctive look and an authentic promise of its own.

Dealer Web Sites Grow in ImportanceDealer Web sites have an increasingly important role in the new-vehicle automotive shopping process. While shoppers still look primarily for contact information, inventory, and RFQ functionality on dealer Web sites, they are increasingly visiting dealer sites to find options/feature information, peruse vehicle colors, talk to a live rep, etc. In fact, 11% of all new-vehicle Automotive Internet Users (AIUs) regard a dealer site as the most helpful site (vs. manufacturer sites or independent sites such as MSN Autos and kbb.com) during their shopping process.1 While this percentage may seem small, it represents a steady year-over-year increase.

� J.D.PowerandAssociates2006NewAutoShopper.comStudySM(NAS)

Branding on Dealer SitesBy Bill Williams and Amit Aggarwal

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2�Copyright © 2007 J.D. Power and Associates, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Online Automotive Review—Dealer Edition October 2007

Figure 1: Most Helpful Site Type Overall

100%

40%

20%

0%

60%

80%

Independent Site

manufacturer Site

Dealer Site

2004

35%

56%

9%

2005

37%

53%

10%

2006

39%

50%

11%

Source: J.D. Power and Associates 2006 New AutoShopper.com StudySM (NAS)

The August 2007 edition of OAR–Dealer Edition illustrated how to evaluate the usefulness of dealer Web sites using a model based on information/content, appearance, navigation, and speed. A useful dealer site includes:

Professional-looking design

Accurate information

Quality information

Consumer-driven tools

Easy to find

Fast-loading pages (including inventory)

In the past, getting usefulness right would have been sufficient—but that’s now just the price of entry, the minimum. A dealer site today is expected to be a genuine online extension of the dealership. The online brand presentation should reflect the same differentiating characteristics as the bricks-and-mortar dealership.

Branding on Dealer Sites (continued)

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2�

Online Automotive Review—Dealer Edition October 2007

Copyright © 2007 J.D. Power and Associates, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Serving Both Dealer and OEM InterestsDealers work hard to distinguish themselves from competing and other same-make dealers. The same logic should apply to dealers’ Web sites. However, there is a push among some OEMs and independent developers to have dealers choose from approved or standard templates, and all too often dealers simply accept the default template with minimal change. While this approach may be expedient, a generic site communicates a generic brand image. In this case, the make brand might overpower the dealer brand.

The store brand, whether a single point dealer or part of a group, is important.

Some dealers and dealer groups fall into the reverse situation: the dealer brand overpowers the make brand. For example, the Sholz group sells Kia, GMC, and Cadillac among its dealerships, but each site is exactly the same, down to the home page text. This is clearly an example of an effort to build a clear, consistent dealer brand, but it underserves the distinct make personalities. For example, a Kia buyer is obviously very different from a Cadillac buyer: different price points, interests, concerns, and needs. All of the millions of dollars invested in both the Kia and Cadillac brands are somewhat underexploited at the store Web site level.

Figure 2: Sholz Kia Home Page (sholzkia.com) Figure 3: Sholz Cadillac Home Page (sholzcadillac.com)

The store brand, whether a single point dealer or part of a group, is important—it’s the blue sky that drives valuations and the name on the back of the Little League team’s uniforms. It is no more or less important than the make brand; but it is separate.

Consider the retailer Target. The brand makes nothing that it sells: it is a collection of thousands of SKUs of “OPB” (other people’s brands)—however, ask shoppers and they will provide you with a very rich description of Target. The same is true of the dealer who negotiates the price and provides the service for “OPB.”

Branding on Dealer Sites (continued)

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2�Copyright © 2007 J.D. Power and Associates, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Online Automotive Review—Dealer Edition October 2007

Retailers are always balancing the interests of their brand with those of the brands they sell and weighing how to best mix the brand awareness and personality of each. From the manufacturer’s perspective, it makes sense to have a consistent national make-level look and feel online: it weeds out sites that do a disservice to the brand, maximizes factory advertising investments, and it’s tidier administratively. Therefore, there is an increasing use of “factory approved site developers” and templates. Dealers—especially dealer groups—have their own brand interests to pursue and protect. Among single-point stores there is probably heritage at work, while for dealer groups there are both the image of the brand and the needs of the corporation.

Sometimes the needs are balanced by taking visitors to a factory-approved landing page designed around the specific product, which then allows them to go to the dealer site. The dealer site may or may not be a dealer design. More often, the dealer determines the level of association the site will have with the factory.

For example, Brumos Mercedes-Benz incorporates the brand and product reputation of the make with their own reputation for tradition and customer care (Figure 4).

Emphasize Tradition and Customer ExperienceBrumos Motor Car highlights the dealership’s 54-year market presence and that its Best of the Best award and high CSI indicate “[we] excel at taking care of you and your car.” Site visitors—who might have come to the site via either the OEM dealer locator, search, or directly to the URL—get a balance of both product and dealer reputation.

Figure 4: Brumos Mercedes-Benz Home Page (brumos-mercedes-benz.com)

Branding on Dealer Sites (continued)

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2�

Online Automotive Review—Dealer Edition October 2007

Copyright © 2007 J.D. Power and Associates, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Figure 5 illustrates a greater proportion of make brand mixed with dealer reputation.

Emphasize the Manufacturer BrandThe Bill Heard name is closely identified with Chevrolet. Indeed, the Heard logo approximates the Chevrolet bow tie, and the American Revolution OEM theme is prominent on the home page. This interrelationship is a selling point and is heavily emphasized for all Bill Heard Chevrolet dealership sites by incorporating the manufacturer’s marketing theme. In this example, the feature product and the make brand are in heavy proportion to the dealer brand.

Figure 5: Bill Heard Chevy Home Page (billheardchevy.com)

Reflect the Luxury ExperienceThe Web site for Gaudin Jaguar Porsche Aston Martin uses a rich color scheme, classical music, and an online dealership tour to attract luxury buyers. In this example, multiple make-level brands are marketed under a store brand. What joins the store brand and the OEM brands is a shared and highly identifiable consumer target: upper-income luxury and luxury sport buyers—therefore, the brands are collectively presented in an upscale attractive fashion. The total experience is consistent.

Figure 6: Gaudin Jaguar Porsche Aston Martin Home Page (jplv.net)

Branding on Dealer Sites (continued)

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Online Automotive Review—Dealer Edition October 2007

Synchronicity, Not SurrenderOEMs are no more interested in diluting dealer brand equity than dealers are in diluting make brand equity: the brands exchange awareness and esteem. When it comes to developing or relaunching Web sites, dealers should explore a range of options for putting this exchange of equity to best use.

The Sewell organization provides an example of how that can be done, illustrating that the debate doesn’t have to involve only one Web site. Figures 7 through 9 illustrate three different Sewell “brands”: the Lexus store, the Cadillac store, and the Sewell “Motor Company” family of brands.

Figure 7: Sewell Lexus Home Page (sewelllexus.com)

Figure 8: Sewell Cadillac Saab Home Page (sewellvillagecadillac.com) Figure 9: Sewell Brand Wide Home Page (sewell.com)

Branding on Dealer Sites (continued)

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�0

Online Automotive Review—Dealer Edition October 2007

Copyright © 2007 J.D. Power and Associates, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Individually, each site balances the interests of both dealer and make brand: there is a “Sewell” look—not so specific as to “handcuff ” the site designer, but there is enough similarity to demonstrate a “family” resemblance. There is also respect paid to the make brand—using the equity of the Lexus or Cadillac names, but ensuring the photos are properly insinuated into the design.

Then there is the Sewell Motor Car site, which is especially interesting—and freeing for the dealer—because this is where the focus is deeply on the dealer. Sewell provides a directory and links to the other stores––for corporate issues such as employment and dealership history as well as opportunities to set appointments or search vehicles across the Sewell franchises.

While the Sewell organization is large, the strategy can work with any size operation. It’s largely a matter of mutual respect and a creative use of online media. The key is to avoid disagreements over whose brand the site is going to promote, as well as to explore alternatives in promoting both.

When determining how to brand dealer sites, remember:

Shoppers and buyers increasingly find the dealer site most helpful in their vehicle shopping process: dealer sites play a vital role

Being useful is no longer enough: a dealer site needs to work as hard as the brick-and-mortar marketing in differentiating the store

The OEM brand and the dealer brand both play a pivotal role in online marketing

OEMS are interested in gaining brand uniformity across dealer site designs

Both OEMs and dealers gain when make and dealer brands are synchronous

Separate landing pages or URLs give dealers flexibility in creating a more dealer-centric site, while still retaining a well-balanced product/store branded site

Branding on Dealer Sites (continued)

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This PDF PROOF represents the current state of this mechanical.

Please review carefully,then sign and fax back to 415 276 8301.

please confirm all (as applicable)

logo(s) telephone number(s)

indicia(s) spelling

address(es)

layout

legal copy

copy

ok as is make changes as marked

signature date

PD F PROOF

promo/offer code(s) web address(es)

It will still be

It will just be

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�2

Online Automotive Review—Dealer Edition October 2007

Copyright © 2007 J.D. Power and Associates, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

The Internet is no longer a phenomenon. While that may seem obvious, what is a phenomenon is the continued growth of the medium, the improved means by which people are accessing it, and how companies and advertisers are applying components of tried-and-true forms of traditional media online. The latest cross-promotional tool to enter the Internet arena is video. And while it may be an early trend right now, online video is here to stay. The demand for online video will continue to grow over the next five years, and the sooner automotive dealers embrace this evolution, the more they will reap the rewards of being ahead of the mainstream curve—much like the dealers who initially adopted the Internet as a viable advertising medium in the late 1990s and early 2000s realized a significant return on their investments.

The demand for online video will continue to grow over the next five years, and the sooner automotive dealers embrace this evolution,

the more they will reap the rewards …

The proliferation of online video is a direct result of Americans’ accelerated adoption of broadband (high-speed) Internet. Broadband Internet access that makes it possible for Americans to quickly stream online video—comprised of files much too large to play smoothly on a typical dial-up connection—in a seamless fashion, as if watching television from the comfort of the living room couch. In fact, at the end of 2006, 62.6% of all U.S. households had an Internet connection, and 73.3% of those online households had broadband connections, according to eMarketer.1 New-vehicles buyers have even higher rates than the general population. According to J.D. Power and Associates, 85% of all new-vehicle buyers have Internet access, with 80% having high-speed access.2 By 2011, nearly 94.1% of U.S. Internet households will have a broadband Internet connection.3 Without question, broadband Internet has helped fuel the rapid rise of the Internet as a highly demanded medium, relative to the stagnating growth, or in some cases decline, of other advertising mediums.

� eMarketer.“BroadbandWorldwide:2005-20��.”March2007.2 J.D.PowerandAssociates2006NewAutoShopper.comStudySM(NAS)� eMarketer.“BroadbandWorldwide:2005-20��.”March2007.

Making Video a New, Powerful Part of Your Online Marketing ArsenalBy Chip Perry, President and CEO, AutoTrader.com

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��Copyright © 2007 J.D. Power and Associates, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Online Automotive Review—Dealer Edition October 2007

As it has become easier for consumers to download, upload and stream uninterrupted video via a broadband connection, it has also become proportionally more prevalent to find videos online. Consider the advent of YouTube. The once underground, “user-generated content” site has exploded onto the scene over the past year and a half to become an accepted mainstream entity and common conversation piece. However, the pop culture phenomenon of YouTube is but one anecdote and only begins to tell story about the rapid proliferation of online video. The most recent data—across multiple analyst and research groups—bears out the increased demand for video nationwide.

According to eMarketer, the 2007 U.S. Internet video audience is already comprised of an estimated 123 million people, and within three years more than half of all Americans will be part of the online video audience. The report also cites a recent AP/AOL survey, which revealed that 32% of the current video audience4 said they viewed more video in 2006 than 2005. And a Yankee Group statistic from the same report found 3.7 billion video streams were delivered on a monthly basis in 2006, up 146% from 2005. As staggering as these numbers may be, there is also evidence demonstrating online video’s real business application and advertising potential, beyond simple entertainment value.

Figure 1: U.S. Online Video Viewers, 2003-2010 (millions)

2003 52.3

2004 69.6

2005 89.4

2006 107.7

2007 123.4

2008 137.2

2009 149.0

2010 157.0

Note: Ages 3+; online video viewer defined as an individual who downloads or streams video (content or advertising) at least once a month. Source: eMarketer, November 2006

� eMarketer.“InternetVideoAudience.”December2006.

Making Video a Part of Online Marketing Arsenal (continued)

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��

Online Automotive Review—Dealer Edition October 2007

Copyright © 2007 J.D. Power and Associates, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Local online video advertising currently represents roughly 5% of all money spent on local online advertising, according to Borrell Associates. They project a prominent existence for online video as a mainstay advertising tactic in the near future: “In five years, local online video advertising will surpass $5 billion, representing more than one-third of all local online advertising.”5 While advertisers continue to leverage the use of online video more frequently, Hallerman uncovered data illustrating the effectiveness of the medium. In a March 2006 Online Publishers Association survey, 31% of respondents visited a company’s Web site after viewing a video ad representing a particular product or service. What’s more, the survey states that “14% of respondents went to a store to check out a product after seeing an online ad.”6 Yet, the most compelling news to the automotive community—with its wide-ranging target audience age—may be that the video revolution does not appear to rest solely in the hands of today’s younger generation. A June 2006 Nielsen/NetRatings statistic on video and movie Web sites from Hallerman’s report indicates that more than 52% of the visitors to the video sites were 35 or older.7

Now is the time for the automotive community to make online video a powerful component of the online marketing arsenal.

So, what does all of this mean for car dealers? It means now is the time for the automotive community to make online video a powerful component of the online marketing arsenal. At AutoTrader.com, we have closely watched and monitored the increased popularity of online video and the growing audience demand for it. In fact, AutoTrader.com consumers told us they wanted the flexibility to access dealership commercials and other video content when they are in the market for a vehicle. We’ve always advised dealers to take a holistic approach with advertising by, for example, directing customers to the dealership Web site through television and radio ads. Likewise, we recognized adding video to online advertising would give consumers the opportunity to interact with the vehicles and a specific dealership in a tangible fashion like never before! And, they could do it on demand, where and when they wanted.

In the spirit of the growth of online video and cross-platform advertising, AutoTrader.com unveiled a new Multimedia Center in early 2007. The tool allows dealers to upload video and radio ads to complement their vehicle listings and dealership advertising. The response of both dealer customers and in-market vehicle shoppers has been tremendous. As of this writing, more than 1,000 AutoTrader.com dealer customers are already including video along with their vehicle listings.

5 BorrellAssociatesInc.“TheNewFrontier:LocalOnlineVideoAdvertising.”February2007.6 eMarketer.“InternetVideoAudience.”December2006.7 Ibid

Making Video a Part of Online Marketing Arsenal (continued)

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Online Automotive Review—Dealer Edition October 2007

Even better, one of the most appealing features of online video advertising with tools like the Multimedia Center is that it doesn’t have to break the bank with additional advertising costs to start taking advantage of the medium. While online video does provide the flexibility to create new commercials and messages not confined by the fixed-value proposition of a 30-second or 60-second television spot, the most cost-effective and immediately efficient way to begin implementing video is to repurpose current television commercials for online viewing. The production costs to convert the spots are minimal, while the return could be significant.

As dealers begin to implement video as an advertising tactic, they will soon discover supplementary opportunities to maximize its exposure and deliver alternative messages, beyond the scope of traditional advertising. For instance, in addition to including video as part of their own Web site listings, dealers should also look to include video as part of their online media buys. They can create a message from their general manager to accentuate the value proposition of their dealership or introduce their friendly sales team to create an emotional connection with consumers. Online video expands on the flexibility as an advertising medium that only the Internet can provide.

Cutting-edge dealers will provide 360° video walk-arounds of their cars, giving shoppers near first-hand interaction with their inventory.

For example, just as the Internet has given dealers the opportunity to better merchandise their vehicles to shoppers by providing multiple photos of their available inventory, the Internet and online video provides dealers with an additional, creative way to allow shoppers to experience their vehicles. Cutting-edge dealers will provide 360° video walk-arounds of their cars, giving shoppers near first-hand interaction with their inventory.

Online video also stands to become particularly valuable to dealers who merchandise their used cars online, where the condition of each vehicle has its own unique set of traits. Now, not only can dealers write detailed copy about a specific vehicle’s clean, “like new” jet black leather interior, but they also can demonstrate it to shoppers through video, drawing them into further interaction with the vehicle.

Making Video a Part of Online Marketing Arsenal (continued)

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Likewise, dealers can apply a similar tactic to set the unique features and one-of-a-kind services of their respective dealerships apart from the competition. It’s one thing, for instance, to explain to prospective consumers through written copy that the service department waiting room is equipped with wireless Internet access and a full-service, complimentary coffee bar, but it’s quite another to demonstrate that waiting room by bringing it to life through video. The list of unique ways dealers can apply video to enhance the merchandising of both their vehicles and their dealerships is almost limitless!

Now is the time for the automotive industry to join the revolution. Even the so-called “traditional media”—which once shunned the medium—are using the Internet and video to cross-promote their own services, as well as the services of their advertisers. It’s also time for the automotive dealer community to join the trend and upload videos to help tell the dealership story—because, like the Internet, videos will be more than simply a trend in the near future. Clearly, the window of opportunity for each dealer to maximize their store’s exposure and get in front of the mainstream competition is wide open today, and those who jump on board will benefit the most.

Chip Perry is president and chief executive officer of AutoTrader.com. He can be reached at [email protected].

Making Video a Part of Online Marketing Arsenal (continued)

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Online Automotive Review—Dealer Edition October 2007

Landing Pages and Micro Sites: Big League Search Rankings for Dealers of all SizesBy Bill Williams

Dealers are continually searching for new, cost-effective ways to drive traffic to their sites and leads to the showroom. Often this is best managed through the use of an outside supplier, but there is a lot dealers can do on their own. Ralph Paglia, Director of Digital Marketing, OEM& National Accounts, ADP Dealer Services, shared his experiences and successes with Online Automotive Review—Dealer Edition. Paglia has extensive experience in building successful online retail marketing programs, and has shared those experiences at past J.D. Power and Associates Internet Roundtable meetings.

OAR: First, and most obviously, what are landing pages and micro sites?

Paglia: I get asked this question all the time, so it must be a good one. First off, for all practical purposes, every micro site contains a landing page, but not all landing pages are part of a micro site.

A micro site is comprised of a Web page with a unique URL that is descriptive of the micro site’s subject matter.

The first page accessed on a micro site—accessed by the root domain of the URL—is known as a landing page because it is where the consumer first ‘lands’ when they click on an advertisement, text-based sponsored link, or search engine listing of that unique URL.

In addition to the landing page, which we call a home page when applied to a dealership’s full featured primary Web site, a micro site has one or more ‘daughter pages’ that are accessible from linked text or images shown on the landing page (the micro site’s home page).

A micro site’s daughter pages must be created within the same root domain structure as the landing 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 pages.

Each daughter page within a micro site will contain additional content relevant to the landing page’s subject matter and is what qualifies the domain as a micro site instead of a simple landing page.

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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, or daughter pages, connected to it that are hosted within the same root domain structure. An example—and the epitome—of a micro site, including rich media sections and daughter pages containing vehicle information, photographs and specifications can be seen at www.PhoenixChevySilverado.com. An example of a true landing page, devoid of any other content within the same root domain structure, is: www.Silverado-Truck.com. Please note that both landing pages and micro sites typically feature multiple links to other Web pages that are part of separate and distinct URL domain structures, usually the dealer’s primary Web site.

The bottom line is that every micro site 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 advertisements, sponsored links and URL listings, is a landing page, because it is where you first land when you click. But, within the car business, most people use the term landing page to describe a single Web page specially created for a specific use. Micro sites require more content to set up than solo landing pages, which typically require a limited amount of text and an online form for customers to complete and submit.

OAR: When and why are they used?

Paglia: Both micro sites and landing pages are used by dealers, third-party lead providers, search engine marketing (SEM) services providers, dealer advertising associations, dealer groups and OEMs for a variety of purposes. Compared to landing pages, and depending on the richness of content they contain, automotive micro sites usually achieve far greater levels of effectiveness over time. Micro sites and landing pages generally serve three primary objectives:

A. Generate sales leads as completed online forms, incoming phone calls and showroom traffic. When used by SEM service providers, landing pages are typically designed to generate electronic leads and are optimized for the highest possible visitor-to-lead conversion rates.

B. 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 micro site’s title and description appear at the top of specific search engine queries based on richness of relevant content.

C. Generate online traffic to other Web sites through the use of linked objects displayed within the micro site, 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 popular among a targeted audience that will be searching for it. Otherwise, a micro site could be misconstrued as a link farm.

Landing Pages and Micro Sites (continued)

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If you are like me, seeing a few examples really helps to clarify a concept. If you visit www.2008ChevyMalibu.com, you will see a micro site that is focused on the all-new 2008 Chevrolet Malibu and nothing else. It has lots of rich content relevant to the 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 micro site in seeking to convert visitors into leads and phone calls. Three months after being launched, a search for “2008 Chevy Malibu” returns a worldwide front page listing as follows:

2008 Chevrolet Malibu from your 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.2008chevymalibu.com/ - 18k - Cached - Similar pages

The model-specific micro site that has outperformed any other micro site I have ever seen in generating incremental eLeads and unique visitors to the primary Web site operated by the dealership is www.2008ChevyCamaro.com. A Google search for 2008 Chevy Camaro returns the following Web site listing at the very top of the worldwide 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 micro site attracted over 25,000 unique visitors, of which over 1,800 submitted an online lead form. This micro site 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 micro site 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 spike in Camaro-related searches.

One of the first micro sites I created is the popular www.2007Tahoe.com. If you Google “2007 Tahoe,” it shows up at 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.2007tahoe.com/ - 20k - Cached - Similar pages

You should click on the photo galleries and specifications pages within each of the above listed micro sites to truly understand what differentiates a micro site from a landing page. I have never seen a landing page by itself generate any significant organic site ranking.

Landing Pages and Micro Sites (continued)

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OAR: Who creates the actual online ads in all the various sizes and shapes?

Paglia: This is one of my hot buttons right now. The creation of online advertisements that dealers can then place on various Web sites, or use as sponsored links with paid search engine advertising, is typically done by vendors. However, they often generate those ads in either a size or format that is intentionally designed to prevent the dealer from using them elsewhere. I give Cars.com a lot of credit because even when they build a Flash-based ad for their dealers, 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:

Another example of a dealership’s digital advertising as created by Cars.com is:

By the time this article is published, ADP Digital Marketing will be providing digital advertising content for online promotions that comply with industry standards so that they fit into various Web sites. Digital Advertising assets (files) can be created by anyone using a PC with MS Office installed, but there is a ton of work and expertise that goes into making an effective digital advertisement.

Landing Pages and Micro Sites (continued)

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Online Automotive Review—Dealer Edition October 2007

Here are a few prototype examples of 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 are 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 believe each dealer should control and monitor their digital advertising with the same diligence and management participation that they use for TV, radio, newspaper, outdoor and all the other media. More than 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?

Landing Pages and Micro Sites (continued)

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OAR: How can dealers manage all the separate URLs? How do they ensure they get ranked by Google, Yahoo, MSN search?

Paglia: 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 three years or more.

Since it can take up to three months to get a new micro site 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 sponsored links that point to the dealer’s new micro site. This gets traffic going to a micro site 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 three to six months and let the organic relevancy of your micro site do its magic by attracting search engine-generated traffic.

The people at Google have told me about a three-month period after a new micro site goes live as being ‘in the sandbox,’ where it will not get organically ranked, but I have seen exceptions made for really good micro sites 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 micro site 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 micro site’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.

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Online Automotive Review—Dealer Edition October 2007

OAR: How can dealers be certain their landing page/microsite strategy actually delivers valuable content to consumers?

Paglia: Dealers should be consistent and transparent in their digital advertising campaign messages. When doing it yourself, make sure the ad contains text that describes the landing page’s content that you are linking it to. For example, if your ad says “Chevy Price Quotes… Get Discounted Prices on a New Chevy from Courtesy Chevrolet in Phoenix” and it points to www.ChevyPriceQuotes.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 a 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 micro site I built for a Free Gas advertising campaign that you can visit at www.YouGotGas.com. This micro site 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 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 the following image ads:

Landing Pages and Micro Sites (continued)

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If you look at the ads shown above and then 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.

OAR: What about costs: Internet costs, design/placement costs, staff overhead costs? What kind of investment is required?

Paglia: Different micro site suppliers charge different fees. At ADP Digital Marketing, we have not yet established our micro site pricing matrix, but they will be completed by the time this article is published. We are still assessing the typical costs involved, but we have sold, designed and delivered micro site prototypes to our pilot dealers on the following cost basis:

Design and Setup: 3 micro sites package = $1,995.00 one-time fee Monthly Hosting: 3 micro sites package = $595.00 monthly

Alternately, we have sold prototype micro sites to other dealers as follows:

Design and Setup: 5 micro sites package = $0 one time fee Monthly Hosting: 5 micro sites package = $3,000.00 monthly

I have personally used some smaller independent micro site designers that charged $750 per site as a one-time set up fee and $75 per month to host them. And, I have seen some of the large enterprise dealer groups purchase micro sites from ADP for as little as $295 a month per site with a $595 set-up fee. It is safe to say that costs are reasonable for the sites themselves, but it is usually the advertising campaigns where the real money is spent. As for staff and overhead, Tina Pratt, the GSM at People’s Chevrolet in Chula Vista, builds her own micro sites and uses the store’s digital advertising budget for pure advertising buys. I taught her to do the micro sites herself and she does a heck of a job for that store. I have recently been hired on a consulting basis to compete with her and she wins the search engine placement battle quite frequently. But, that is when the teacher shows the student how it’s done and I usually come right back at her with an online ad campaign for Courtesy Chevrolet in San Diego that kicks her butt, until we run out of budget. Ahhh, the car business—you gotta love the competitiveness of it all!

Landing Pages and Micro Sites (continued)

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Online Automotive Review—Dealer Edition October 2007

OAR: How can dealers measure results? What are common/useful metrics?

Paglia: Be sure to display big and bold a unique toll-free AdTracker phone number on your micro sites to track incoming calls generated, and make sure your micro site supplier embeds site visitor tracking software such as Omniture’s SiteCatalyst into the site. One of the most useful reports is for Referring Domains, which shows how many leads were submitted by the URL used to link an advertisement to the micro site. I use multiple URLs for each micro site and then monitor each ad group by using distinct URLs as the pointing Web address that then shows up in the Omniture reporting.

Whether it is a micro site, any other site or simply an online advertising campaign to deep links within your primary Web site, here’s the metrics I find most useful:

Metric Description Actual Case Study Example:Total Cost of Ad Campaign and Micro Site: $71,801.30Advertising Impressions Generated: 33,257,657Micro Site Visits Generated by Ads: 29,528 eLeads and Phone Calls Generated: 2,248Appointments Generated from Leads: 562Vehicles Sold to Site Visitors: 174

Analysis Subject Cost Unit DescriptionAdvertising Impressions $2.16 Per Thousand PeopleMicro Site Visits $2.43 Per Visitor Session eLeads and Phone Calls $31.94 Per LeadAppointments Generated $12.78 Per Dealership AppointmentVehicles Sold $412.65 Per Vehicle Retailed (PVR)

OAR: This all sounds like a lot work—does it take an outside supplier to do this, or is it something dealers can do on their own? How does one organize to do this?

Paglia: Yes, it takes focus, time and effort. Although all of a dealer’s digital advertising needs can be outsourced to save time, this typically results in the manager being disconnected and removed from the store’s digital advertising initiatives. Outsourcing digital advertising concept creation can result in a lack of commitment in making the sales to the leads generated that are 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. I would much rather sell digital marketing products and services to dealers

Landing Pages and Micro Sites (continued)

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who know what they are and how they work, than to those that don’t know what they are buying. Other considerations are the ability to adjust campaigns daily, even hourly, and 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 as resources and budgets fluctuate.

OAR: Can you share examples where landing pages and micro sites made a difference? What was done? What were the results?

Paglia: There are so many examples of micro sites being used to make a difference in a store’s success. Let’s take a look at the www.PHXfinance.com micro site I designed for Courtesy Chevrolet in Phoenix. After you look at this very basic, and not so elegant special, finance site, take a look at the advertisement we placed in over 60 bus shelters around Phoenix in August 2006:

Imagine sitting in a bus shelter, in 100+ degree temperatures and staring at that life-size poster twice a day, six days a week. To say it generated a few phone calls and visits to the micro site is an understatement. The bus shelter ads cost about $5,500 per month, so we used that part of the budget previously spent with BarNone for special finance leads. Combined with the online advertising, which was $4,500 per month, we set up a $10,000-per-month ‘eFinance Department’ total advertising budget. The PHXfinance.com micro site was, and remains, able to receive organic ranking in a highly competitive subject matter area and appears as a first-page search engine query result for ‘phoenix auto finance’ as shown below:

Phoenix Finance, Do you have Bad Credit and want a Used Car? at ...Courtesy is the Phoenix Valley’s only car dealer that has been nationally recognized for their leadership in the area of credit repair by hiring and ...

www.phoenixautofinance.com/ - 10k - Cached - Similar pages

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Online Automotive Review—Dealer Edition October 2007

The astute reader will notice that the outdoor bus shelter signage features the URL as www.PHXfinance.com, whereas the organic search result lists PhoenixAutoFinance.com. This is because PhoenixAutoFinance.com was used for the actual root domain URL, which is what gets indexed by search engines, and PHXfinance.com was created as a special URL for use ONLY on the bus shelter ads. This allowed us to evaluate the effectiveness of the bus shelter ads by looking at the referring domain reports for the micro site. The Courtesy Chevrolet eFinance team really hit its stride in September 2006 when they sold 57 cars. When we examine the metrics around the use of the eFinance micro sites, here are the results:

PHXfinance.com Results Cost Unit DescriptionAdvertising Impressions $4.57 Per Thousand PeopleMicro Site Visits $3.72 Per Visitor Session eLeads and Phone Calls $17.71 Per LeadAppointments Generated $48.10 Per Dealership AppointmentVehicles Sold $178.07 Per Vehicle Retailed (PVR)

We then use the above metrics to calculate the following cost effectiveness analysis:

eFinance Digital Marketing Metric Description Actual Case Study Example:Total Cost of Ad Campaign and Micro Site: $10,150Advertising Impressions Generated: 2,221,168Micro Site Visits Generated by Ads: 2,729 eLeads and Phone Calls Generated: 573Appointments Generated from Leads: 211Vehicles Sold: 57

Given the low cost per vehicle retailed (PVR), we initially were very excited by these results and by the integrated nature of the promotion, with more phone calls generated than electronic leads. However, once we started counting up all the expenses paid in the form of lender fees, we realized that generating special finance leads online is a lot cheaper than getting the deals bought. Our process for handling the incoming phone calls was to get callers to either schedule an appointment to come in right away, or if they wanted to know for sure whether they were pre-approved, we asked them to complete the credit application at www.Chevy-Finance.com, which is a completely different dynamic online credit application. We set up Chevy-Finance.com to quickly access a deep link connected to an easily remembered URL. The talking credit application is provided by DealerCentric and hosted within a BZ Results Web site. So, yes the micro site made a difference in this case study, but it was used in conjunction with online and

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offline advertising, combined with a very talented crew of automotive professionals made up of Ron Daly, Scott Daly and Barbara Mason. In the interest of proper disclosure to OAR readers, I will also report that by January 2007 we completely reconfigured the eFinance team because of the high bank fees and the need to properly compensate some of the most talented car people I have ever had the privilege of working with.

Ultimately, a dealer’s use of micro sites is not a silver bullet in the world of digital marketing and advertising. It is another tool that savvy dealers can use to get a competitive advantage. Combined with the right people, lead management processes and technology, the use of micro sites is one of many digital marketing tactics that separate some of today’s most successful dealers from those that would like to get there.

Landing Pages and Micro Sites (continued)

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Online Automotive Review—Dealer Edition October 2007

Online Automotive Review— Dealer Edition — October 2007Gene Cameron Executive Director, Media Solutions

Wendy Olson Killion Editor

Kristina Wines Senior Account Manager, Advertising

Bill Williams Senior Contributor

Amit Aggarwal Senior Contributor

Faith Chakirian Research Associate

Chip Perry President and CEO, AutoTrader.com

Chris Orton Director of Search Marketing, eBay Inc.

Pat Anderson Copy Editor

Heather Molloy Layout and Design

Contact and Advertising [email protected]

Subscription InformationLogon to www.OnlineAutomotiveReview.com for the all-new Online Automotive Review—Dealer Edition Blog. Archived issues are also available on the Web site.

Advertising claims cannot be based on information published in this publication. Reproduction of any material in this publication, including photocopying of this publication in whole or in part, is prohibited without the express written permission of J.D. Power and Associates. © 2007 J.D. Power and Associates, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Vendor Source Book—Search Engine Marketing Services

The Vendor Source Book is a recurring feature in the Online Automotive Review—Dealer Edition. The intent of this section is to provide the dealer community with a comprehensive list of potential partners for every aspect of selling and marketing vehicles online. J.D. Power and Associates in no way endorses any of the companies listed.

This installment is dedicated to firms that can assist dealers with search engine marketing. Future issues will include information on Web site developers, trainers/consultants, online financing companies, CRM providers and more.

Company Web SitePhone Number

Atlas One Point www.atlasonepoint.com 206.816.8000Auto Dealer Traffic www.autodealertraffic.com 800.545.6028Auto One Media www.autoonemedia.com 972.301.4655Beyond ROI www.beyondroi.com 800.498.4764Cobalt Group www.cobalt.com 866.289.2786Dealeron www.dealeron.com 800.381.6604Dealerskins www.dealerskins.com 866.848.6480Go4Promotion www.go4promotion.com 800.284.6162Google adwords.google.com —

Jumpstart Automotive Media1

www.jumpstartautomotive.com 888.280.4542

Market Vertical Partners www.marketverticalpartners.com 800.745.1685MSN advertising.microsoft.com/search —Omniture www.omniture.com 877.722.7088Pole Position Marketing

www.polepositionmarketing.com 866.685.3374

Karl Ribas www.karlribas.com 815.209.0933Search Ad Network www.searchadnetwork.com 877.462.9764Send Traffic www.sendtraffic.com 866.487.2334Submit a Website www.submitawebsite.com 480.949.1810TK Car Sites www.tkcarsites.com 714.937.1239Yahoo! searchmarketing.yahoo.com —

1. Advertiser of this publication.

J.D. Power and Associates in no way endorses the companies on this list. It is meant for informative purposes only.

If your company would like to be added or deleted from this list or included in future Vendor Source Books please send an e-mail to [email protected].