We all see the benefits to dealerships that the Internet brings our operations, even if we do not like the change from the traditional car buying process.  One of the main reasons the Internet is so effective is because of its versatility, allowing dealerships to focus on any or all profit centers.  As I go around the country training I see a lot of different Internet Marketing Strategies, some good and some bad.  But is there a perfect strategy?  Will one strategy work for all dealerships?
I have seen dealership after dealership want to copy a strategy they heard about down the street, or across the country, and try to make it work for them.  This of course almost never works.  There are so many nuances from one organization to another, even one dealership to another within the same dealer group to think you can just copy someone else’s strategy and have it work for you.   
There are 5 key points that makes for a successful strategy and are the elements that you need to focus on in order to create the best Internet Marketing plan for your dealership? 

1.       Creating Your Goals – before you can determine the most effective way to utilize the Internet you first have to establish what you want from the effort.  Is it sales including greater volume, greater market share, higher CSI, or better exposure of your fixed ops operation? 

2.       Off Line Marketing - You need to look at whether you Internet marketing is supporting your other marketing efforts, or are you diverting your spend to the Internet.  This will help determine the message you need to convey and where it should show. 

3.       Store Philosophy – Do you care more about gross or volume, do you focus more on New or Used?  Are you willing to try and sell over the phone or do you want to use leads to drive more traffic to the dealership?  Are you looking for leads or more prospects reacting to your message and coming in as floor ups? 

4.       Your Staff – All staffs are different and you have to determine if you have the correct personal regarding both skill level as well as the right number of employees to handle what you are trying to do through the Internet.  Overwhelming your team’s structure will not create more successes but more failures.       

5.       Marketing Area – What kind of net do you want to cast?  Do you want to dominate your PMA, or if you already dominate it are you looking to go 20 miles, 40 miles, 100 miles outside of it.  Some dealers may want to have no boundaries capturing as many leads and sales as their inventory will allow which can be effective but will have a greater cost associated with it.
 
There is no one perfect Internet Marketing strategy as there are so many different criteria you need to analyze to determine the best strategy for your organization, but there are some elements that will help you figure out what should be your Marketing Strategy.  So take ideas you see and hear from other dealers but before implementing their strategy try first to determine yours.  
 
I hope these different elements will help you create the perfect Internet Marketing strategy for your organization, but should you have any questions or if I can ever be of assistance to you, please feel free to contact me anytime.