Automotive experts explain how to build a website that will boost sales.

With media fragmenting and with an increasing number of people having always-on internet access, the auto industry has redirected its marketing practices. Through websites, manufacturers have now developed an interactive strategy to be able to reach the consumer. 

Already, about 67 percent of new-vehicle buyers use the internet in their automotive shopping, and more than half of all buyers are impacted in their make/model decision by information they find online.  In today's session, two automotive marketing experts will discuss four topics that will help you get the most out of your automotive marketing:

• Navigation: how marketers can facilitate consumer browsing and, more importantly, how to get ready for the day when intra-site search will replace browsing
• Matchmaking: charting the growing use of product selector tools
• Listening: the internet has ears; you need to know about shopping sites that listen and respond
• Looking forward: what are the latest developments in online product demonstration

In our new Driving Interactive automotive marketing newsletter, Senior Editor Dawn Anfuso interviewed Dennis Galbraith about the state of the automotive online marketing industry.

Dennis Galbraith Bio: Galbraith is the product area leader for the automotive website behavior, certified retailer and used-vehicle marketing groups at J.D. Power and Associates. He is responsible for strategy, consulting, survey design and research analysis for all studies in these practice areas. Galbraith has 11 years of research management experience covering the automotive, financial services and hospitality industries. Prior to joining the firm, he was president of Dennis Galbraith Marketing Services for eight years, providing research, consulting, and marketing implementation to automobile dealerships and financial institutions. He also was a marketing instructor for both graduate and undergraduate levels at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

David Harris Bio: Harris is the advertising and ebusiness manager for American Suzuki Motor Corporations' automotive division. He has been with Suzuki for the past five years during which time he has worked with Suzuki's various websites and automotive lead generation programs as well as implementing Siebel into their customer care center. Prior to joining Suzuki, Harris worked with Doubleclick and Autobytel where he was involved with customer lifecycle management, marketing and sales. Harris has over a decade of experience in the interactive arena with many years focused around the utilization of customer focused systems to address and better manage revenue generation through out the customer lifecycle.

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Speaker(s): Dennis Galbraith, Senior Director, Internet Studies and Marketing Solutions, JD Power & Assoc.; David Harris, Ebusiness Database and Marketing Manager, American Suzuki Corp.

Format: Zipped PowerPoint File