It is always about selling more cars, more often and more profitably. Bottom line—that is all it’s about. That’s why we do what we do. So how can you drive more prospects into your showrooms? The answer is the Internet. Yes, I know that this magazine is called Special Finance Insider and NOT Internet Sales Insider. However, the Internet is extremely vital to generating quality special finance leads.

The largest special finance lead generating companies in our industry generate subprime leads from organic search engine optimization and search engine marketing. Between 87 and 97 percent of Americans go online to research and apply for financing before ever stepping foot into the dealership. It is so much easier to go online, apply for financing in the privacy of your home and avoid embarrassing turndowns.

So, how can you drive subprime prospects to your own Web site? Even better, how can you drive subprime traffic to your dedicated special finance Web site? You can do it the same way the major third party providers do it and save yourself a ton of money plus create a higher quality lead. Utilize the power of the Internet by using search engine optimization (SEO), specifically video search engine optimization (VSEO). Most dealers are still trying to understand regular search engine optimization for Web sites, and even fewer have heard about video search engine optimization. Let’s go through some of the basics for SEO:

• It takes approximately four to six months before you will have real results (i.e. first page rankings, etc.). This is because there is a process that Web sites have to go through. First, the site(s) has to be built; next, the Web master has to submit the sites to the search engines. Then, the search engines have to index the pages. Each search engine has its own rules for ranking; these are called algorithms.
• Regular Web site SEO is a saturated field. You are going to have to compete with other dealers, special finance companies, banks, vendors, etc. Third party providers are in another stratosphere budget-wise; we are talking about hundred-million-dollar companies.
• If you haven’t been in the SEO game and are trying to get into it now, it’s almost too late in the game to truly make your mark and differentiate yourself from your competitors.

Video search engine optimization is the most advanced form of Internet marking and is having a profound effect for the dealerships and lenders savvy enough to utilize this powerful medium. Here are some of the benefits of VSEO:

• Almost immediate results. You can have first-page results (organically) in days not months! Compare that to regular SEO, which can take four to six months to see relevant results.
• Higher search engine placement. Video content is like platinum or diamond to the search engines while regular static content is like silver or bronze.
• Reach consumers on a completely new visual level. Video content is much more powerful than static content. There is a science to communication. Fifty-five percent is visual. Thirty-eight percent is auditory and inflection, and only seven percent of communication is text. That is why most people prefer to watch TV or movies rather than read a book, newspaper or magazine.
• Reach consumers with your own customer testimonials. You can make it so that when someone searches on Google, video testimonials of your happy customers show up. For example, go to www.google.com and type in “Special Finance Indiana.” You will see first page results that are linked to video. Click on the link that says “You Tube” in the title and see how powerful it is to have a video testimonial of a person with bad credit who was approved and able to purchase a vehicle talking about your dealership. We all know the strongest form of advertising is word of mouth. Now, you can have your customers speak for you on how horrible their credit was and your dealership was the one that helped them get their second chance.

Third party provider leads often close at 8 percent, and leads generated from your Web site or dedicated Special Finance Web sites can close at 16 percent. Remember 70 percent of the traffic that comes from third party provider sites originates from search engines. Third party providers make hundreds of millions of dollars a year selling leads to you. You can do the exact same thing. Control your own destiny. Consider a video search engine optimization campaign for your special finance department today.

Sean V. Bradley