Input from Google was taken into consideration when the judges were evaluating one of the most competitive – and important – categories in the AM Awards. They agreed with the tech giant’s assessment of this East Midlands’ group.

Google noted the positive focus on mobile optimisation of sandicliffe.co.uk, with the adoption of customer ‘personas’, the way the digital staff at the 11-site group had adapted their ways of working, introducing ‘agile’ thinking into the department to perform weekly tasks in sprints – a common way of working in the technology industry. It has boosted the team’s visibility in the business and its efficiency. 

The judges said the group’s social content included a significant number of conversations with customers, not just marketing material.

In 2019, Sandicliffe redeveloped its website navigation, taking inspiration from Groupon and eBay, introduced a three-column layout on vehicle detail pages, along with ‘dials’ which give users a ‘clear indication on how well some key stats compare for each vehicle and improved the presentation of finance examples. A ‘conversion box’ now presents all calls to action in one place. The result – goal conversions have increased 162%. In September, a record 2,500 leads were generated via the website.

Search engine optimisation and user experience improvements have contributed to an increase in stock/product page views by 27% from April to October, compared with the previous six months – resulting in organic impressions increasing more than 2,700%.

In its social campaigning, using Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram, Sandicliffe runs 18 profiles across its multi-franchise business. In 2019 followers have increased across all platforms, particularly on Instagram, where they are up 200% and user engagement up by 2,799%.

“For a business of its size, Sandicliffe’s online customer experience is on a par with what would be expected of a much larger group,” the awards’ judges concluded.

Highly commended: TrustFord

Finalists: BuyaCar.co.uk, County Garage Ford, Rockar, Sandicliffe Motor Group, TrustFord

Award sponsored by: Car Gurus