Are you ready to start again????

2007 is rapidly coming to a close. Have you made your plans
or resolutions for 2008?

Planning a marketing strategy is imperative to your success. Haven’t been doing one over the years and have still found success? I know that’s true for some of you but you have to admit it’s becoming increasingly difficult! Sales, marketing, training, and budget plans are major initiatives to any successful business and if you would like some assistance we are here to help! I will be calling you to ask you a few questions on a marketing survey and I really hope you participate when I call.  I know how busy you all are all the time but particularly this time of the year when you’re busy both professionally and personally.  Since I started this position (a mere six weeks ago) I have witnessed firsthand the difference quality interactive marketing can bring to a dealership. In the new-year I hope we see more of you entering into a partnership with us and you can experience firsthand the marvelous ROI of a good marketing plan.

We at Opt In Wireless wish you and your families a very happy holiday season and the best year ever in 2008!

Regards,
Michele

Contact Michele by email or call 619-985-8415.

The board of EDMSSA is happy to announce the dates of our spring meeting. The meeting will be at the Renaissance Philadelphia Hotel Airport on April 16 – 18, 2008.

This is your chance to meet with leading suppliers and vendors in our industry.  It is your chance to step back and analyze what changes and challenges affect our industry.  It is your chance to network with other MSS owners and managers to discuss their plans for the future!  If you have questions about registration contact Kim Bozman at 410-912-1476 or kim.bozman@teltronic.com.

Please watch for this newsletter next month for more information.

New Motorola North America Co-op Manual Available

A comprehensive new co-op manual is now available. The new brochure includes information on fund accruals, channel identity, usage, and reimbursement percentages and is designed to help support the sales of Motorola Two-way Radios, Accessories, and Wireless Broadband Products.

The new manual can be viewed by going to MOL > Resource Center > Marketing Information > Co-op > Co-op Marketing Program.

Monday, February 25 – Friday, February 29

The International Wireless Communications Exposition and Conference (IWCE) is the ONE place where all industries and all communications/IT professionals can come together to learn and share thoughts and ideas
on wireless communications technologies.

IWCE…Providing Wireless Solutions for the Working World

Who Should Attend IWCE:
If you are an Enterprise User from industries such as security, utilities, transportation, construction, education, retail, healthcare and facilities management; a Public Safety Professional; a Wireless Service Provider; an IT Professional or a Dealer/Consultant, and you are responsible for planning and implementing your organization’s wireless technology future, then IWCE is YOUR must attend event!

What You'll Get at IWCE:

• North America's largest forum on communications technologies developed for all industry sectors
• A one-stop opportunity to shop for ideas and solutions from emerging wireless and Internet technologies at the industry's leading event featuring 350+ exhibitors
• Content-rich education and training developed by industry professionals
• Keynote Address by a leading industry speaker
• General Sessions: “Point/Counterpoint: Public Safety’s Wish List and Technology’s Reality,” “700 MHz Update,” “Trends in Wireless Communications in a Campus Environment”
• Two Levels of College of Technology Workshops - Level 100 for IT professionals and others new to the wireless world and Level 400 “graduate level” courses for communications engineers
• In-Depth Conference Sessions on Mobile Voice Communications, Mobile Data, Interoperability, Spectrum Utilization, and Emerging Technologies.
• “Dealer Day” – share best practices with other dealers and learn about new technologies in special workshops for dealers
• Unparalleled networking opportunities including the Networking Reception

Find out more about IWCE 2008.

Are you finding yourself in another year-end push to make your numbers? When is the last time you got a sale or even a lead from your website? Your dealership’s website is essentially a digital sales rep. How long do you keep paying a DSR that isn’t generating leads and sales on a consistent basis? A few months? Definitely not years and you certainly would not give them a raise for poor performance would you?

How many “Hits” a month does your dealerships website get?

Just focusing on “hits” doesn’t tell you really anything and more importantly can’t help you improve website leads and sales either. But just for apples for apples comparisons….log into your dealership’s online administration page and review your website’s Traffic Report. Be sure to set the parameters for one month (i.e. Start 9/01/2007 and End 9/30/2007). If you see that it’s around 300 to 400 Total Hits for an entire month be aware that we have clients that get that many hits in just one hour!

If your website is not getting literally thousands of hits per month you are wasting your time and money. We have dealers getting hundreds of thousands of “Hits” a month. Recently we compared one of our client’s websites against another website they have from one of our competitors. The Opt-In Wireless website generated 686 times more “Hits” than our competitor’s website. That’s not a typo – six hundred and eighty six times the number of “Hits”.

No Website Traffic = No Leads = No Sales 

The sole purpose of marketing is to get more people to buy more of your product or service, more often, for more money. That’s the only reason to spend a single nickel on it. In other words, marketing has got to work harder than ever. And if it’s not working, kill it. Period.

Now through 12/31/07 Get $500 Off* any new website of 100 pages or more.

Website Traffic Reports - Think of them as Sales Rep’s Call Reports.

With Opt-In Wireless, once your website is up and running, you'll want to understand how many people are visiting your dealership’s website, how they are finding your site, what pages they are viewing on your site, and more. This information will enable you to make strategic decisions about the content, design and marketing of your site.

All Opt-In Wireless websites, that we host, include a reporting and analysis website traffic reports to enable you to get an in-depth view of your online leads and sales progress.

“I would recommend Opt-In Wireless to every Authorized Motorola Dealer looking to improve their online and offline marketing efforts. Our sales leads increased dramatically within weeks of our new website launch.  Google loves our site!”

Greg Conrad
Mobilcomm

Get the website your dealership needs that will provide leads and sales.

*Offer for new contracts only and cannot be used in conjunction with any other discount or promotional rate.

Beleaguered U.S. automakers are in for another rough road in 2008, with Detroit worst hit. Unit sales are expected to fall below 16 million, and researchers are predicting ad spending will be flat to down. To move that metal, experts believe the industry will continue to put a lot more emphasis on digital and out-of-home. Network TV dollars also are predicted to migrate to spot as regional dealer associations take a firmer grip on spending.

Advertising researcher Kelsey Group projects that annual ad global spending by automakers, their dealers and auto services such as muffler shops will hold steady at $40 billion through 2011. The report predicted that online global auto ad spending will grow to 13% in 2011 from 5% in 2007, with traditional newspaper classifieds' share shrinking to 10% from 14% and newspaper display ads to 14% from 17% during the same period.

Kelsey Group estimates carmakers will shift more dollars online and to out-of-home, with declines in TV, magazines, newspapers and direct mail.

Continuing TV decline
That is a continuation of a shift. Automakers, including their local dealers, have increased internet spending fourfold since 2002, according to TNS Media Intelligence -- to $739 million last year from $175 million five years ago -- and that undercounts outlays since search isn't included. TV and cable spending rose too but at a much slower rate, climbing to $10.1 billion last year from $9.1 billion in 2002, according to TNS, and magazines grew marginally.

General Motors Corp., which will allow regional dealer groups to pick their own creative or media agencies April 1, is steering them to the internet. The marketer's data show the net is the first medium chosen by consumers when car shopping, Brent Dewar, VP-field sales, service and parts for GM in North America, told Advertising Age. He said GM is trying to persuade dealer groups "to shift their focus to digital vs. spot TV."

Hyundai Motor America doubled its online ad spending for 2008 vs. 2007, Joel Ewanick, VP-marketing, told Ad Age. The automaker also is pushing for a return to spot TV in a big way. He said a bigger bump in spot TV is for regional dealer ad groups, while Hyundai will have a smaller increase for national TV.

'Not really that bad'
Bob Schnorbus, chief economist at J.D. Power & Associates, predicted Americans next year will buy between 15.7 million and 15.8 million new vehicles with a continued move to smaller, fuel-efficient models. "We've been averaging 16.9 million units a year over the first part of this decade, so dropping below 16 million is not really that bad a year," he said.

To stem the tide, Susan Jacobs, president of auto consultant Jacobs & Associates, expects automakers to put a lot of their efforts toward keeping their existing buyers. That, she said, will require more product advertising than brand advertising. "In a down market, it's better to channel your marketing efforts on retaining your owners instead of on advertising to conquest new ones," she said. So car companies will focus on customer relationship management and owner-loyalty programs, she added.

By Jean Halliday
AdAge
Published: December 17, 2007