
by Jay Hansborough Dec 6, 2019
ADF for CallRail: Automatically create ADF files from your inbound phone calls
Auto-lead Data Format (ADF) has been the standard XML file format for capturing online sales leads in the automotive industry for the past 20 years. The format is used to record information from online car shoppers—including customer contact information and specifications for vehicles of interest—and transfer that information between the various software systems used for…

by Tim Niziak Sep 27, 2019
Sell more vehicles by boosting your online reputation
The auto dealer industry has a trust problem. Consumers are leery of the stereotypical car salesman and how arduous the buying process is. In the past, consumers and dealers would engage in a painful dance, where they negotiated back and forth before finally arriving at a sale price. Oftentimes, the painfully long process would leave…

by Tim Niziak Sep 17, 2019
Combining your CRM with email marketing to maximize automotive sales
In today’s online-centric automotive marketplace, using CRM systems (customer relationship management) and email marketing software is obligatory, due to the tremendous sales and revenue potential you gain from maintaining a database full of your customer and prospect data. Being able to follow your leads as they move through your sales funnel, to focus on the…

by Nick Jascomb Aug 16, 2019
The importance of attribution for dealership marketing, explained
Have you ever wondered about the impact individual digital marketing tactics and touchpoints have on your customers? And more importantly, whether that budget is translating into effective dealership marketing that brings in leads and closes sales? The effective use of in-depth marketing attribution allows your auto dealership to understand and answer these questions, and many…

by Tameka Hughes Aug 9, 2019
A guide to using call tracking to optimize dealership marketing
When it comes to business engagement and customer interactions, phone calls are still king. According to Google, 70 percent of mobile users use click-to-call buttons to connect with businesses directly from the search engines results page. In the same report, Google also found that 61 percent of mobile searchers consider click-to-call to be the most…

by Tim Niziak Jul 29, 2019
How video drives more automotive leads
These days, it almost goes without saying: Video is a powerful tool for driving engagement. As Google recently reported, 69 percent of people who used YouTube when buying a car say it influenced their purchase decision. That’s more impact than TV, newspaper, or magazine ads. In fact, 1 out of every 4 people that visit…

by Tim Niziak Jul 16, 2019
Five critical stats about the auto-buying journey (and what to do with them)
In the age of digital marketing, the car-buying journey has evolved. Your dealership’s customers are no longer coming into your showroom before they’ve made up their mind about which vehicle to purchase. Instead, they’re doing the majority of their research (and decision-making) online, long before they enter your dealership. New competitors, the rise of the…

by Nick Jackson Jun 28, 2019
How to calculate automotive marketing ROI for your dealership
According to 2017 data collected by the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA), dealerships across the United States are spending over 55 percent of their advertising budget on internet ads. (This figure works out to an average monthly ad spend of $26,750 per month.) And this research tracks with another study of over 300 dealerships, which…

by Bridget Graf Jun 21, 2019
How to create a marketing strategy for each part of the car buyer’s journey
There’s a simple truth when it comes to dealership marketing: You will not see sustained long-term growth in car purchases if you are depending only on walk-ins, large advertising banners, or television commercials. The battle for your customers will not be won with grand gestures, but with customer micro-moments and touchpoints. A slam dunk one-size-fits-all…

by Tim Niziak Jun 18, 2019
Understanding the dealership marketing activities that are attracting leads
Have you taken the time to develop a dealership marketing strategy? If so, kudos! This is a great first step to attracting leads. But this leads to an even more important question: How can you know whether your dealership marketing strategy is improving your lead generation efforts, and earning more leads? At the root of…

by Bridget Graf May 29, 2019
7 marketing strategies to optimize lead generation for auto dealerships
These days, advertisers and audiences alike are dealing with more marketing noise than ever before. (Reportedly, consumers see or hear an average of 4,000 ads a day.) So when it comes to automotive lead generation, your competitors are all jockeying to get in front of the same prospects you’re chasing. You need a marketing strategy…

by Tim Niziak May 24, 2019
Why measuring your marketing is essential to auto dealerships in the information age
Today, potential car buyers don’t need to visit a physical dealership location for their car buying research — search engines can deliver almost all of the information they need, which has changed the face of auto dealership marketing. When a prospect arrives at an auto dealership, they probably have a high intention to buy. Potential…

by Michael Saba Feb 25, 2019
The Humberview Group triples inbound leads after switching to CallRail
Even the biggest automotive marketing companies can run into trouble when it comes to consistently generating high-quality leads. Like other industries where customers make big-ticket purchases, the path to conversion can stretch across weeks or months and involve plenty of research and deliberation on the buyer’s part. Without a way to properly analyze leads across…

by Michael Saba Oct 27, 2018
Automotive marketing best practices for boosting sales and revenue
A comprehensive automotive marketing strategy is essential, whether you’re representing an individual seller or a big franchise. Dealers can expect to pay anywhere from $350 to $500 in advertising and lead-acquisition per car sold — a significantly higher up-front cost than most other industries. Any auto seller will be well-served by having a marketing strategy…

by Erica Hawkins Mar 13, 2017
What Drives Auto Buyers?
Do you know what drives traffic to your dealership? Auto buyers are the perfect audience to reach via channels like digital advertising and mobile marketing, but how do you make sure those channels are actually driving revenue so you can prove and improve your marketing ROI? CallRail has you covered. Download the infographic to access…

by Erica Hawkins Feb 28, 2017
Automotive agency increases client retention and sales with CallRail
Paxton Automotive Marketing is the country’s leader in direct mail and digital advertising for the automotive industry. They create customized advertising solutions for more than 125 clients across the nation to drive traffic to their websites, generate leads, and increase direct sales. They’ve been using call tracking since they first opened 14 years ago and…