Trevor Collins

Trevor Collins, Interactive Classified Advertising Director, New York Times Regional Newspaper Group, Tampa, Fla.

We need to show that we belong in the local automotive space," said Trevor Collins, director of classified/interactive sales, for the New York Times Regional Newspaper Group.It is especially vital that newspapers "leverage all our strengths" as they go up against increasingly stiff competition from competitors such as AutoTrader, Autobytel and increasingly, broadcaster efforts."We must not only equal competitors, we must be more," Collins said.

Newspapers are especially well-positioned to drive customers through all parts of the sales cycle with their well-rounded auto content, such as auto reviews and maintenance columns.They can also take advantage of "lifestyle placement" by moving ads from the auto classifieds to sports to arts, and even target them by ZIP code and e-mail."You want to bring people in earlier in the process," Collins said."Not just before people are ready to shop.You need to move up to the research and decision level."

"You want to bring people in earlier in the process," said Trevor Collins.
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Collins calculates that AutoTrader, for instance, provides dealers with 1.8 million leads, which result in 165,000 sales, or a conversion rate of just 9.2 percent.

The emphasis on sales also does not take into account dealer relationships with customers for after-market opportunities, such as maintenance contracts."None of this works very well for dealers," he said.

Collins warned that newspapers won't succeed in these efforts if they don't have a very sophisticated sales rep and client.