Keeping up and being found is the goal

The internet shows little mercy and respect for business, even those businesses that only overlap the web don’t remain immune.  While Yahoo is still a large internet player it is in the shadow of Google and there is much expectation on Marissa Mayer as Yahoo’s new CEO to address the imbalance.  No matter how large or how successful you are currently, unless you are following the trends and technology you quickly fall off the pace and into history.  Even large and very successful companies like Nokia and RIM (Blackberry) who have ruled the mobile world are struggling to survive as the internet and mobile domains have merged. So great is the drive from consumers around internet usability, the old benchmarks of what made a fantastic mobile phone have been consigned to the past. Keeping up is the goal as with internet selling we rely on many components to successfully come together to make it work.  There can be more to it than a newspaper and eyeballs environment.

User behaviour on the web is rapidly changing brought about by evolving access methods and devices.  It is also not the world of the young any more with recent statistics showing more people over the age of 35 access the web than under.  Generally with age comes wealth, mobility, smartphones and tablets.  Following these users and their habits is now becoming a fulltime job and art, but so important to being successful online.  For dealers using Trade Me, the cost and time invested to ensure the maximum reach and exposure for vehicle listings just happens, what is not seen is the huge amount of work going on in the background.  The iPhone application emerged in November 2010 and in February this year both an Android and Touch site were launched. With this suite of three applications there is not a common mobile or tablet device that does not have access to an optimised Trade Me user experience.  It is not enough now to just be on the web you need to be device optimised.

This year has also seen the growth of the home eco system and Apple is the master of this. Without knowing it, one Apple device within a house becomes two, iTunes becomes the content provider of choice all served through an Apple TV; if your home does not already look like this your child’s classroom might.   Apple is not alone with Microsoft pitching the Xbox as a media centre and Sony the Playstation.  The concept of the second screen is alive and growing, as sitting in that cold spare bedroom or home office loses its appeal; life on the internet is now a tablet on the couch in front of TV. We are all winners as our customers move from looking at the web once or twice a day to an environment where they practically live on it.  An interesting exercise is to look at our own household internet usage, I would be surprised if you have not found it doubling each year.

With users being more internet savvy, being found and keeping customers engaged becomes the next challenge and as I outlined above they generally won’t hang around on content that is not optimised for the device they are using, hence why Trade Me has three standalone mobile applications.  If you have website, optimising it for mobile use is imperative as people who are shopping on their mobiles have different needs and expectations than those who are shopping online on their laptop or PC.  They need easier to read pages and for pages to appear quickly, they are searching for specific items therefore the information accessed on their mobile needs to be easily searched and accessed.  If your dealership does not have a mobile website, you are missing out on potential leads and sales.

More time online does not necessary mean more time looking at the same content.  As users become more knowledgeable and their search skills become more honed this leads to the fragmentation of content.  Once upon a time, Facebook was the be all and end all of social media and you would have thought no one could compete, however as users gain experience they are now moving to more niche sites for dedicated content or functionality.  People are choosing the application Path, for a more secure closed user group social network and sites like Instagram and Pinterest for more visual imaged based networking, and even sites like Spotify are starting to compete with Apple’s iTunes.  Like these sites, Trade Me holds a huge amount of user/dealer generated content and it is important that each time someone returns they are presented with new interesting vehicles.  Holding a mix of classified and auction listings ensures the user is always presented with something new and dynamically changing; if the content is not fresh the customers will not keep returning as they have choice.

Keeping up and being found is the goal, leverage where you can by partnering with providers that enhance both your fixed and mobile web presence. The longer and more often your customers are online the more dynamic and engaging your content needs to be to standout.

Playing by the Rules

Two of the increasingly hot topics discussed this year are around the listing order displayed within Trade Me Motors and the usage of keywords. I am personally a big fan of internet neutrality and all it means for internet service providers and consumer access, however even in the big wide web world there still is the requirement for a few rules. If you have some free time Google J C Penney and Samsonite,  look for articles around the manipulation of search results. What we see on the web is dictated by the search engine we use for a number of reasons. The web is huge and so full of content that without the search engines indexing algorithms and a basic knowledge from your PC about your search behaviour you would never get relevant results along with some much targeted advertising. 

 Doug Pierce of Blue Fountain Media examined J. C. Penney's ranking on Google.

Companies like Google draw a strong distinction between those practices and techniques that are set to deceive search results commonly called ‘black-hat’ services and ‘white-hat’ approaches that are offered by legitimate SEM consultants. Everybody wants a more prominent web presence, but this has to be achieved within a set of rules and boundaries. Without this, consumers of the web will lack any relevant return on their search results. In the J. C. Penney case organic search results, those that are not ranked and displayed due to advertising payment were manipulated by the termination of hundreds of web sites links to the J. C. Penney website along with the wide spread use of keywords. The end result was J. C. Penny ranking higher is search results for Samsonite than the Samsonite companies own web site. Google took direct action against J. C. Penney and dropped their average search results from appearing in the first 1 or 2 down to a ranking around 52. Now that must have hurt.

Marketplaces are also open to the same practices and are generally policed in the same way search engines patrol the web. The goal is to always keep the consumer happy and coming back time and time again. For a site like Trade Me Motors there are a number of reasons why consumers keep returning. There is a feeling of immediacy and urgency around the auctions, and the classified listings content should be new and fresh. This is even more important now with mobile devices penetration growing giving customers ubiquitous anytime anywhere access. With each returning visit you never want to disappoint.

  

Keywords are a very efficient way of improving the quality of your Trade Me listings and being found within the keyword searches. The thing to remember about Trade Me Motors is that the keyword search is used both for keywords, and models. For any word or words entered into this field, the complete content of the listings are searched for results. This is hugely powerful.  There are broadly four types of keywords that you should consider when writing comments for vehicles. First, what features does this vehicle have and second, what benefits are standouts like safety, fuel economy, manual and a great first car etc? Third, make sure you include any common miss-spellings or miss-formatting of the model. An common example is including CX7 within the text for a Mazda CX-7. Lastly, list any selling point you have available from your dealership, like free nationwide delivery. A good clue as to what keywords are being used within the search field is to start typing then and you will see the most popular search terms automatically display. This is the ‘white-hat’ approach to keyword usage, and is all fine. What is tightly controlled by Trade Me is the  ’black-hat’ , predatory approach with the use of competitor makes and models keywords to gain an advantage within the search results and attract more people to that listing using lists of various car models. There is nothing worse than trying to search for a make and model and having the returned list containing unwanted results due to the incorrect use of or predatory targeting of keywords. This does not keep consumers engaged viewing your stock.   

 

On Trade Me, the listing order or ‘sort order’ as it is sometimes called is based on a calculation that contains a number of variables. Two of which is the date listed and the number of views a listing has generated. Above these there are two paid positions available at the top of all searches, the first being the Super Feature with the large post card images and the second being the yellow boxed Feature Listings.  Going back to my previous point that customers keep returning due to the listings always appearing fresh and new, this sort order is very important. The age old question of refreshing stock on the site reduces this experience with the returning of old listing to the top of the sort order.  If all dealers engaged in this practice, thousands of listing per day would re-appear at the top of the sort order and the newer listings would be quickly lost. At this point, nobody wins. Customers are also like train-spotters and quickly become dissatisfied with dealers whose vehicles keep returning to their watch lists. They also notice vehicles that have been sitting on Trade Me for long periods of time, that suddenly appear with a fresh date at the top of their searches –this can cause suspicion, and mistrust of that dealer.

So even though the internet is the largest non-owned entity in the world and for most part it is unregulated, the nature of it means that it does impose some of its own self-regulation. For the same reasons these guidelines are also in place for trading market places to ensure the best possible experience for the users - unless you happen to be a German living in a Coatesville mansion. 

The View From The Cheap Seats

When you live and breathe the internet and emerging trends each day it is easy to forget that from the outside it can seem ever-changing and confusing.  Sitting in the back row of the recent Autotalk Digital Dealer conference in Auckland and listening to the presenters and feedback from the floor, you can see why sometimes messages can appear to be a bit mixed.  However, when looking at the essence and trends presented, they were all very similar and relativity easy to understand.  Let me step through a couple as I saw them.

The internet and online selling is becoming more and more competitive and as a dealer you need to take two clear basic steps to ensure that you remain successful.

 

Step one is your overall web presence and for most of us this is centred on a company website.  As we all know a website alone means little without customers viewing its content.  To drive the public towards your website there are a number of options; two options which were discussed during the Digital Dealer were:

·         Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) - This allows any search engine like Google to view and understand the content of your website. The better search engines understand your website the more chance you have of being found by customers searching for content, or in most cases, vehicles or company details. Don’t be scared to ask your current website host about SEO and how they have optimised your site. The answer should not sound complicated.

·         Search Engine Marketing (SEM) – This is generally “paid-for” promotion of your website through the use of Google Adwords where your website is listed as an advertisement above or beside the organic/nonpaid search results. To not waste money on SEM you really need to seek expert advice or do a lot of research. The tools available are very good but can take a while to get your head around.

 

Step two is leveraging a market place like Trade Me to drive customers towards your website and ultimately in the door.  Just like the broader internet, Trade Me is highly competitive but there are a number of simple tools and features that can be used to guarantee a strong presence.  To achieve a similar result as SEM gives you on the web, products like Super Features guarantee top of search presence at a fixed priced with a large format.  As per any sales cycle, from this point you need to start closing the options down for the customer. This was presented by AutoPlay in that moving the customer back to your own more controlled website with the offer of additional information or video is advantageous.  By making this a simple link you remain far more in control of the customers experience.

 

Neither of the two steps above can be run in isolation and how you balance your spend across both is a tactical decision for your business and one it would be difficult for me to be seen as unbiased on.  In essence it comes down to calculating the best value for money and if you are an AutoBase customer ask your Account Manager for a full breakdown of your listings statistics to understand what traffic your spend is driving. Your website provider should also be able to similar information.

A Winter Focus

In the past, the change of seasons and the move into winter saw a dramatic change in shopping behaviour.  Nowadays this change is less pronounced, as potential customers are doing more and more shopping from the couch without braving the weather.  What this winter will see however is the growing trend in what has been coined as ‘the second screen’.  This trend has huge benefits for the industry and now is a good time to review if you are ready and optimised to take advantage of this to maximise those winter sales.

So what is the second screen? Over the years we have all been bored to death with TV and have generally understood that keeping up with a Shortland Street storyline only requires 1% of a person’s mental capacity.  Now most people are using the other 99% to surf the web with only one ear and eye on the TV.  In our house it’s Facebook, Pinterest and Trade Me for her and watching the daily tech news on You Tube for me.  Laptops and the widespread adoption of personal home based WIFI networks started this trend and now with cheap tablets and smartphones which require no time to boot or connect to the internet this trend has accelerated.  People also prefer using tablets (like an iPad) because booting a laptop up makes you feel like you are still at work.

Taking advantage of this captive audience should be no harder that reviewing your current online strategy and ensuring that it is sharp and focused.  The questions to ask are these: 

• Am I maximising my current spend and how is it split?
• Is my spend giving me the maximum online exposure to potential customers?

The split of this spend is very important and depends on your overall business strategy and brand value.  If you are a highly branded business with high brand awareness, you can justify a larger spend on Search Engine Marketing (SEM).  This is rather a huge topic, but at the core, if you do gain a position on the first page of a search, there still needs to be a drive for the person to click on your website link, and generally this is the power of your brand over the others listed.  For example, I could spend a fortune on Google AdWords and SEM to become listed on the first search page on Google for banks, however due to the fact that David’s Bank has no brand recognition, few people will click on my link.  SEM can be very effective if done right and the correct search terms selected but it does put you up against the big boys in the industry with generally a little more resource.

Next is the spend in open online market places like Trade Me.  These sites are highly competitive and to a point can be manipulated in a very similar way as SEM works on the wider web.  Like SEM, it is no secret that the more you pay the more you get; the main difference is that you are leveraging the value and appeal in the vehicle along the positives that purchasing from your dealership brings.  You do not need to have high brand recognition to be successful.  I am not saying that having a successful brand on places like Trade Me is not an advantage - it is, but as a second step when it is more relevant to the buyer.  As I have just got off the phone to Richard, I will use his company as an example:  I have found a list of Toyota Vitz’s I like, one is with Richard Howell Motors.  A while back I lived in Taradale and Richard is well known and respected within the local community; now at this point his brand is really starting to work its magic.  In this case also, a little more has been spent on the listings within Trade Me to also make it standout.

If you are not sick to death about hearing about the importance of mobile and mobile web sites, you will be by the end of this year.  Last year was the year of the mobile, this year is the year it really matters for business.  Not only should you have a smartphone now for handling enquiries at 10pm on a Saturday night, I hate to say it, but you have to have a mobile web site for your business.  Many articles have been written quoting mobile usage statistics, but don’t waste your time reading them - it’s here now.

Finally ensure that you do keep your online presence updated with any marketing or sales initiatives you have planned during winter and take advantage of that second screen your prospects are holding during Shortland St!

The internet – The gift that keeps on giving

The best present we all received at Christmas was the conservatively estimated 50,000 internet capable devices opened on the 25^th.  In reality this number could be four times more as this count does not include iPad's, iTouch’s or similar devices from other manufacturers.  Within our extended family there were three iTouch's and an internet TV with all connected to Facebook and Trade Me within an hour.  Without one of us spending another cent on our business we all gained a small city of potential customers in one day.   

The truth is that many of these users may already have access to the internet; however this may be through a shared device rather than a personal device.  So does this really matter? From a business perspective it does as it increases the frequency and time online dramatically.  It is hard to say what has driven this evolution and with Apple being such a major player it could be argued that either Steve Jobs identified trends earlier, or that they were so big they set them. We have moved from one shared PC in a household to a number of internet capable personal devices over the last few years; if you add up the number of devices including smart phones in your house you might be surprised.  Both Microsoft and Apple with their cloud applications now allow ubiquitous access to the same content from many devices.

Before returning to the business benefits let me relay two personal experiences.  My son got an iTouch for Christmas but not because I thought he really needed it.  It was more a gift to me to get my phone back which always seemed flat, had the sound turned down so I could never hear it ring and was full of 4GB of games!  On top of this I was sick of being woken during the night with an alert from ‘iGun Pro’ that a new and more potent gun was available for downloading.  The second experience was the introduction of an iPad to the family; once these are setup to access all your internet applications you quickly understand that these are for personal use and not to be treated like a shared device. 

So, let’s come back to the business benefits for our industry.  Business has understood the value of educating potential purchasers at a young age and none have done this better than Vodafone in New Zealand.  Their early introduction of prepay mobile and text messaging gave them a foothold on the market that in time has followed through into business as these consumers have grown up.  Telecom has unsuccessfully tried to launch a number of youth brands over the years.  For us we now have the access required to our products and services within the pockets of most kids walking down the street; the challenge for all of us is to start the interaction that turns them into future customers. This is not as hard as you think, as we know that they all head to Trade Me and Facebook and how to be successful within both these applications is well documented. 

Not to cover old ground around measuring website performance, but it is something we need to fully understand as it is the web for catching our prospects.  Firstly we need to understand the changing behavior of internet users matched with our online offerings.  For me I am more interested in the frequency and the length of the sessions rather than any other measure. The reason for this is based on the fact that in our industry websites are essentially classified sites filled with content.  A healthy website keeps people engaged and returning time and time again.  With the access barrier dropping and the number of devices increasing, frequency must increase.  If you are not seeing this trend you could be wasting effort in attracting new customers.  Why Trade Me is winner for all of us is that the mix of auctions and classified listings keeps the content fresh and ever-changing which drives urgency for users to return in case they may miss something.

Another consideration is the old UB (Unique Browser) which is the number of individual internet browser sessions that have been generated against a website. The debate here is that one user can generate a number of UB’s and there is double counting.  For a classified website like your dealerships this is a moot point; if the same person is driven to keep returning to your website through a different browser or device at a higher frequency, who cares? This is customer engagement and the goal we are all driving towards!  Another thing not to get too worried about is device substitution where a user will swap a lesser device for a better one when it becomes accessible.  An example of this is swapping from surfing the web on your mobile when access to a PC becomes available.  Two changes have reduced this behavior; users would rather stick to a device where their personal data is located, and secondly, most customised services and applications are optimized to the device it is currently being hosted on.

Let’s hope the internet and consumer electronics companies keep on giving for our benefit.

Click HERE for a PDF copy of this article.

Let’s be careful out there

The internet offers a huge range of opportunities to everyone and some people use it for good, some for bad.  To say that there is a sucker born every minute is probably an understatement when it comes to the web as many, many people fall daily to internet based scams. For a company like us we spend hours and hours of time defending and countering internet-based attacks. Just this week, two scams were doing the rounds of classified based websites.

One of the tricks used is that the true victim is unaware of the scam right until the last minute, by which time it is generally too late. Many people are surprised by how organised and targeted internet-based scams are and think “ I’m so small, why would they attack me?”  Like a few things in life as the scam unfolds you find that you are only part of a bigger and more complex picture. The timings used are very exact and ensure maximum impact on the intended targets and time periods -long weekends are favourites.  During this time the scammers are banking on the fact that the targets are more relaxed and their system and web providers have less support available to manage or monitor events.  From our point of view, we have support available in the AutoBase office during Saturday and have strict monitoring in place 24/7.

Along with timing, a scam will normally build in a number of stages that do not seem to link until the very last minute. The first step is to always gain access to user accounts.  As there are many complex tools in place to stop the scammer hacking the user information directly, the easiest way is to just ask the users for their login information directly. Surprising, this does work with the old ‘click on this link to update your information’ trick. The user is further fooled as the site mirrors the expected interface, as it is a direct copy of the legitimate website.  An extra step used to stop the user thinking something is wrong is when after the first attempt to enter your username and password , the second attempt works and redirects you back to the legitimate website.

With this user information, and generally before a weekend, the user information is used to change the following.  The price is reduced only enough to make the items look attractive, but not enough to raise the suspicion of the purchaser.  This leaves the purchaser with a sense of urgency around closing the deal. What makes the pricing look even more legitimate is the adding of comments stating that the company is running some type of sale before re-locating or closing down.  Finally, the contact details have been updated to redirect enquires back to the scammer. Now the spider web is set.

As the purchasers start to make contact, the scammer feeds off the urgency of the buyer and states that they have had a number of enquires and to hold or secure the item a holding fee or deposit is required to be paid immediately.  Stung! By the time it has come to the surface of what is happening, it is too late for some.  Nowadays the scammers are heading back for a second go and enquiring  about the vehicles that they have changed and updated.  By doing this they then see when they have been sprung, as they are notified along with the other buyers that they have been involved in a scam.  

The golden rule is to never reply to an email or click on a link requesting your username and details.  No online trader or bank will ever ask you to do this and if you have any doubt call the company requesting the information directly.  If it is found to be a scam, this kicks off a number of processes around getting the website removed and efforts in locating where the scammer operating from.  This also allows any other users who could have been impacted to be contacted.

How do I identify a phishing scam?

·         You receive an email from a company that you currently do business with and they are requesting you username and password

·         The email could state your name or company.  However generally they state Sir or Madam

·         The email warns that you have been a victim of fraud

·         The email says that you need to confirm or enter a new password

·         The HTML tags behind the links on the email will reveal that the underlying URL usually does not link to a page within the authentic domain

·         You did not initiate contact with the sender or may not have expected to receive it

·         The email contains grammatical errors and spelling mistakes.

Always be on your guard.


For more tips and information, check out the Scambusters NZ website here

The internet is dead, long live the internet!

What are the current internet trends and how are they impacting my business?

 

Understanding the internet and its changing direction is relatively easy. The biggest barrier is the time required to search and read through the mountains of articles, papers and comments. While the internet is huge, within itself it is mainly dominated in the west by a few key and very large players. When on the net you think you are master of your own destination, but behind the scenes the likes of Google and Facebook have a lot to say about what you see and how you find it. In a micro way, Trade Me operates the same way with the presentation of listings based on featuring, listing order and user profile. This being said, the easiest way to spot trends is to follow the major players and their moves.

Presence is a much overused word when discussing the internet, however the reason why is due to the fact that it is very important and the key step to being found. Without a well thought-out strategy on gaining a high profile presence, any online expenditure is wasted. A balance needs to be found between finding the right mass of prospects within a marketplace and then standing out from your competition.  This is where we face the first trend within the internet which is driven by two factors:

1.       Companies marketing on the internet understanding the value of guaranteed product  placement within the first page of a users search

2.       Search engine providers being able to value the first page real estate higher than subsequent results 


Users are under the impression that when they ‘search’ they are searching the entire web, when the reality is that they are searching an indexed database of the search engine provider they have chosen. From this point the results are displayed based on the highest paid bid to the search engine provider and the quality of clicks.  If you Google “Auckland Bars” for example, you will see what I mean. All those bars that have paid Google for advertising are displayed first and down the right hand side.  Next are the bars that have registered with Google Places and last, but not least are the non-paid-for listings which are termed “organic”.  This trend is growing throughout the web and online market places and to be on the first page you need to pay more, however the positive side of this is that it guarantees you high quality presence.

 

Community is nothing new as a concept and as humans we love to feel that we belong.  In a setting that we belong to, we feel trusted, share advice and are comfortable in promoting our products and services.  Understanding Facebook for most of us is an easy task as it just takes what we know in the real world and moves it into the online world where time and distance become far less challenging. Trend two is the collection and use of this personal data and behaviour for targeted sales. We see this emerging in a number of ways from the rapid growth of one day deal sites through to the business offerings from Facebook and Google+.  For years companies large and small have invested heavily into customer databases and Customer Relationship Management Systems (CRM) and nowadays, done correctly you can create your own community of customers encouraging interaction and information sharing. Now this can be implemented with very little or no direct cost. We spend a lot of our time with customers helping them to understand this concept and the opportunities it provides.


Trend three is easy if you learned to type at school. I sit here typing with my two figures as my time at school was Tech Drawing and Wood Work while the girls learned to type.  Our Gen Y friends want more and more of any transaction completed online; in practice this means that any online interaction counts and the rules of first impressions are just as important online as face to face. The visit to the dealership is being pushed further down the sales cycle and our research shows that prospects may have been researching their purchase for up to 6 months before approaching the dealer directly.  That first email or online enquiry really counts and may lose the prospect if not handled correctly. Another fact to consider is that just fewer than 49% of the prospects who visit your dealership could have traveled over an hour to get there after online research and interaction. Not only has online research grown, Gen Y are also quick to jump online to rate and comment on their purchased experiences; have a look at dealer rater.com for the shape of things to come.  Remember that this is nothing new for most industries like restaurants where sites like MenuMania have been well established for a long time.


Mobile internet access is growing at a rate faster than the adoption of any other technology or service in history, with Apple raining supreme with the iPhone. Microsoft, and Google with the purchase of Motorola want to become major players within this growing trend.  Ubiquitous and mobile access to the internet allowing users to spend more time online brings new value to all the current internet offerings and spends. If you do not have a smart phone you need one as they are easy to use and allow instant and quick access to your Gen Y customers and it has to be said that this is a winning trend for us all!

*AutoBase provide Mobile websites for AutoBase dealer websites. Email us here for more information. 

The Humble Vehicle View

What information is readily available to me now that can improve my sales?

Selling on the internet involves no chicken or egg; it has a clear starting point and a defining end point. There is great focus placed on lead tracking, targeted conversion rates and total sales and most of us carry these figures in our heads and our business performance depends on them. The first metric in the internet sales process that is often overlooked is the vehicle view count; it is such a simple measure which requires little interpretation. Once a listing is placed on the internet it shows the immediate acceptance and position of that vehicle within the market.

At AutoBase we have the privilege of seeing a huge amount of data to identify trends and changes in the online behaviour. One clear fact is that the internet is no different to most things in life and it conforms to the 80/20 rule, more effort is easily rewarded which brings me back to the humble vehicle view. Unlike a billboard or 30 second TV,C this little count provides instant gratification. We provide this information to our customers, either in an easy to read table, ready-made graph, or for the more advanced, a complete Excel spreadsheet to allow data importing or manipulation. 

A daily review of this data takes much of the mystery out of selling within market places like Trade Me Motors. Based on one month’s historical data you can quickly and easily gain the following information:

1. Total vehicle views for the month

2. Most popular vehicles

3. Least popular vehicles

4. Impact of pricing adjustments per vehicle

5. Reaction to a change in photos or vehicle description details

6. Duration a vehicle has been listed on Trade Me Motors

7. Trending of views per day

8. Trending of views per week

Having all this information readily at hand is only one part of a powerful puzzle. Mixing this information with what you already know about your customers and their buying history, takes the black magic out of the web. Rather than being in the 80% that hit and hope, optimising a few key elements of online strategy in reaction to what the market is reflecting back has to be a winner. This has always been one key area where I am surprised we get asked very few questions about. My view of the web is that it is a turkey shoot if you get it right.

One thing that can be overlooked or forgotten and that can be picked up by understanding vehicle view performance is where the customers are going after viewing the listing. There are many services now that let you enhance the listing by allowing the prospect to click away to view more information. We offer this service for our customers and thought should be taken on the final destination of these links as depending on where these links lead, it could be a point of weakness. Full advantage needs to be taken of the opportunity to move them away from a highly competitive environment like Trade Me into your more controlled sales process. If your listings are getting lots of views but your lead rate is low, check any links that you are displaying to ensure that they are adding true value back to the viewer. You would be surprised at the number of links that are either broken (as the web address has changed over time), or lead to very nondescript web pages with no focus. These links generally open a new browser window for the prospect which acts as a barrier for them returning to the classified web site. Getting this all working correctly is key.

A vehicle listed today should have its online performance reviewed tomorrow. This is easy for me to say as I sit at my desk looking out at a dark winter’s day, however the beauty of monitoring vehicle views is that it takes so little time and allows you to catch things early. A newly listed, well-priced, highly desirable vehicle should be generating proportionately more views than your older stock. If not, it needs to be quickly reviewed as it may have incorrect pricing, poor quality or no images, missing comments etc. You do not want to miss that golden period of a latest listing. Equally, any older listing should be addressed where the views have dropped; is it time to update the photos, freshen up the comments and review the pricing? If you are using Trade Me Motors, remember to leverage the model variant field for promotions. 

 Excerpt from an example of an AutoBase Monthly Vehicle Views Report.

For more information on this feature, please email us here.

Remember that the web with its saved searches and watch lists, turns all prospective customers into train spotters and you cannot fool them! You have to be transparent with your customers and prospects. With older listings it is best to openly state that the vehicle must go and that the price has been adjusted to reflect this. By being openly on the front foot it helps cut down on those last minute and unwanted price negotiations. If online customers are turned away by your actions they will never tell you.

In summary it all does start with the number of eyes on listings and this information is easy to obtain. Tracking and monitoring this activity is relatively low stress and the gains made around optimising an online sales approach will lead to increased activity in your lead pipeline. Nothing internet-based needs to be hard.

AutoBase Enhanced Daily Vehicle Views Graph. 
For more information on this feature, email us here.

Article by David Boshier, AutoBase General Manager