A Preview of 2020 NADA Headlines in Digital Marketing

It is always hard to predict what will be the "hot" buzz-worthy topics at NADA this year in regards to automotive digital marketing strategies and technology platforms for retail operations. Since my team has had a chance to preview 60+ products for the AWA Awards which will be presented in February 13, 2020 in Las Vegas, and since I provide candid feedback for companies seeking to innovate in automotive retail, let me make a few predictions.

1. Online Video Marketing - We will see some breakthroughs in automotive video marketing at NADA including automated video creative that combines OEM incentives and dealer pricing which can be updated daily. We will also see the automation of lifestyle marketing videos and dealer creative to accelerate a "video everywhere" strategy for local marketing including linear, addressable TV, OTT, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
2. SEM Automation to Eliminate Waste - I have invested countless hours to educate the dealer community on how to identify SEM waste. It pleases me to see other technology companies and agencies join the party to help reinvent automotive search marketing. Selling price is NOT the only lever that dealers have to accelerate inventory TURN. Market data and machine learning technology can advise dealers how to invest marketing dollars more efficiently to reduce automated markdowns and increase profits. I have a few spots left for dealers in my private technology pilot who want to "lean in" and reinvent their used car marketing strategy. Send me an email ([email protected]) if you have 200+ used cars on the ground and are not happy with your turn rates.
3. Conversational Commerce Takes Off - In May of 2019, at the 10th Annual Digital Marketing Strategies Conference, I challenged website and chat companies to move call-to-action buttons on SRP/VDP pages from lead forms to real-time conversations. Since then, most chat companies have created amazing technology to engage consumers while they are on the dealer's website and serve them immediately instead of chasing them with their BDC. The result? A doubling of viable sales opportunity without an increase in marketing. Dealers should be asking their website and chat providers about this latest trend to serve instead of chasing consumers.
4. GMB and Fixed Operations Marketing Reinvented - In my latest book "Hyper-Local Marketing for Automotive Retail" I provide the blueprint to significantly increase local search visibility for auto dealers. The biggest opportunity is for Fixed Operations since franchise dealers have not little success showing up in local search results for generic service terms. Dealers will be seeing many new products at NADA that are focused on optimizing Google My Business listings for sales, service, and parts. Dealers can get the original playbook here and join me for a full day workshop on May 16th in the Napa valley. Email me for more details ([email protected]).
5. Facebook Accelerates Innovation - Facebook is working hard to develop automotive specific advertising strategies for dealers at Tier 3. It is great to see Bob Lanham, Head of Automotive Retail at Facebook working with many companies to innovate and integrate their platform in creative ways. Look for some big announcements at NADA as well as new case studies shared by Bob at DMSC in May. I will also be conducting a keynote with Bob on Facebook Analytics and how that compares with Google Analytics to inspect the dealership's Return on Ad Spend (ROAS).
6. Digital Retailing 2.0 - Expect to see significant improvements to Digital Retailing software and technology offerings. This year you will see some new entrants to this high growth area. Dealers will also see improvements to early innovators that have learned from their bumps and bruises.

What Are Your Predictions?

I would love to hear what you think will be buzz-worthy at NADA this year. Share your thoughts in the comments below. If you are attending NADA this year, Carrie and I invite you to start the weekend off with an event that we are hosting. Join us for On Map On Mission, Friday February 14th at 5:00 pm, well before all the parties start. Details can be found here: https://onmaponmission.org/