On June 25, 2009 the stakes to be in the Cash for Clunkersadvertising game just got higher.  Google Adwords costs skyrocketed over 1000% in a matter of days; I was able to get my ads in position one, Google page one for 12 cents a click,  before Obama signed the bill. 

The only consistent advertisers for the term Cash for Clunkers in the prior weeks was Edmunds.com and our company for www.cashforclunkersfacts.com.  Now the page is filled with Pay-Per-Click ads from national brands; some have good ads and others do not.   I’m surprised that some manufacturers have PPC ads going to landing pages that just suck.  

I think GM and Ford are doing to best job  with Cash for Clunkers landing pages right now and Mazda is one of the worst.  Their landing page doesn’t even mention the CARS program.

Automotive Microsites

Our advance planning was rewarded us well which shows that WordPress automotive microsites can compete with the big boys if you plan in advance.  In fact one day our website received over 70,000 vistors and is now averaging over 40,000 visitors a day.  This is good news because the program has not even started and we are on Google Page One, in the top spot for the term “Cash for Clunkers”.

We are also at the top of the search results for other related phrases like:

• Cash for Clunkers Florida
• Cash for Clunkers Ford
• Cash for Clunkers Chevrolet
• Cash for Clunkers Toyota
• Cash for Clunkers Fort Worth

First Responders Get Rewarded in Automotive SEO

Brian Pasch has been advocating for the last two months that dealers get a jump start on the bill through blog articles on Automotive Digital Marketing, Driving Sales, Automotive SEO as well as this website.  Few dealers were willing to step out in advance of the bill becoming signed into law.  Those who took my advice are at the top of organic search results.

We were the first company to come up with a marketing logo to help car dealers communicate with consumers about the upcoming legislation.  Today, hundreds of car dealers are using our marketing logo to draw attention to the program and get consumers to call.  We have offered to use of the logo to as many companies related to the auto industry as have contacted us for permission.  Dealers can download logo here.

You can go to Google and Type “Cash for Clunkers Phoenix” and see that Bell Honda is #1 in the state for ALL brands.  If you type into Google “Honda Cash for Clunkers Arizona“  you will see that Bell Honda is #1 again.  Hats off to Travis Holt for his foresight into planning ahead for strong Honda car sales in Arizona.

Budget For SEO and SEM

Car dealers know that the official start date of the CARS program will not be until the end of July.  That gives dealers approximately three weeks from today to put in a plan that can have some real search visibility by the end of July.

Dealers should consider building an organic marketing plan today as well as budgeting for an SEM campaign.  We have seen some impressive SEM ideas from ADP that dealers should consider.  You can contact Ralph Paglia about ADP advertising packages that can be up and running quickly.

The Pasch Consulting Group can assist dealers with on-site and off-site SEO strategies like press releases, blogging and dealer profile pages on www.cashforclunkersfacts.com. A dealer profile page is optimized for your brand, state and city.  Here are two examples of dealer profile pages:

• http://www.cashforclunkersfacts.com/dealers/california/nissan-cars/los-angeles
• http://www.cashforclunkersfacts.com/dealers/texas/chevy-cars/fort-worth-chevrolet-cash-for-clunkers 

In the end, our marketing plan was to educate consumers and to motivate those with an old clunker to get in and buy a new car with the limited time offer that CARS presents to consumers.  If you need help implementing an effective online organic marketing plan, call us at 732-450-8200

Another consumer website launched today by the Ford Motor Company called ”Let Ford Recycle Your Ride” is hoping to help consumers understand the Cash for Clunkers Program recently signed by President Obama.  The official name of the program is Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS).

The Ford website (www.letfordrecycleyourride.com) offers consumers the ability to type in their old clunker information to see if they qualify for a cash voucher from the CARS program.

The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) provides the only official reference for car MPG estimates at http://fueleconomy.gov.  The information on this website is the only final source for qualification data that car dealers will use when consumers trade in their car.

Ford is the third most popular car brand that consumers visiting www.cashforclunkersfacts.com .  We congratulate Ford and the opportunity this program will bring for new car sales. Consumers have sent us a clear message that they want to buy Ford cars. (See Data)

Cash for Clunkers Email Alerts

The Ford website also has a feature called “Sign-up for Email Alerts“. Consumers can enter their email address to be placed on Ford’s email marketing list. Interestingly enough, the Ford website provides similar email alert features to the Cash for Clunkers Facts website (www.cashforclunkersfacts.com ) that has been up since May.

The email alert system on www.cashforclunkersfacts.com was the first setup for the Cash for Clunkers program. The website has been alerting consumers throughout the legislative process. Each step of the way the website has been sending emails to consumers and the feedback from the system has been very positive.

It would seem that a number of car dealers are getting on the band-wagon to inform consumers about the Cash for Clunkers bill which is now called CARS. We applaud Ford’s efforts since we have been encouraging dealers to update their website with our consumer awareness logo for the past six weeks.

The www.cashforclunkersfacts.com website was one of the first dedicated websites to cover the bill before it was passed. It looks likes the rush is on to provide consumers with information about the new program. To up the ante, Ford has created yet another term to describe Ford’s take on the CARS program: “Let Ford Recycle Your Ride“.

By the end of the month we could see about 20 different slogans for the program.

We like the Cash for Clunkers moniker since it has been what American consumers and our politicians have been calling the program for the last six months. It has a “clunkier” name and it resonates when you say it. In the crowded market of people claiming to describe the program better, we like “Cash for Clunkers”.  We don’t call hamburgers “chopped steak”.  The average Americam will be calling the program Cash for Clunkers for sure.

It is said that when people imitate your ideas it is the sincerest form of flattery. It seems like some people are catching on that consumers are very interested in the bill and that helping them understand the program is good for business. That is what this website has been doing for two months; helping consumers understand the program.

Share Your Feedback

The website www.cashforclunkersfacts.com , a top destination for consumer information on the CARS program, has added two special pages to allow consumer feedback. One page is for consumers to express their appreciation of their website. The second page is to share their feelings about the program. Consumers are encouraged to click on the links below to participate:

• Send us a note of praise for the Cash For Clunkers Facts website: Click Here
• Share your thoughts on the CARS program: Click Here

The next few months will be very interesting for the program.  Follow Twitter updates on the CARS program  at:  http://twitter.com/cashclunkers

The consumer interest in the Cash for Clunkers (CFC) program is  red hot.  If your dealership is not preparing for the Cash for Clunkers program start date (July 1st) you better get moving.  Some consumers have been holding back to purchase a new car as they waited to see if the bill would pass the House and Senate votes.  Thursday, Senate Republicans failed to strip the Cash for Clunkers provision from the wartime spending bill.  Now, it’s a green light to the President’s desk.

The bill is all but signed and it is attached to the wartime spending bill that has to be signed. Dealers can start to prepare and educate their staff on the program.  The big problem for car dealers is that while the program starts on July 1st, there is no define systems in place outlining how they will get paid. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will be picking a vendor to implement the dealer back-end system this week.

Car dealers will have to prepare for the “float” of monies that will be due to them as cars are sold.  A car dealership selling 100 cars in the first 30 days could have close to a half a million dollars owed to them.  Aside from the money issues, dealers need to prepare for the storage and salvaging of the cars that are traded.  The process and paperwork has not been defined for qualifying trade-ins yet so it looks like dealers will have to stockpile these cars until it is clear what paperwork and validation must be in place before the car can be scrapped.

Cash for Clunkers: Holiday or Headache?

For a sales professionals in high demand brands (see below), Cash for Clunkers will be a holiday celebration.  For dealer principles, this will be a compliance headache as well as added liability.  From data collected from www.cashforclunkersfacts.com the top 10 brands that consumers have indicated they will buy are:

1. Toyota 18.2%
2. Honda 14.7%
3. Ford 13.3%
4. Chevrolet 10.1%
5. Nissan 5.4%
6. Hyundai 4.1%
7. Dodge 3.6%
8. Volkswagen 3.3%
9. Acura 3.2%
10. Kia 2.9%

 To view the top 20 list visit: Cash for Clunkers Top 20 List

Cash for Clunkers Website

The website the Pasch Consulting Group was asked to create to help car dealers and consumers with the Cash for Clunkers program has been a great success. We are responding to over 100 emails and 200 calls per day from people asking about the Cash for Clunkers program.

For car dealers, we have created a National Cash for Clunkers Dealer directory and a Participating Dealer logo to display on your website.  The directory is voluntary of course and will not replace the registration that dealers will have to do with the federal government.  To be added to the directory follow these instructions: 3 Steps for CFC Directory

We have also made up some free CFC banners branded with your dealership car brands, if you want to use them in email blasts or on your website.  Logos and banners are free.   Banners can be download on Vox.

Consumers Aware of Cash for Clunkers Program

On Friday June 19, 2009 we had over 65,000 visitors to the www.cashforclunkersfacts.com website which confirms that consumers are aware and ready to purchase a new car with their Cash for Clunkers voucher.

For additional information on the Cash for Clunkers program, read our FAQ sheet which gets updated almost daily.  Cash for Clunkers Answers