Enhancements Continue for Lead2Show

As the New Year approaches, we continue to make great enhancements to the entire AutoHook Product Suite. One of the products that I am the most proud of is Lead2Show.  If you aren't familiar with it, Lead2Show is an award-winning solution that takes leads that you purchase or receive and pinpoints the highest intent to buy customers. The industries best data providers are then utilized to drive these hand-raising customers right into your showroom. As a dealer, you receive leads from all around your dealership. Lead2Show allows dealers like you to go after specific groups of high-closing leads by using geo-targeting and “big data.” The end result is a higher show rate into the dealership and a higher close rate on your existing leads. When leads come into your CRM system, you will continue to follow up as you do today. Lead2Show is automated with specific filters and execution orders that take place behind the scenes.

Here are just a few of the enhancements we've made to Lead2Show that are sure to ring in a very happy new year for dealers, based on their specific goals:

• You want to target your competitor’s backyard. Have you ever looked at your market share report and noticed that although you get leads in your competitor’s market area, those customers don’t buy from you?  Lead2Show will help change the behavior of those customers, giving them a reason to drive past your competitor and give you and your sales team an opportunity.

• A competitor that is farther from you is still taking share from your dealership.  Lead2Show will target those leads differently, raising the stakes for the customer, and drive them into your dealership.  Some of our most successful dealers see their closing rates triple with geo-targeted messages and incentives.

• You want to identify the leads that are most likely to buy:Lead2Show also uses the industry’s best “Big Data” to drive more customers your way.  HookLogic’s integration of Polk Lead Intelligence allows our dealers to quickly identify the leads that are lower in the funnel.  When the lead comes into the dealership’s CRM, Lead2Show immediately matches the lead against over 100 data points including past registration data, lifestyle information, and credit worthiness.  Customers who score high are sent a time sensitive email with an incentive to pick your dealership. Does this really work?  In a recent case study with over 170 dealerships, incentivizing a high scoring lead resulted in an overall closing ratio of 47%.  When the high scoring lead wasn't incentivized, the buy rate was only 28%.  These high intenders are buyers.  Now you just need to make sure that they buy from you instead of the competition.

• You want to know where your leads go after they visit your site, and how you can bring them back: Adding another “Big Data” provider, Lead2Show infuses Dataium’s VisiCogn In-Market Lead Alert.  This allows our dealers to match up each lead and watch those customers if they show specific online behavior post lead submission. Make no mistake; this is not re-targeting based on predictive guessing that others may talk about.  This matches up a customer that has submitted a lead to YOUR dealership and, even if it is 3 weeks after, allows you to know if this customer is searching for a vehicle on your site or on other sites like Cars.com, OEM sites, or even other dealership sites.  HookLogic uses this match to automatically deliver a time sensitive incentive via email to drive that customer into your dealership at a point when that customer has come back into market and alerts you when it happens.  HookLogic literally reanimates your old leads and provides a differentiating message to the customer at the right time.  No one other than HookLogic does anything like this.

• You want to link internet and phone leads: Lead2Show integrates offline call tracking data from CallSource. Each time a call comes in, Lead2Show matches that call information against your Internet leads, even if it is weeks or months after the lead was submitted.  A customer call is the hottest lead and no matter if the call is handled well or poorly by the salesperson, Lead2Show has you covered, alerting you of the match and sending a time sensitive incentive via email to the customer.  Lead2Show reanimates the lead when that customer is showing buying tendencies.  No one uses offline call tracking data to execute like HookLogic and CallSource.

HookLogic pulled together the top “big data” providers in the auto industry and built the best execution engine to drive more leads into your showroom.  When our dealers utilize geo-targeting and Polk Lead Intelligence to instantly identify the best leads, and then layer in Dataium and CallSource data to reanimate their leads, they see huge increases in how many customers visit the dealership.  In some cases as many as an additional 25 shows and closing ratios as high as 28%.  One successful dealer has sold an additional 20 cars a month for the past 3 months on Lead2Show.

Lead2Show supercharges your existing 3^rd party, OEM, and listing site leads and drives more customers into your showroom, in most cases, over a 50% increase, a higher closing ratio, which pushes your market share higher and your cost per sale is lowered.

And here is a reminder what makes AutoHook’s Lead2Show different:

• Your dealership can target based on your customer’s geographic region.
• You will also be able to target based on Polk Lead Intelligence and Registration Data.
• We will reanimate old leads based on Dataium online activity and match up/reanimate old leads based on CallSource offline call activity.

See for yourself.  Click here to check out how Lead2Show can give you a competitive advantage.

What is a Good ROI and What is a Good Performance Standard?

5 Tips to Measure ROI at Your Dealership Presented by The AutoHook Training Showw/ guest @JimBtheCarGuy

Are you looking to improve that ever-elusive lead-to-show ratio? How can you unless you know the best leads to focus on? And what are some ways to do this without hurting your show-to-close ratio?

These are important questions that all dealers must strive to know if you want to stay ahead of the game in today’s increasingly more competitive digital landscape. But before you address these questions it might be best to get a firm grip of your Return on Investment (ROI).

Measuring ROI with Jim B the Car Guy

Measuring your ROI can be a daunting task and our friend Jim Bell, otherwise known as @JimBtheCarGuy has offered to show us some methods he is using at  from Don Ayres Honda in Fort Wayne, Indiana where Jim is Internet Performance & Marketing Director.

On Tuesday September 11 at 2pm EDT, Jim will be leading a live web event with us where he will be covering the following best practices for ROI that he applies:

• What is a lead and what counts?
• Why is it important to watch your ROI on a monthly/weekly basis?
• How to calculate your ROI effectively
• How to calculate your cost per lead
• How to calculate your cost per sale per vendor
• What is a good ROI and what is the standard you should be at?
• How do you make decisions on what you have found in your reporting?

The web event will be conducted using GoToWebinar. To attend simply click the button below to register and you will receive a unique access code. If you want to include other people at your dealership then forward them the registration link or simply share this page. GoToWebinars are limited to 100 people so be sure to register right away if you wish to attend.

About the Presenter

Jim Bell is Marketing and Internet Performance Director at Don Ayres Honda in Fort Wayne, IN where he has been for the last 3 years. Jim manages all internet and marketing strategies within the Dealership for Sales, Service, and the Parts Departments. Jim also is the Blogmaster of JimBtheCarGuy where he shares his experiences and insights as an automotive professional. You can also catch him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. Jim has been an AutoHook customer since March 2012.

About AutoHook Webinars

HookLogic Automotive conducts multiple training and best practice webinars throughout each month. All are conducted using GoToWebinar and some are simultaneously run using a Hangout on Google where people can participate in a video chat discussion. The monthly Best Practices webinar typically features a guest presenter and has a different topic each month. These webinars are scheduled for the 18th of each month. The AutoHook Training Show is a weekly Hangout that is simulcast using GoToWebinar. Most of the time there is no set agenda or speaker for the weekly Hangouts, giving AutoHook users a chance to interact with us face-to-face. Sometimes such as in this case the weekly “training show” is being dedicated to a specific topic or best practice. The best way to stay informed about our training events is to subscribe to our blog and register with each GoToWebinar series. Once you are registered for a particular series then you are automatically registered for all events within that series. For more information about our webinars visit the Training Resources page on our website.

Leveraging Big Data with Dataium’s Cloud Intelligence - Live Web Cast Aug 17

“Big Data is the new definitive source of competitive advantage across all industries,”… “For those organizations that understand and embrace the new reality of Big Data, the possibilities for new innovation, improved agility, and increased profitability are nearly endless.” Forbes, 2/18/2012.

Dataium Cloud Intelligence & HookLogic Lead2Show

Dataium’sCloud Intelligence® (CI) Platform, which HookLogic now leverages to make automated real-time decisions, aggregates billions of behavioral events and consumer activity allowing dealerships across the US to work with executables like HookLogic’sAutoHook to provide timely personalized offers and incentives to people shopping for a vehicle.

By implementing HookLogic’s Lead2Show program with Dataium’s Cloud Intelligence platform your dealership will gain a competitive advantage over others that are still doing things the old fashioned way and driving blind when it comes to understanding auto shoppers.

Few people will re-submit their information to you when they return to your website. Now they don’t have to, because you will already know they came back.

Live Web Cast

To explain how, Dataium’s own Sean Murphy will be our guest presenter Friday August 17 at 11:30 AM EDT in HookLogic’s Monthly Best Practices webinar. Sean joined us back in April for an initial introduction to Dataium’s Cloud Intelligence Platform and how it works with AutoHook. He is back by popular demand to provide more clarity and insight to this fascinating and powerful topic.

In this live web cast we will cover...

• Knowing the Future – Today’s shopper behavior predicts tomorrow’s shopping trends.
• Knowing Your Customer – Dataium sees the entire online buying process, from keyword usage, inventory searches, lead submission, and everything in between.
• Knowing Your Website’s performance – Unlike most other web analytics providers, we enhance website statistics with comparative industry, brand and market benchmarks. As an independent web analytics provider our only goal is timely and accurate metrics.
• Data-based Decisions - With HookLogic’s Lead2Show program you can automatically incent shoppers the minute they show new signs of wanting to buy a vehicle.

> Register Free Online for the Live Web Cast

Sean Murphy of Dataium

About the Presenter

Sean Murphy is a car guy and tech geek with more than 20 years of experience in both the automotive and enterprise IT sectors.  He is currently the Enterprise Account Manager for Dataium, helping bring Dataium’s solutions to a variety of automotive clients.  Prior to joining Dataium, he was a cofounder of Buycentives, which developed technology to deliver data-driven incentives to online auto shoppers; he spent several years at leading ad agency, JWT, delivering product and consumer insights to Ford Motor Company; and worked for almost a decade at GM’s Saturn Corp., handling everything from product strategy and planning to dealer sales, service, and parts.

Data-based Intelligence

Let us demonstrate precisely how much clarity you can achieve utilizing Dataium’s Cloud Intelligence® solution in conjunction with AutoHook. As the largest aggregator of online automotive shopper behavior Dataium can provide you greater visibility into the consumer path to purchase than ever before. By analyzing the online shopping behavior of over 100 million auto shoppers across a diverse network of automotive manufacturer, dealership, and retail portal websites, you can finally remove the blinders to attribution, influence, comparative performance, and in-market activity.

Using Triggered Links to Personalize Offers

Triggered Links for Personalized Offers

According to academic literature as referenced in a recent White Paper by Bronto called, "Automate, Increase Engagement, & Drive Revenue with Triggered Messages," the average maximum, continuous adult attention span on the Internet is less than 30 seconds and the focused attention span is less 8 seconds. Those facts mean you have precious little time to get your subscribers’ attention, keep it and, as a result, optimize where it matters. Based on these statistics, it comes as no surprise that relevance and timeliness drive responses and generic mass messaging comes up short. In order to compete for inbox-­, mind-­ and wallet-­ share with your customers, your messages have to relate to them instantly.

An easy, and often overlooked way to expand a successful email marketing program is to include trigger-­based email campaigns. Since these actions are triggered by specific actions and behavior, your email marketing will be more relevant, more effective, and ultimately increase conversions.

When leveraging triggered-based workflows in your email marketing program it is important to consider some best practices to ensure your triggered campaigns are successful. To help with this we have two resources for you:

1. Download Bronto’s White Paper which has in-depth information surrounding triggered messaging in general.
2. Attend our Best Practices webinar to learn how to utilize the Triggered Link capabilities available in the AutoHook Web Suite.

Register for our Upcoming Free Workshop

On Wednesday July 18 at 11:30 AM EDT, HookLogic Automotive’s Director of Business Operations Ryan Gerardi will be leading the monthly Best Practices webinar to demonstrate how to use Triggered Links within the AutoHook Web Suite. In this webinar, Gerardi will...

• Show examples of how Triggered Links are being used now
• Demonstrate how Triggered Links work
• Explain the process of setting them up
• Answer questions surrounding strategic planning and implementation

Participation to this live web cast is free and there is no obligation to attend if you register and do not attend. A recording of the web cast and the presentation deck will be made available to those that register.

> Click here to register for the event on GoToWebinar

Automotive Workshops Using Google+

Join Us on Google Hangout and On Air Too

We are are also experimenting with the use of Google Hangout and On Air for our live events now too. If you are interested in attending the Hangout for behind-the-scenes and face-to-face interaction then click here to RSVP for this event on Google+ and make certain your are online and logged in to Google at the time of the event (Wed July 18 @ 11:30 AM EDT).

Hope to see you there!

Stair Step Programs; What’s Your Plan of Execution?

As many of you know, several automakers have rolled out incentive programs that pay dealers escalating bonuses as you sell more of a specific model.  This has been a selling tactic that has been used for many years.  Instead of advertising rebates to the consumer, the manufacturers incent the dealers with these stair-step programs with the hopes of lifting sales. If you read the Automotive News article that was published on May 21st, Stair Step Incentives Are Back, you know that dealers are split on the topic of stair-step programs.  Some dealers know how to work the system, having a plan to execute once these programs are released.  But many dealers say stair-step programs wreak havoc on their markets. Dealers pushing for their sales bogeys in the final days of a program often slash prices well below their cost in hopes of a large volume-based bonus at the end.

automotive-stait-step-program

If you work for a dealership that just sits back and waits for customers to walk in the door throughout the month, you probably don't like these programs. Personally, I love stair-step programs because I always felt like I had a plan to execute on them.  Our group would utilize many of our existing marketing tools like Cars.com new car specials, Autotrader.com spotlight ads, our email marketing ability, social networking, paid search, and retargeting ads to drive specific car buyers into our lead engines.

In fact, while I was on the dealership operations side of the fence, we built a solution that would proactively segment customers based on specific models (i.e. Honda Accord) and drive them into our showrooms.  This solution ultimately morphed into HookLogic’s Lead to Show tool.  Hundreds of dealers use Lead to Show every day to segment customers that submit leads on those cars that are a part of the stair-step program and incent those customers to visit your showroom floor.

We would turn this on as soon as we would receive the announcement so that we would get a head start on our competition.  Driving more customers into the showroom would give our salespeople more “at-bats” on the cars that we needed to move, hence allowing us to sell more and hitting the bonus levels earlier in the month so we weren’t battling with our competition while they were in panic mode during the last week of month.

When you see these types of manufacturer programs, don’t take the same path as many of your competitors.  Heck, don’t follow the same ritual that your dealership has in past.  Come up with a multi-faceted plan and execute on it.  Use tools that will help you differentiate yourself from your competition and you will come out on top, with higher market share and a lower cost per sale...oh yeah, and more profit from the stair-step bonuses.

How Does CRM Help Sell Cars Today?

How Does CRM help sell cars today? Given the fact that car dealers rely heavily on Internet leads from multiple sources including their own dealership websites, it is imperative for dealers to have a way of prioritizing, handling, following up, and filtering through hundreds if not thousands of opportunities each and every month.

This is why Customer Relationship Management (CRM) plays such an essential role in selling cars in today’s market.

Automotive CRM Adaptability

The future of CRM is about adaptability

Ten years ago approximately 20% of dealers had an automated CRM system. Today this is so mainstream that it is pushing CRM providers to offer more features and solutions that better fit the dealerships’ needs.

As an example, it is only a matter of time before we see more mobile functionality within CRM systems incorporating apps with smartphones and tablets. These mobile functions will be tightly woven into a social play, including video and check-in features.

That being said, CRM providers will want to think differently from how they have in the past.  These companies can't be the best at everything so they will need to start allowing niche companies to “bolt on” their specialty products to enhance the dealer’s experience.

For instance Salesforce.com, arguably the world’s largest CRM company used in many industries, has an API that allows more specialized companies to offer Salesforce users more and better capabilities such as enhanced reporting, mobile functionality, and other capabilities to their users.

Within the auto industry this doesn't happen but if you look at the website space, companies like PureCars, UnityWorks, and ActivEngage are “bolting on” to dealership websites to enhance conversion and the customer experience.

Auto dealers should expect the same flexibility with their CRM providers.

Maximize the potential of your CRM

Most dealers don't take advantage of their sold customer data for remarketing purposes, especially around their service departments. I am not talking about the set-it-and-forget-it automated birthday, anniversary, service reminder emails and postcards.  I am talking about the polling of customer data for highly targeted campaigns.

A CRM should be used in a holistic endless manner throughout the customer life cycle to send highly targeted messages of all kinds to customers of all types.

Differentiate your dealership from your competition

To help differentiate your dealership, avoid using the default letters and email response templates that come with your CRM. Odds are the dealership down the street has the same one going out.  Be different and make your own.

In my career I didn’t care if my competition knew what tools I used at my dealership because I knew we would use them more effectively.

Don’t fall for the boilerplate CRM presentation

When you are considering a CRM solution, take your time to figure out your major and minor pain points that you and your sales staff have, document them, and then schedule a meeting to discuss these issues. Let the CRM provider think about these issues for several days before you have a presentation of their solution. If they follow your lead, you will get a presentation that will fit your needs and you will have an easier time making a decision that is right for you.

You have the power

Don’t roll over.  If you have a plan, stick to it. If you picked the right CRM provider, they will be your partner and help you execute on your plan.  Remember, you are the customer.

Come up with a plan.  Use your data to your advantage.  And execute well.  If you do this, your CRM tool will help you build a profitable dealership that will give you an incredible ROI.

Digital Summit @ Mountain View: Disclosures of an Auto Conference Virgin, Part 2

Dealers Doing it Right Panel

Last week, I shared a number of key learnings from the Digital Summit @ Mountain View, from my vantage point as someone new to the auto conference circuit. As promised, here are the last 4 of my top 8 takeaways from the Summit.

5. Look at search as only working part of a bigger, holistic strategy: “It’s not just about search anymore,” according to Jonika Hoomes of Google. Don’t get me wrong, search is still important. In fact, 71% of people find it useful while shopping for cars. The point here is that it has to be combined with other tactics to really make an impact. For example, search coupled with display really hits home. Some marketers may believe that display is just a branding tool (I, working for HookLogic, surely know otherwise!). Think again!  Display + Search = Sales.

6. Dealers MUST be online. The proof is in the numbers: So many great statistics were shared during the Summit that prove what most of you already know. Either way, here’s a pat on the back and some further validation that digital dealers RULE!

• People consult an average of 18.2 sources before buying a car. For choosing a president?  Only 14.
• 90% of car buyers start their research online
• 50% of car shoppers pick their dealership online
• 76% of today’s car shoppers who visit a manufacturer’s website, visit a dealer site within 30 minutes.

7. Make everything tangible and relatable: Both Guy Kawasaki and Grant Cardone both touched on something all marketers need to remember: Use salient points. Relate what you’re saying…and selling, to things your customers understand. For example, ask a car shopper, “How much did you spend on your last vacation?” and then, “How long did that last?” in relation to the price of a car and its longevity. It really puts things into perspective.

8. Video drives engagement: Our very own Jeff Kershner held a panel discussion entitled, ‘Dealers Doing it Right’ which touched on a number of innovative tactics, such as video, that car dealers are using to drive customer engagement and sales. According to panelists, using video in email leads to much higher open and engagement rates. Panelists also mentioned that inventory that is displayed on youtube tends to sell faster than inventory that is not. It seems like video is well worth doing. Lastly, I can’t help but give a shout out to our client, Capital Motors for creating this video  to promote their Trade and Upgrade program.  I highly encourage you to check it out!

How to Turn Chat Conversations into Qualified Test Drives

automotive-chat

Chat is proving to be one of the more effective ways to convert website visitors into qualified buying prospects. For auto dealers, automotive chat is a tool that can be leveraged internally and externally to produce a certain desired result. But what exactly is a that result? Is it to produce a lead? And what is a lead really?

Is it a person’s contact info or is it a person interested in buying a vehicle soon that has agreed to communicate with you in some form or fashion?

How to define a lead is tricky, but having a qualified buyer appear in your showroom is not. 

With ActivEngage’s new partnership with HookLogic, auto dealers will very soon have a tool for incenting qualified car buyers in online chat conversations on a dealer’s website to come in for a test drive and meet with one of your sales associates.

This is just one of several ways that ActivEngage will be able to utilize HookLogic’s innovative reward incentive programs in their managed chat conversations for auto dealers.

And later this week on Friday May 18, ActivEngage, National Sales Director Ralph Eberson will be on stage with HookLogic as part of our AutoHook Advanced User Webinar series. In this live event, Ralph will discuss the benefits of managed chat for auto dealers and how integrating with HookLogic enables ActivEngage to bring yet one more cutting edge tool into the mix for its dealership community.

About Ralph Ebersole

Ralph Ebersole - ActivEngage

Ralph D. Ebersole is a Regional Director of Sales for ActivEngage. A recognized Automotive Digital thought leader, he brings more than 30 years of automotive industry experience, consulting and training expertise. In markets across the country, Ebersole has also consulted in-dealership with thousands of sales representatives to optimize traffic and drive more sales. Visit Ralph on LinkedIn.

Live Event

Join us this Friday at 11:30 AM ETD for a live GoToMeeting Webinar event hosted by Ryan Gerardi of HookLogic with Guest Presenter Ralph Eberson from ActivEngage.

Register Now: https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/417484190

There is no cost or obligation to attend this webinar. Your information will be shared with HookLogic and with ActivEngage when you register for this webinar.

Digital Summit @ Mountain View: Disclosures of an Auto Conference Virgin, Part 1

Smiling Faces @ The Digital Summit, Mountain View

As a woman with years of professional exposure to predominantly ecommerce and retail, the auto industry – even as it pertains to digital marketing, is a bit foreign to me. When I was given the opportunity to attend the Digital Summit @ Mountain View last week, I thought to myself, “I’m going to feel like a fish out of water, but this is something I have to do if I really want to market AutoHook. I need to learn the industry,” And so, I went…

And yes, maybe I was a bit out of my element, but once I took it all in and had a few conversations with my fellow attendees I realized that we have a lot in common, and they are all marketers of the digital age just like me. Sure, they’re selling cars rather than technologies, but their challenges, experiences and thoughts within the digital realm are not so different from my own.  And these people are SAAVY.

On that note, I’d like to share the first 4 of my top 8 key learnings from the Summit which you may find quite valuable (or, entertaining at the least.  Keep in mind, I’m a newbie!):

1.       The key to a successful launch is a great story: Guy Kawasaki, the keynote speaker at the event, taught us all that if your business or dealership is embarking on something new, you must have a great story behind it in order to sell it well. For example, maybe your new showroom used to be a winery. Or maybe you’re running a big promotion in May because that’s the month you sold your first car. Play off of these interesting tidbits by giving people a tangible and relatable story to follow, and you’ll be sure to grab more attention and make more sales.

2.       Mobile. Do it:  Okay, we get it. Or do we really? Even though mobile is something that marketers in all industries are a bit sick of hearing about, we’re still just not doing it! The statistics are frightening. More than half of small/medium sized businesses still don’t have a mobile site. And, 40% of consumers have turned to a competitor’s site after a bad mobile experience. My last thought on this one was, “Thank goodness we have an app.”

3.       Don’t abuse your social network privileges: As a good rule of thumb, Guy says that whenever you’re sharing via social media, make sure your Tweet, Status, etc. provides 1. Information, 2. Insights 3. Assistance. For example, a statistic such as “90% of car buyers start their research online” is informative, while “Taking a test drive? Acquaint yourself with the vehicle before starting the engine.” provides assistance. Just because you have the power to reach your audience as many times a day as you want, you shouldn’t feel like you have to.

4.       Lead to Show is a crowd pleaser: As someone who only learned about the Lead to Show product suite from an internal vantage point, it was refreshing to confirm my strong affirmation that our technology drives real, strong and significant results for dealers. When speaking with me during the main day of the conference, one client asked his partner, “How many cars did we sell through HookLogic last month?” His counterpart responded, “About 20% more than we would have without.” And that kind of thing was heard multiple times throughout my visit.

Look out next week for part 2. I’ll share some key stats and insights from my “virgin vantage point.”

Video Highlights of David Metter's Automotive ZMOT Panel at DD12

ZMOT ZMOT ZMOT. It seems to be all that we are talking about these days. If you are in e-commerce and/or automotive, it is hard to escape this new term that was introduced this past year by Shopper Sciences as part of Google's quantitative review of decision making behavior across shopping, services, and voting.

Although the term ZMOT, which stands for Zero Moment of Truth, might be new, the concept is far from new. The zero moment of truth for a shopper refers to "all the research consumers do online before making their purchase." Source: TechWyse.com.

In today's language, ZMOT pretty much occurs online during a shopper's quest to better understand product and availability. Product of course if mandated by the OEM but availability is primarily determined by the dealerships.

The automotive zero moment of truth for an auto shopper often begins with a search engine and ends either on a dealer's website or in the showroom.

By "end" I mean that the shopper comes to a conscious decision as to which product she is going to buy and from which dealer she will buy from.

From this point, FMOT enters the scene, which stands for First Moment of Truth. In a new car owner's  first moment of truth, the customer is on her honeymoon with her purchase and is more likely now to share her joy with friends as opposed to several weeks later. Thus, dealers today must consider their role not only in ZMOT but also in FMOT.

In a recent interview with Mike Esposito from Auto/Mate Systems, Mike summed it up perfectly by stating, "We used to talk about 'ups' and 'be backs'. Now you hear about ZMOT, and SEO, and digital marketing. The whole language has changed. The dealer that doesn’t come up to speed on these things is going to be left behind.”

In the video below, HookLogic President of Automotive David Metter moderates a panel on Automotive ZMOT and FMOT at DD12 with panelists Shaun Kniffin from Germain Motorcars, Andrew DiFeo from Hyundai of St. Augustine, Tom White Jr. from Suzui of Wichita, and David Kain from Kain Automotive.

The premise of the panel revolves around the debate of whether or not dealers are responsible for stimulus advertising which again is where a shopper's ZMOT will occur. As you will see, some dealers must generate their own stimulus while others do not, but the overlying business problem facing all auto dealerships is how they address ZMOT and how they address FMOT.

The original panel was pretty much an hour long. This video is all but three minutes so clearly only a very limited amount of what was discussed made it into this video. The pieces that did make tell a simple story that we hope all dealers can use to their benefit.

Take a look and feel free to respond with your thoughts by leaving a comment on this post.  You are welcome to share this post and/or video with others on your own blog or in social media. If you do please let us know where you are sharing it so that we can chime in to people's responses.

To learn more about how your dealership can take its customers from ZMOT to FMOT using HookLogic's AutoHook Suite of Products, visit our website for a free demo or to read some of the success stories that our own customers have shared.