News

Google continues to amaze me with a tsunami of changes to search and new products this summer.  The team at Google is not taking any vacation time this year.

Google announced today Google Related, a free toolbar that is available for Google Chrome and Internet Explorer.  The toolbar is not available for Firefox.

The toolbar will appear at the BOTTOM of select websites, and show a number of items that are designed to help the consumer who is SHOPPING or RESEARCHING on the Internet.  For car dealers, if this toolbar becomes popular, their online reputation will be amplified and also their competitors will be placed a click away.

The toolbar will benefit dealers that have a strong Internet Reputation Management (IRM) process and it will negatively impact dealers that have ignored their online reviews.  When was the last time you checked your Google Places page?  How many reviews do you have posted?

Google Related Toolbar In Action

Here is a service microsite for Toyota of Sanford, and when you visit this website with the Google Related toolbar installed, you can see the Google Related toolbar at the bottom of the page:

Close-up of Google Related Toolbar

You can see how VISIBLE dealer reviews that are on Google Places will be shown.  It also shows related searches, which WILL INCLUDE other local dealers.  This has good points and bad points for dealers, however this is the CONSUMER’s CHOICE.

When you hover over the reviews section this is what you see:

When you hover over the related places, this is what you see:

Please take note that the local competitor’s reviews are shown.

I’d like to hear your thoughts about this new toolbar. Consumers will be presented with enhanced search tools and they will impact their click decisions.

 Why You Need A Proactive Reputation Management Process

All your advertising dollars are impacted by your online reviews.  The #1 search phrase that brings organic traffic to your website is YOUR DEALERSHIP NAME.  Almost 100% of the time, your Google Places page will show when a consumer searches for your dealership name.

This means that 15,000 – 25,000 times a month consumers are seeing your review star counts.  What are they seeing? Here are some example that are in position #1 on dealer Google Places Pages.  Are these REVIEWS that you would want thousands of people to see a month?

What Are You Waiting For?

• Can you afford not to implement an in-store Internet Reputation Management process?
• Can you afford to leave negative reviews posted without a response from your dealership?
• Can you compete when your local competitors have 2x or 3x the number of positive reviews?

If you need help, just call the digital marketing team at PCG for assistance.  732.450.8200.  We have a comprehensive Internet Reputation Management package specifically designed for car dealers.

Brian Pasch, CEO

PCG Digital Marketing

Text PCGedu to 75674 get information on our upcoming conferences
Brian Pasch

Have you thought about how much color has been added to Google’s search result pages?

It’s as if they took a cue from a broadway play and have created their own Technicolor Dream Coat.

Businesses that understand the importance of implementing an in-store process to collect customer reviews get an additional benefit with yellow stars next to their Google Places listing.

Yellow is a color that draws the eye.

The Amazon effect has clearly trained consumers to click on the “products” and now companies FIRST that have the highest ratings. This is an untapped opportunity for most car dealers.

Check and see how many stars you have compared to other dealers in your market.

Suggestion: Download the Google Places App and start a strategy to get your customers to post a review when they are engaged with you!

Are Your Friend’s Photos Showing Under Your Assets

But now, the technicolorization of SERP include photo thumbnails (enlarge photo below) of people who “+1″ the listing. Imagine the charge in click behavior when a person searches and sees 5 of their friends profile photos under the SERP listing for a specific business.

The addition of photo thumbnails add color and relevance to people from their network of friends. The colorization and personalization of SERP pages can be leveraged to increase click behavior of online shoppers.  You can see how powerful these thumbnails can be from the example below:

Do you have a technicolor search engine optimization strategy in place?  If you have not updated your Automotive SEO strategy to include these new opportunities, give us a call.

 

Brian Pasch, CEO

PCG Digital Marketing

Text PCGedu to 75674 get information on our upcoming conferences

Brian Pasch

PCG has announced new digital marketing strategies to help car dealers do MORE with the existing website and showroom traffic. The response has been amazing so I’m sharing the opportunity to new potential clients.

I am writing to remind those who care to DOMINATE their market, to consider these opportunities.

24×7 Managed Chat

If you would like to significantly increase high quality website leads using chat and have a money back guarantee, give us a call.

Managed 24×7 chat is real and effective. 35% of the chat leads come after you are closed. Chat leads close higher than website leads. So what are you waiting for?

Want 40% more website leads this month?

The ROI on chat is amazing. For most dealers, 24×7 managed chat is less than $1,000 a month and generates a 10x ROI. Now that’s exactly the numbers dealer principals need to hear about.

If our managed chat solution doesn’t deliver 40% more website leads, you get your money back!  

Mobile Text Marketing

If you would like to start building powerful opt-in mobile marketing lists, which have 95%+ consumer delivery rate, give me a call. Email open rates hover around 20% and are dropping. Mobile marketing is the channel that Gen Y and Z want to use!

We will design the showroom banners, signage, and desktop tent cards to engage your showroom customers. We’ll give you the strategy and word tracts to get your team engaged in collecting mobile phones. We’ll show you how to add mobile messaging to your print ads and TV commercials.

We will enhance your email marketing campaigns to drive more customers to opt-in to your mobile campaigns.

Do more with what you have in place for under $500 a month with a power mobile text marketing strategy.

Re-targeting Campaigns

Add up the total visitors to your website in a year to start to see the opportunity to touch these consumers multiple times during the year with a strategic banner advertising campaign.

For many dealers, annual unique visitor counts total over 100,000 people and many of these are local buyers. Imagine creating new messages each month to enhance your online reputation, sharing your work in the community, or the arrival of new models.

I challenge all dealers to invest $500 a month in a retargeting PPC budget to start building your re-marketing list. Each month that goes by you are losing people that may never come back.

ALL advertising investments that drive traffic to your website can be enhanced with retargeting. If you are using radio, TV, print, SEO, and/or PPC to drive traffic to your website, building a retargeting campaign makes all of these investments better.

Reputation Management Consulting

Here is a fact; all advertising investments are impacted eventually by your online reviews.

We have written about it in the past and we have turn-key solutions to help your team get MORE reviews that your competitors.  We show dealers how to use the Google Places application as well as the #1 rated in-store platform PrestoReviews.

Do a search on your dealership name and one page one is Google Places and your reviews. 30% of dealership organic traffic is on their store name. Google Places shows up on Page One 25,000 – 50,000 times a month for car dealers.

Our research has shown that less than 20% of car dealers have a proactive reputation management process in place. Despite selling thousands of cars a year and servicing 10x that number of cars, most dealers have less than 30 positive reviews online.

Dealers are still struggling to get buy-in from their team and implement in-store review process. So, we are now offering in-store consulting and training services to jumpstart your review process.

A 2-3 day visit to your store will demonstrate how to implement in-store review processes in service, sales, and F&I. We’ll make sure a proactive reputation management program enhances your online brand. If your dealership does not have HUNDREDS of strong reviews online, you are a candidate for onsite training.

Keep in mind that having strong reviews enhances your SEO positioning. Having poor reviews hurts your business because showing up on Page One with bad reviews just drives traffic to your competitors.

FOUR OPPORTUNITIES

I’ve listed four opportunities that have a clear and measurable ROI. No smoke and mirrors. Immediate visible results.  Are you utilizing all four?

I’ve listed four opportunities that have a clear and measurable ROI. No smoke and mirrors. Immediate visible results.  Are you utilizing all four?

PCG will work with your team to implement one or all of these solutions to ensure that you are dominating your market. We will ensure that you generate more leads and will stand by the ROI of these investments.

It starts with a call. You can call me direct at 732.672.2356,  Matt O’Such at 732.450.8200, or Lizelle Landino at 201-800-1315. Keep in mind that we work with ONE OEM brand per market so if you want the very best in digital strategy, be the first one in your market to call.

 

Brian Pasch, CEO
PCG Digital Marketing
About Brian Pasch