Web 2.0 guru Jared Hamilton makes the complex seem obvious
As a magazine editor, I sit through a lot of speeches and presentations. Because it’s my job to be there, I always try to listen intently. My natural curiosity usually keeps my attention, even with less skilled presenters. That’s why it was refreshing to sit back and hear Web 2.0 guru Jared Hamilton deliver an impassioned and provocative keynote speech at the Manitoba Motor Dealers Association in Manitoba.
Jared is high energy, high impact, and highly-effective. The dealers and association officials I talked with afterwards were equally effusive in their praise of this “young man” who really seems to have a handle on the complex web of digital marketing strategies.
If you boiled it all down, he was delivering a two-by-four to the head of everyone in the room, trying to smack them out of their apathy, and reminded them that there’s a lot of things they are doing wrong right now that are costing them customers — and lots of money. But he did it nicely. But before I go further, who is this Jared guy anyway?
Jared is the founder and CEO of DrivingSales.com, the world’s largest automotive social network. This network allows dealers around the world to exchange information and collaborate. It also provides the industry’s first vendor rating tool.
He’s now on the speaker’s circuit going to one automotive conference after another and delivering his message. He’s something of a pioneer in the world of online social media and digital marketing. So enough about his credentials, what does he have to say? Why should you pay attention?
Three pillars of Internet success
Jared builds his presentation around a simple foundation for Internet success built around there areas: structure, process and marketing.
In terms of the structure, he says this is really like the dealership’s organization chart and must be solidly in place. But structure is boring, so most of the consultants in the industry spend their time talking instead about process and marketing. Big mistake, he says, citing the lack of a proper structure as the “number one killer” of Internet success today.
“Dealers are not fundamentally structured to succeed online,” says Hamilton. “They are structured to fail online.” Part of that structure requires dealers to have fresh and engaging content on their websites — not just deals and photos of inventory. “If you want to succeed in social media marketing, you need fresh, relevant content.”
Who produces that content? He says dealers should consider hiring a web editor or young writer to produce lots of dynamic, constantly updated content for their websites. If you don’t, and a competitor does, they can “crush you” online, he says.
Hot leads quickly turn cold
On the topic of leads, he had a lot to say. “If you don’t respond to online leads within 20 minutes, you are taking too long,” he says. “The chances of you succeeding with an online lead drop by 80 per cent after the 20 minute mark.” When he gets really wound up, which is often, Jared can fire off rapid fire quotes and stats that can spin your head. Stats like:
• 57 per cent of your closings will happen after 30 days with Internet leads;
• It takes 8.1 calls on average to reach an Internet customer; and
• 80-90 per cent of customers are online shopping and you have less than 10 per cent of your staff working with online leads.
Hamilton’s Law for websites
When it comes to dealership websites, he presented some good, bad and ugly examples. He even offers what he calls Hamilton’s Law. “A website isn’t marketing — it’s real estate.” He says there are three keys to a successful dealership website:
• The ability to get indexed by Google.
• Ease of use.
• Conversion rate.
The most important website metric is your website’s conversion rate. “It’s not the only metric, but that is the one you need to track,” says Hamilton. Most dealers pick websites by their look and feel and even by their colours. Instead, ask your website provider about the conversion rate. If they don’t know what that means, find a new provider. “You need to convert shoppers to buyers,” he says. “That’s how we get paid.”
He says that for every 100 people that hit a website, the average dealer website converts at about 2 per cent. That means those visitors will call or email you, and that is trackable by phone calls or emails.
He also covered topics like Google Analytics, heat maps, search engine optimization, reputation management, backlinks, keywords, user interface (UI) and user experience (EX) and a host of other industry buzzwords that I didn’t scrawl down during his blitz through the material.
This column really doesn’t do justice to the speaker, or the topic. Instead, I’d suggest you track him down or keep an eye on the upcoming conference agendas dealing with Internet marketing and social media. If you spot his name, spend an hour listening with open ears and an open mind. You will learn something.
