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CHICAGO (June 26, 2006) According to cars.com's recent dealeradvantage survey, more than 55 percent of dealers questioned said they now include search engine marketing in their online advertising plan to drive traffic to their Web sites and generate sales leads. Citing data from J.D. Power and Associates 2005 New AutoShopper.com Study, company executives said 89 percent of auto Internet users turn to search engines, such as Google, Yahoo and MSN, during their shopping process. When it comes to these shoppers, search is an increasingly important component of a successful online marketing and sales campaign, explained cars.com executives. "More than ever, shoppers are fragmented across the Internet, and dealers need to implement strategies to reach shoppers across multiple Web channels," said Mitch Golub, cars.com's president. Sourcing J.D. Power and Associates 2005 Used AutoShopper.com Study, company executives also highlighted the fact that third-party sites, such as cars.com, dominate when it comes to reaching and influencing the purchase decisions of online shoppers. More specifically, 90 percent of used vehicle shoppers consult an independent site, according to J.D. Power's Used AutoShopper.com study. Dealerships looking to efficiently reach the most online shoppers should utilize third-party listings and lead services to attain success, company officials noted. Cars.com executives suggest that dealers utilize search to complement an exiting online marketing plan, which includes listings, leads, display advertising and a comprehensive dealer Web site. "With the hype around search, some dealerships have been led to believe it can actually replace their core online advertising practices and lower their lead acquisition costs," Golub pointed out. "The fact is, search engine marketing is a complex solution that can be difficult to manage and even more difficult to convert searchers to sales if your Web site is not optimized to convert traffic to leads." Explaining exactly how search engine marketing works, company executives said that popular search engines such as Google, Yahoo and MSN provide two types of listings: paid and organic, which are also referred to as sponsored and natural. For advertisers who want a prominent position on the results page, the search engine companies sell paid listings. When and where the ad appears depends on a combination of factors, including pay-for-click keyword bidding and click-through rate, executives said. On the other hand, organic listings appear without charge, but the priority they receive hinges on how well the site has been optimized through factors such as pertinent keywords, relevant content and link popularity, cars.com executives noted. To assist dealers in improving visibility, search engine marketing and optimization specialist have recently emerged in the marketplace to offer their expertise. As the process of successfully utilizing search engine marketing is complex and requires ongoing updates, as well as evolving methodologies that are not well explained, experimentation and tinkering is needed, according to cars.com. Company executives went on to note that part of the complexity of such marketing is to prevent irrelevant or inappropriate listings. "When you take a close look at search engine marketing, it's easy to see why 45 percent of our survey respondents are not yet even testing the waters. The complexity is endless," Golub concluded. |
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