News

If you are looking for the latest best practices and thought leadership in automotive digital advertising, mark your calendars for two exciting conference in April.

Are you planning on going to the 10th Digital Dealer Conference in Orlando in April? Consider booking the Dynamic Duo of automotive conferences in the Spring of 2011.

The 2011 Automotive Marketing Boot Camp, hosted by PCG Digital Marketing, is scheduled from April 16th – 18th in Orlando Florida.  Automotive advertising and marketing professionals will be staffing the Boot Camp to provide hands on education to car dealers in the USA and Canada.

We are encouraging attendees to fly into Orlando on Saturday April 16th in the afternoon to participate in the evening kick-off reception on Saturday night.  The Automotive Marketing Boot Camp will attract car dealers who want to increase their search visibility and dominate their local markets.

The Automotive Marketing Boot Camp will feature two full days of classes on Sunday and Monday to provide the strongest educational experience for all that attend.

The Automotive Marketing Boot Camp (#AMBC) will provide and early breakfast on Tuesday morning April 19th. After breakfast, attendees who will be going to the 10th Digital Dealer Conference can shoot over for opening day activities.

The conference centers will be less than 5 minutes away from each other so jump over the DD10 will be very easy.

More details on the Boot Camp will be posted in January as we finalize the roster of speakers, educators, and sponsors. Last year the Boot Camp attendees posted rave reviews of their investment of time for this event. Don’t miss out on this dynamic due of automotive conferences in April.

Booking Flights to Orlando?

So if you are booking your flights to the 10th Digital Dealer Conference early to save money, keep the Boot Camp opportunity mind. The Automotive Marketing Boot Camp is $795 per person for the 3 day event and will be the best investment in education you can make in April.

Visit: http://www.automotivemarketingbootcamp.com for more details. See you in Orlando!

PCG Digital Marketing today announced a follow up study to their widely popular Automotive Search Engine Optimization (SEO) study going on now. The new study, Automotive Search Engine Marketing (SEM), will guide 100 dealers through creating, managing, and analyzing paid digital marketing campaigns.

Automotive Internet sales and marketing professionals who are currently working at car dealerships and want to master powerful SEM tools and strategies to improve the search visibility of their website are invited to participate in the Automotive Search Engine Marketing study. The study is open to employees of car dealers only.

The Automotive SEM Study will be limited to 100 automotive dealers. Enrollment is free and is now open. Dealers who wish to participate in the 8-week program will need to devote 2-3 hours per week to the study as well as a minimum of $1,000 per month to go directly to their dealer’s paid digital marketing campaigns.

For more information about enrolling in the study, please visit www.automotivesemstudy.com and sign up using the link on the right.

Study members will be trained and coached on the proper setup, execution, and measurement of paid advertising campaigns. The primary focus will be on Google and Facebook marketing with a secondary focus on Yahoo and Bing advertising.

The 100 participating dealers will have access to winning digital marketing strategies, marketing outlines, tutorials, and websites managed by PCG Digital Marketing that will enhance the results of their work. In return, members in the study will share the results of their work and be included in a whitepaper being prepared by PCG Digital Marketing.

The first webinar of the study kicks off on February 15^th 2011.

Automotive SEM Study Requirements

The requirements to participate in the study are:

1. Participants must be an employee of a car dealership, proof will be required.

2. Participants must have written permission to setup a PPC campaign and have a budget to run the campaigns.

3. Participants must have an email address from an active dealership domain.

4. Members in the study will be required to dedicate up to 3 hours a week to complete the tasks required for success.

5. Participants must be willing to share the results of their work to allow the data to be summarized* in the final study whitepaper.

* No confidential data or specific dealership website results will be published in the whitepaper or made public without written permission from participant.

Register For the Automotive SEM Study

Dealers interested in participating should register online at www.automotivesemstudy.com. PCG Digital Marketing retains the right to decline dealer participation in the Automotive SEM Study based on conflicts of interest with current clients.

PCG Digital Marketing today announced a follow up study to their widely popular Automotive Search Engine Optimization (SEO) study going on now.  The new study, Automotive Search Engine Marketing (SEM), will guide 100 dealers through creating, managing, and analyzing paid digital marketing campaigns.

Automotive Internet sales and marketing professionals who are currently working at car dealerships and want to master powerful SEM tools and strategies to improve the search visibility of their website are invited to participate in the Automotive Search Engine Marketing study. The study is open to employees of car dealers only.

The Automotive SEM Study will be limited to 100 automotive dealers. Enrollment is free and is now open.  Dealers who wish to participate in the 8-week program will need to devote 2-3 hours per week to the study as well as a minimum of $1,000 per month to go directly to their dealer’s paid digital marketing campaigns.

For more information about enrolling in the study, please visit http://www.automotivesemstudy.com/ and sign up using the link on the right.

Study members will be trained and coached on the proper setup, execution, and measurement of paid advertising campaigns.  The primary focus will be on Google and Facebook marketing with a secondary focus on Yahoo and Bing advertising.

The 100 participating dealers will have access to winning digital marketing strategies, marketing outlines, tutorials, and websites managed by PCG Digital Marketing that will enhance the results of their work. In return, members in the study will share the results of their work and be included in a whitepaper being prepared by PCG Digital Marketing.

The first webinar of the study kicks off on February 15^th 2011.

Automotive SEM Study Requirements

The requirements to participate in the study are:

1. Participants must be an employee of a car dealership, proof will be required.
2. Participants must have written permission to setup a PPC campaign and have a budget to run the campaigns.
3. Participants must have an email address from an active dealership domain.
4. Members in the study will be required to dedicate up to 3 hours a week to complete the tasks required for success.
5. Participants must be willing to share the results of their work to allow the data to be summarized* in the final study whitepaper.

* No confidential data or specific dealership website results will be published in the whitepaper or made public without written permission from participant.

Register For Automotive SEM Study

Dealers interested in participating should register online at http://www.automotivesemstudy.com . PCG Digital Marketing retains the right to decline dealer participation in the Automotive SEM Study based on conflicts of interest with current clients.

About PCG Digital Marketing

PCG Digital Marketing (www.pcgdigitalmarketing.com) is a full service digital marketing agency that serves the Automotive Industry.  PCG is nationally recognized as a leader in Automotive Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and automotive digital marketing.

Brian Pasch, CEO and founder of PCG Digital Marketing is an active blogger, writer and speaker at automotive conferences, 20 Groups and digital marketing forums.  PCG Digital Marketing is also the sponsor of the 2010 AWA awards, which recognizes the best automotive websites platforms based on their search marketing effectiveness.  (www.automotivewebsiteawards.com)

Does the automotive industry need another three letter acronym?  Dealers have a long list of acronyms already:  SEO, SEM, PPC, IRM, CRM, and the grandaddy OEM.  Let me suggest that dealers may come to find DCS very helpful in comparing automotive advertising platforms.

Car dealers rely heavily on third party websites to advertise their car inventory. I will argue that a dealer’s inventory is their currency for business along with its brand reputation and customer service.

Since dealership inventory is their primary eCommerce asset, it is surprising to see that many dealers have not objectively inspected where and how their cars are being merchandised.

Expanded Choices For Inventory Syndication

In the past two years a number of new inventory advertising platforms have been created which has given dealers new choices for automotive advertising. I have been involved in the creation of one of those new choices with the release of the Automotive Advertising Network (AAN).  There are other new faces like CarGurus, EveryCarListed, and Vast that offer competition to the established heavy-weights like Autotrader.com and Cars.com.

This article is not about promoting my project, rather I want to start a dialogue on advertising design and how that impacts leads and conversion.

For some car dealers, their inventory is being syndicated by their inventory management companies. For other car dealers they subscribe to inventory advertising solutions directly.  Inventory syndication is part of all car dealer budgets but little has been written to help car dealers differentiate these many choices.

Creating The Dealer Centricity Score (DCS)

PCG Digital Marketing has created the Dealer Centricity Score (DCS) to start a discussion on the options dealers have to advertise their car inventory.  The DSC is a measure of which inventory advertising platforms are dealer centric and which platforms are more self serving. As competition increases, I believe that dealers will gravitate toward those platforms that are dealer centric and that have a strong return on investment (ROI).

Currently, millions of dollars of profits are being generated by advertisements that run on Vehicle Detail Pages (VDP) which showcase a car for sale at a local dealer. The search results, organic, pay-per-click, or through a menu search, are enabled by local dealer inventory. Dealer inventory is the actual “content” that powers the most popular automotive advertising platforms. Not many people have addressed this model but car dealers do not share in the revenue generated off their own Vehicle Detail Pages.

In fact, car dealers send their eCommerce currency (their cars) to companies that charge them for the opportunity to list their cars.  As a result of that relationship, the advertising platforms make millions of dollars in advertising dollars and commission fees that are not shared with the dealer.

This advertising model is not new. However when you ask a dealer which platforms are more dealer centric (less ads) vs. more vendor centric (more ads) they are hard pressed to know the difference. With more choices coming on the market that are providing calls, leads, and floor traffic I believe that the DSC rating will start to educate dealers on which platforms make the most sense and “cents” for their brand.

Advertising Leaks on Vehicle Detail Pages

The home page design or vehicle search pages vary on each advertising platform. The number of ads that show on these pages give an indication on the overall design and revenue goals of the advertiser. I have no issue with these pages however I do have an opinion on the design of the Vehicle Detail Pages (VDP).

When you get down to a specific car sold at a paid advertising dealer, my belief is that the platform should not cross sell or create brand leaks for the paying advertiser.

In Part One of this article, I will show you a number of Vehicle Detail Pages (VDP) from various advertising platforms.  I will point out the number of advertising regions that are displayed on a dealer’s VDP. I contend that the more ads and brand leaks on a VDP, the less leads, calls, and showroom traffic a dealer will receive.

This is based on the fact that many of their advertising distractions encourage consumers to look at a different car or a competing local dealer’s’ inventory.

Dealer Centricity Scores For Popular Websites

In part two of this article I will publish the Dealer Centricity Scores (DSC) for a number of popular automotive advertising platforms. The list will rank the automotive advertising platforms based on their dealer centric advertising practices.  The less advertisements on the VDP will receive higher Dealer Centricity Scores.

I would like your feedback on the Vehicle Detail Pages (VDP)  from popular inventory advertising platforms listed below. There is nothing unethical with any of the practices shown in the screen shots.  I challenge car dealers to ask themselves, if they have other options, is this the best way to advertise your cars?  Is this what an advertising partner relationship should be like?  If the net results of your monthly advertising investments are providing a strong ROI, then you may very well keep things unchanged.

Advertising Questions For 3rd Party Platforms

There are many questions that come to mind when you look objectively at the Vehicle Detail Pages (VDP) on third party advertising platforms:

• If you are paying for your cars to be listed on third party advertising platforms, that your competitors ads should not be displayed on your VDP?
• Does cross-selling on your Vehicle Detail Pages by OEM ads is reducing your conversion?
• Should dealers share revenue generated from offering insurance quotes or paid CARFAX reports on their Vehicle Detail Pages (VDP)?

Please take a moment to add your thoughts about the current state of our industry.  Keep in mind that dealers have the freedom to NOT advertise on any automotive inventory listing website.  Freedom of choice is increasing for car retailers so the DSC rating may become the way in which car dealers can measure the alignment of their advertising partners.

Autotrader VDP

Cars.Com VDP

KBB.COM VDP

EveryCarListed.com VDP

UsedCars.com VDP

CarGurus.Com VDP

CarDealerSale.com VDP

Automotive Advertising Choices

Do you agree that car dealers should have a third party measurement of the concentration of advertising and third party leaks on their Vehicle Detail Pages?  The Dealer Centricity Score (DCS) will create a standard to measure and compare the advertising designs of car inventory platforms.  I look forward to your feedback and I will be posting the second part of this article shortly.

If you are one of the lucky dealers in the USA to be chosen for a Fiat Studio (franchise), I would like to encourage you to take advantage of some free SEO tools and advice.  Fiat dealers need to start their automotive advertising strategies immediately.  They should not be waiting until their franchise officially opens.

Most new Fiat dealers have not started their digital marketing strategies so readers of this blog will get a head start. The early bird will get the worm – believe me!  When I acted quickly during the Cash for Clunkers program, I created the #1 consumer website for the program in the USA.

1. CarDealerWiki.org – New Fiat dealers in the USA should create an account and update the www.CarDealerWiki.org page for your dealership. A generic template has been created for each of the 128 dealers in the USA. By creating an account and editing your page, you can increase your POD Score for your dealership.

If you have any doubt how powerful CarDealerWiki.org can be for your dealership, Google: “Fiat of Scottsdale” and see where the website is ranking for the official name of the dealership. You can create a free account by visiting http://www.cardealerwiki.org

2. FiatDealer.org – If you would like a custom page on this national Fiat Dealer portal, send an email to: fiat@pcgdigitalmarketing.com and we will create a login for you to update your profile page. You can also send a Word document to this email address and we will update the directory page for you.

The directory page can have links back to your website which will add inbound links to your new website. You can also send photos to spice up your listing. Cost = Zero. You can visit the consumer based Fiat Dealer Directory website at: http://www.fiatdealer.org

3. Fiat500USA.org – If you would also like to list your Fiat 500 inventory on this website, once your franchise is open, you can submit an RSS feed of your car inventory for a free listing. If you can’t provide and RSS feed, you can join the AAN and an RSS feed is part of your membership.

This site will be expanded once the cars so on sale to also include customer profiles of their Fiat 500 cars. The upside to listing your in-stock cars on this site for free will be great marketing tool with back links to your website.

Once again, send information on your RSS feed to: fiat@pcgdigitalmarketing.com

Fiat Dealer Digital Marketing

Google rewards first to act dealers in any market. I strongly encourage anyone who knows a dealer who received a Fiat franchise to take action now. If they delay, third party lead collectors will have the first strike advantage.

Fiat dealers should be publishing their website as soon as possible. I hope that they have purchased their domain names and have a site ready to be published soon. The longer they wait, the harder it will be to dominate organic search results.