Car shoppers are looking for you. Are you hiding in the weeds?
DON’T YOU MISS the days when improving your sales numbers meant simply booking an extra page in the local paper, creating or re-running an innovative marketing program, propping up the new and used inventory, or, if all else failed, getting that inflatable Gorilla on top of your roof to attract attention?
Ok, maybe there was no Gorilla, but you always knew what levers to pull and the metrics were fairly easy to understand.
While some of those items may still apply, we are now getting asked about the number of online leads received, retargeting campaigns, chat conversions, bounce rates or the quality of our initial response.
Though it seems overwhelming, the principles are very similar to yesteryear. You need to be where your customers are, whether they are searching, shopping or just chatting.
Over the next few articles I am going to try and “Demystify Digital Marketing” so that you can get back to selling and servicing your products. Let’s start with Search Engine Marketing or SEM.
Have you “Googled” lately? I know I have. As a matter of fact, I notice that my kids don’t even say it…it’s just what they do. Auto shoppers are the same. A Google search is typically the first action a consumer will take — it’s really the de facto address bar for most consumers.
Google is the gateway to hundreds of millions of websites, and Search Engine Marketing is an effective way for your customers to find you in that digital world.
Furthermore, today’s car buyer lives in a five screen world using their desktop, tablet, smartphone, smart TV, and more recently, smartwatch. The rise in digital marketing can be directly related to the increased use of devices and the growing dependence that consumers have on real-time information that’s now available 24/7.
This shift in behaviour will have a positive influence for digital marketing budgets as consumers increasingly rely on digital channels to research and purchase vehicles.
SEM was once used as an umbrella term to encompass both organic search (SEO) and paid search (SEM). Today, our industry has accepted the SEM acronym to refer solely to paid search activities.
Now you may be asking, “Why do I need it; my dealership receives 100-125 online leads per month and our Sales Reps complain that an online lead is just a method to price shop?”
Well, maybe a fraction might use it to price shop, but in reality, online leads are the equivalent to a customer walking into your showroom. It’s the same premise, they’re just doing it online.
In fact, half of car shoppers end up deciding where to buy based on their research about potential dealers online. If you want to win that consumer, it is critical that your dealership owns its presence online, both in organic listings and paid search.
SEM includes many paid tactics and platforms, but understanding the concept and why it’s important for your dealership is critical in choosing the right strategy.
For example, a Pay Per Click (PPC) strategy means that you pay each time a consumer clicks on your ad, which brings them one step closer to engaging with you. When comparing the effectiveness of PPC, it is important to consider the actual intent of the Internet shopper conducting the search query.
For those closer to purchase, PPC is actually a far more effective strategy than organic listings. In fact, according to a study from WordStream, over 60 per cent of users with purchase intent click on PPC advertisements over organic listings.
For many years, Google AdWords (words that a dealership can buy that will get it noticed more when customers are searching through Google) has been the most popular paid search network on the Internet.
It’s estimated that Google represents about 68 per cent of total searches made online every day… that’s about 40,000 searches a second or 3.5 billion searches per day worldwide.
PPC ads allow a dealer to pay for their name and brand to be at the top of a search engine results page that they otherwise may not have been found on. There are three types of campaigns I recommend a dealer should start with: brand, inventory and conquesting.
Brand campaigns target keyword terms about the dealership, for example, “Hometown Mazda.” The advantage of brand campaigns is that they are highly relevant, as the consumer is specifically searching for your dealership, and they typically have the lowest cost-per-click and higher conversion.
Now many dealers ask, “Why do I need to buy the name of my own dealership?” Simple. Because if you don’t, your competitors will, and that will put them on the spot above you on any search engine.
Next are inventory campaigns for both new and used vehicles. These campaigns should be driven by actual inventory on your lot. A good PPC vendor will integrate with your DMS and dynamically create advertisements based on your own inventory. Your inventory ads should link to a vehicle details page that includes a lead submission form. Try testing different ad copy to see what converts the best. In my experience, I see the best results from incentive or payment based inventory ads.
Lastly are conquesting ad campaigns. These campaigns drive traffic to your website from competitive makes and model searches.
In 2014, Google reported that, on average, when online researching a vehicle, one in three consumers will switch dealerships and one in five consumers will switch brands. Conquest ads provide a platform for you to serve your message to consumers that typically wouldn’t have found you otherwise.
For many dealerships, the thought of SEM is overwhelming. Unless you have a dedicated SEM expert in-house, I strongly recommend working with an automotive SEM provider that has the knowledge and expertise to get you the highest number of clicks for the lowest cost.
Either way, you need to understand well enough to ask the right questions and hold them accountable. When looking for a vendor, here are a few questions to ask before signing on the dotted line.
First, who owns the account and do you have access to see the results? It’s your money; you should have the right to see the results. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case with most SEM providers. We believe transparency is a priority, so you should have access to your analytics 24/7 and know exactly where your money is being spent. Own the account and password!
Second, do they charge a percentage of budget or a flat fee? Many providers charge a monthly admin fee and a portion of spend, or they mark-up the cost-per-click (CPC).
Either way, what’s really important is that you can measure the ROI on your marketing spend. Look for a vendor that can help you determine that number. The more expensive spend may actually return a higher rate on your investment.
Finally, is your SEM partner a Google Premier Partner? This designation means your provider was trained by Google and will have the most knowledgeable team to maximize your budget and advertising spend.
Digital channels dominate the purchasing journey and it all starts with a simple search inquiry. Take the time to understand and learn about SEM for your dealership.
