Ramping up Your Online Marketing
Posted September 1, 2011 by adminHere’s an interesting stat. 97% of people with online access research products and service providers prior to purchasing. This clearly explains why Google reported $22 billion in ad revenue for the year 2008 and continues to be the largest ad platform in the world. The #2 slot is held by Time Warner who doesn’t even coming close to Google with $9 billion in ad revenue. So where does the Yellow Pages fall in terms of ad revenue rankings? You guessed it… they’re not even on the charts.
However, back in the late 90’s when I was a Dealer Principal the Yellow Pages were taken very seriously. I remember thumbing through the book looking at my ads and comparing them to those of my competitors. I also remember taking the semi-annual scheduled meetings with my Yellow Pages rep very seriously. It was complex to determine which books I should participate in, which ad copy I should use, what size ad should I go with, color or no color, what will it all cost, co-op or no co-op, etc. I took the Yellow Pages seriously because when prospects were looking to find Honda motorcycles, ATV’s, Parts, Accessories and Service it was the first place they went.
I had a close friend back in those days who owned a successful construction company. He swore by the Yellow Pages and in fact, it was the only advertising he did. As I was recently reminiscing with my wife about how much we use to utilize the Yellow Pages she begin to tell me the story of planning our wedding back in 1995. Of course I was oblivious to all of the effort she went through to find Florists, Limousine Rental Companies, Churches, Reception Facilities, Photographers, Caterers, Travel Agencies, Tuxedo Rentals, Wedding Dress Retailers, Videographers, Musicians, Printer for invitations, etc. She explained that the Yellow Pages was her primary resource to plan the wedding.
Now fast forward to 2010 and pretend you or your spouse is planning a wedding. Would you use the Yellow Pages? Clearly the internet has changed everything from how we communicate with our friends and family to how we as a business communicate with our prospects and customers.
However, unlike the Yellow Pages, most dealers aren’t taking online marketing (specifically Search Engine Marketing) anywhere near as serious as us old school guys once took the Yellow Pages. Here’s the irony.
Comparing the power and potential of the yellow pages to generate sales leads versus the power and potential of the web is kinda like comparing a red rider BB gun to an assault rifle.
In 2006, there was an average of 2.7 billion online searches per month. In 2009, there was an average of 32 billion searches per month. That’s means the number of monthly searches has increased by nearly twelvefold in only 3 years. From a trending perspective that’s absolutely astounding, yet not necessarily surprising. In 2006 I wasn’t totally pre-wired to think “Google” every time I needed to solve a challenge. Now whether I need a phone number, directions, or to research why knee is swelling after a run I go to the Search Engine. Heck, I’ve just used Google to research stats on Google. But obviously it’s not just me and other Gen X’ers my age who are now pre-wired to think Google every time information is needed. The explosive growth regarding the utilization of Search has come from the embracement of all demographics. It’s now a way of life for all ages from the very young to the very old. Online searching has become such a common way of life that Google was recently added to the dictionary as a ‘Verb’.
So if this is such a great marketing tool and so powerful, then why aren’t more dealers utilizing Search Engine Marketing?
That’s a question I’ve asked myself on several occasions. My hypothesis is that most dealers just don’t understand it. On the surface SEM can seem complex and overwhelming, however, so can the inner workings of fuel injection. Personally I’m not a super tech and don’t really care to know exactly how fuel injection works, what’s important to me is the benefits such as improved throttle response, lack of having to choke when cold starting and reduced maintenance. I leave the technical side of how fuel injection works up to people a lot smarter than me.
As far as Search Engine Marketing goes most dealers assume that having a web-site is enough. And perhaps in 1996 that was true. But in 2010 just having a web-site certainly isn’t enough. It’s estimated that there are over a trillion web-pages in the world today all attempting to connect with someone. The benefits of Search Engine Marketing for dealers is ultimately more traffic to the dealers web-site, telephone, and storefront which (with proper staff training) will lead to improved sales. The real question to ask yourself in today’s market is not about just having a web-site, but more importantly what are you doing to drive traffic to that site?
