Digital Dealer - March 2019 - 21

the same information again
on a different engagement.
This happens when a website has disjointed data. And
it usually results in frustrated
customers who opt to leave
the site.
Now that you've shopped
your competitor's site, you
are ready to look at your
own website with a critical
eye. Go through all the
same steps you did above
and make sure you are
having the experience you
would want. If you're not,
you have yourself some
data gaps.
2: FIND THE DATA
GAPS

Next, it's time to find
points of disconnect in all
your reporting dashboards.
Take a look at your data
sources- your CRM, Google
Analytics, vendor dashboards- and see how easy
it is for you to get what you
need. In particular, ask yourself the following:
ARE YOU ABLE TO
CONNECT YOUR DATA?

Look at the entire customer journey- or try to.
Can you see the story of
your customers from your
data- how they found you,
what ad campaigns they
clicked, which tools they
engaged, how many times
they shopped your site? Do
your ad campaigns connect
to third-party tools? To your
website behavior? To your
CRM? To your showroom
data? See if there are holes
in your customer journey
mapping, anything that's
preventing you from really
understanding your customers' full journeys, and
from assessing the success

of each of your marketing
efforts.
IS THE DATA YOU'RE
SEEING ACTUALLY
IMPORTANT?

It's a problem that's far too
common: taking time, lots
of time, to pull and analyze
data that is ultimately not
even useful for you. Maybe
you have a vendor that
provides you with a vanity
metric that's irrelevant to
your bottom line. Maybe
you're focusing on clicks and
impressions but aren't able
to see how they affect sales.
If your data isn't helping with
your dealership goals, you
have gaps you need to fill.
HOW HARD IT IS TO

After you've taken an
honest look at your website and data reporting and
noted all the missing pieces,
it's time to make a plan for
better data connectivity that
leads to more sales. Here
are some strategies:
PRIORITIZE A
STREAMLINED
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
BY USING THE RIGHT
TOOLS

Better data connectivity
benefits customers, and at
the same time, builds loyalty
to your dealership. Look for
tools that can communicate
with each other and actually
guide shoppers down the
buying funnel. This means

BETTER DATA
CONNECTIVITY BENEFITS
CUSTOMERS, AND AT
THE SAME TIME, BUILDS
LOYALTY TO YOUR
DEALERSHIP."
PULL REPORTS?

Maybe you've heard stories of systems where every
individual query needs to
be keyed in, only for reports
to take 20+ minutes each.
Maybe you unfortunately
have to deal with a system
like that yourself. Either
way, you know that when
each question you ask takes
too much time to compute,
you're not able to compare
large sets of data. There are
simply not enough hours in
the day. And that means you
have unanswered questions.
3: CLOSE THE
GAPS - GET THE DATA
CONNECTED

that all your on-site tools
should share data to be
able to tell what steps and
interactions customers have
already taken, and guide
them to the next step without
friction or redundancy. This
kind of connectivity provides
a better customer experience, which means more
traffic to your showroom.
FOCUS YOUR DATA
ANALYSIS ON THE
INFORMATION YOU
REALLY NEED

The first step to getting
more out of your data and
filling in the gaps is determining your priorities. Which
information is the most imD I G I TA L D E A L E R . C O M

portant to your dealership?
Slash all the time you spend
analyzing data that doesn't
answer your most important
questions, and streamline
your time by pulling the
most important data sets.
The second step to take is
to seek out tools that put
all- or a lot of- your data
together so you can actually
get a clear picture of your
marketing ROI. When you
can see where your marketing dollars tie to sales, you
can make more strategic
decisions on where to invest
budget and maximize your
spend.
Streamlining and connecting your data is not simply
a technical matter- it's the
way to provide a better digital experience for customers
and make the most of your
marketing efforts. Clear
away the clutter, build your
connectivity, and you'll be
better positioned for more
sales. Learn more about
how to provide a better digital experience by attending
AutoLeadStar's session at
Digital Dealer 26.
Source:
(1) https://www.accenture-insights.nl/
en-us/articles/digital-market-personalization
(2) https://www.appseconnect.
com/10-ways-disconnected-data-isharming-your-business/

JULIE BISKIS is the Midwest
Regional Sales Manager
at AutoLeadStar. A digital
marketing sales leader
experienced in the automotive
and general market/retail
verticals, Julie has advanced
and in-depth knowledge of
marketing, data analytics, and
technology trends. EMAIL:
julie@autoleadstar.com

MARCH 2019

21

https://www.accenture-insights.nl/en-us/articles/digital-market-personalization https://www.accenture-insights.nl/en-us/articles/digital-market-personalization https://www.accenture-insights.nl/en-us/articles/digital-market-personalization https://www.appseconnect.com/10-ways-disconnected-data-is-harming-your-business/ https://www.appseconnect.com/10-ways-disconnected-data-is-harming-your-business/ https://www.appseconnect.com/10-ways-disconnected-data-is-harming-your-business/ http://www.DIGITALDEALER.COM

Digital Dealer - March 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Digital Dealer - March 2019