Data is an important aspect to be a successful dealer. Here are five steps to becoming a data-driven dealer and learning how to conquest.

CFSI’s Thea Garon talks about a free, open-source tool from the organization to help financial institutions drive consumer financial health.

The second full day of Experian Vision 2018 featured Capt. Mark Kelly and former congresswomen Gabby Giffords, a series of diverse breakout sessions and concluded with Super Bowl-winning quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

As a dealer, remember to protect your backyard before you go out to conquest other locations. Owning your own backyard lets you be defensive and conquest.

In an all-new report, Experian dives into “The State of Alternative Credit Data,” providing in-depth coverage on how alternative credit data is defined, consumer personas, and how this data complements traditional credit data files.

Experian’s annual Vision Conference kicks off to a sold-out crowd in Scottsdale, Ariz., bringing together some of the industry’s top thought leaders in financial services, tech, data science and information security.

Find out how to target potential customers for your dealership based on lifestyle segments.

Throughout the year, there are certain models that are incredibly popular. SUVs and crossovers fly off the shelves during the wintertime while down south, the pickup-truck is the sales king. There are times when less popular vehicles flood your inventory, creating stress for your sales team to try and get them into the hands of customers. The good news for dealers is that you don’t need to panic when strange bonus programs are floated out by the manufacturer. Data-driven methods can be used to find potential buyers. The upshot of this is dealers don’t have to wait for buyers to waltz into their showroom. Although you can pick a specific model based on incentives, it is a good idea to review your model goals to confirm they are realistic. Based on the models you are trying to move, identify the sales trends by unit and geography. This analysis may help you discover the vehicle margin opportunity isn’t worth the advertising investment. On the other hand, you may learn competitors are selling a plethora of that model and there is plenty of room to conquest market share. Always let data be your guide. Checking a vehicle’s popularity can determine if you should market it. If the model’s popularity in your geography is growing, it will be easier since potential consumers are going into showrooms, asking questions, and doing research online. On the flip side, a vehicle with declining popularity is more difficult, and therefore more expensive, to market. As vehicles become unpopular or out-of-season, aggressive pricing may be in-store. In the past, the “spray and pray” method was what dealers and marketers would use, simply hoping that your campaign would find your target. Today, the best practice is to pinpoint the demand for your model by analyzing your pre-determined market radius to identify those ZIP Codes™ which show the most interest. For example, narrowing down to neighborhoods showing recent sales of your model can help identify future purchase demand. When combined with demographic, psychographic, web analytics, and your CRM data, the formula for determining model-specific demand becomes a precise science. Determining where to market is one thing, but identifying the in-market customer is another thing altogether. To identify the persona for potential purchasers of your models, utilize a system like Experian’s Dealer Positioning System. It helps determine the demographics and psychographics of consumers along with various buying patterns. This persona will include what interests consumers of your model and what they value in a marketing message. While creating the persona, think about what kind of marketing would be the most effective. Are your customers on social media and would they prefer digital advertising? Perhaps a more traditional approach with direct mail or by phone? Understanding their preferences will indicate which approach will most effectively resonate with them. Now campaigns for your model of choice can begin. Use the ZIP Codes and demographics of your highest potential customers to create an effective media plan. Based on the data, craft out digital, traditional, or other campaign types that can be run successfully. Focus on the features that will most appeal to your key demographic– all-wheel-drive, navigation, advanced safety features, made in America, etc. Moving that model off the lot and onto the customer’s driveway does not have to be difficult. If the model is not popular in the first place or it isn’t the right time to market it, you may not want to spend money trying to promote it. With the methods we stated earlier, selling a vehicle to customers based on geotargeting and specific marketing messages make moving even the most unwanted vehicle easier. Also, remember the where, who, and what. Where are you targeting your customers, who are your customers, and what medium are you going to use? Using this can help to move that model and grant you sales success.

In the world of marketing, this can happen to all of us. We think we know how much ad spend we should put towards a PPC campaign or what time a TV ad should air. In this digital realm, dealers are given a lot of data when a campaign finishes. Technology has pushed our boundaries so now, someone looking at a video of a specific automobile on a social media platform like YouTube can be targeted to receive video advertisements for your dealership. With that said, how do you know if you are targeting the right people? When it comes to your campaigns, you want to know your money is going towards the right forms of advertisements as well as the right demographics. If a campaign is doing well, extending out that campaign can be a better decision compared to letting it end. On the other side, if a campaign is doing poorly, pausing or evening stopping the campaign can be more beneficial in the future. The big questions you must ask yourself are: Am I targeting the wrong people? There can be a few reasons why you may be targeting the wrong people. First, the type of campaign can be incorrect. Social media is the newest and hottest form of marketing, but that may not work with your audience. Second, your demographics may be off. Without knowing the key demographics that you are targeting, you could be blindly targeting customers not interested in your vehicles or not in the market. The opposite could be said for that as well. You may be leaving out potential customers in key geological areas around your dealership. Because of this, you could be losing sales. Targeting doesn’t just stop with humans. You must think about your location and what you have in your inventory. If you are in a state like Colorado, you will want to allocate more SUVs and vehicles that have all-wheel-drive. By advertising rear-wheel-drive or sports cars to individuals that exclusively drive SUVs or only research SUVs, that can be a loss of advertising dollars. What can I do about it? A revamped marketing campaign is a good start for a strategy, but it may not be enough. Targeting can be a difficult endeavor, but thankfully there are programs and companies that can help. Experian Automotive’s Dealer Positioning System® can target key ZIP Code™ and display which campaigns are working - as well as which should be cut. Thanks to this type of data-driven targeting, market share and sales can increase even while advertising spend decreases. Another great aspect of using a system like Experian DPS is the ability to create campaigns to target vehicles your customers want. Like the example above of what not to do, you can formulate a plan of attack to focus on SUVs and light-duty trucks in a mountainous area. Conquesting intelligently not only means more people coming through your door but more allocations for vehicles your customers will want. Marketing is important. Whatever kind of advertising you do, remember that building your dealership is important. Having a solid game plan to conquest around you relies on smart targeting and the correct forms of advertising. Experian DPS can help boost market share and increase sales core models which is very helpful. To learn more about how Experian Automotive can assist with your targeting, click here.

At their heart, car dealers have always been marketers. It's part of learning the trade and understanding the business to gain natural insight into modern marketing and advertising practices. One could even argue that the experience gained through knowledge passed down, trial and error, and exposure to the automotive game itself can yield better strategies than a marketing degree. With all that said, it's still important to have the right data to guide the decisions as well as the tools necessary to decipher the data. Although we have a vast amount of information at our fingertips, it's very possible to truly build on "actionable data" and allow it to define the parameters for a dealership's marketing strategy. One of the most important things to consider when you're building and enhancing your strategies is that the data allows for decision making on the macro and micro levels. We see trend reports, analytics, and test cases that can influence decisions on both sides of the spectrum. Making decisions on the macro level means wholesale changes or additions. For example, the overall effectiveness of a particular classified advertising website can be broken down to determine whether or not it's making the right type of impact. Dealers have so many options today to advertise both online and offline, so making sure that any particular venue is effective is key to success. On the micro level, decisions can be made about how to position the dealership within the individual venues. You may be a big believer in search pay-per-click advertising, for example, and data can help to guide you or your vendor partners to position the dealership properly on search. Knowing which messages about individual cars are effective can be a guide. Then, understanding what zip codes have the highest opportunity level for the individual model can mold your PPC spend, while demographic data can drive effective messaging and help you optimize campaign creative and landing pages. Having access to the data is only the first step. Looking at the data appropriately is an important second step that many dealers are missing. Putting it all together into a decision-driving model is the step that almost every dealer should embrace to allow them to make the best decisions, macro or micro.

Below is our 5 Results for Dealers and Agencies Using DPS infographic.

  The auto industry has been riding a wave of prosperity for the past seven years, bouncing back nicely from the 2008 market collapse. But, it looks like rising sales of the past 10 years, are, well...a thing of the past. According to Alix Partners, 2016 sales of 17.5 million units might be the high-water sales mark, at least through 2022. Alix Partners says the next five years sales will range between 15.6 million to 16.8 million annually. Suddenly, it will be challenging for dealers to stay in strong growth mode. How can dealers best react to the tightening market? The Experian white paper “Data Tools Evolve to Give Dealers an Edge in a Tight Sales Market” takes a look at how new and improved data and analytic tools can provide deeper insights to help automotive retailers unlock sales. The paper reviews current market sales statistics, historical sales trends and how dealers reacted during similar market conditions in the past. In addition, the paper provides a look at the challenges faced by automotive retailers, in terms of shrinking gross profit, higher advertising expenses and increased competition. Automotive retailers also will find information on the importance of customer conquesting and a look at technology tools to help provide a deeper understanding and actionable intelligence about local markets. Data and analytics are no longer the private purview of large mega-dealers. The Experian white paper outlines today’s data tools that can be implemented quickly and cost effectively by dealers of any size. To learn more about these trends, download the paper here: https://www.experian.com/automotive/dealerwhitepaper.html

Experian’s 8th annual State of Credit report reveals the nation’s average credit score is up two points year-over-year to 675.

Experian’s latest State of Automotive Finance Market report reveals the average credit score for purchasing a vehicle has increased four points across the board.