Car dealers who dare to be different in their digital marketing are likely to gain greater traction online and boost their sales leads, according to data from Autoweb Design.

The Yorkshire-based automotive digital marketing specialist will share findings of it analysis of digital marketing successes and failures as part of a Best Practice seminar at Automotive Management Live 2018 and will tell dealers that it is better to be bold online.

Autoweb’s digital solutions director, Martin Dew, who will share the findings at the car dealer expo at Birmingham’s NEC on November 8, said that dealer clients who have moved away from a dominant templated website design and a narrow approach to other digital activity typical in the industry have seen enquiries treble.

Dew said: “As an industry, we have worked our way into a templated method of presenting dealerships online through websites and other digital marketing activities.

“We have proven that taking a different approach can increase sales leads by up to three times or more. Looking to outside industries for inspiration in automotive retail can be very rewarding and very exciting.

“Some areas that we see as being key over the next year are personalisation, data capture optimisation and user experience improvement.

“Adopting change is a risk, particularly in a fast-paced environment like ours which is why utilising the right web analytics technology and A/B testing is important so that when a change is made, we have the data to show us that it was successful, or in some cases not.

“Our team has experience in industries ranging from technology to retail to travel and we all agree that the automotive sector represents an incredibly fast-paced environment with a forward-thinking culture. However, this is not represented in the way that the industry goes about digital marketing.”

Dew will draw on Autoweb Design’s experience both within automotive retail and outside the industry including some of the results that have been achieved by adopting a different approach as part of the company’s session.

Automotive Management Live, is now in its third year and will includs a series of best practice seminars where some of the sector’s leading suppliers draw on their experience, data and case studies to help dealers put together effective strategies for specific areas of the business with Autoweb Design focusing on web and digital marketing.

Hosted in conjunction with the National Dealers Franchised Association (NFDA), the expo is free to dealer and manufacturer colleagues.

Places can be booked at http://www.automotivemanagementlive.co.uk/online-registration for the most productive day automotive retailers will spend away from their businesses this year.