Automotive retailers utilize Internet advertising campaigns as part of their Automotive SEO strategy on Google, Yahoo and MSN. This is not a revelation. What is disturbing is that many car dealers are committed to large monthly PPC budgets without analyzing their campaign data.
Since car dealer sales managers have a very full plate, it is not uncommon to outsource the management of their pay-per-click campaigns. This in itself is not a problem since we offer similar services. What was alarming was at some of our client shops, no one was taking the time to review the PPC data. The campaigns were in an auto-pilot mode, just being funded each month.
As SEO/SEM consultants, we have reviewed client campaigns and found ads running outside of their feasible marketing area. We have found ads that were going to wrong pages. We have seen ads running with expired offers. You name it and we have seen it!
One experience that left us uninspired was our review of a PPC campaign that was setup by a company with the initials R.L. My client that used this firm was convinced that R.L. were PPC experts and did not need that much oversight. They felt that the R.L. proprietary marketing system, which was displaying ads on multiple platforms, was optimized. It took me all of just a few minutes to disagree with my clients and show them a better way to run their ads.
R.L. is a big company with many account managers so this experience may not be typical. However, my clients who have asked us to manage their PPC are very pleased with the results and communication. Our clients feel that they have a much better handle on actual PPC costs. We create an account for each client that they own so they can monitor actual click costs without management fees added.
In our opinion, automotive PPC campaigns need to be updated at least on a monthly basis. Every month new car prices, programs and offers should be tested online. Having generic ads going to generic landing pages is a waste of advertising money and creates lost opportunities.
Don’t forget that some PPC campaigns or tests could be going to outdated pages, so someone inside the dealership needs has to be checking your ads. If you are outsourcing your PPC campaigns and are not having a conference call each month with your marketing consultant, you are wasting money. It’s that simple.
The competitive landscape in the automotive retail world changes every month. Google Adwords is not the Holy Grail. It is not a “set once” and run forever marketing tool, unless you have money to waste. No serious business owner has money to waste. If you are not pleased with the communications you have with a third party management company, give the Pasch Consulting Group a call at 732-842-4720.
Tags: automotive ppc, automotive ppc costs, car dealer ppc, dealer adwords, dealer ppc, ppc management