Markethaus Musings

Here's a newsflash...Cobalt/Dealix studied purchase rates of Internet leads and discovered most of them buy a car. Even better, most of them buy a car other different from their original price quote request.

This is mostly derivative, 3 year old opportunism by Dealix. Nice Job Dean Evans -- good job of reprising good info. We conducted a study back in 2003 at Stoneage and Car.com that found the same basic information. Unfortunately, car companies/dealers aren't much smarter now than they were back then. To wit:

• Most Car companies don't buy internet leads on behalf of their dealers...because, "they are going to buy our cars anyway"... NOT
• Dealers are now deciding that they only want to invest in their "own" traffic...except...consumers like to comparison shop. So, comparison shop sites will never go away and consumers will continue to switch because there are so many choices. Smart move is to invest in both
• Dealers still "cut off" lead providers who have lower closing ratios...and keep spending money on other marketing/advertising programs that have 1/10 the ROI
• Ad agencies and automotive marketers still believe in the "orderly" purchase funnel. There is no order...it's chaos. Shoppers don't neatly move from awareness to consideration to shopping and purchase. Sure...a small percentage do...but the rest? Total chaos. I've spoken to many internet shoppers on the phone...sadly, most auto marketers don't.

My favorite finding? Majority of people are looking for...wait for it...a low price. Here's a challenge. Go to Google. Search for a dealer price on, let's say, Toyota Camry. Good luck. You'll get lots of sites that offer up the "form" but you won't find "deals." Except on MotorAlley (shameless self promotion).