Is Your Automotive Website Platform Ready for ASC Events on January 1st?

In July 2023, Google's Universal Analytics (GA3) data streams will stop. Dealers will need to use Google Analytics Version 4 (GA4) for all future website reporting. Many dealers have a very basic version of GA4 installed, which has lulled them into a false sense of security.

The quality of shopper insights in GA4 is limited by the lack of consistent tracking of every click, swipe, or hover on their website platform and associated chat, SMS, merchandising, and digital retailing tools.

Dealers have a unique opportunity to have comprehensive event tracking if their website platform, and associated tools, use Version 1.0 of the Automotive Standards Council (ASC) Specification for GA4.

DOWNLOAD THE ASC SPECIFICATION

The new GA4 specification (download here) will allow dealers to see how consumers engage with their website design. The specification creates a framework that will allow marketing professionals to distinguish lead forms, phone calls, chats, and SMS conversion by department (sales, service, and parts).

By dividing conversion outcomes by department, dealership ad campaigns and smart bidding can dramatically improve. The catch is that dealers need to use vendor partners that are committed to providing the FULL transparency that the ASC Specification offers. You can see a list of the companies on the Automotive Standards Council here: https://automotivestandardscouncil.com/members.

The ASC event tracking will also allow dealers to create better engagement scoring models since a small percentage of consumers who visit their websites convert.

Most of the major website platforms in the U.S. and Canada have committed to support the ASC Specification, and most will be ready by January 1st. This will allow dealers to have a complete year of detailed tracking data to improve merchandising and engagement to increase appointments and sales.

JANUARY 2023 ANALYTICS CHECKLIST

Since January 1, 2023 is quickly approaching, please take a minute to review this checklist. Request a written response, via email, from your website, digital retailing, chat, SMS, and merchandising vendors on their readiness to support ASC Version 1.0:

1. Make sure you know how to log into GA4 and make sure you OWN the account.
2. Ask your website provider when ASC events will be sent into your GA4 account.
3. Ask your website provider if they will be marking specific ASC events as conversions, as recommended in the specification document. If not, you will need to complete that task.
4. Ask your website provider if they will be marking the parameters that will be used as custom dimensions. If not, you will need to complete that task.
5. Ask your digital retailing provider when ASC events will be sent into your GA4 account.
6. Ask your chat provider when ASC events will be sent into your GA4 account.
7. Ask your SMS provider when ASC events will be sent into your GA4 account.
8. Ask your merchandising provider (i.e., AutoLeadStar, Impel.io) when ASC events will be sent into your GA4 account.
9. Ask your Google Ads agency if they plan to use the new ASC conversion events, by department, to optimize your sales campaigns and service campaigns.
10. Make sure all vendors who are doing paid advertising are aware of the new ASC events and those marked as conversion signals.

If you get pushback from any vendor, advise them that you expect them to support the ASC industry standard or risk losing your business.

2023 GA4 TRAINING

If your dealership would like to gain access to GA4 training, click on the links below to register to receive notifications in Q1. There is no obligation to attend, these signup forms are just to keep you in the loop for information.

• Register for GA4 Video Training
• Register for GA4 Regional Live Training
• Register for GA4 Webinars

I look forward to helping our industry move forward with GA4 standards which can revolutionize analytics reporting and campaign optimization. Keep in mind that DMSC 2023 will have GA4 training programs, so check out the dates, hotel, and lock in your tickets now.