This session, originally presented by C-4 Analytics on the Digital Dealer platform, addresses a critical strategic error made by thousands of dealerships: allowing their templated website provider to also manage their digital marketing (SEO, SEM, content, etc.).
The reality is that hosting a website is not the same as managing advanced search engine marketing campaigns. The convenience of bundling these services comes at the cost of your competitiveness, market share, and profit potential.
The conflict stems from the incompatible business models of website providers and digital marketing agencies.
Website Providers are Tech Product Companies: Their DNA is selling a scalable, templated product (your website) repeatedly. Their business model does not include the bandwidth or capacity to offer unique, custom-tailored marketing solutions to thousands of individual dealerships.
Digital Marketing Requires Customized Service: Winning the sales war requires localized campaigns, custom content, detailed competitive analysis (SWOT), and strategic focus—the antithesis of templates.
When you hire your website host to do your marketing, you are knowingly creating two primary forms of self-sabotage:
Templated Services: You receive identical SEO content, identical PPC campaigns, and identical keywords to thousands of other dealerships, including your on-brand rivals. If your SEO content is the same as every other dealer, you have no chance of distinguishing yourself.
Conflict of Interest: Website providers work for your competitors. They cannot risk taking sales from one client (your rival) to give to you. Therefore, they are forced to run campaigns designed to make you equally visible but never to help you win market share.
The result is mediocrity: you are paying a premium for generalized campaigns that hold you back from achieving your true sales goals.
To get serious about increasing market share and differentiating yourself, you must cancel all templated marketing upsells and hire a specialized digital marketing agency.
The Website is the Shell; Marketing is the Engine: Take advantage of the website provider's scale (good uptime, mobile-first design), but swap out the engine. Hire a specialist to do the work that wins:
Unconflicted Focus: An agency that doesn't work for your competitors can target them aggressively.
Customization: They apply local data (your inventory, your competitors' offers, your specific geographic area) to your campaigns to ensure maximum performance.
Expertise: They have the time, certification, and focus (unlike an overworked rep managing 100 accounts) to continually refine and optimize your campaigns.
If you want to win, you need to distinguish yourself from your competitors—not jump on the template bandwagon.
For a deeper dive into these topics and to hear directly from Rob Stoesser, Vice President of OEM, watch the full webinar below.