Most Important New Role in a Dealership: Content Manager

By:

Dave on 02/01/2012

Topic:

Dealers' Lane.

The most important person you can hire in your dealership right now isn’t another 30-unit Internet Sales Manager (though, they are nice to have) or a 175-call-per-day BDC Rep who’s as good on the 175th call as he was on the second call (…actually, you’d better get that one) or a rock-star Service Advisor from a nearby competitor who’d connected with 868 service customers on Facebook (Hmmm… I’d lure that one, too).

This is a new role – one that will eventually help separate your dealership from the next and make a similar impact as any of those other acquisitions. You won’t be able to track the ROI of this person as closely as the Internet, BDC, or Service Advisor. And you’ll never have a Reynolds and Reynolds report for this person. Ever.

So who is this person, and why is he so important?

Introducing your newest hire: your Content Manager.

Content Manager Benefits

If you’re reading this article, you’ve probably read many others on various topics. And surely you’ve read explanations on the impact of content quality relative to Google search results. I won’t go into those specifics, but what these clearly show is that we have an ever-growing attachment to Google search rankings. Especially when it comes to favoring unique quality content and a consistent frequency of fresh content. You may nod in agreement and find it refreshing that Google’s giving you a clear message on what you should do to improve your dealership page rankings. But what are your next steps? Simple.

You need to create content. 

Yes, this is a bold statement. And your reaction probably falls into one of these camps:

“What is content?”

Content is as simple as it sounds. This article, for instance, is content. If you click on my profile, you’ll see numerous other articles and a video. That’s also content. If you click on the main blog page, you’ll see content written by other writers. This particular content doesn’t exist on any other site. Its purpose is to not only inform its readers, but also to improve the search results of all those topics and ultimately create conversions –  conversions of content readers or viewers into customers.

This conversion may not happen right away. Maybe some readers will return later as direct traffic. Secondly, some content can also be re-purposed for social media engagement. For instance, once this article is posted, CarWoo!’s social media manager may link to this article on the company Facebook, Google+, or Twitter channels so that fans, circles, or followers may comment and engage others with this content. The brand behind that content becomes more relevant, more top-of-mind, and exposure to that content on their social media channels has the potential to expand beyond just its own followers. Unique, high-quality content offers multiple search and conversion benefits.

“But I already have dealership content!”

Chances are, your dealer site has a blog section with at least a few pieces of content. But be sure to ask yourself one question when looking at this content: “Is it my content?”

When I look at content on other dealer sites, many times I can tell they’re simply copying and pasting portions of articles written by their manufacturer or some other site and then linking to it. Try to remember how important unique content is, relative to search results. Also, consider that even though the content may be interesting (launch date etc.), it may not be as interesting as it could be. How about including shipping status? Or a video interview the first person that reserved that new model? And maybe another video later, when that first buyer takes delivery?

Hopefully, you’re beginning to see that content opportunities can pop up all around your dealership – content opportunities that cannot be created anywhere else, in fact. Also, consider that when you simply scoop up other people’s content, this is generic content on a specific model or manufacturer. That will not be an easy Google search result to win, and chances are you won’t. So why waste your time?

“I would like dealership content, but can’t afford it.”

Hiring a Content Manager may simply be too far out of reach, but have no fear. You actually don’t need to hire a Content Manager to create content for you. You already have employees working in sales, parts and service who are subject matter experts. You can tap into these employees to create your dealership’s content.

The key is to create an incentive.

If I received a letter from my GM that stated, “Any employee who creates content selected for the company blog site will receive a cash bonus,” I’d be all over it in my spare time. I’d nibble away on a written or video post all month long. I’d make sure I was selected, and I don’t think I’d be alone.

Try it. Write that email this very second. But don’t say I didn’t warn you – because the next important person inside your dealership might just be an Editor.