Are You Running Ad Words For Dummies!

If  you’re one of thousands of dealers who think they’re on top of Google, Bing and Yahoo Adwords,  you may want to revaluate!

Give yourself the ad word dummy test:

1) Is your ad word copy over 90 days old?

2) Do the majority of your ad words have the same copy?

3) When you click on your ad does it take you to your home page?

4) Are landing pages something other guys are doing?

If you answered  yes to three of these questions you’re a card carrying member of the ad words for dummies club.

Don’t feel bad,  it’s a very big club.  Many top dealers can be found in this club.

Ad Words For Dummies was created years ago when the entire  concept of ad words was born.  It was a quick and easy way to get dealers into the ad word game.  I like to say it played to the lowest denominator.  The dealer who wanted in but didn’t understand it.  

The problem today for these dealers is they haven’t realized, relevance now trumps participation.  Your ads must be time and product sensitive.  You must give the consumer the feeling  their search will be rewarded with relevant information.

Static ad copy that directs the shopper to a home page is not relevant.  

• A used truck ad shouldn’t go to your new vehicle inventory!
• A new car search shouldn’t go to the home page!
• A make and model search shouldn’t locate a different make and model!

It’s time to wake up.  The most successful dealers are running customized, accountable and effective ad word campaigns.  The old school approach of  just getting into the game  isn’t personal or relevant enough.

It’s time that you integrate customized copy, customized landing page, and customized offers to your ad word campaigns.  

Let’s face it!  The people conducting searches are pretty good prospects.  You need to recognize the importance of being relevant.  Do your own trial and error searches.   I dare you!

Dealers have fallen behind.  Think relevancy and integration!

If you’d like to discuss how to turn your ad words campaigns into effective money makers drop me a note.

Your automotive ad agency really should be all over this!

How Relevant Is Your Dealership Today?

Have you stopped and really asked: How relevant am I?  Not how relevant  you’re as an individual, but how relevant is your business to the shopping public.

This is a key statement!  You need to begin looking at customers and prospects  as the shopping public.

Prospects are no longer prospects.  Customers are no longer customers.  They have become educated, informed, shoppers.  

Always learning!

Always sharing!

Always shopping!

If you want to be relevant ask yourself:  Am I making it easier for people to shop?

• Are my messages relevant to the searches being made for information?  
• Are my methods of communication relevant to the media channels that people desire to access information? 

Communication Channels

We have  dealers who will only use the telephone to communicate with our agency.  I know other dealers who still like the fax machine.  And there are those who prefer to handle things through email.  My point is we have to communicate with our dealers in the manner they prefer. 

Your marketing message must be relevant to the market place.  You need to be integrating Social Media, digital and traditional media into your monthly plans.  You can no longer treat each media channel as an isolated silo.  The shopping public isn’t behaving this way, why should you?  

Message

The shopping public wants to get the information they desire from the media channel they  prefer.

They also expect your message to be more relevant to their search or inquiry.

A great example of how dealers are not making their message relevant is the use of Google Ad Words.

Do a search.  Type in any product you like and what you’ll find is two major mistakes.

1. The copy in the Google Ad does not specifically match the search.  It’s also so generic that it doesn’t relate to the time of year, the event in play or the product searched.
2. 90% of the time when  you click on this ad you’ll end up on the home page of the dealer’s web site!  These dealers are asking the consumer to work even harder to find the information they thought they  put into a search bar.

The solution is Relevant Content.  Try creating landing pages that match your key search terms.  Give the shopping public the information they want.  Update the copy in your ads. Try just adding Fall Specials into your copy, it will make your ad more relevant to the shopping public.  Make everyone else’s ad look stale and old.

If you start thinking Integration you’ll quickly see how easy it is to become relevant to the shopping public.  It doesn’t take more effort, just the willingness to look at the market from a different view point.

The shopping public’s eyes!  Take a look and you might realize you’re not very relevant.

Give me call if you have any thoughts on Integration!  We’re always thinking here.

30 Top Integration Thoughts For Better Marketing

Integration should be on your mind at all times.  

It’s without a doubt the key to marketing today and in the future.  If you’re not integrating you’re falling behind.

I created a list of 30 Integration starter idea’s for you!   Read the entire list and you’ll begin to feel the power that integration can deliver.

Remember it’s just a starter list… ENJOY! 

1) Integrate you call recordings with a service to review and flag missed opportunities

 

2) Integrate Facebook ads into your fixed operations offers

 

3)Integrate seasonal or promotional language into your Pay Per Click ads

 

4) Integrate hotspot technology and your landing page creative for digital

 

5) Integrate unique URL’s into your landing page program

 

6) Integrate site reports from Google analytics to lower bid prices

 

7) Integrate used digital ads with specific make and model on website

 

8) Integrate your blog with twitter and tweet 6 times per day

 

9) Integrate facebook and texting and gain valuable opt in cell numbers 

 

10) Integration of floor traffic and texting

 

11) Integrate your floor traffic and  texting

 

12) Integrate expandable banner ads with your live website

 

13) Integrate your traditional media buys with association ads

 

14) Integrate more emphasis on website in TV ads

 

15) Integrate the power of mass media social network with yours

 

16) Integrate media events in the community with your twitter and facebook

 

17) Integrate specific URL’s in print with dynamic digital landing pages

 

18) Integrate your blog content and make a great e-newsletter

 

19) Integrate your organic search efforts with your blog content and copy

 

20) Integrate your key search terms in your social content

 

21) Integrate outside experts to your social sites to add relevancy for search

 

22) Integrate texting into  your TV campaigns

 

23) Integrate QR Codes into all print and showroom materials

 

24) Integrate your blog with website home page

 

25) Integrate point of sale and  your social networks

 

26) Integrate be back strategies with texting

 

27) Integrate a tracking system that tracks traditional, digital and social

 

28) Integrate lifestyle data into your  media buys

 

29) Integrate zip code data for better digital results

 

30) Integration of free posting site with digital

 

Everyday be looking for ways to integrate and stretch your marketing dollars.  Take a look at what a day of integrated marketing looks like by clicking on this Integrated Marketing link.  

 

Please share some of your integration idea’s with us.  If your automotive ad agency isn’t integrating quickly share this list with them.

 

 

Googles “Places Search” Should Change Your SEO Strategy

  

Google Has Combined It’s Local Map Search With Organic Results!

If  you haven’t noticed yet the Google map has been pushed to the right side of the screen above the sponsored links. Businesses no longer are listed directly to the right of it. Moving the map to the right has allowed the organic results to move up.

This is an effort by Google to put more emphasis on local searches.  Place Searches will become a big player in your future.

 If a business that’s listed well in the organic results has a Google Places account set up, its listing will be enhanced from the photos, reviews and contact information pulled from Google Places. 

You’ll also notice on the left side of the page, beneath some of the organic search listings a button that say Places.  If a consumer clicks on this bottom they’ll see all the Google Places Results.  

Important to notice the review sections here.  This is going to become really important to you!

So how does this effect you…

• Since you do business locally you need to get all over Google Places.
• Traditional search engine strategies (Bloging for one) that help a website rank high will have more importance.  
• Reviews will be easier for consumers to find. You must work on good Customer service and getting reviews published.
• You may see less website traffic because addresses and phone numbers are easier to find in the search engine results. .

What the Dealer Should Do?

It will be hard for you to rank well for local search without a well-optimized website, a claimed optimized Google Places page and social media program centered around a blog.

• Set up or claim your Google pages/local account at http://bit.ly/gooclaim. Fill out your listing as completely as possible, including images. Add as many categories as you can (five as of now).
• Start asking people to leave reviews on your Google Places page as well as on third-party sites.
• If you don’t have a social media program get one started today!

 Google is making “local and relevant” a priority.  If your automotive ad agency isn’t ready to help give us a call.

Thanks to Streamcompanies.com for the their insight in this subject.

Marketing Guru’s… I Bet You’re Not Here Yet!

Integrated marketing is here!  And it’s more powerful than you can imagine.

Talk about a competitive advantage!

If  you want to know what it looks and feels like watch this video from Social.Motive.

Traditional Advertising + Digital Advertising + Social Media

Hold ON!

If you’d like  more thoughts on how to make integrated marketing work just drop me a note.  It will be interesting to see how many Automotive Ad Agencies can connect with this new world.

YouTube Has The Numbers Your Automotive Ad Agency Can’t Ignore!

If you’re wondering the impact YouTube has had on America take a look at these numbers.  

Remember, YouTube is just a tool and not a magic pill.  Posting a video, to just post a video will not help you obtain your marketing goals.   However,  put the right plan in place with the right videos…… WOW!  What an audience!

Make sure your Automotive Ad Agency  has a plan  to capitalize on the growth and power of YouTube.  

Let me know how you’re using YouTube.

New Google Search Tools: Why Are They Important To Your Automotive Ad Agency?

Google has added new search tools to help users find the information they are looking for easier than ever. 

But will these search tools help or hurt you?.   

Google has learned that searches are greatly influenced by information that might be outdated.  If you use the search feature  you know just what I am talking about.  

The most important new Google search feature is the ability to filter results by time.   Google has introduced the ability to search by specific time frames with only one click.  If you’re interested in the posts relevancy you can now search by: the last 24 hours, week, month, year, or even a designated date range. 

This is great news for dealerships that create fresh relevant content.

Dealerships using the blog as the center point of there social media strategy will have a significant advantage.  Just one more benefit of a properly executed social media strategy.

I know first hand how powerful this is.  I have several blogs and one  has been live for 6 months.  If you type in a key search term used for this blog and click on “past year”… here’s what you’ll find 

• • Individual blogs on the first page
  • Twitter page on the first page
  • Face Book page on the first page
  • (no specific web site attached to this blog so there is no site to rank)

  Bottom Line Relevant Current Content Wins!

In addition to this filter, there is a timeline feature that will actually display search results in a graph for the year that the data is relevant to.

Next, is a feature that will limit the Google search results to a users immediate area.  This is important to most shoppers. It is a very positive move for your social media program.  

Can you get your blog, facebook, twitter and web site to the first page?  Absolutely!

Finally, Google has also created an interesting tool called the “Wonder Wheel.”  This visual search tool displays your search word in the middle of a wheel with other related keyword definitions surrounding it like spokes on a bike.  When you click one of the spokes, another wheel appears with the selected keyword in the middle and thus creating a drill down effect of the Google search results. 

This is important to keep an eye on.  It may suggest key search terms you need to pay attention to.  As the use of it grows your bound to see certain search terms increase in usage.  When you identify a new search term of value  add it to your cache.

Overall these new features have a huge potential to change the way all Internet users search and find information. 

As these new features become popular, it will mean your website will have to change and your social media program will be even more important.  Relevant and current content will win this battle. You need to be sure you and your automotive ad agency are on top of this.

Check these new features out they’re located to the left of the search screen.  If you don’t see this feature right away, click the option called “Show search tools”.

Improve Your YouTube Search For More Dealership Traffic

 Making your video work for you takes just a well thought out plan.

 Larry Kim is founder and vice president of products for WordStream, a Boston-based provider of keyword management tools for pay-per-click advertising and search engine optimization.

He has some very good ideas on how to make sure you get the results you want.  I have gathered the ones I think are the most important to you.

Creating relevant YouTube videos is a great way to boost the visibility of your dealership.

Millions of people use YouTube on a daily basis. In one month this year, YouTube, , had more than 112 million unique visitors who streamed video more than 6.6 billion times, according to Nielsen NetView. That made YouTube the top online video brand, as well as the fifth most visited U.S. website.

Are you wondering what type of video would work best for your dealership?


Some watch YouTube for entertainment reasons. And those who watch for educational reasons like to be entertained as well. So it’s up to you to make a video about your dealership or service interesting.



Options include how-to videos and expert Q&As.

You might want to developing engaging video that indirectly related to your dealership, but still generates name recognition for your store.



How to be sure your video is found.


Without eye balls on your video it doesn’t matter how dynamic it is.  A high percentage of online users find videos by conducting keyword searches on YouTube or search engines, it’s very important to optimize your video for search.

Here a few tips from Larry Kim:

1.    Put keywords in your video’s title, description and tags. Since search engines can’t read video content, you must guide them by describing the content in these YouTube fields.

You should have already determined what key search words you want to capitalize on.  This step needs to be done well before you begin production.

If your video shows how to do something, begin the title with “How to.” Also, make sure your description is written in complete sentences and that your company’s URL is at the beginning of these fields. The latter ensures that people can see it in YouTube search results, which helps increase your website’s traffic.

2. Promote your videos on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. The more views, ratings and comments your videos get, the higher they’ll appear in search engine rankings. The potential for views, ratings and comments increases when people in your social networks know you have new content. And since these people are your “friends” or “followers,” the chances of them rating your video favorably are relatively high.

3. Embed videos on your blog or website, and encourage others to do so as well. A video embedded is like a link in that it can boost your search engine rankings. Simultaneously, it can draw traffic to your site and other sites that have embedded the video.

It’s a good idea to include a description close to the embedded video on your site or blog. That makes the video easier to find in universal search engine results. In the description, you can link to your video in YouTube using keyword-rich anchor text. To track which sites have embedded or linked to your video, click on “Statistics & Data” below the video in YouTube.

Like any good marketing or advertising effort it takes strategy and planning.  If your venturing into the YouTube world be sure you or your automotive ad agency does their homework first.  Let me know if you have any entertaining or educational videos you would like to share.   I would love to see them.