The state of automotive internet marketing

The State of Automotive Internet Marketing

Jeff TireyMongoose Metrics, CMO

May 16, 2012

What We Will Cover In The Next Hour

1. Review how the workshop’s data was created and understand its strengths AND pitfalls.

2. Discuss how benchmarking can be an important tool in the formation of your marketing plans.

3. Dive deep into the data to uncover results, such as the rates of use of important third-party web technologies and services.

4. Identify how social media is used in the automotive industry.

Workshop Goals

• Gain a high level vision of where you’re industry is at.

• Identify best practices and top performers in your industry

• Identify the rates of technology use within your industry

• Justify your marketing decisions with data

• Discover the new world of big-data and big data tools

Key Goal

More than anything…

I want you to understand at a high level what your industry is doing and have confidencewhen forming your own Internet marketing strategic plan.

… because, you’ll have the data to backup your decisions.

Best Of All

All the data we discuss in this workshop,

you will have full access to for your own further study.

About The Data

• Approximately 17,669 U.S. automotive dealer websites

• The data was built by first retrieving company information, including web address, using the Jigsaw.com API.

• With the website address, a website crawler visited each website and download the source-code of the homepage.

Part 1 – The Data

Data Collection Overview

Part 1 – The Data

To Be Clear

• The data-set only contains the homepage source code.

• Not the entire website.

• If a technology is not present on the homepage, it will not be found.

Part 1 – The Data

This Data Set is Not Perfect

• It’s only the homepage

• It contains rouge records introduced by Jigsaw through the incorrect categorization of companies

Part 1 – The Data

Bad Record Example - Trucks

Part 1 – The Data

Bad Record Example - Motorcycles

Part 1 – The Data

Bad Record Example - Tires

Part 1 – The Data

So How Can We Trust This Data?

• The API returned an initial dataset of 32,000 records.

• Approximately 15,000 records – about 46% of records -where purged through cleaning to bring the dataset to 17,669

• While stragglers remain in the record-set, they are low enough to not skew the findings.

• This is the nature of big-data. It’s big, but imperfect. (This is true for Hoovers and D&B.)

Part 1 – The Data

How do we know the study’s data-set is a good representation of all U.S.

automotive dealer websites?

Part 1 – The Data

NADA Industry Research

Part 1 – The Data

NADA – New Car Dealerships

Part 1 – The Data

Study’s Data: 17,669NADA’s Data: 17,700

The two record-sets are very close in count, but this does not mean the two hold the same records. A

detailed examination of the study’s data-set indicates a rate of error of about 3%-5%.

I can live with that.

Part 1 – The Data

Ok, so we have the data... What do we do with it?

Part 1 – The Data

Benchmarking

• Benchmarking provides a moment in time snapshot of your business’s performance and helps you see clearly your position in a relation with a particular standard.

Part 2 – Benchmarking

Benchmarking Provides Context

• Context makes data relevant

• With context you can compare your company’s efforts to other companies in direct competition.

• Compare your company to best-performers in your industry


Benchmarking Beware!

• Benchmarking does not tell you what to do.

• You need KPIs for that


Develop Your Own KPIs

• What is not measured is not managed.

• KPIs define and measure progress

• Base KPIs on your own overall business goals

• Measure KPIs over time

• Example: If overall company goal is to increase customer service appointments, your KPI could be to increase existing customer social media engagement by 30%


“We have the facts and we’re using them too”

Distribution of Web Analytics Packages

Part 3 – Results

Part 3 – Results

Unknown

Trade-In Car Value

AutoTrader – 564

Pure Cars – 349

Black Book - 947

Part 3 – Results

Reviews/Customer Experience

Better Business – 564

Dealer Rater – 925

iPerceptions- 947

Part 3 – Results

Chat

Contact At Once – 2,619

Live Person – 65

Provide Support - 16

Part 3 – Results

Only 94 Dealer Websites Use Quantcast

Part 3 – Results

Be Sure To Hide Audience Reports

Part 3 – Results

Be Sure To Hide Audience Reports If You Do Not Want Others To See Your Metrics

Part 3 – Results

Some Dealers Choose To Not Hide Audience Metrics

Part 3 – Results

Quantcast is a great tool to discover and validate your visitor demographics

Part 3 – Results

Great for metrics on local marketing

Part 3 – Results

And my favorite… where else does your visitorship go on the Internet..

Part 3 – Results

Are you strengthening your brand With ad targetingon bridal, jewelry, fashion, Cosmetic, and parenting sites?

Use audience metrics to speak to their needs

I trust Quantcast..

Part 3 – Results

Here’s Why…

Part 3 – Results

Speaking of Retargeting…

Google - 610

AdRoll - 100

Fetchback - 22

ReTargeter -2

Part 3 – Results

Marketing Automation

HubSpot - 29

Pardot - 0

Marketo - 0

Eloqua - 0

Part 3 – Results

Social Media Usage

Twitter 4,164 24%Facebook 6,628 38%LinkedIn 270 2%Youtube 4,066 23%Google+ 1,344 8%

Part 4 – Social Media

Combinations of Social Media Use


•Only Facebook 2,688 15%•Only Twitter 224 1%•Both Facebook & Twitter 3,940 22%

Facebook Open Graph API Call


Facebook’s ‘People Talking About’ Metric

This metric refreshes daily but goes back a week. So it’s the current barometer of how much conversation is being generated by someone’s Page on Facebook. It’s a good gauge of the content Pages are putting up and how to generate more conversations around a Page


‘People Talking About’ Metrics

• liking a Page

• posting to a Page’s Wall

• liking, commenting on or sharing a Page post (or other content on a page, like photos, videos or albums)

• answering a Question posted

• RSVPing to an event

• mentioning a Page in a post

• Photo-tagging a Page

• liking or sharing a check-in deal

• or checking in at a Place.


Top 12 Brands By ‘Likes’ & Engagement

Part 3 – Results

But how do these rates of FacebookEngagement Stack Up? ..

An example in another vertical for context …


It is possible to have satisfactory FB engagement rates and high ‘like’ counts

How are engagement rates at the local auto dealership level?


Top 12 Acura Dealers by ‘Likes’


Most Facebook ‘Likes’


Likes Graph

There’s even 1 like from my network of Facebook friends.


Popular Likes


Top ‘Likes’


Dave White Acura davewhiteacura 150655

Steve Castrucci Jeep Eagle Svc SuzukiAuto 85586

Smart Center of Walnut Creek smartusa 70366

Lake Country Chevrolet LakeCountryChevroletCadillac 50963

Furnace Brook Motors Inc autotrader 44156

Steve Rayman Chrysler Jeep steveraymanchevy 42831

Habberstad BMW habberstadbmw 41708

Town & Country Ford AlabamaFord 30350

Hunter Douglas HunterDouglas 29376

Dugan Chevrolet duganchevrolet 29169

Mercedes Benz of Austin mercedesbenzofaustin 20700

J.M. Lexus JMLexusFL 18418

Camelback Volkswagen camelbackdifference 17744

How To Take Action?


A Better Way To Visualize


Geolocating Dealership FacebookAccounts


Facebook ‘Likes’ Map

Blue markers =


Auto Dealership Facebook Engagement %

Blue markers indicate < 0.58% engagement


BatchGeo.com Detail View

Follow me @tireytvto get access to thisthese maps


Twitter By Follower Count


Follower Count Over Time


Friends Count Over Time


www.followerwonk.com


Geo Visualization of Twitter Followers


Activity of Followers


Followers Bio Cloud


Geo Zoom-In of Followers


View Followers



Shared Followers


Thank You!Jeff TireyCMO, Founding [email protected]@mongoosemetrics.com