Nexteppe Smartmarks
Nexteppe Smartmarks: Nexteppe describes SmartMarks as an image branding feature for dealer inventory photos. Its page says SmartMarks include customized backgrounds and watermarks that build the dealer's brand, so that each vehicle photo carries the dealership's look when it appears on a website or listing site.
Nexteppe Smartmarks: Smartmarks
According to the company, vehicles are shown with their most outstanding options as featured highlights. The dealer's key strengths appear in Why Buy slides.
It also describes exact color matching and fully detailed features. So a listing image tells the shopper what the car has as well as what it looks like.
SmartMarks are described as updated seasonally and for events, keeping the images consistent with the dealer's marketing campaigns. A separate Nexteppe page describes why dealers buy such ads, and another describes the Smartmark process for images.
SmartMarks sits among Nexteppe's other services: lot services that photograph inventory, the ProShots professional photography feature, used car videos that the company says are made with proprietary artificial intelligence software to highlight the most appealing features of each vehicle, text message marketing and mobile sites. Marketing Dive covered Nexteppe's approach to mobile marketing for auto dealers.
A Dealer Lead Track CRM page describes a Nexteppe lead entry feature, which shows that leads from Nexteppe's services can flow into a CRM automatically. That is a useful fact for a dealer who wants to track which vehicle images and ads produce inquiries.
The product is a photo and creative service, so evaluation involves the finished images. A used car manager would ask how quickly photos are shot and published after a car arrives, who owns the images, how they appear on each listing site, how seasonal updates are approved and what the contract says about exclusivity and cancellation.
Involve the daily users.
Nexteppe was founded in 1999 and is based in Holbrook, New York. PitchBook lists Dealertrack as buying it in January 2015.
It sells inventory lot services, including photography, video and ProShots.
SmartMarks are custom backgrounds and watermarks for vehicle photos. Nexteppe says they include Featured Highlights and Why Buy slides that show a dealer's strengths.
A dealer would ask who owns the finished images.
| Product or service | Function |
|---|---|
| Smartmarks | Overlays that display a vehicle’s top features on images. |