While all leads are valuable – even the ones who come to the website or the store just to look – it’s the “highly motivated” web surfers and foot traffic that dealers would most like to welcome. While there are various ways of separating highly motivated traffic from casual tourists, Edmunds has just added another one: a dealer marketing service called Premier.
While Edmunds has been offering listings and leads for a long time, Premier was designed to do more, according to the company. The goal is to drive more shoppers who are ready to purchase a vehicle directly to a dealer’s website or storefront. Going beyond leads and listings, Premier uses targeted advertising and Edmunds’ broad set of audience data to more precisely connect shoppers with a dealer’s inventory at every part of the online car buying journey.
“With Premier, we recognize that the road to buying a new car is more often a winding journey, not a straight path,” said Nick Gorton, vice president of product innovation at Edmunds. “From initial research on Edmunds to scrolling through social media sites, shoppers move around frequently when looking for their next new car, but Premier is designed to keep a vehicle in front of a shopper whenever and wherever they are on this path and then deliver them to a dealer knowledgeable, confident and ready to purchase.”
Premier is being offered for both new and used inventory. It’s a collection of tools that are likely to attract motivated buyers. While casual researchers may just be looking for photos, it’s more motivated buyers who will be looking for other features such as reviews from reliable sources, shopping tips, deal ratings and payment calculators, all of which Premier provides in a format designed to be highly usable. The Premier program takes advantage of this audience to spotlight dealer inventory and then funnel shoppers directly to a dealer’s own website, according to Edmunds. The tool allows dealers to connect with shoppers via web chat, text and Facebook Messenger on a single platform, making it easy to track the buyer’s journey and ensure it’s met with a sales presence at every step.
