In last month’s PlayBook we let you know that the 10th December was the cut off for website change requests and Christmas emails.  As we are super organised we have these under control so it’s not too late to request a website change or Christmas email – but you need to do it NOW!!                           

If you need to change your website hours on an AutoPlay run website to reflect opening times over the Christmas & New Year period please make sure you submit a Support request now as there will not be ANY web development resources available at all from December 24th to January 11th.

Additionally our schedule is fully booked up in the lead up to Christmas when it comes to eDM requests.  If you have left this to the last minute submit the request we cannot guarantee we will get it done in time, but submit it to support@autoplay.co.nz and we’ll do our best.

We’d like to wish all our customers a Merry Xmas and a safe and happy new year.  We look forward to working with you all in 2016.

Whilst you won’t be lugging your Desktop PC home over the holidays, chances are that you’ll take your iPhone with you.  That’s where the Sales Pipeline shines with the app available to use on any Desktop PC with an internet connection, as well as your iPad and your iPhone!

To access the Desktop software from your home PC you can visit http://studio.autoplay.co.nz and login using the same password you always do.  Similarly, all you need to view reporting over the Christmas period is a working internet connection and you can log in at http://reporting.autoplay.co.nz – perfect for managers interested in keeping an eye on activity at their dealership over the holiday period.

Best of all is that the Sales Pipeline works best on the iPad and iPhone.  If you’re designated to handle email enquiry over the holiday period just ask AutoPlay to change the recipient of lead alerts and they will automatically appear in your iPhone Sales Pipeline.  What can be easier than creating a quick video Email Response to any customer enquiry whether you’re at the beach or watching the cricket?  Managers can also allocate leads using the iPhone app with just a few taps.

To find out more about how to ensure your dealership is set up for the holiday period, please contact our Support team on (09) 361 1505 or support@autoplay.co.nz

It’s not hard to find information on what Digital Marketing will look like in 2016.  Just jump on Google and search “Digital Marketing Trends 2016”.  It seems like every man and their dog sits down at the end of each year and writes a think piece about next year’s marketing trends.

There is some interesting stuff to be found - even if most of it is more suited to bigger brands or markets. I’ll save you some time and summarise the general consensus – Social media through automated channel managers, SEO, SEM, Banner Ads Retargeting, Mobile sites, Content Marketing, Customer Apps, Big data and even more out there trends like “the internet of things”, Virtual Reality and Wearables are all identified as trends for 2016.

Yes, all of these things are cool, and many will trickle down to the automotive market in NZ in due course. However I’m going to go against the grain of many of these articles and really focus on going back to the basics of what will work in a retail automotive setting in this country in 2016.

2015 was the year that Google announced that more people began accessing web content on a mobile device than a standard desktop PC.  For dealers hanging on to an old website you NEED to make changing over to a mobile adaptive/responsive site the first priority in 2016.  It’s no longer a matter of personal preference – Google have introduced the “Mobilegeddon” algorithm which will ultimately phase out sites not optimised for mobile from search results.  This will mean less customers coming to your website and less enquiry – a direct impact on your bottom line.

The temptation is always more when it comes to social strategy, however for most car dealers in NZ it’s better to do the simple things right.  List your new & used vehicles on Facebook, post Testimonials from new customers and promote sales and special offers.  For the more advanced the visual mediums of YouTube and Instagram lend themselves perfectly to “car porn” – photos and videos of the most attractive or exciting vehicles you have in stock.  If you don’t think you can maintain it – stick to Facebook. 

A lot of marketers don’t think of email marketing as particularly “cutting-edge” or “sexy”.  However, although many people don’t like email marketing it continues to be a really effective way of generating and converting leads.  In dealer-land it’s an effective low cost means of reaching out to your prospects and customers and generally returns great ROI.

Sales Managers have a lot to manage in order to keep the dealership running smoothly and profitably.  Automation can help by automatically emailing customers in sequence from enquiry to sale without relying on human intervention to ensure they receive the desired communication levels.  A lot of reports can also be automated to email managers – allowing them to more easily keep track of dealership performance without having to actively hunt down the information. 

The days of a standalone DMS doing everything you need are gone (if they were ever there).  There are numerous vendors who have products that can plug in and add value to your current systems.  The less manual labour salespeople have to do the more likely they will use a tool, and the more time they can spend selling.  The benefits of integration are huge and well worth any investment on the part of the dealership.

Load all leads instead of only ones that “might” result in a sale.  Reply to email leads quickly and with personality. Update the progress of your leads so you always understand how the big picture looks.  Schedule future actions/follow-up whenever you work on a lead.  Target those customers that have already contacted you as they incur no additional marketing costs.  All of these things are easy to do and will help you get the most out of the leads you do get.

Christmas and New Years is rapidly approaching and the time is coming for the AutoPlay elves to take a break.  We’ll be open all the way up to the 24th December but we’ll be closed for the stats on the 25th, 28th, 1st and the 4th.  Full service resumes on the 11th January when most of us are back on board.

In between we’ll be running on a skeleton crew but don’t worry – there will always be someone manning the Support Desk.  The best way to get hold of us from the 24th onwards is to submit a Support Request viasupport@autoplay.co.nz.  This email will be checked every work day and is the surest way to ensure your issue is logged. 

If the matter is life and death you can call (09) 361 1505 and dial #1 for Support.  If you cannot reach anyone please leave a message and our Support elf will get back to you asap.

Over the holiday period we will not be making any website changes or sending email campaigns so please ensure you sort this out before business shuts down for the year.