Hello everyone. Welcome to today's webinar, Understanding the Equipment Consumer of 2020. Thank you, AED, for allowing me to speak today and bring you insights from Equipment Trader. So I'm Shaylin Simmons, the Associate Vice President of our Equipment Brands. I'm so excited to be here today and talk about our industry, the equipment consumer, and how it is so important to stay relevant in the ever-changing market. Some of the stats you see within this presentation will come from the 7 million unique visitors we see on EquipmentTrader.com. We will start out with a brief overview of what we are facing in 2020 as it relates to digital marketing. We'll then talk about today's equipment buyer and what Google deems as the zero moment of truth. What that means for how you market your equipment. And then we'll wrap up with some detailed best practices around content and social media and email marketing. Let's jump right into what digital marketing looks like in 2020. Seventy-nine percent of consumers pre-research their buys online before making a large purchase in store or in your dealership. That's more than three out of every four people looking online before they even give you the opportunity to sell to them. We also found that Americans are checking their phones on average of 80 times a day. That's 80 times. You have the opportunity to connect with your buyer every single day. Of those 80 times a person is checking their phone, 82% of smartphone users are using their phone seemingly attached to them to research a purchase they are going to make in person. So they're selling themselves before you even have the chance to make your pitch. We know people are becoming more accustomed to personalization and information on demand. I know in the equipment space, there's still a lot of information to exchange in person. So you may feel like that digital marketing is not as important as in some other businesses. But what I can tell you is that there's over a million different people coming to Equipment Trader every month pre-researching and doing their research online. So 72% of consumers say they will only engage with personalized messaging. So this is a universal trend, and I don't think our industry is any exception, and we need to start thinking about it. So who is the equipment buyer? We just talked about digital marketing and some stats around what's happening in the digital marketing space. Now let's take a minute to look at who our equipment consumer is in 2020. So we did a survey on Equipment Trader last year in 2019, and what we found is that the average equipment buyer is a Gen X to an early baby boomer, and that's ages 45 to 65. But let's not forget that 25% there, that's ages 25 to 44. Those are your millennials. They're just starting out in their career, getting ready to take over the family business, very digital as far as their day-to-day lives, and their influence cannot be overlooked. Both age groups are still actively working at their own company or on behalf of a company, and they have expendable income. So I was looking at this information, and I found it very interesting. So we broke into millennials and boomers, millennials being 25 to 44, and the boomers being 45 to 65. And what we see here is where they're spending their time as far as what platforms and stuff, what are they doing when they're on their phones. Millennials are spending the majority of their day on Facebook, texting, searching the internet, and then on Twitter. So they're on their phones, on-screen time about three hours a day. And you have your boomer, and they're spending time on Facebook, texting, searching the internet, same as the millennial, but then the difference is email, and they're on their phones about 2.8 hours a day. So really the difference in the millennial and the boomer as far as being on their phones is only about 15 minutes a day. Now that does not include time spent on their actual computers or their tablets, things like that. That's just phone screen time. So your buyer is spending most of the day online. We know that. And in order to retain your current customers and grab the new ones, your online presence has to be strong. I also found this a little surprising. The equipment consumers surveyed are searching year-round for their equipment. So they even prefer to shop in the off-season and plan for better deals, because they're busy during the non-off-season, right? So this is their time that they're preparing for when the busy season comes. So by planning a year-round digital marketing strategy, you can make sure you stay top of mind no matter when they're searching for their equipment. If you take the winter off from marketing, you're giving your consumers the opportunity to forget about you, and you won't be in that phase, which we're going to talk more about. Your consumers are doing research before they step into your dealership. So when they contact you, they expect to hear back from you as soon as possible, within an hour, if possible. We're now accustomed to instant gratification and same-day deliveries. These consumer habits are transferring over to our industry as well, with 53% of the equipment buyers surveyed expecting a response within an hour, or as soon as possible. A majority of the equipment consumers want the keys to the piece of equipment they're looking at within a week. So what this tells us is that they're doing so much research online that when they actually reach out to you for the first time, they're pretty well ready to purchase. So you do not want to miss that opportunity because you did not call them back or you did not reply to an email or text right away. 65% of equipment buyers said they would contact another dealer or give up completely if they did not hear back from you quickly. So it takes 7 to 13 touch points before a buyer is likely to reach out, and these are like digital touch points. So half of the work that you would have traditionally done on your own, the consumer has taken into their own hands before you even have the opportunity to speak to them. That is called the zero moment of truth. So prior to the internet, the customer experience happened in three steps. First, they had a need for your product. I want to bid for a new building and now I need this piece of equipment or these multiple pieces of equipment. The next step was the first moment of truth, and that is when they came into your dealership and they talked to you. This is the only thing that they could do before, right? Like they needed something, they came to the dealership. Then came the last step, which is the second moment of truth, and that is actually after they purchased and they took it back and started using it, and then they came to the conclusion whether or not they liked it or not. In the digital age, we have to now enter in a zero moment of truth before the first moment of truth, and this is prior to them ever interacting with you, what are they doing? So let's talk about the zero moment of truth. Google coined the term zero moment of truth in 2011, and they describe it as the research that is conducted online about a product or service before taking any action. This is the time a consumer takes their own time to do research, and then they walk into your dealership, which is the first moment of truth. So if you do not have a strong online presence, these consumers are likely to look over you or go to brands that they can gather or dealerships that they can gather more information online about. So our goal should be in large part to be part of that zero moment of truth. We have to have strategies around this and really think through how do we become part of that process. So this graphic visually represents a consumer zero moment of truth. They start their online research by looking at all the different dealerships out there. Imagine all these storefronts here are dealerships in your area, and they are looking online. They're doing a Google search. As the consumer looks through each website, they start to eliminate choices. This one doesn't have any pictures of equipment. This one does not have prices. This dealer doesn't engage on social media. This dealer has no education, so I'm not sure how helpful they will be after I purchase the equipment. As we go through the next sections, we'll show how different digital marketing tools set you apart from the dealerships and lead your consumers down your path to purchase. Before you can talk about other digital marketing strategies, you must talk about honing your online listings. Without this, you really aren't even on the block for buyers to consider. If equipment buyer comes to your site and none of your inventory is listed, there's no pictures, no prices, they'll move on. What is more ideal is that they come to your site, gather all the information about the piece of equipment they need without having to look at another dealership, and then they obviously will reach out to you. Let's talk about price. The first step in this is we're going to share with you an acronym. It's called PAID. It stands for Price, Appearance, Image, and Description. The first one we're going to talk about is price, which is what you see up here. The first thing in getting paid is your price. You have to list price. That's the first thing I'm going to harp on for a second. If you do not list price on your equipment, then people are going to go to another dealership or another website or look at another listing that has the price on it. We know they want to see the pricing. There are a lot of factors to include in your price. Make sure you're transparent. Make sure your price includes everything that is in there. If there's any promotions, list the promotions. List the promotional pricing. Just make sure if it's promotional pricing and there are any caveats to it that you're listing those out, like must be part of this association or whatever, anything like that. The key thing here is be transparent and list the price. The next thing is appearance. Remember, the PAID acronym, price, next is appearance. Again, you have to list your listing. Appearance, really think more of it as how do you appear higher in Google search results or search engine search results when someone does a search, and that is by listing keywords. In your listing, you need to have keywords. Think of how people are searching for that particular type of equipment and make sure you're putting that in your listing somewhere. Another big factor in this is, especially if there's any multi-location dealers on, is address. A lot of people search by listing their city, state, and zip, like a skid steer for sale in the zip code or a skid steer for sale in Chicago, Illinois. That's how most people attach a location to the search. If you make sure you list at least the city, state, and zip on your listing for where that piece of equipment actually is located. What we've noticed is a lot of multi-location dealers, they don't have the location on the listing and they just have a tab on their website that says locations and they list all the address of these locations. What happens is when a search is done, is that Google may not tie those two things together. You may have a skid steer, but because you're not listing where in Chicago, but because you did not list that, and when someone searched skid steer for sale in Chicago, it's not really reading that you have a location in Chicago and you actually may have a skid steer there. It's not tying those things together, so you miss out on an opportunity to appear in that search result. The third thing is images. This is your pictures. We know that visuals increase retention by 42%. They stay on your listing longer if you have lots of images. Buyers want to see images and they want to see real images, not the stock photos, showroom photos, photos from your OEM. They want to see actual live pictures of your piece of equipment. Make sure you're showing everything, every scratch, dent, issue. They want to see that. It doesn't mean they're going to rule out that piece of equipment necessarily, but you do not want to have any surprises when they actually come on your lot to buy that piece of equipment. Make sure in your images that they are seeing what they're going to get. The last thing in our paid acronym is descriptions. Draw in your buyer with your description. Not five words. We want multiple things. We need the technical information as well as the uses and jobs for that piece of equipment. This is also going to help you with the A, which is appearing in search results. The more robust your description, the more things you can potentially appear for when a search is done. This is also just best for your consumer. Give them all the information that they would want to know. Think of the things that they would ask about or care about. Now that you know online listings and remember the paid acronym, P is for price, A is for appearance, I is for images, and D is for descriptions. If you want to take that a step further, you can look at third-party marketplaces like Equipment Trader. Most marketplaces invest heavily on the A in appearing in search results. That's a big value to you guys. They also provide, the majority of the marketplace websites have a feed. You only have to hone these online listings one time and then you can push them to different marketplaces. Now that we are really good at all the listings and honing our online listings, the next thing we're going to spend some time about is content generation. And I know this is everyone's favorite topic, but don't let me scare you just yet. So I've heard from a lot of dealers that content is intimidating and it's just too much work and they do not have time. But it doesn't have to be overly complicated, lengthy, or drawn out. It can be easy. Think about what you can offer from your experience, knowledge on the equipment. Who knows these machines better than you do? How to get comfortable operating them. Current events in the industry. Industry relevance. Talk about new models and makes or exclusivity and uniqueness. Don't be afraid to show off and talk about your products. So your consumers will simply benefit by sharing with, by you sharing the industry information and remember you're the expert. Come up with a short blurb about maintenance, caring for the equipment, or winterizing it. Remember consumers do not have a lot of time to sit and just read. So that actually makes it much easier for you. Just create some digestible, quick content and get straight to the point. So here are some easy content examples. The first one is listicles. So these are a lot of things that you see on like Facebook. Top vacations of 2020. Great sports moments of all times. Tips on losing weight, right? We see these all the time. Just because you see them for topics other than equipment doesn't mean they can't translate to our industry. So for listicles, you could create lists and expand on each topic. Think of things like go through tips and tricks of maintaining equipment or buying equipment. List top five makes from your OEM construction news of the month or farming news of the month. Things you should know before buying used equipment. You could create how to's. How to pick the best equipment for the job. How to keep your equipment in the winter. Think of things you can speak with buyers about all day long and you can, and then put them in the form of a blog post. If you can't find time to put these together, there are a lot of freelance writers out there and there's even apps that you, that are out there where you can have them write an article for you and it can be pretty inexpensive if you just share your knowledge. They'll put it in words and you can also leverage your consumers too, right? Like have them write, ask a consumer to write their experience on a piece, a machine on a particular piece of equipment or relevant topics to the industry. So, let's look at an example of a content piece that we did here, but it'll just kind of take you through how simple it can be. This is an article that lists six tips for owning and operating an ag drone. So, to write something like this, you could list out a few reasons that you know of or as an expert. So, the six points of this article are know the law, read the manual, practice, follow a pre-flight checklist, stay alert, and prepare for the inevitable. And there's just a few sentences after each one of those points and just use, just remember to use plain language and speak like you would to your, to a buyer that was on your lot. The articles and blogs you create do not have to be crazy. This is, you don't have to put a lot, I mean, these can be pretty simple, 300 word listicles, review of a new piece of equipment, but the benefit to your dealership is really there. A study by Randall Riley reported that 67% of B2B companies who blog generate more leads, which is what we really want, than non-blogging companies. So, more than half of our dealerships blogging are seeing the results of their efforts. So, let's talk about the benefits of this content. It sets you apart from your competitors. It makes you look like the beneficial authority, reliable leader. The average prospect sees 300 to 3,000 marketing messages a day. So, that's why content marketing allows you to cut through the barrages of ads and create personalization, which is what we spoke about earlier, that our consumers really want to see. Another benefit is that it'll drive more traffic to your site. So, if your content, whether it's an email form or on a blog or on social media, whatever the source, it's a way for people to travel to your site. It's also easy to set up and cost effective. So, there's many blogging sites available that you can set up for free. And if you're doing the writing yourself, no outsourcing is needed. The cost stays pretty low. So, some popular platforms. We're not endorsing any of these, but just wanted to give you some ideas. Just for standard blog, you have WordPress, Blogger, Weebly, Wix, Squarespace. Again, not endorsing, but just wanted to give you a place to start. All right. Our one step further slide. If you're still not convinced that you can write this content, there are other things that you can do. Just because writing is not your thing does not mean content is not your thing. So, if you can talk for hours but just can't put it on paper, maybe you record a podcast once a month. If you feel like you can create a more visual presentation, like we're doing today, maybe hosting a webinar is more up your alley. You can pre-record them and just post them to your website for people to view at their leisure. All right. So, now that you have your online listings, you have your content, what else can you do to separate yourself from your competitors? You can share all of these things on your social media. So, there are currently 224 million Facebook users in the U.S. and Canada alone. We know the average American is spending three hours a day on social networks. Wow. And your equipment consumers are on social media and they're on there for a significant amount of time. So, it's important that you're there as well. 71% of consumers have had a positive experience with a brand or company on social media are likely to recommend it to their family and friends. So, you want to be a dealership or company that's being recommended. So, what can you post? One thing I'm going to drive home is you do not have to create all the content for social media on your own. You can share other content that you see out there. This is very standard and common in social media. So, you can take inspiration from your OEMs. What are they posting? Repost it. Share it out. There's safety. There's a lot of other things that you can do. Safety. You can share safety tips for job sites, all kinds of things there with equipment. You can share your podcasts and YouTube videos. They don't have to be yours. They can be other people's, but things that you think your consumers will find interesting. And then you can look for industry leaders and see what they're posting and then post that as well. So, according to Forbes, 82% of boomers who use the internet have at least one social media account. And if we look at the social media usage in boomers in 2019, the breakdown is as follows. Facebook leading the way. Well, Facebook and YouTube both with around 70%. And then it goes to LinkedIn for 24% and Instagram with 23%. So, if these are the four platforms that we know the biggest segment of our consumers are using, let's break them down a little bit. So, Facebook is your platform for storytelling. Consumers connect with your brand to see updates and products, but they also want to be entertained. So, this is a great place to humanize your company. Now, we have YouTube. And this is for us where I think a lot of people are doing research. So, they're reading product reviews. They're doing inventory walkarounds, model comparisons. These are some of the best ways to capture and engage consumers. Then you have LinkedIn. And this is best for consumers. Then you have LinkedIn. And this is best for connecting with professionals and businesses. It's a place to share business insights, important promos, and big wins for your dealership. And then Instagram is solely media focused. This is pictures and videos of your equipment, walkarounds of your inventory, delivery photos with your customers, behind-the-scenes shares with your team. That's really going to be your bread and butter for that platform. So, now we know we need to be on social media and we know a platform, but how do we grow our influence? And so, one thing that I'm going to harp on a little bit about is really create a publishing schedule and stick to it. One, so you don't forget, but also so you don't get overwhelmed. The preplanning will really help. You do not have to share every day. And I would always choose quality over quantity. The next thing is to maintain your voice and tone. So, are you going to answer all your commenters on Facebook? Be consistent there. And are you speaking from positivity and kindness? Are you super professional with a corporate tone? Do you have a small amount of humor? Be consistent in that tone. Don't be scared to show your brand's personality. So, if you're loud and sarcasm is your game, don't be scared to translate that over to social media and create and share evergreen content. So, if you have your own content, make sure it translates. If you look at it a year from now, it's still relevant because you can reshare and repost things too. And make sure that when you're sharing that you're not too self-promotional. Social media is a storytelling platform and your consumers want to be entertained. So, you do need to do some self-promotion, obviously, but make sure you're not too self-promotional. And last but not least, listen. So, a lot of times we just want to do a lot of speaking, but think about you have a lot of followers. You should be following your customers and stuff too on Facebook and listen to what they're engaged with, what groups are they in. This is a great platform to understand your consumers even better and what they care about. And then you can tailor your content to that as well. Okay. So, let's break this down. Social media planning. So, this is just meant to make your life easier. Create a schedule or put it on your calendar. It can be as easy as on a Gmail calendar, on your email calendar, putting up there, I'm going to post on this day and this day and this day. Even if it's once a month, twice a week, I would recommend even starting with once a week, right? So, that's four times a month. It can seem a little daunting, but if you really think about four posts a month, it's not that much. And followers will look forward to seeing your posts regularly, right? So, once a week, you're posting something that's not that bad. Once you've decided how often you want to post, consider other events that will help you determine your posting content. So, think about holidays. Like this month, we have Friday, we have Valentine's Day, right? That's an easy post to put for that month, right? Industry events. What's going on in the industry? Is there a show you're attending or that your consumers might be looking forward to? Promotions. Are you having an end of month sale that you want to promote? Sharing your inventory. New inventory on your lot. Let your followers know. Serious content. Be careful when posting serious content, but you can post it. So, is there any out there that you want to post? And then humorous posts. So, memes are easy to repurpose and people gravitate to funny. Okay. So, let's take that a step further and think outside the lot. We have YouTube channel. We talked about this earlier. We didn't spend a lot of time here, but this is our consumers, 70% are using YouTube. So, it can be a simple video of the new pieces of equipment on your lot. You can talk through inventory walkarounds or uses for the equipment. But YouTube is a very good platform, especially for that boomer. You could find a local influencer. If you have somebody in your area that always buys your OEM branded equipment, right? Like, see if you can promote anytime they put a picture up or something of that piece of equipment, if you can promote that. Ask customers to leave reviews on your Facebook or Google page. And to help get more likes and views of your post, you can also And to help get more likes and views of your post, you can also boost them on LinkedIn or Facebook for a minimal cost. So, now you have your listings. You've created and shared content to your social media. But what else can you do to create that lasting impression on your consumers? Email. And we know that they're spending time in email. So, email allows you to directly connect with a customer. You're not at the mercy of a Google search. You're directly in their inbox. People are constantly checking their emails. The average person checks email at least 15 times a day. It's a lot. 58% of people are even going as far as to check their email before they do anything else online. And I know that's true for myself. When I turn on my computer, the very first thing I open is email every single time, whether it's personal or business. So, you have the opportunity to engage with your buyers several times a day directly in their inbox with email. So, the key takeaways today. 79% of buyers use the internet to search for large purchases. As a society, we are moving towards personalization. You want to hone your listings and guide your consumers through the internet search process. Don't be afraid of content. And there are 25 million users on Facebook, Canada, the US, and the average user is 45 to 64 years old. So, we want to be there. Okay. So, we got through this a little quickly. So, I have plenty of time for questions. I have some additional experts in the room. But if you have any questions, I'll answer today. All right. Well, my name, again, is Shaylin Simmons, I'm Associate Vice President of our Equipment Brands. And if there's anything I can help you with, please reach out. And everybody, have a wonderful day. Thank you.

webinar

equipment consumer

ever-changing market

digital marketing

online presence

content marketing

social media marketing