Get your stock moving with Video

Selling cars isn’t easy, and the internet has made it challenging for dealers to distinguish themselves. From a buyer’s perspective, another dealership is just a click away. Dealers need a way to immediately capture the customer’s attention and differentiate themselves from their competition, online video is one of these ways.

No other marketing medium creates emotional attachment like video can. Whether you’re selling a house, car or a widget, video helps you merchandise at a whole new level.

In October, Trade Me Motors will be implementing a new video technology called AutoReel. This automatically creates a simple video presentation for participating dealers’ cars for sale on Trade Me Motors. AutoReel stitches together the photos of the vehicle, and adds an automated audio voice-over created from over 2,500 pre-recorded phrases. We think it is going to be a great way for dealers to stand out from the crowd.

The process is all automated, so the good news is that dealers don’t need to do any additional work to create the AutoReel presentations and have them bolted onto their Trade Me listings. Check out a Demo of this product here.

"Watching video content on computers has become just as common as watching video content on television among online consumers" 

Dazzz Wiltshire, Trade Me 

According to Nielsen’s global survey of multi-screen media usage, watching video content on computers has become just as common as watching video content on television among online consumers. More than 80 percent of Internet respondents in 56 countries reported watching video content at home on a computer (84%) or on TV (83%) at least once a month. By contrast, in 2010, more online consumers reported watching video content on TV (90%) than on a computer (86%) in a month-long period.

Back home in New Zealand, Nielsen also tells us that over 73% of Trade Me’s audience use YouTube, justifying that online video is just as popular here as well. As video consumption becomes part of everyday life, it should be no surprise that consumers prefer the use of video in product evaluation and selection, and that includes when shopping for a used car.

So why video, and what makes a product like AutoReel so special compared to a well-constructed static car listing?

Different - It sets you apart from other dealerships and means your listings will potentially appeal to a larger audience. Not all your visitors prefer to receive content using text alone, and AutoReel means they will now have the option to watch, listen and read at the same time.

Videos are "sticky" – AutoReel is a way to make information more interesting. Video engages visitors’ senses more than text, and is likely to attract more vehicle viewings encouraging visitors to look longer at your listings. This helps build long-term relationships with your visitors which can lead to more sales.

The use of video online is exploding – and if a picture speaks 1000 words, then video must be worth a million.  Can you afford not to be involved?

Please contact us here for more. 

Automation doesn’t beat the human touch

I’ve noticed a change is dealer listings lately. Part of my job is to look at listings day in day out, and here at AutoBase & Trade Me I think it’s safe to say we’re pretty versed in what makes a good listing. The proof is in the pudding – good listings get more views, and this information is available to us and all of our clients. Lately I’ve noticed a couple of trends on listings, and they seem to originate from listings being purely automated, with no human input.  

It’s not all about you

The first trend that dealers are cramming their listings full of information about their yard, with very little about the vehicle for sale. Some Vehicle Management Systems allow you to duplicate standard text about your dealership automatically to every listing. It is definitely great to include information about your yard, such as hours, deals, finance options etc – but it should be a balance so make sure you are also adding enough information about the vehicle for sale for potential buyers to search for, and find. People are looking for specific vehicles, and when you come across a listing for a vehicle you like the look off which has little or NO information about that vehicle – it puts you off and you move on to the next. It’s simply just annoying.  For example:

Private Sellers work the system

We know that listings with about half about the car and half about the yard work well. Last year we published an article about privates vs dealers. Privates Private sellers make up 70% of used automotive sales, dealers 30%.  As we see it, there are 3 main factors that distinguish private sellers from dealers that in reality, dealers should be up to play with. Time, Motivation and Emotion. Private sellers spend the time to put blood, sweat and tears into their listings with loads of information about the vehicle for sale. They only have 1 vehicle to sell so can put everything into it.  They will think of every single benefit and feature to mention in their listing to promote their vehicle. It sounds basic, but so many dealer listings lack much of the following information that privates do so well:

·         Selling points

·         Why are they selling

·         How does the car run

·         Prior maintenance

·         Mention modifications

·         Highlight good mileage

·         Highlight special features

Private sellers also tell a story about how great the vehicle has been, how well it runs, and how well they have looked after it. This is what potential buyers want and need to know. A listing with just “Black Ute, 4 wheel drive” in the comments is not going to motivate a potential buyer to contact that yard – there are plenty better listings available at the tip of their fingers to look at.

No info – no sale

People like to use classified sites such as Trade Me because it is easy to search for exactly what they want. My friends and I tend to plug in a keyword into one of the search bars, and go from there e.g. “economical automatic Toyota”, “black Suzuki Swift” or “X5 leather interior”.  Recently I watched a friend search online for a Mazda Atenza.  He was particularly interested in a leather interior. He did a search based on price, year, transmission and KMs. The first Atenza he found was from a local dealer, but only had only 2 images (both exterior), no features and hardly any information about the vehicle, let alone any information about the interior. He grunted and clicked onto the next listing. I asked him why he didn't just contact the dealer to ask for more information about that particular vehicle - he said he couldn't be bothered when there were so many other similar vehicles with more info in his list. That dealer lost a sale and he ended up buying from private seller, who had a listing for a slightly more expensive vehicle, but it showed him everything he wanted.

Keywords Keyword Keywords

If a listing has few keywords or information about the vehicle, it won’t be picked up in some search criteria. We can’t recommend enough that the more keywords you use, the better. Keywords are searched from the top to bottom of your listing on Trade Me Motors - therefore a key word in the features list OR comments 'free flow' section will be picked up in a browser's search. All the keywords below in yellow will be picked up in search results.

Here are some interesting facts:

·         80% of searches include 1 to 3 filters

·         Almost 50% of searches include a keyword

·         49% of viewers search for a car make  

·         Around 41% of searches include a price option. 

The most popular filters used when searching Trade Me Motors are:
1. Make
2. A keyword (e.g. manual, v8, 4x4, leather interior, economical etc)
3. Body style, Price or Year

Another trick to use

Here is a trick that we know encourages people to view tour listings. Instead of just having the Model Detail, this dealer has added *REDUCED* to draw attention to the listing.

You can see for yourself how effective it is at getting attention. You get 25 characters to play with, and they all show up within the search results headline for that vehicle, e.g: ** NZ NEW **, **SPECIAL** or ** Drive Away Price **. Use this information wisely - don't say anything in the headline unless it’s true and relevant to the vehicle being advertised. 

At the end of the day, Vehicle Managements Systems are a great way to get lots of stock loaded quickly but make sure you are reading your listings that are going out, and making sure that they have enough relevant information. Jump onto your classified website and search for your own listings – are they easy to find? There is a lot of competition on the Internet, so make sure you spend a little bit of time and effort to make the best of your listings to stand out from the crowd. You might just make more sales.

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.

Choosing a Domain Name for your Website

1. What is a Domain Name?

A domain name acts as a unique address for your website E.g. www.acmecars.co.nz. No two domain names can be the same. Once you've registered your domain name it's yours for as long as you keep paying the yearly renewal fee (usually around $60 per year). Th­e only way it can be taken off you is if you've managed to register a trademark name like www.nike.com.

2. What's the best name to get?

For example, if you’re selling a BMW Compact, you could use words in your Comments box like ‘small, sporty, safe hatchback’. ­This will mean that if someone searches for a ‘safe hatchback’, your listing will have a chance of showing up even though they haven’t specifically requested a BMW.

Using your Business Name (e.g. www.BobsCars.co.nz)

For your average business it's usually best to stick with your business name. Especially if you're going to be advertising your website mainly through offline advertising like building or vehicle signage, business cards, print adverts. ­This will help reinforce your businesses brand and if your customer remembers your business name then they can easily find your website.

Using a Generic Industry Name (e.g. www.usedcars.co.nz)

Another common option is to choose a well known word that explains what the business does. While this can be short and simple, don't be fooled into thinking that people will remember it just because it's obvious, like www.builder.com. Generic names are often forgotten faster because the customer doesn't make a conscious effort to try to remember it.

One benefit of a generic name is that it may help you get placed higher in the search results. For example, the words 'used cars' are pretty much the most common words typed into search engines by people looking to buy a used car. If you have the name www.usedcars.co.nz, you've got a head start at being 1st in the search results.

Note: Th­ere are many more things you need to do to be found by people using Search Engines, but a good domain name definitely helps.

Avoid using Abbreviations

If your business name is too long, avoid using abbreviations. For example if your business is called 'Bob's Quality Plumbing Services', resist the temptation to use www.bqps.co.nz. Just because it's short, doesn't mean people will remember it. You'd be better off using something like www.BobsQualityPlumbing.co.nz, it's not too long, and it uses most of your name.

Avoid Hyphens and Underscores

If your business name (or the name you want) is already taken, avoid using hyphens. For example, if your business is 'Quality Plumbing' and www.qualityplumbing.co.nz is taken, don't get www.quality-plumbing.co.nz.  Nine times out of ten, people will forget to type the hyphen and you'll lose that customer to whoever owns the domain name www.qualityplumbing.co.nz.

One benefit of using a hyphen is if you're trying to do everything possible to get your website found in Search Engines. If you wanted to have the words 'Used Cars' in your domain name, the Search Engines will recognize them better with a hyphen, (E.g. www.used-cars.co.nz) and show your site higher up the list of results. If you're going to do this, always make sure you have the non-hyphenated version too.

3. What Dot?

Should you get .co.nz or .com. All domain names end in dot-something. Most countries have a specific ending, for example New Zealand is .co.nz, and Australia is .com.au. While the .com ending is essentially related to America, it's widely accepted as an international ending that can be used in any country. Basically, if your customers are local or national, go with .co.nz, because it shows that your business is also local (or at least operates locally). If your customers are global, then go with the .com ending as it has a bit more respect in the international marketplace.

Avoid the second-choice endings

For your average business it's always best to get the main domain ending for your country. For example, in New Zealand .co.nz is the main ending used. This is what people will naturally type in if they are trying to remember your domain name. Also available are endings like .net.nz, .org.nz and many others, but if you use these you will lose visitors to the business who owns the .co.nz version.

How to write a good listing

You may be the best salesperson on the yard and be able to talk about a vehicle until the cows come home – but many salespeople struggle when putting pen to paper. Here is a checklist to help you construct an effective online listing.

Use your VMS to list the basics:

1.       Stock number

2.       Rego

3.       Make

4.       Model

5.       Year

6.       Price

7.       Transmission

8.       Mileage

Features:

Most VMS systems give you tick boxes to list features, so do load these up. However, leaving your listing at this point and adding nothing more will create a listing with nothing on it except for a list of features - most of which are stock standard - which will not entice viewers to contact you. An example of a scant listing with little information is below.

A buyer usually has a mental checklist in mind when they are looking for a car. Make a list of the things about the car you would tell a buyer on the yard, e.g.:

·         Reiterate the transmission – Auto/Manual

·         Reiterate the Colour

·         Leather seats

·         Low kilometres model

·         Economical

·         Reliable

·         Clean interior

Also tell the viewers what they should or might like to know about the car, and why they should buy it:

·         Has this car been AA appraised AA odometer verified

·         Has this car been serviced?

·         Are the on road costs included?

·         Is this car on special or reduced?

·         Does this car come with any extras?

·         How does it drive?

·         How is the exterior – any scratches, marks?

·         How many owners has it had?

·         Do you accept Trade Ins?

·         Do you offer finance options?

·         Do you help with freight if out of town?

Take these key words and points to construct a written description about the car. The key words you put into your description, as they will get picked up in Trade Me search results.

Also:

·    Load at least 5 photographs, front, back and interior/close ups

·    Don’t use capitals – IT LOOKS LIKE YOU ARE SHOUTING, is hard to read and puts people off

·    Balance information about your yard with information about the car – don’t fall into the trap of cramming your description with text all about your yard only

·    Avoid  abbreviations or industry terms that viewers may not understand to describe the car

If you do need more help, please remember your Account Manager is here to help. Email us here.

QR Tags - What are they all about?

Lately we have had a few enquiries from dealers about QR Tags (or Codes). Namely what are they and should you be using them? You have probably seen these black and white boxes in newspaper ads, on bus shelters and on billboards. QR stands for Quick Response, and anyone with a Smartphone can use QR tags. It is simply a bar code that is read by Smartphones with cameras. (See more about Smartphones here). QR codes were invented by Toyota in 1994 to track vehicles during the manufacturing process, designed to allow the 2 dimensional bar codes to be decoded at quickly. Now anyone with access to the internet can generate a QR code in about 5 seconds.

How do you create a QR tag?

You can easily generate a QR tag using one of many websites. The website will convert a standard URL into a QR code. Once converted, you can download the QR image file and then attach it to your e-mail signature, upload it as a Facebook profile photo, print it or post it elsewhere online. Some QR-conversion sites can also encode maps, text, phone numbers or RSS feeds. QR code-generating sites include Kaywa (below), Qurify and Delivr. I've typed the AutoBase web page into this QR code generator and ticked URL:

I can put this QR code to a brochure and once scanned, it will take the user's smartphone to our website, as below: 

 

How do you get the information from the QR tag?

To read a QR tag, you need to download a QR reader on your Smartphone. These are free to download. Here are a few that popped up when I checked the App Store on my phone.

When you see a QR tag, you can scan it using your phone. The QR code will send you to whatever has been coded, i.e. a website, text, a vcard (Outlook contact business card), a text message, a phone number or other data. Here is a listing I'm looking at on my work computer:

I then my scan the QR code in the bottom right corner using my iPhone, as below. 

Once your smartphone scans the QR tag it uses a wireless network to find the hyperlink destination. This doesn't have to be a website - it could be a create a text message or go straight to a phone number, ready to call. When scanned the code above,  my iPhone took me straight into the vehicle listing page, as below, where I can now save the page to my phone for future reference.

 

Why use QR tags?

QR tags are FAST -  instant gratification. Scanning a QR tag gives you information you need immediately, for example you may be on a PC at work, or your laptop. I have scanned QR codes i have seen as bus stops to get information on the event or product the bus stop sign is advertising.  You can scan a QR code on this listing and that listing web page will appear on your iPhone, ready to save and bookmark on your phone.

Where do I put my QR tags?

QR tags can be displayed on a website page, poster, business card, brochure, signage, Facebook, Twitter. In New York, stickers with QR tags are being distributed to bus stop which Smartphone users scan to get immediate bus timetable and traffic status updates.

You could put a QR tag on a vehicle for sale on your yard that takes viewers to that vehicle's website listing. The options are endless, but the most effective way for dealers to use QR tags would be to drive viewers to their online listings or company websites. See QR tags in action on listings and dealer pages on our website www.autobase.co.nz.

Check out this video for more information and advice on how to use QR codes within your dealership.

End of year round up

Merry Christmas everybody! We've had a great year and we hope you have too. We are often asked about vehicle listings stats for AutoBase and Trade Me Motors, so for the end the year, here are a few stats that you might find of interest.

 

·  This year's most popular make and model car is: 

Toyota Corolla

·  Most popular year of manufacture: 

2002

·  Average year of manufacture: 

2003

·   We had 149,811 listings added this year, of which 137,900 were cars

·  Average kms for cars listed for the year: 

88,138

·  Of the cars - 72.8% were petrol, 12.9% diesel, 
0.7% hybrid and 13.6% other

·  At the beginning of the year we had 38,250 listings and now have 39,120

·  Oldest car on AutoBase right now: Click Here

·  Biggest engine car on AutoBase right now: Click Here

·  Smallest engine car on AutoBase right now: Click Here

Wishing you a safe and happy holiday from all of us here at AutoBase. For help during the silly season (with your online listings, that is!), please contact us here.

Am I better than the rest?

We get a lot of questions from dealers wanting to know how their online performance stacks up with similar businesses, asking us for "Average" monthly stats on other dealers’ sales through put, number of enquiries etc. However, there is no ‘norm’. Variants like price, stock, lead management, marketing, promotions and social media all contribute to sales and leads which means you would be comparing apples to oranges. 

While we will never publish a NBR style rich list, the top performers would be no surprise as these businesses standout by showing excellence in all areas - not just in their online marketing.  Before getting into facts and figures, those at the top have a number of common traits worth exploring. 

·    They understand their market segment and customise their listings and marketing  approach to suit.

·    They have a tight lead management process.

·    If the customers they are seeking come from a niche base and vehicles are the type that forms a following or community, the driver is to get them back to their own dealership website or Facebook page. From this point it is easy for them to keep an on-going engaging conversation alive.

There are number of motor dealers who do this very well. Those chasing the mass-market concentrate on higher listing visibility and first in category style features, generally supported by finance options and customer testimonials.

When comparing performance, the easiest place to start is the vehicle online daily views. Can you get access to this information from your online provider? Trending and tracking can be achieved by just running your eye over the data, or if you wish with limited excel knowledge it is easily graphed. If your vehicle views are low, the vehicle listed should  be addressed.  

A common reason for low vehicle views (despite poor use of images and little detail) is a lack of keywords within the description or not placing a model name variation within the text. If the listing is a Mazda CX-7Land Cruiser make sure you use the words CX7 or Landcruiser within the comments. Searching for your own listings is a great way of bench marking performance. Most vehicle browsers search for a keyword - hence the requirement to have relevant and high value keywords within a listing. One of the most popular key words is ‘Manual’ transmission. The quality and number of images have a large bearing on views and those listings with over 11 images attached attract more attention than those will less. And avoid place holder images if possible. or

Avoid placeholders where possible

Buying higher profile and larger real estate online works just like print advertising. Utilise any features of packages that your online provider offers to give your listings more exposure. If your goal is to also drive customers to your own dealership website, state in your listings that there is more information available to the customer if they go to your website. Some online providers offer hyperlinks directly through to your website from your listings. This additional information can be anything of value to the customer ranging from YouTube clips, finance options or other customer testimonials.

In summary, online media is accountable, with accessible performance. Time does need to be taken to track trends however the information is readily at hand and the payoff is immediate. Getting it right is what counts.


*For more information on Vehicle View Reporting and tools, please email us here.