Pay Per Click Ads: The Online Marketing Future for Car Dealerships

Big or small, franchise or local- the smartest automobile dealers are entering the battle of online sales. Transitioning to online marketing and advertising is not only the new and improved way to gain exposure, but it is the best way to beat out the competition and convert views to customer leads. In order to see results through a marketing program and to actually successfully bring in revenue, the best option for automotive dealers is to utilize pay per click advertising. Pay per click advertising (or PPC) is the best way to bring in a steady stream of consumers into the business while still getting the company brand out to users doing a search for automobiles on the internet. When all investment options are being considered for the business, pay per click should not be overlooked. This article goes into depth explaining the importance of utilizing PPC advertising in the auto industry to beat out the competition.

Doing the Research

Before beginning a pay per click program, it is crucial to start the process off with heavy research. When researching the options available, it is important to consider different pay per click advertising platforms. Popular places to utilize these features include Yelp and Google. These are great places to begin as they are used frequently by consumers and are well-known names. A consumer research study done by Surveymonkey on the consumer behavior of Yelp users shockingly shows that 97% of the time when someone does a search on Yelp, they leave having made a purchase. For these reasons, with any pay per click program, it is necessary for a company’s page to have as much exposure as possible to ensure that there is a competitive edge. This is why it is important to do research on the keywords utilized in the auto industry. Using the right keywords can be the big push a company needs in order to appear first as opposed to tenth on a list of search results.

Keywords

Once the research for keywords has been done, programs such as Google Adwords Planner can aid the process of validating whether or not the keywords will be successful. Adwords looks at data by volume, the cost per click for similar businesses, data from the competition and suggested keywords. This process helps pick keywords that will bring the most favorable results for a given industry in the specific area a company is trying to target. Once a finalized list of keywords has been put together, the next step is to organize the words based on search intent and audience targeting. The words should be listed based on shorter, more broad keywords first and then progressively more and more longer and specific keywords. Another added boost may be to utilize negative keywords.

What’s The Competition Up To?

Spying on the competition and further understanding what platforms, programs and processes are working for them can help a business strategize to be successful in online PPC marketing. Identifying and using keywords used by the competition and other businesses of the same brand or industry can help weed out and optimize the keywords a company is using, ultimately giving the possibility of a boost over said competition. A software called SpyFu is a great and productive way to further engage with a competitor’s page and take a deeper dive into their strategies. It reveals how any competition is setting up their ad programs and how they are driving success. This can be used in order to best harness what is working for them specifically and use it to a business’ advantage to see quantifiable results.

Creating Better Ads

In order to make sure that the pay per click program is not just a bill that comes once a month, but a return on a well placed and thought out investment, it is important to make sure that the business’ page is set up for success. Having as much content as possible on a company’s page helps after the click leads to a listing. An optimized page full of reviews, photos, and bios about the business and owners guides a consumer to make decisions based on what they see. If a page or website is not set up to be successful, once the click has been charged to a company’s account it is too late because the user has already navigated away and the consumer leaves unconverted. The setup for PPC on Google is:

• The title/headline
• The description
• The display URL

Since there is limited space to get a consumer’s attention, it is important that these fields are filled out properly and cleanly. Another aspect that helps with conversions and clarity is to include a Unique Selling Proposition  (or USP) in the pay per click ad.

Conclusion

Driving leads from natural searches is a successful and decent way to drive a few leads. But although this free method is a good way to start, the real business comes in when there is a smart and thoughtful investment into online marketing. Pay per click ads are the perfect way for dealerships to both grow their brand through exposure and drive customer leads. Since more and more auto dealers are building their online presence, it is crucial to do the research to beat out the competition in the world of ecommerce. By making sure a page or website is optimized for success, pay per click programs such as Google, Yelp, or many others can be a vital part of growing any auto dealership’s sales and profits.