Mobile Customers Actually Prefer When Businesses Get a Little “Pushy”

By David Metter

The multiple ways businesses can communicate with customers are constantly expanding - from telephone, to e-mail, to text messaging. With today’s technology, communication methods continue to evolve at unprecedented speeds. As smartphones have gotten smarter, the rise in the development of apps has introduced yet another way to communicate: push messaging. In fact, according to Openmind Networks’ CEO Alex Duncan, push messages represent an opportunity for mobile network providers to the tune of $10.9 billion. The reason? Consumers respond to push notifications at a higher rate than any other type of B2C communication, and they also prefer them. According to the study, 55 percent of consumers stated that they responded to push notifications versus 10-20 percent that responded to text messages, and 3.2 percent to e-mail. In addition, 23 percent ranked push notifications as their preferred mode of mobile communications for brands and organizations. See more information about the study here.

However, just as in any unprompted communication with a consumer, the message needs to be relevant and deliver value. Today’s phones are tracking everything customers do - from their heartbeat and health activities, to the places they visit - and our phones don’t forget! Have you ever been near a business you frequently visit and received a push message with an offer or prompt to stop in? The food industry does an excellent job of this. Walk past a Starbucks and chances are, at the very least, your phone will have your Starbucks card on its home screen in anticipation that you will be needing it soon.

Dealerships can take advantage of this exact same technology. Mobile network operators know where their customers are at all times. The fact that it is now being reported as a multi-billion dollar opportunity suggests that direct to consumer push messaging through mobile operators is on the horizon.

If over half of consumers respond to relevant push messaging, imagine the possibilities of having the ability to push out messages to consumers that are at your dealership. Or, better yet, on a competitor’s lot. With all other forms of communication, a dealership requires some piece of information - a phone number or e-mail address. With push messages - especially if done in cooperation with mobile network operators - dealerships don’t have to have any consumer information whatsoever. They can simply geo-fence their dealership (or a specified area) and push a message directly to THAT consumer’s phone - the one standing on their lot, or shopping across the road, at the competition. Rather than blasting messages via e-mail or text messaging, or attempting to guess when a consumer is in-market, push messages allow you to send messages to people that are confirmed as being in market - and better yet, that are actively shopping for a vehicle at that very moment!

Smartphone mobile apps have taken communication and information sharing to a whole new level. The ability to push messages and relevant offers to consumers who actually prefer to receive communications in that very manner, and will respond to them, is marketing gold. Don’t end up being the dealership whose customers are receiving push messages from your competitors. 

Is Showrooming Stealing?

Consumers have been showrooming in retail stores for quite some time now and, while many retailers don’t like it, they’ve pretty much resigned themselves to the fact that it’s going to happen.  However, one surprising argument posted in an article by speaker, trainer and consultant, Bob Phibbs, went so far as to make the claim that showrooming is akin to stealing.

In his article, he explained that while consumers conduct a large part of their research online, they still love to touch, feel and physically look at products, which they cannot do on the Internet. His viewpoint is that retailers spend tons of money to have nice stores, great product displays, staff and inventory. Then they see consumers come in with the express intent to research the product they are interested in, just to leave and buy it for a better price elsewhere, or online.

Along the same line of thought, one disgruntled retailer chose to take this route in attempt to combat showrooming:

Isn’t this being a little small minded about where commerce is truly headed? To be successful in business we must all be willing to change and adapt with the times to some degree, or get left behind.  This extreme measure by the retailer will probably serve to deter more business than it gains. Can you imagine having this in your car dealership? 

Wouldn’t it be better to provide free Wi-Fi, and a great shopping experience and win customers over while they are at your dealership, rather than drive them away with unfriendly business practices?

The fact is that showrooming is here to stay -- it has become a natural part of consumer shopping behavior. Rather than trying to fight it, it perhaps makes more sense to explore ways to embrace it and use it to our advantage.  Think about it, the bottom line is that this practice could actually be driving MORE leads into your dealership, if you’re competitive in the marketplace. Perhaps the point is how you handle these leads once they arrive.

“How Showrooming is Changing the Way Auto Dealers Sell Cars” at #DMSC15

Our own David Metter will be a featured speaker at the next DMSC/ Digital Marketing Strategies Conference, to be held April 12-14, 2015, at the Napa Valley Marriott Resort & Spa.

David’s workshop, titled “How Showrooming is Changing the Way Auto Dealers Sell Cars,” will discuss how over 60 percent of customer’s visiting an auto dealer’s lot will use their smartphones to simultaneously shop the competition. Two thirds will then leave that dealership and visit another store within a day.

More than ever, dealers need an effective mobile strategy. Below include the full press release with more information on David Metter, his presentation, and DMSC15…

New York, NY— April 8, 2015 – HookLogic, the global leader in commerce search advertising and premium provider of lead-generating incentive solutions for automotive dealers, today announced that David Metter, President of Automotive for HookLogic, will be a featured speaker at the Digital Marketing Strategies Conference, to be held April 12-14, 2015, at the Napa Valley Marriott Resort & Spa.

Metter’s workshop, titled “How Showrooming is Changing the Way Auto Dealers Sell Cars,” will discuss how over 60 percent of customer’s visiting an auto dealer’s lot will use their smartphones to simultaneously shop the competition. Two thirds will then leave that dealership and visit another store within a day. This is called showrooming. More than ever, dealers need an effective mobile strategy. The workshop will be held at 10 am, Monday, April 13, and will provide dealers with key information necessary to create a highly successful, measureable mobile strategy.

Metter has a wealth of automotive knowledge and experience, both from a dealer and service provider perspective. Prior to joining HookLogic, Metter served more than six years as Chief Marketing Officer for MileOne Automotive, a large, privately held automotive dealership group. At MileOne, he built an industry-leading marketing organization, leveraging technology and the internet to increase market share, while dramatically decreasing advertising spend per vehicle sold.  Metter previously headed sales for Autobase for nearly 5 years, where he helped grow the company from a small start-up to the leading automotive CRM software vendor.

He began his career on showroom floor and, as an early adopter of technology, built a prospecting and follow-up system that helped him rise to become one of the top Chrysler salesmen in the country. He moved his way up, eventually to General Manager of a dealership. Metter is regarded as one of the foremost experts in the automotive marketing and e-commerce space and is a frequent speaker at industry events including Digital Dealer, the Global Automotive Conference, NADA, 20 Groups, and JD Power’s Automotive Internet Roundtable.

As President of Automotive for HookLogic, Meter leads strategy, product, sales, and marketing for the industry leading provider.  As the co-architect of the product suite, he works with OEM’s, agencies, vendor partners, and dealers to increase lead conversion, showroom visits, sales attribution, and brand Loyalty & Conquest rate.

The AutoHook suite of products by HookLogic provides the ultimate attribution model in auto. It drives more in-market shoppers into a dealership by offering time-sensitive, high-value hooks. The AutoHook Suite of Solutions includes: Web2Show, a tool that converts traffic from the dealer’s website into more showroom visitors. Prospects that visit the dealer’s site are invited to choose a free gift, redeemable by visiting their showroom. Lead2Show, a tool that maximizes the dealers 3rd party leads using scoring via data partners, such as Polk and Dataium, to immediately identify the highest intent to buy customers. And the newly released Mobile2Show, a best in class mobile targeting and showrooming solution. Mobile2Show targets competitive dealership/brands in the mobile environment, both on the dealer’s site as well as other local and regional sites, and drives prospects away from competitors and into the dealership’s showroom.

For more information or to schedule a demonstration any of the AutoHook Suite of products, visit: http://www6.hooklogic.com/autodemo,or call, 855-lead-2-show (855-532-3274).