(Frankfort, Ill.) – September 1, 2010 – Dealer HD is pleased to welcome the Collinsville Ford Lincoln Dealer, Jack Schmitt Ford of Collinsville, Illinois to their nationwide client network with the launch of their website. Jack Schmitt Ford and Dealer HD are working together to create a unique online presence for the dealership and in all facets of their business.

Jack Schmitt and Dealer HD are providing customers with the ultimate online dealership experience.  Utilizing website features like Live Chat, Automated Rebates, Video Reviews, Car Builder and Carfinder customers have everything they need to research and make purchasing decisions right from the comfort of their own home.  In addition to the services provided to site users, Jack Schmitt will benefit from analytics reports and Live View website tracking and reporting provided by Dealer HD.

Beyond the dealer website, Jack Schmitt is taking advantage of Dealer HD’s additional digital offerings.  With the website launch comes the launch of a texting campaign using Dealer HD’s integrated product as well as a Search Engine Marketing campaign supported by DHD’s National Partner, Reach Local.

“Jack Schmitt and their staff have great potential to maximize all of the new Dealer HD web resources for their business,” said Sue James, Senior Account Executive at Dealer HD, “I have no doubts that they will succeed in today’s automotive industry and I look forward to assisting them in every way possible during this journey.”

Visit the Jack Schmitt Ford dealership online at JackSchmittFord.com or visit in person at 1820 Vandalia in Collinsville IL, just 15 minutes from downtown St. Louis.

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Dealer HD is an Automotive Website and Solutions Provider serving clients Nationwide. Located in the southern suburbs of Chicago, the Dealer HD team has over 100 years of combined automotive experience.  Dealer HD provides customizable dealer web sites with a comprehensive admin tool that collects dealer leads, allows the quick and easy editing of website content, inventory modification and more.  Dealer HD makes sure your dealer website is ready for mobile applications, social networking, and all future web innovations.

The iPhone does it all.  With tens of thousands of iPhone applications, a consumer is able to hold the world in the palm of their hands.   World renowned remote start manufacturer, Directed Electronics, is now offering the Viper SmartStart, an application that will allow you to control your vehicle from anywhere within the United States.   Your basic, run-of-the-mill remote starts will require the user and the remote to be within one hundred feet or so, but the SmartStart can be used within any radius.  While you are vacationing on the beaches of the Florida Keys, with the help of the 3G-network connection, you can have the ability to access your vehicle that is sitting in your driveway in the Midwest.

With a little service work from an authorized dealer, your iPhone can be controlling your car with advance features such as, unlocking and locking the doors, remotely start and turn off your vehicle, find your car, start your heat or air conditioning, and open your trunk.  With the free iPhone application one now has the ability to operate their vehicle from anywhere.  With all of the other products on the market, the Viper SmartStart has brought keyless entry to a whole new playing field.

Currently at Best Buy stores, you can purchase the device for $499, which is an average price for any remote start that one would purchase.   Drivers can now run errands using their iPhone as their car keys, their remote start, their GPS system and oh yea, that’s right, their cellular device.

National web hosting and web design company, Dealer HD has also been able to bring our customers the most cutting edge cellular compatibility, by releasing our mobile, on-the-go websites.  Dealer HD automotive websites are now compatible with mobile web browsers, including an iPhone specific set-up.  Optimized specifically for mobile devices, consumers will now be able to browse the websites 24/7 on their mobile phones!

We are currently living in a day of age where advertising is virtually EVERYWHERE.  When you go to a movie, drive down the street, or even when receiving bills in the mail, someone is always trying to sell something.  As for the automotive industry it is important to get your dealership’s name out there in the most effective way(s) you can. Because if you don’t – someone else will grab that market share right from under your nose!

When people think advertising they think newspapers, magazines, direct mail, radio, television, etc.  Which are all excellent outlets, but are unfortunately becoming more and more out dated everyday.  Now don’t get me wrong, I still read magazines and books that are actually made out of paper, and listen to the actual radio instead of going straight to my iPod, but as time goes on, these methods are fading out.

Print advertising is disposable.  When men and women are on their daily commute each morning, they may read the newspaper while on the train, but most individuals toss that paper in the garbage as they leave the station.  This leaves no chance for the potential customer to go back to look at your ad. Once it is gone, it is gone. The only way to re-market these consumers is to re-run those ads day after day, which can make quite a dent in your budget.

Where some may argue that a newspaper is a lot easier to come by during your daily commute or while sitting in your Lazyboy on Sunday morning, as technology advances, so does the accessibility to search the web. There are now laptops available that weigh just a few pounds, and phones such as Blackberrys and iPhones that you can check email, surf the web, and message your friends!  Shopping and researching vehicles is convenient and painless.  While consumers are searching on the web for products, especially vehicles, they are either looking for you, or looking for the product.  If you can pull the latter in with an effective online campaign, you can almost always expect a for-sure sell.

“eMarketer projects that the online share of ad dollars will continue to grow, rising from neatly 10% this year to slightly more that 15% in 2013.”  It seems to be that this so called ‘less traditional’ form of media may just as well eventually rise about and be the most traditional of them all.  This is an on-the-go form of media that keeps up with the advancing technology, and cannot be disposed of as easily as your more ‘traditional’ forms.

The way I tend to look at it is that to run your basic search or display campaign for an entire month, can basically be the same cost to you as running a full page ad in Sunday’s paper.  Throughout the month these online campaigns are constantly re-marketing themselves, where as the Sunday paper is thrown into the recycling bin on Monday morning.

The advertising dollars that are spent to run an affective online campaign can be the best way to spend your budget.  Mixed with other forms of broadcast and print, having a well-rounded monthly advertising campaign will be a sure way to make sure that market share isn’t being pulled from under you.