On-line lead generation for auto dealers.

Auto dealers have several ways to generate on-line leads:

1. Through their websites
2. Through 3rd party providers (car portals)
3. Through classified ads
4. Through search engine marketing

Obviously, the most cost effective option by far is generating leads through their websites, followed by search engine marketing. Investing more in these two options then is a must.

How many leads are too many?

The next question an auto dealer needs to consider is: "how many online leads can my internet department handle?"

Many dealers get caught in the internet excitement and start investing more in their websites and internet marketing activities without having an understanding on how this could impact their lead generation and sales.

There has been quite a few surveys and research done on this subject. On average a salesperson can handle between 75 - 100 leads per month with some extraordinary salespersons being able to handle 125. The benchmark for conversions to sales is between one in six to one in eight leads.

To put these numbers into perspective:

If your internet department consists of one lone sales rep (or internet manager as most dealers call them), then you shouldn't provide them with more than 100 leads per month. Provide them more and they will start cherry-picking (and waste possibly valuable leads).

This is why monitoring your leads and knowing how many leads you receive every month is critical. Bringing in 200 leads every month and only having one internet sales manager dealing with them is a waste of leads and a waste of online advertising money.

Get to know your visitors

The next question an auto dealer should ask is: who are my visitors and what are they searching for?

Recent research shows that over 90% of car buyers turn to the web to research their next vehicle purchase. Internet technology allows us to gather a lot of information about a website's visitors. Dealers should make sure that their web developers or service providers are able to provide them with detailed information about all users who visit their pages and their vehicles.
Use your website properly

First impressions last forever. It goes without saying that your website should make a good first impression and convey the image of your dealership. It doesn't have to be flashy (in fact it shouldn't be!) or loud, but it has to be easy to navigate and provide an easy way for the visitor to contact you at any time.

Here are a few suggestions that may help:

• Provide your visitors with an easy, consistent and straightforward navigation scheme.
• Make it easy for them to drill down to detailed vehicle information in a few clicks.
• Make sure that all the photos on your website are top quality.
• Showcase relevant information for all vehicles in your inventory. Nobody wants to see a picture of a red vehicle and read in the description that the vehicle in the inventory is black.
• Have a specials section prominently displayed on all pages. Make sure your specials are always up to date.
• Make sure that you have at least one and no more than three call to action buttons on each and every page of your website.
• Empower your visitors to ask questions.
• Allow your visitors to compare features between car models and makes.
• Make sure that all internet leads are replied as soon as possible. Call or email back within 30 minutes of receiving a lead. If the lead is receiving when the dealership is closed then make sure that you reply to it first thing the next day.

e²media (e-squared media) is an internet marketing and interactive advertising company based in Edmonton, AB offering affordable internet advertising, search engine optimization, web development and corporate identity services. Over the past 12 years we've worked with many organizations mainly in the Edmonton and Calgary area. We're specialized in the automotive industry and in Internet marketing and web development in general, but we've also worked in several projects for small, medium and large size organizations ranging from website design, flash movies, databases, shopping carts, search engine optimization (SEO) to full Internet marketing campaigns and corporate identity design. For more information on any previous projects, or for client references, please click here to contact us.