The Main Reason Why Car Dealers Balk At Advertising On Google
This Dealer Received 1.5 Million Impressions In 3 Weeks From a 50 Mile Radius Of Their Dealership, resulting in a spike of an additional 30 sales
Many car dealers have a bad taste in their mouth when it comes to advertising on Google. The story usually is the same, they spent a lot of money without getting anything in return.
The problem with this is all about keywords, and choosing the right ones. Some car dealers have tried the campaign themselves, and some have hired specialty marketing companies to set up the Google Adwords Campaign.
Finding the right keywords to bid on is the challenge, and if you’re too vague then you will spend a ton of money with little results.
Remember, a car dealer sells cars. If you are a Chevy Dealer, forget about bidding on “Chevrolet Dealer”. That’s what Google Local listings are for, and they’re free. You need to focus on your inventory.
Let’s start with the Chevy Tahoe. It is now 2010, but I’m sure you have some 2009’s out there. You would want these keywords:
- 2009 Chevrolet Tahoe
- 2010 Chevrolet Tahoe
- 2009 Chevy Tahoe
- 2010 Chevy Tahoe
- 2009 Chevy Tahoe LS
- 2009 Chevy Tahoe LT
- 2009 Chevy Tahoe LTZ
- 2009 Chevrolet Tahoe LS
- 2009 Chevrolet Tahoe LT
OK, I think you can figure out the rest. You need to do this with all of your models. As you set up each campaign, be sure to create separate ones for each model. It’s important for the text to read “Chevy Tahoe”. Not only will you get more action, you will achieve a higher quality score from Google. The higher your quality score, the lower you will have to pay per click.
The screenshot above is what a proper campaign that performs will look like. I remember paying $1,200.00 for 50,000 impressions from a local newspaper website when I worked for a car dealership. Now I can get well over a million more for the same price.
Another important part is to link to the proper page. When you set up the Tahoe Campaign, be sure to link to your Chevy Tahoe Page on your website. Don’t just link to your main site and make the user have to go fishing, because they won’t. Having the link go to the proper place will also give you a better quality score.
It may take you a half a day to do this, but it’s well worth it.
Now, let’s focus on your used. Used cars will bring in more UPS than new vehicles. Let’s say you have 75 used cars, and we’ll start with the first one.
We have a 2006 Corvette. Lets create a separate campaign for Corvettes. We need these keywords:
- Used Corvette
- Used Chevy Corvette
- Used Chevrolet Corvette
- 2006 Corvette
- 2006 Chevy Corvette
- 2006 Chevrolet Corvette
- 2006 pre-owned Corvette
Be sure to stay on top of these campaign, and delete each as a vehicle is sold to avoid wasting your advertising dollars.
This can be tedious huh? What if I told you that Showroom Logic can automate the process? We can take every new and used vehicle you have and automatically create a campaign for each. As your new inventory rolls in we can set up each car automatically, and as each vehicle is sold we can delete each campaign.
The screenshot above is what a proper campaign that performs will look like. I remember paying $1,200.00 for 50,000 impressions from a local newspaper website when I worked for a car dealership.
This dealer received over 1 and a half millions impressions in three weeks, and paid only 1 cents for each. The bottom line is simple, most people go to Google to look for vehicles. Not third party companies, not Yahoo and certainly not Bing.
Car Dealers need to start fishing where the fish are when it comes to the internet. You have 200 cars on your lot, and their are people searching for each one of them on a daily basis.
If you want to learn more about our product, check out this video of our tool in action.
Car Dealers – Fish Where The Fish Are
This video is 10 minutes long. If you’re in the car business I suggest you watch it and learn how to fish where the fish are:
Most Popular Car Searches In Tampa Bay From Google (Last 7 Days)
It’s very important for car dealers to know what’s hot when it comes to new and used car searches. According to Google Adwords, here is the top 10 ads displayed in the last 7 days in the Tampa Florida area:
- Ford Mustang – 48,072 impressions
- Chevrolet Corvette – 47,802 impressions
- Toyota Supra – 34,905 impressions
- Honda Accord – 26,288 impressions
- Dodge Ram – 16,176 impressions
- Chevrolet Silverado – 12,360 impressions
- Ford F-150 – 12,172 impressions
- Toyota Tacoma – 12,073 impressions
- Dodge Charger – 11,161 impressions
- Chevrolet Impala – 10,161 impressions
The least searched cars were the Mazda 5, Kia Rondo and the Lincoln Zephyr (each with “0″ impressions)
A Proper Google Adwords Campaign Is A Gold Mine For Car Dealers
Showroom Logic has always been proud of their Automated Google Adwords tool, and they are now glowing with the results. First, we will give you a brief explanation on what it is with some questions and answers, then we will show you some great stats:
What is Google Adwords:
“Google’s flagship advertising product and main source of revenue (USD$21 billion in 2008). AdWords offers pay-per-click(PPC) advertising, and site-targeted advertising for both text and banner ads. The AdWords program includes local, national, and international distribution. Google’s text advertisements are short, consisting of one title line and two content text lines.” Source: Wikipedia
If you search for anything on Google, you will see Google Adwords on every page, like this:
Yellow Areas Is Where Google Adwords Are Displayed
How does Showroom Logic Fit Into The Equation?
Showroom Logic has developed an automated Google Adwords Campaign that works with your actual new and used vehicle inventory. As each vehicle is added, our software creates a campaign for each vehicle. As each unit is sold, the campaign is deleted. This software can only be used by 1 dealer per city.
Can’t I Run My Own Google Adwords Campaign?
Yes, anyone can. There is a learning curve to the entire process including learning how to get good quality scores. The higher your quality score, the cheaper you will pay for the click. Our software obtains a very high quality score so we get our car dealers clicks for just over $1.00 whereas others will pay up to $5.00 per click. Plus we generate thousands of different keyword phrases, so a car dealer would either have to hire a skilled full time worker to manage this campaign or a costly marketing company.
What locations will My Ads Show?
You have full control over that. You can pick areas, entire states or simple radius search. For example, you can set the campaign to only show within a 10, 20 or 30 mile radius from your address (or any other number you desire).
What websites will my ads show up on, besides Google Searches?
Google has what’s called their “content network”. If enabled, your ads will show on any related blog, news article, youtube video or just about any other site you can imagine from users in your selected area.
This will work with your new and used cars. Let’s say you’re a Dodge Dealer. I’m sure you will have some Dodge Chargers on your lot. If anyone in your area writes an article about a “Dodge Charger”, a “2010 Dodge Charger” or a variety of other keywords your ad will show up on that page. Here is an example:
This ad showed up on a article about a specific BMW, and Park Automall displays a BMW they happen to have in stock.
Can This help Me Sell Used Cars Too?
Yes, and it’s most effective. Let’s say you have a 2006 Ford Explorer in your inventory. If someone searches for that particular model your ad will show, along with every other used car, truck and SUV on your lot.
So now let’s look at the stats from one of our clients. This client wants to brand and sell cars, so they advertise in a large area and they choose to show in the search and content network. Another words, they are hungry and want it all:
This Client Receives a Half Of Million Impressions A Week
In the Google Search Network, they’re averaging $1.25 per click. So they are targeting every user in their area who is searching for that vehicle on Google. If you have a good inventory with good prices you will dominate your market. Other dealers in your area will pay 3 to $4.00 for these clicks. How do we get them so cheap? Our quality scores are high because we link to each actual vehicle. There is no other company on the planet that can do this.
On the Google Content Network, they’re averaging $1.03 per click. The content network can be disabled if desired. This is a great branding method, but according to the stats the bounce rates are high and the average time spent on the website are low. The Google search network alone will bring UPS galore to your dealership.
So, to make it clear; If this dealer chose to only be on the Google Search network only, they would of paid only $159.29 for 12,969 impressions and 127 clicks.
Some dealers have exhausted they’re monthly budgets, but if you do some shifting you will find that this is the best method out there. Showroom Logic is a big fan of Auto-Trader, but let’s face it; if everyone visited Autotrader we wouldn’t have all of these impressions. Keep AutoTrader, but spend less on the spotlight ads. Focus some of your advertising dollars on Google Adwords.
If you scroll back up to the top image, you will see that our client’s ad beat Autotraders. This is your chance to get visitors you normally would get.
What Is The Cost Of Showroom Logic:
Until the end of this year, for only $499.00 a month you car dealership can have:
- A Macro-Site with your entire inventory
- A Dealer Blog (If desired) completh with inventory, Facebook and Twitter Widgets just like this: Napleton Used Car Blog
- Twitter Automation
- Facebook Automation
- Google Adwords Automation (1 Dealer per City)
Remember, we can only service 1 dealer per city. Act now before your slot is taken. Absolutely no contracts! To get started we require 2 months up front and your new and/or used car inventory feed.
Large multiple rooftop dealers eligible for quantity discounts. References available upon request!
Call Mike at (863) 666-0130 with questions, or simply email him: mike@showroomlogic.com
Twitter Accounts Now Showing On Google & Bing Searches
One of our clients is located in Kissimmee Florida which is located near Orlando. It makes more sense to target Orlando for searches, so that’s what we do. If you look at Google Trends, Orlando is ranked number 8 in the entire world for used car searches (used car searches are a great way to get ups for new cars).
Anyway, they called me up and reminded me that Black Friday was a few days away. I went ahead and did a series of blog posts with the proper keywords. After looking at my stats a few days later, I noticed several visits from a long tailed keyword (see below).
When I did the search on Google, 5 of our websites came up. Including their Twitter Page! Imagine being represented five out 0f ten times on a Google Search?
We Came Up 5 Times In 1 Search, Including Napleton's Twitter Page
It is important to note that 4 of the impressions were blogs. You must understand how important having a proper blog is. The fifth impression (represented as number 4 in the search screenshot) was Napleton’s Twitter Page. Imagine that? Their Twitter account has Napleton’e entire inventory on there. So all those keywords can be picked up by a Google search. Check out their Twitter: Napleton’s Twitter
So, you want to sell 10 more units a month? Call Mike at (863) 666-0130 to get started.
Google Adwords Leads Pay Off If You Find The Right Keywords
This User Simply Searched For Ford Explorer
Tonight I was kicking back on my couch watching television. As always, my laptop was right next to me. About 15 minutes ago I heard the distinct sound of an email coming in. I checked it out and noticed it was a lead coming in for one of our Tampa Car Dealers (I am copied on all lead emails).
The lead was for a 2006 Ford Explorer, and it came from a Showroom Logic site. The first thing I did was log on to our live stats program because I like to know exactly where a lead comes from. If you look at the image, you will see the word “Ford Explorer”.
On Google, this user simply searched for “Ford Explorer”. Park Automall in Pinellas Park Florida was the one who got this lead, and the cool thing is they are a new car alternative. They do not sell new cars, just mostly late model pre-owned cars.
Park Automall uses our Automated Google Adsense tool. Any vehicle they have in inventory will have an adwords campaign created for it, using 10 to 15 different keywords for each. We currently have over 3,000 different keywords phrases in their campaign. It would take a skilled full time employee to manage a campaign like this, or a very expensive marketing company.
Now if they were a Ford Dealer it wouldn’t be so surprising because every Ford Dealer in every area should be bidding on this keyword. The kicker is there has to be at least 10 Ford Dealerships in the greater Tampa Bay area, and it just goes to show how many dealers are not on their game.
If you look at the other referring keywords you will see that they also received a visit for a Toyota Tacoma, a Ford F-150 and a Ford Focus. Park Automall just happened to have all of these cars in stock, and if they didn’t they simply wouldn’t have showed.
When clicked, this ad brings the user directly to the vehicle asked for (click to enlarge)
I feel this tool is simply what every dealer needs. I mean, doesn’t all car dealers want to show up there for people searching? This is ground breaking technology, and only Showroom Logic offers it. There is no other software company that can accomplish this, and our software is only available to 1 car dealer per city. It would be unfair to have 2 dealers next door to each other as our clients, because we would have to favor somebody.
If you want to own your city, call Mike at 863-666-0130 or send me an email: mike@showroomlogic.com
This software comes complete with our Automated Twitter & Facebook Tools as well. I encourage you to read this blog and learn more about us. We are the biggest marketing secret in the car business!
Park Automall Gets A Huge Nod Of Respect From Google
Recently Google issued sitelinks to Park Automall for a huge search term. Now don’t get this confused with other search terms. For example any dealer should get sitelinks when a user is searching for the name of a dealership.
The search term is “used trucks tampa”. There are hundreds of large car dealers in the Tampa Florida area to compete with as far as organic (free) Google search listings go, yet Park Automall manages to own that search term.
Park Automall Gets Google Sitelinks
Google explanation of sitelinks:
Our process for generating Sitelinks is completely automated. We show them when we think they’ll be most useful to searchers, saving them time from hunting through web pages to find the information they are looking for. Over time, we may look for ways to incorporate input from webmasters too.
Basically, Google is telling the user “there really aren’t many quality websites in the Tampa Bay area that have used trucks, so you really should check out the first listing.”
We all know internet sales managers don’t get any respect, but this is kudos to Dave Ingold of Park Automall for being an aggressive one. He is always opened to new ideas and he understands the difference between fact and fiction.
I will take a little credit for showing him how it’s done, but the great thing is I didn’t have to do anything. He listened and acted, it’s as simple as that. I challenge any internet sales manager or director in Tampa to top this accomplishment, but you better be prepared to put your hours in and earn your money.
Showroom Logic has slots available in just about every city in the US, except for Tampa because we only service 1 dealer per city with these packages.
Our New Exclusive Google Adsense Tool For New & Used Cars Is Performing!
Last week I blogged about the concept, which is now a reality. We did a test with Park Automall in Tampa Bay Florida. We totally automated their entire car and truck inventory to display ads of Google Adsense.
The cool thing about it is simple, we automate the entire process. As your new inventory rolls into our website, the Google campaign is automatically generated. When the vehicle is removed, so does the campaign.
Search for any car on Google, our dealer's inventory will automatically show up
The truly unique aspect of this great tool is the fact that it goes directly to the car in question. Most adsense campaigns land on the homepage when clicked, and the user has to navigate to find it. It would take a car dealer a full time employee to accomplish this.
The above search (when clicked) will bring the user to the actual page!
So why is this so special? Let everyone else fight over the same keyword and pay 2 or 3 dollars a click. We can get quality clicks for pennies since there aren’t many people displaying ads for these keyword groups because of the time involved.
Today’s results were interesting. Many may believe that long tail keywords won’t bring traffic or impressions, but here are the stats:
- 22,687 total impressions
- 840 were displayed on Google Search
- 21847 impressions were made on content related blogs and news article in the Tampa Bay area alone.
Here is an example of impressions on content related networks:
So far today our ad was displayed on 21,847 article sites like this one in the Tampa Florida area alone. If Park Automall had a 2008 in stock it would of showed that one.
The Ads Even Show Up On YouTube Videos
Park Automall has 1 Harley Davidson For Sale and Even That Showed Up On A Harley Forum
I never even thought of the idea of showing up on a YouTube Video. I was just looking at our live stats and this click just came in from someone in the Tampa Florida area. YouTube is the 4th most popular website in the world only to be topped by Google, Yahoo and Facebook. I’ve seen many car dealers attempt YouTube as an advertising method, and I can only imagine how horrified they will be when they find out that they are advertising for you.
I’m not sure what we’ll come up with next, but this takes the cake. Besides our Twitter and Facebook Tools, this is awesome.
Please note that because of conflict of interest, we can only service one dealer per area in the US. Tampa & Orlando Florida are the only 2 spoken for.
Contact mike@showroomlogic.com for details.
Note: You will only be able to see this in action in the Tampa Bay area (that’s where the dealership is located).