DriveChicago.com, the automotive portal owned and operated by the Chicago Automobile Trade Association (CATA), is partnering with Automotive Internet Media (AIM) to help CATA dealer members get more exposure to vehicle inventory and dealership websites.
“Automotive portals are fantastic for helping auto shoppers find vehicles,” said Tony French, president of AIM. “DriveChicago.com is terrific for Chicagoland auto shoppers because they can see every dealership’s inventory without going back and forth between other sites. DriveChicago.com is provided free to CATA dealers and has become a clearinghouse for Chicago area automotive information.”
Until now, DriveChicago.com worked like most other automotive portals. When the consumer modified the search based on their vehicle preference and clicked into a specific vehicle, the DriveChicago.com vehicle-detail page would render. Now, participating dealers will have the ability to drive the consumer who is interested in a specific vehicle from DriveChicago.com directly to the vehicle-detail page on the dealership website.
For Chicago auto dealers, this increases the opportunity for high quality leads. Leads from third party automotive portals have been decreasing in quantity and quality for years as car shoppers are becoming more reluctant to submit their personal information through third-party lead forms. Working directly with the dealership builds consumer trust and dramatically increases lead conversion because consumers know they are connecting with the business that can help them. It’s a much safer and better experience for the auto shopper.
How it works:
AIM will charge dealers a small fee for every customer who is sent to a vehicle detail page on the dealer’s website. Compared to other forms of advertising, the fee charged is below marketing costs. Most important, part of that fee is reinvested back into advertising that will drive more auto shoppers to DriveChicago.com, resulting in greater lead generation.
“This program is a winner for our dealer members, and a winner for DriveChicago.com,” said Tony Guido, chairman of the CATA’s DriveChicago.com Committee and owner of Arlington Heights Ford. “Our dealers are getting great traffic directly to their website at a cost lower than market value. At the same time they are reinvesting in DriveChicago.com. This marketing program will provide dealers with more options on how they reach Chicagoland auto shoppers.”
“This innovative digital marketing approach is somewhat new to the automotive industry,” said French. “Most dealerships measure and compare their marketing efforts in terms of leads. This is an important metric to measure; however the data will tell you the most effective metric in terms of actually selling a car is getting your inventory more exposure. If people don’t know you have a car for sale, they can’t possibly buy it. We are excited to add DriveChciago.com to a network of automotive sites that produce millions of auto shoppers.”
DriveChicago.com was launched in 2000 and has been providing Chicagoland auto shoppers with the ability to see “Virtually Every Vehicle in Town” in one easy-to-use website. The portal lists nearly every vehicle from every Chicago-area new-car dealership, so shoppers don’t need search multiple Websites to find the vehicle they want.
About The Chicago Automobile Trade Association
Founded in 1904, the Chicago Automobile Trade Association is the nation’s oldest and largest metropolitan dealer organization. It is comprised of more than 400 franchised new-car dealers and an additional 150 allied members. The group’s dealer members employ about 19,000 people in the metropolitan area. The association has produced the world famous Chicago Auto Show since 1935. For more information please visit CATA.info.
About Automotive Internet Media, Inc.
Automotive Internet Media is a growing provider of digital marketing products and services for the automotive industry. We provide best-in-class products and services such as dealership websites, search engine marketing/pay per click advertising, search engine optimization (SEO), social media services, retargeting, display advertising, vehicle video services, lead generation, email marketing and consulting to the automotive industry. Automotive Internet Media is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. For additional information please visit www.automotiveinternetmedia.com.
