Darrell Campbell And Briggs Ferguson Discuss EveryCarListed On The Air! September 3, 2009
Posted by everycarlisted in : Uncategorized , add a commentCheck out this radio broadcast with Darrell Campbell and Briggs Ferguson hosted by the talented Philip Zelinger!
http://EveryCarListed.Com was reviewed in today’s show to introduce their new “All-Video” inventory based website during an interview with Darrell Campbell, their CEO, Dale Boone, their COO and President and Briggs Ferguson, the President-Internet of Idearc Media, LLC.
http://autoindustryinsights.com/ – a FREE auto industry social networking site billed as a “Network of Networkers” that is sponsored by EveryCarListed.Com was also discussed in this highly informative show discussing best practices to market on the WWW.
For additional information on Every Car Listed, Auto Industry Insights, Idearc Media LLC and the many resources referenced in this show go to the following linked article:
What are your thoughts?
Idearc's EveryCarListed.com: A New Advisory From The Kelsey Group July 22, 2009
Posted by everycarlisted in : Uncategorized , add a commentIdearc Media’s EveryCarListed.com, a car portal the directory publisher quietly acquired in February, has formally rolled out its new look and feel, including an unprecedented effort to provide videos of every car on the site. Indeed, EveryCarListed currently has 2 million car listings, with 1 million already attached to videos. The site will be “all video” by the end of the year.
The use of Yellow Pages as the host of new and used car sites is something of an unorthodox idea. Yellow Pages publishers, of course, are looking for new growth areas, to leverage their sales forces, and to extend their increasing Web competencies in such areas as search and video. But can this work? We review the site and talk to EveryCarListed Chief Executive Officer Darrell Campbell and Idearc Internet President Briggs Ferguson in this Advisory.
If you have any questions or comments, please contact me at pkrasilovsky@kelseygroup.com <http://listener.embsvc.com/forwarder.aspx?ID=451af554-ed3f-4f2d-be0d-796d06d4b39b|mailto%3apkrasilovsky%40kelseygroup.com> .
EveryCarListed.comSM, Powered by Superpages.com, Becomes the Only All-Video Car Listing Site and One of the Only Car Listing Sites Providing Free Videos July 21, 2009
Posted by everycarlisted in : Uncategorized , 1 comment so far
EveryCarListed.comSM,
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Why We Twitter (And The Results We Have Seen) July 13, 2009
Posted by everycarlisted in : Uncategorized , add a commentAs you may know, EveryCarListed is on Twitter. We wrote a few posts explaining the general benefits and broad interaction tips…but have we really seen it at work for our company?
Take a look at this.
www.twitter.com/everycarlisted
Very simple interaction, but people are seeing our message and responding to it. This is an example of our brand interacting with consumers.
We also see the EveryCarListed Twitter account getting more and more questions about listings and problems people may have. By reaching out to us on Twitter, we can get them a quick response and one-on-one attention until their issue is resolved.
New EveryCarListed Logo! June 17, 2009
Posted by everycarlisted in : Uncategorized , 3commentsWell, we’ve done it! Our logo has changed!
What do you think?
You can see the rest of our site changes at EveryCarListed.com! Go check ‘em out! 
There are so many new things happening at EveryCarListed and we are excited about the new feature we will soon be able to offer you, our valued customer. Stay tuned!
If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment, catch us on Twitter or call our office at 903-593-5400 to speak to someone immediately!
- Meg
Is Social Media Being Pushed to the Extreme? May 6, 2009
Posted by everycarlisted in : Uncategorized , add a comment
Earlier today, I was reading a post titled “What Happens When Social Media is Pushed To Extremes?“. The article had some valid points but I believe a crucial concept has been missed. Please read on for my response!
- Sponsored conversationsIn advertising, the urge to manipulate is not an easy one to overcome and one that will not die quickly. This is why many have called for the regulation of social media by a government entity. There is an argument against that here but one thing that may happen is that beyond conversations, any kind of activity may end up being sponsored. That is, home produced videos, photos of a product in use, product placements on popular blogs and so on. There is no doubt that many companies will attempt to take this short cut but it is likely they will soon see the risks that are involved. That is, any organization outed for sponsoring such manipulation of trust will lose social credibility and the blogger may suffer as well. In fact, the blogger can suffer more because his credibility can be ‘used up’ by such activity and not easily regenerated. This is all for a ROI that is yet to be calculated. One of the benefits of a trust based relationship is that mistakes can be forgiven given the long term history that has been established between two partners. Short sighted manipulations like sponsored conversations run the risk of driving people to not even attempt such an association. Sites that scale too quickly, start with no focus and don’t attract a well defined or thought driving community will quickly degrade into a wasteland of unvisited accounts populated by the odd picture of a new generation Chinese teen flashing a peace sign in front of a photo of the great wall or surrounded by puppies and blue hearts.
- Hysteria/misinformationWord of mouth can send good review around very quickly but the converse is also true. It is quite possible that false rumors can spread panic and dangerous behavior. Without the fact checking and redundancies that traditional media commonly provides, this danger is now much more acute.
- High-velocity brand-damageVia misinformation, rumors or actual fault a brand can take a massive hit on the other side of the globe while the staff at headquarters is sleeping. By the time they wake up, they may find themselves fighting an uphill battle just to get the facts straight. There is no doubt that unscrupulous people may try to leverage this.
- Consumer tyrants with control comes lust for more. Even though the distribution may put less power into more hands, there are some who will find untold happiness in providing constant and unending feedback to front facing customer service agents. Failure to acquiesce to their whims may initiate a ‘peoples revolt’ thanks to that single tyrant whos lust for McCarthyesqe power may know no limits.
- Self appointed policeIf you’ve been in online forums and other social networks, you’ve no doubt run into this kind of person. They seem quite obsessed with spelling, protocol, political correctness and all other manner of transgression. Social media can magnify constructive behavior but it can also empower people who feel the need to control things. Many times, this is an attempt on their part to establish a type of authority that can eventually be monetized. When pushed to an extreme this kind of behavior can leave a social network struggling to define itself while at the mercy of ‘resident experts’ .Content-less and unendingly perpetuated fluff sites that scale too quickly, start with no focus and don’t attract a well defined or thought driving community will quickly degrade into a wasteland of unvisited accounts populated by the odd picture of a new generation Chinese teen flashing a peace sign in front of a photo of the great wall or surrounded by puppies and blue hearts.
I was reading an article this afternoon essentially about how Social Media was going downhill. This is something I’ve heard people talking about for a while and I decided to chime in with my two cents.
You have a well written post based on a valid concern…but I can’t agree.
In my opinion, sponsored conversations and the works are a part of social media as a whole. Marketing will integrate into any medium that proves profitable. It is unrealistic to think that the free-flowing, untainted form of social media we have enjoyed will stay that way. Everything changes with mass adoption. Fighting against it seems to be trying to halt change as a whole. Unlikely.
As innovators, our job is to adapt with the media and find ways to push it forward. there are so many new things to develop. Why would we try to go back when we could be focusing all our efforts on moving forward?
Thoughts?
@ATasteForTea
How Do You Keep a Consistent Identity Across Your Platforms? April 22, 2009
Posted by everycarlisted in : Uncategorized , 1 comment so far
http://www.cobbcat.org/images/OneSearchGlass.jpg
We all realize the importance of being visible on the web, especially during a recession. People are doing more and more research online before they make a purchase and it’s important to have a consistent brand that ties in with your growing online presence.
To give yourself a unified presence, please check out the following sites. They deal with comment and profile management. It’s remarkable how much easier tracking your social progress becomes when everything is in one place!
http://www.google.com/profiles/
I hope these sites help to make your lives easier!
If you have any questions or comments, shoot me a message at mstrout@everycarlisted.com or find me on Twitter @ATasteForTea. I would love to hear from you!
Meg
Automotive Advertising Agencies And Auto Dealers Should Prepare For The Possible Bankruptcy Of GM and Chrysler April 13, 2009
Posted by everycarlisted in : Uncategorized , add a commentDomestic new car automobile dealers have already reduced their automotive advertising budgets to maintain profitability at reduced sales levels for both new cars and used cars. Unfortunately, the added burden on General Motors and Chrysler dealers of what appears to be an inevitable bankruptcy – structured Chapter 11 or otherwise – has forced auto dealers to reconsider placing any automotive advertising at all. Both General Motors and Chrysler dealers have been cautioned by their automotive advertising agencies that they need to maintain their presence in the market if they hope to survive after the restructuring takes place.
As the President of Ad Agency Online, L.L.C., (AAOL), and host of an automotive advertising social networking / resource portal – http://adagencyonline.net , I have advised my affiliated automotive advertising agencies to prepare for the bankruptcy of both General Motors and Chrysler in a more constructive manner. I suggest that auto dealers should maintain their market presence by shifting their automotive advertising to more targeted Internet based media and/or internal marketing solutions over radio, T.V. and print. Automotive advertising agencies are already pushing their auto dealer clients onto the World Wide Web. The efficiencies of Internet marketing over conventional advertising have been proven, however the inevitability of the bankruptcy of GM and Chrysler suggests even stricter control of every advertising dollar.
Several new automotive advertising applications have been featured on AdAgencyOnline.Net that provides the control and proven R.O.I. needed in today’s troubled times. One example of a leveraged online platform to post an auto dealer’s new car and used car inventory for free is http://everycarlisted.com/. The site follows the proven business model of the Yellow Pages that provides a free posting for all auto dealers with the option to enhance their exposure on the site to cut through the clutter of the competition. The explosive growth of EveryCarListed has proven the wisdom of their free offer to post new cars and used cars by auto dealers as well as consumers in their “For Sale By Owner” section.
In addition to marketing applications automotive advertising agencies are being challenged to deliver more for less for their auto dealer clients from their existing online investments. The solution suggested by AdAgencyOnline.Net is to integrate newly developed conversion tools to maximize the amount of sales being generated by the auto dealer’s web sites. These applications function as an online transaction tool capable of accommodating an Internet sale from beginning to end rather than being limited to simply making appointments.
Internal marketing applications have also been recommended by AdAgencyOnline.Net to maximize the efficiency of established selling processes at an auto dealership. Sales and service opportunities from an auto dealership’s data base can be by created with automated follow up email and/or direct mail to existing customers in both sales and service for new and pre-owned vehicles. The resulting savings in marketing costs is complemented by the additional revenue earned by the auto dealer’s fixed operations.
Local conquest sales are another area that AdAgencyOnline.Net has advised their affiliated automotive advertising agencies to focus on. The need for consumers to get their best deal has shifted customer loyalty from the product to the “deal of the day.” Email applications are a cost effective way to target area residents that may not exist in an auto dealer’s data base. Several “Do It Yourself” email platforms exist that can draw from available “opt-in” email data bases to deliver a customizable email blast. In addition to the short term R.O.I. realized by direct sales and service generated by the campaign the auto dealer is able to maintain their market presence with the volume of messages delivered in the subject line viewed by the recipients.
In summation; it is important to recognize that bankuptcy is not the end, but rather the beginning for those that plan for it. In my opinion both GM and Chrylser will survive the recent trauma in the auto industry; as will their retail auto dealers. Granted, they may not be the same as they were before but the only constant in the auto industry is change and this situation will prove that. The key is to survive and thrive by maintaining “top of the mind awareness” for customers when they are ready to buy a car and to serve them better than the competition when they do. The solutions suggested above should help you do that.
The Internet And Automotive Advertising Applications Are The Future April 7, 2009
Posted by everycarlisted in : Uncategorized , 1 comment so farAutomotive advertising professionals recognize that a shrinking economy has forced a reduction in new vehicle sales. The resulting consolidation in the auto industry in an attempt to maintain profitability at these lower sales levels has not been limited to auto dealerships. Cost cutting measures for existing retail operations include reductions in inventory, staff, advertising / marketing and key vendor expenses across all departments. Unfortunately, even with all of these cuts the fixed and semi-variable expenses associated with most retail operations will still not generate a profit at current sales levels. When combined with the reduced gross profit per unit in new vehicle sales as a result of the distressed nature of the auto industry it is obvious that a new business model must be applied for auto dealers and auto industry vendors to survive.
Internet based solutions for online car shoppers that replicate “real world” selling processes, coupled with the leveraged resources developed by a wide variety of vendor applications, have provided an answer to those that recognize that the only constant in the auto industry is change. The change that surfaced to offer a shrinking auto industry the best R.O.I. for auto dealers, and the best shopping experience for a used car buyer or a new car buyer, can be found on the World Wide Web. The brick and mortar dealership of yesterday has relinquished its hold on the shopping experience to their online showrooms where new car buyers and used car buyers have turned to get their best deal without the sales hype that drove them onto the Internet Super Highway to shop for a vehicle.
Leveraged online automotive advertising resources, including inventory based websites like EveryCarListed.Com, provide a cost effective way for auto dealers to post their inventory online. Car buyers see EveryCarListed.Com as a “one site stop” where they can get the best deal on a used car and even on a new car. The “free” listings offered to auto dealers have allowed their automotive advertising agencies to extend the online presence of their dealer clients and it represents an online inventory that dwarfs any individual auto dealer or auto dealer group. Similarly, the free listings for consumers in the site’s “For Sale By Owner” section have attracted consumers to the site who may also be looking to buy a car. As a result, EveryCarListed.Com creates a “win-win” scenario for all parties since the site often develops more sales for an auto dealership than they can generate from their own website; and it is hard to beat free.
In addition, cutting edge automotive advertising applications can now replicate real world selling processes including the ability to meet and greet a customer the minute that they visit an online showroom. Live chat and newly developed two way video platforms billed as “customer interaction” tools can accommodate a complete online transaction or simply make an appointment after assisting the online car shopper to narrow down their search to buy a used car or a new car.
Video applications have been developed that automatically convert all of the pictures on an auto dealer’s website into a professional video presentation creating a virtual version of a feature benefit presentation. The videos are then placed onto the auto dealer’s virtual showroom and they can be pushed through You Tube to the search engines to further extend the auto dealer’s foot print on the WWW.
Direct marketing applications that automatically create email and direct mail campaigns pulled from an auto dealer’s database, or a central database of opt in email addresses in the areas surrounding an auto dealership, are other examples of technology driven solutions that are part of the changing landscape of automotive advertising. These changes in the way that auto dealers advertise and sell used cars, new cars and service evidence the resiliency of the auto industry and they represent the future of the auto industry.
The Auto Industry Is Following Used Car Buyers and New Car Buyers Online Using Leveraged Resources like EveryCarListed.Com March 31, 2009
Posted by everycarlisted in : Uncategorized , add a commentIn today’s troubled auto industry the need to leverage resources across multiple channels is the solution to many shared problems. As the President of Ad Agency Online, L.L.C., (AAOL), a national network of independent automotive advertising agencies, production partners and select auto industry vendors – including EveryCarListed.Com, (ECL), I recognize the value of providing a “one stop site” for all of my client’s needs.
I also host http://AdAgencyOnline.Net as a free automotive advertising resource / networking portal for the same reason; to platform new automotive advertising vendors who share my vision to “blur the line between the real and the virtual world.” I decided to feature EveryCarListed.Com as a “preferred automotive advertising vendor” on our site based on the leveraged resources that they provide to my auto dealer clients who post their inventories on ECL as well as the consumers who rely on their site to shop for the best deal on new cars and used cars from all brands with all models in one competitive online platform.
The auto dealers and automotive advertising vendors that I serve, and the auto industry experts that support AdAgencyOnline.Net, are struggling to survive in today’s challenging economy along with their customers who are looking for the best deal on buying a used car or a new car. The solution lies in the ability to integrate real world selling process with Internet based applications through the use of automotive advertising technology vendors, again – like EveryCarListed.Com.
A diverse group of vendor applications have been featured on AdAgencyOnline.Net but none provide the leveraged inventory and access to online car shoppers that EveryCarListed.Com does. All of the new resources linked through AAOL and our online networking community, http://adagencyonline.net , are joined by the original network of independent automotive advertising agencies and production partners that I formed in December of 2001. The online communication distribution system I developed was originally designed as the “ultimate outsourcing tool” for automotive advertising agencies. Similar to ECL, our business model allowed independent automotive advertising agencies to leverage their resources to compete on the national stage with much larger individual automotive advertising agencies. I extended my focus to include vendors and real estate in response to the changing auto industry.
The consolidation in the auto industry as a result of reducing sales and margins from the O.E.M to the retail distribution channel has opened opportunities that only exist when a market is in stress. The problems for many often provide the solutions for the few that recognize it as the opportunity to replace the status quo and the supporters of ECL are among the few that “get it!”
Many of the vendors represented by AAOL and featured on AdAgencyOnline.Net have been reviewed on the blog talk radio station hosted on AdAgencyOnline.Net – WAAOL, All Automotive Advertising News All The Time. WAAOL interviewed Dale Boone and Darrell Campbell from ECL on our blog talk radio show “Automotive Advertising Experts” and a copy can be downloaded directly from the site to understand the history and experience that went into developing EveryCarListed.Com into the company that it is today.
The bottom line is that we are all in this together and while individual auto dealerships are trying to cut through the clutter on the World Wide Web the truth is that the traffic on the Internet Super Highway makes it very difficult to compete. I believe that the solution lies in communal resources like EveryCarListed.Com and I appreciate the opportunity to say so in blogs like this one. After all, what are friends for!