I started my company Anngow Marketing at the age of 23 , 10 years ago. I have enjoyed working at all levels across the automotive industry.

starting up and running a business consulting across the industry has been difficult. While many enjoy start up funding other shareholders , other investors hidden or otherwise and a range of other advantages. 

I haven't had any of those I'm the 100% sole shareholder. At the same time I've had a young family to support and the usual mortgage and against incredible odds. I have been lucky enough to have some very good forward thinking clients over the years. Each and everyone.

Unlike other transactional employees at marketing firms who have not had to put up there own risk and only have an eye for their next role. I have had to have courage to stay the course in the goal of having a positive impact for the industry and clients. However I haven't had as much resources to reach the goal to the extent that I wish. But I try to move ahead regardless because I believe dealers can and should do more in the online space and should have an eye on the future.

My background name and heritage is a double edged sword. Real world automotive experience and knowledge in online sales should be valued more in our industry along with people who put up ideas and have the best interests of the industry at heart. My knowledge skill and ability has increased substantially further over the last 10 years. A fair shot to advance my cause of helping dealers and industry online is important.

I'm not one to want to sit idle I enjoy action and when needed leading from the front. The fact is in New Zealand across the automotive industry dealers do not put enough resources into the area of online sales and promotion and it is a low priority across many dealerships despite online being the main source of leads and enquiry. Most phone and walk in enquirys have seen the dealership / vehicle online first.

Dealers shouldn't feel afraid of online sales / promotion they should embrace it and aim to get as much as possible. In order for that to happen it needs to be given enough priority in the dealership. HR and recruiting in this respect has taken a massive step in the wrong direction however the market is strong and that wont be shown up as a strategic mistake until the market cycle declines again. It is all staff that need to up-skill and get involved in online as well as marketing staff that is what it is going to take to really progress further over the long term and to ensure no sales are left behind.

Read my article Transactional leadership vs transformational leadership in automotive digital marketing

I like to work for positive progress in the automotive industry so car dealers can meet the new needs of customers. This is done best when I get to spend time in the dealership making changes and recommendations.

You don't get into starting an operating a business in automotive marketing for 10 years if you don't have a passion for helping car dealers. Positive progress for car dealers is what is important to me.

But leaders in Automotive need to buy in to the idea of digital marketing but not just buy in too the idea of digital marketing but buy into the idea of giving it enough priority and resources in the dealership.

it still fascinates me that it is the number 1 area for researching cars prior to buying and researching service and parts but the subject is given such low priority at most dealerships in New Zealand.

Give me a chance with enough time and resources in a dealership that wants progress and I would love to make a positive difference. 

If you are a dealership that wants to really progress in digital marketing and customer service satisfaction then contact me and arrange a dealership review.

Your dealership content plays a key role whether that is articles and promotional posts or the content in your vehicle listings.

A key is having the right website structure to ensure all your content vehicle listings included go up correctly onto the search engines.

If you don't have your website set up well then it doesn't really matter how much content you put up you will always be at a disadvantage.

Having your site self managed and with key sections to easily change and alter promotions is key to driving traffic to your dealer website.

Making sure your content converts is also just as important sometimes you may need to experiment and alter ongoing with your content to help make it better.

What is also very important is the volume of content you put up. The more targeted content the more traffic in the long run and ultimately the more sales.

It goes without saying there is no point in a you as a dealer putting up masses of content and paying for mass amount of advertising if your staff dont respond well to customer leads.

Where's the digital marketing innovation in the Automotive Industry in New Zealand?

The economy is going well cars are selling however because of this there is a tendency in the industry to be on cruise control when it comes to true innovation and digital.

Has the gap closed in terms of knowledge and use of digital marketing in automotive in New Zealand compared to other advanced markets throughout the world like USA no it has not if anything the gap is larger.

When people are buying cars regardless there is less appetite to innovate in terms of how we market as dealers to our customers.

It also doesn't help that a lot of the resources are going to places that don't innovate much (third party listing sites for example) rather than those with the industry's best interests at heart.

There is also a tendency for suppliers to monopolize in NZ there are really only 2 or 3 anyhow you don't see many automotive specific providers rushing to enter the NZ Market.

So what you are seeing is the lack of a need to innovate for dealers. Things like re-marketing have been around for a long time and should have been utilized by dealers for years.

I have a lot of ideas for innovation however I don't have the resources to progress much of them. So I keep them to myself. But I would much rather prefer putting ideas to market for the benefit of the car industry.

The auto industry is one of the few industry's in New Zealand that doesn't back itself with its own large scale efforts online.

Further more overseas they see digital marketing in all areas as a key part of dealership operations. They see it as a way of doing business (Albeit the main way of doing business in 2017) so have key roles inside the day to day operation of the dealership like Internet Sales Director. So its not a backroom role its a key front line part inside dealership operations and working automotive industry knowledge and skill is key. Its not just marketing knowledge but actual vehicle sales knowledge, Parts and service knowledge. Real world selling online Not a separated function from dealership operations for entry level people. (Nothing against entry level people but it should be given appropriate priority in relation to what it means to the dealership)

There will come a time when the market changes again and there will be a need to innovate again however I don't see why we shouldn't innovate now especially while the market is going well.

Digital needs the resources and to be made a real priority inside dealerships as a key part of operations that is not really happening in NZ. This may seem a slightly glum assessment yes it is in a way but what I want to do is spur further progress for the industry and dealers.