Car Dealers Embrace Online Video

Published
by
dlux
on November 12, 2008
in Online Video
. 0 Comments

Of all the businesses to dive into online videos, YouTube visitors are increasingly finding more engaging automotive videos coming from car dealers. While many car dealer videos are expected to be dull and overly salesy, YouTubers are instead seeing unique characters, humorous stories, and elaborate plots emerging from the minds of car dealers and their marketing agencies. With plenty of dealers getting thousands of views from their videos, the question is, where is your dealership’s video content?

It’s expected that Internet video is going to become increasingly important to car dealers by this time next year, with many dealers including online video prominently within their marketing mix. In many instances, video may require only a modest investment of time. For example, many dealers feature OEM templates that they can use on their websites and on YouTube. But this method lacks a dealer’s unique brand, and it opens up an opportunity for dealers to put their own stamp on video content that’s destined to be distributed on the Web.

Taking a chance and creating online videos that are creative and entertaining can go a long way when it comes to building an online presence for your dealership. Perhaps one of the best examples is Badger commercials from the Johnson Automotive based in North Carolina. The commercials feature a badger as a car salesman that pushes customers to buy a car for the price that he wants. What makes these ads successful and viral is that they embrace the stereotype of a pushy, unethical car salesman and lets customers know that you won’t find that at a Johnson Automotive dealership. On YouTube, these videos have already received hundreds of thousands of views, and have easily given the dealership solid brand recognition. The Badger not only can be visible online, but can also be found on television and in print. Even their website, NoBadgers.com, builds upon the character.

But having a commercial with a “Big Idea” such as repulsive badger is by no means a requirement. As we’ve stressed before, video provides many benefits, especially with the the ability to find its way into search results. Promoting your seasonal incentives is one of the easiest ways to come promote your dealership online. And while having a character like the Badger may be entertaining, just having something simple and honest can also make a huge impact as Jackson Honda customers have found with videos like the one below.

Dealers are discovering that having an online video strategy is one of the most cost effective marketing tactics available. Videos are relatively cheap to create, and quick and easy to distribute online. As we’ve already discussed, Universal Search also enables video content to grab exposure in the SERPs. While the biggest expense in running an ad on television is the cost of air time, running the same ad online costs nothing thanks to YouTube and other free video websites.

With increasing consolidation among car dealers, along with many dealerships closing their doors for good by year’s end, existing dealers need to find ways to build stronger relationships with their community and potential customers. Online video is a cost effective way to do just that. Continue reading ‘Car Dealers Embrace Online Video’

Search in the Automotive Marketing Mix - OEMs and Dealers Alike are Embracing Search Amid Downturn

Published
by
dlux
on October 22, 2008
in SEO News
. 2 Comments

Domestic automakers have had very visible weaknesses in recent months. Falling overall auto sales have hit domestic brands especially hard, and as a result budgets are drying up fast. Faced with financial uncertainty, automakers have been forced to cut marketing budgets, while search and interactive media have been utilized to make up for more costly media choices.

General Motors, for example, has already announced widespread cuts to the media budget for 2009. Ford has also cut their budget by about 35 percent. Automakers are also veering away from sponsorships and other alternative forms of marketing, in favor of search marketing, digital video, and other forms of online media.

Search Could Ultimately Be the Solution

While the automakers themselves are dumping more of their budget into online marketing, car dealers would be wise to follow suit. In the midst of economic woes and skeptical consumers, Internet marketing departments should consider allocated marketing dollars to ROI-based marketing such as SEO and SEM.

Search marketing spending in the automotive space has increased dramatically recently, and that trend is only expected to continue. If only a small percentage of a dealer’s marketing is showing a return, it makes no sense to continue to dispose of valuable marketing dollars on methods that simply don’t work. This is especially important to consider when the National Automobile Dealers Association has predicted that hundreds of dealers will be out of business by years’ end due to the economic slowdown.

With new car purchases on the decline, automakers and their dealers are realizing the incredible value of online marketing - specifically search. With fewer new car sales, dealers have to be more flexible, promoting other profit centers such as used cars, parts, and service. Unlike other media, search provides the greatest flexibility in promoting these other profit centers, both in terms of organic and paid search. This flexibility provides not only the means to boost new car sales, but also seamlessly boosts awareness of a car dealer’s other profit centers, which are becoming increasingly important to a dealer’s success.

Opportunities for Car Dealers in the SERPs

Utilizing search to promote profit centers beyond new car inventories is the key to success these days, and there are plenty of dealers that are heading in the right direction. For example, a search for ‘body shop Costa Mesa’ delivers searchers directly to Cost Mesa Lincoln Mercury’s body shop page, without requiring the user to take additional steps from the dealer’s home page.

Likewise, regular vehicle maintenance is another profit center that many dealers are looking to promote these days. Searching for an oil change Reading PA, for example, delivers drivers directly to Savag61 Dodge’s service page on their website, making it easy for those needing maintenance to locate their facilities and/or schedule service.

While new car sales have slowed, used car sales have actually increased for many dealers as buyers are looking to save as much money as possible. This can be seen with a Used Cars Burnsville search which delivers searchers to the pre-owned page of Burnsville Toyota’s website.

With financing becoming a growing concern for dealers, many potential car buyers are eager to get information on financing a car, and determine if they even qualify for a car loan. As such, a search such as ‘Sinking Spring car loan’ is important to Savage KIA, and as such searchers can easily access their finance department straight from the SERPs.

If a dealer offers something that no other dealer offers, there’s also a huge opportunity to capitalize on what sets you apart. Richmond Ford for example offers a huge commercial truck inventory, and performing a search for Commercial Trucks Richmond sends potential commercial truck buyers directly to their specialty page, rather than a page that will simply waste their time.

Automotive Marketing Strategies Reflect Economic Constraints

With the potential for losses high among dealerships these days, taking an integrated approach when it comes to organic SEO and paid SEM can deliver exposure that will compensate for other forms of media that provide high expense and low return. Ideally, OEMs would be wise to take note of the value that search marketing can provide and align their strategy with that of their dealers; however such a move has yet to take place for many automakers. Despite this disconnect, search will continue to grow for dealers for its ability to produce leads and provide extensive local marketing coverage.

The full extent of the credit crunch’s impact on the automotive industry has yet to be seen. Many dealers across the country are expected to go out of business, and as budgets tighten, dealers have many struggles ahead. With loan delinquencies on the rise, and the availability of credit on the decline, dealerships have less room to operate. But with search marketing, the potential to drive customers to money making services aside from the dealer’s new car inventory is high, which is precisely what’s needed to help dealers keep their doors open.

The economy is a top concern for potential car buyers. As a result, traditional advertising that attempts to draw consumers to dealers isn’t enough. Marketing dollars should be allocated to outlets that speak to a driver’s needs and will help satisfy what they want, whether it’s buying a new or used car, a new vehicle accessory, or simply an oil change. Search has the ability to address each of these needs and more.

Continue reading ‘Search in the Automotive Marketing Mix - OEMs and Dealers Alike are Embracing Search Amid Downturn’

Internet Marketing Still Works in a Bad Economy

Published
by
dlux
on October 10, 2008
in SEO Tips
. 2 Comments

Few businesses have felt the effects of the current economic slowdown like car dealers. The reason is obvious since car dealers rely on credit to run their business, and the credit crisis is putting increasing strain on their operations. In addition to problems in the credit industry, auto sales are down across the board, and specific segments such as the truck and SUV categories are hit the hardest due to rising gas prices, among other constraints.

Stalled Truck Inventory The National Automobile Dealers Association has also made the prediction that hundreds of dealerships will go out of business by the end of the year, prompting many local dealerships to remain unenthusiastic about the current economic environment.

With everything happening in regards to consumer spending and the economy, not to mention failing banks, high jobless rates, and federal and state budget problems, there remain factors to remain optimistic about.

Innovating internet marketing still provides a solid foundation for a dealership to promote itself and drive leads. Online marketing also provides a foundation for networking, branding, communicating with your community in a cost effective manner. In addition, internet strategies are more trackable and measurable than traditional media tactics.

There are endless reasons to still consider boosting your internet marketing efforts in the slowdown:

Be found where car buyers are searching. This is perhaps the best reason for boosting search visibility, whether it’s via paid or organic listings. If buyers in your area are actively looking for what you offer, there’s no reason you should be ignoring that opportunity.

Save money and boost ROI. Internet marketing is the best marketing tactic in the economic slowdown because it’s extremely cost effective. Traditional marketing and advertising is expensive, and perhaps more so recently as traditional media outlets are hurting financially in the slowdown as well. Internet marketing may require more time and maintenance than other forms of marketing, but it certainly is less expensive.

Test, Measure, then test again. Internet technologies enable marketers and dealerships to test and measure their efforts. Whether you’re launching an SEO campaign, a PPC campaign, or you simply want to measure a specific metric that’s important to your dealership, you can gain insights unlike any other form of media.

Don’t take your eyes off the competition. If you’re considering allocating more resources to online media, consider what your competition is doing. Chances are, they’ve already begun boosting their online marketing efforts! This will give them the advantage of greater visibility among potential customers that are actively searching for your dealership.

Flexibility like no other. Internet marketing enables businesses to shift gears quickly and be nimble in a dynamic economic atmosphere. Switching keywords or changing the profit center that you would like to promote the hardest can usually be done on the fly, which is rarely possible with traditional marketing.

Marketing dollars are tight for many dealers, which is precisely why dealers need to spend considerable time in evaluating which strategies are the best to pursue. Rather than cutting budgets across the board and running the risk of potentially reducing the number of leads further, dealers may want to think about where they should be investing their money to deliver the greatest opportunities and ROI. Simply put, don’t take a step backwards in response to economic hardships - instead, take a step forward.

Continue reading ‘Internet Marketing Still Works in a Bad Economy’

Habits of Highly Effective Bloggers

Published
by
dlux
on September 29, 2008
in Blog World
. 2 Comments

The process of getting a business blog online is in many cases an easy process, but building a relationship with your readers is easier said than done. To shed light on this topic, some blogging veterans from Dell, Yahoo, Facebook, and Kodak, spoke at Blog World about the 7 Habits of Highly Effective Bloggers to build relationships and legitimacy among readers.

Understanding that the relationship with your readers is a complicated one is important, and much what you write can either satisfy what readers are in search of, or simply deter them from reading further. One of the biggest tendencies that put this relationship at risk is the tendency to rehash press release content and other information that may already be known or readily available to your readers elsewhere. This is perhaps one of the easiest sources to generate ideas for content, but taking a unique approach to your blog’s content will surely payoff. For example, the official Dell Blog could have been used to regurgitate new product introductions and press releases, but instead the blog took a different approach and discussed stories and topics that may not be out in the open, while also discussing stories pertaining to customer service and issues that are more helpful for customers.

Another important habit for bloggers is to tell honest, current stories within your blog. Using natural language and getting personal with your readers can often have the best results. Having this approach can keep readers coming back to your blog again and again, and can also encourage them to subscribe by email or RSS. By being honest, and perhaps a bit informal, you can separate your blog content from the content you would release via a press release.

Although there may not be huge limitations when it comes to car dealers, knowing your limits is important for any business blogger. In some cases, legal issues could be raised if you blog about something that you shouldn’t be discussing. In the case of Yahoo’s Nicki Dugan, Yodel Anecdotal’s Blog Editor, there are plenty of times when posting something seemingly innocent could have serious legal implications. For example, during Microsoft’s failed attempt to purchase Yahoo, anything said within the Yahoo blog was under scrutiny from the company’s entire legal team. But luckily in most cases, car dealers can make posts to their business blog without the limitations of serious legal problems.

Another habit that was recommended by the panel at Blog World was to make lemonade whenever handed a lemon. For nearly any business, there are opportunities for negative experiences among customers, and as such these folks may leave negative comments on your blog. An interesting strategy would be to own up to such negative feedback and respond to the comments in an understanding and apologetic manner if the customer was somehow unintentionally wronged. Doing this would make your blog a powerful PR platform and may help customers understand you a little bit better, and let others see your side of the story. Also keep in mind that most blog platforms allow you to turn off comments completely, so it’s up to you if you choose to utilize that feature.

One size doesn’t fit all when it comes to blogging, and that couldn’t have been more evident based on the eclectic panel. Some car dealers, for example, will not have the legal limitations of Dell’s blog or Yahoo’s blog, nor will they drive the same amount of traffic. But there are still opportunities when it comes to blogging, especially in being able to talk directly to existing customers, potential car buyers, as well as your dealership’s entire community. As such, it’s important to find the stories and the angles that seem to fit for your dealership and your community.

While one size doesn’t fit all, it’s important to learn as you go. There are plenty of ways to utilize a blog, and for many dealers just getting into blogging, there are plenty of things to learn. With the growing number of tools, widgets, and blogging platforms to choose from, blogging is often a continual learning process, but that’s also what makes the process extremely fun and rewarding. When blogging, your mantra should be “It’s not about us,” and it should help guide your posts and content and steer it in the right direction.

Lastly, don’t think of your blog as just words on a page. As we’ve already discussed, your blog is a new media platform, and can support a variety of content beyond just copy. Using video, photos, and audio, can easily add greater interactivity to your blog, and give readers even more insight into who you are and what you’re all about.

Continue reading ‘Habits of Highly Effective Bloggers’

How to be More Than a Blog: New Media Integration

Published
by
dlux
on September 22, 2008
in Blog World and SEO Tips
. 0 Comments

Blogs are becoming a necessity for many businesses, including car dealers. But many car dealers aren’t taking advantage of new technologies available to them. In most cases, new media integration is far easier than many car dealer bloggers may think.

Integrating new media into your blog is essential for engagement. Aside from copy, video, audio, and images also count towards the quality of your blog’s overall content. By providing a greater variety of content and content types, you’ll likely aid user engagement and readers will become more likely to stay on your blog and return to it again in the future.

Photos are perhaps the easiest method to add visually interesting content to your blog. If you have photos that you want to add to your blog, there are plenty of ways to host the photos, edit and resize them, and then apply them to your blog. Flickr, Photobucket, and Picnik are great tools to check out for photo hosting, sharing, and manipulation. By sharing them elsewhere, or resizing them, you can potentially reduce strain on bandwidth and ensure that your blog’s load time isn’t reduced. In addition, most blogging platforms make adding photos and other media very simple.

While the photos are the easiest and most accessible type of media to upload, there’s a huge opportunity for dealers to take advantage of video. Just as images can easily be uploaded to any blog, video can also be added with relative ease. For example, a dealership television commercial can gain greater exposure online by uploading it to YouTube, such as this one for Richmond used cars. Each video on YouTube enables bloggers to grab the code for the video and embed it into a blog post. And, since the video is hosted on YouTube and not your blog directly, it shouldn’t drain bandwidth.

New tools are also available to help save time when writing and publishing a blog. As Tris Hussey pointed out, there’s plenty of desktop publishing and blogging tools that can make posting quicker and easier. Among these tools is Windows Live Writer, a free Microsoft product that’s currently available in beta. Tools such as this enable car dealers to blog stories quickly from their desktop, without even having to login to their blog’s admin panel. Another tool used by panelist David Peralty was Cover it Live, which enables users to easily blog about live events, such as an auto show or dealer trade show.

There’s plenty of other ways to add new media panache to any car dealer’s blog. Blog Talk Radio is one way to add quality audio to a blog as it enables anyone to host their own Internet-based talk radio show. Best of all, the feed can be added to a blog for your reader’s enjoyment.

The last tool covered is the addition of slides to a blog. Car dealers can make slide presentations and use tools such as Google Docs or SlideShare to publish them online, and then integrate them into a blog post.

There are ample opportunities for car dealers to get creative when it comes to communicating to their existing and potential customers, and with their entire community as well. If you have something to say about your dealership and about the community in which you operate in, there are many tools available to make your blog the perfect platform to broadcast what you have to say. As in our example with Used Cars Richmond, many dealers already have the content to power their blogs, but it’s often a matter of taking the first step into blogging that can be the most difficult step of all.

Continue reading ‘How to be More Than a Blog: New Media Integration’

State of the Blogosphere 2008

Published
by
dlux
on September 22, 2008
in Blog World and SEO Tips
. 0 Comments

As mentioned previously, Richard Jalichandra from Technorati had promised to release valuable data concerning the blogosphere. The “State of the Blogosphere” report has finally been released this afternoon, and over the next five days, additional data will be released from Technorati to provide insight into who’s active in the blogosphere.

This study has been published each year since 2004. This year Technorati will delve deeper, beyond the numbers to offer valuable insights and analysis. The analysis should include information on the role  blogging plays in the lives of bloggers; tools, time and resources used for their blogs; and how blogging has impacted them personally, professionally and financially.

Blogs have been a global phenomenon that has penetrating the mainstream. The new data from Technorati will provide greater insights into the size and influence of the blogosphere, and shows how websites such as TechCrunch and other blogs have grown to take on characteristics of mainstream websites.

The Active Blososphere as defined by Technorati, is the ecosystem of interconnected communities of bloggers and readers at the convergence of journalism and conversation.

Check out the data over the next few days to find additional insights into what’s happening in the world of blogging.

Monday: Overview, and Who are the Bloggers?
Tuesday: The What and Why of Blogging
Wednesday: The How of Blogging
Thursday: Blogging for profit
Friday: Brands in the blogosphere

Continue reading ‘State of the Blogosphere 2008′

Six Apart and Blogging 2.0

Published
by
dlux
on September 22, 2008
in Blog World
. 0 Comments

The second keynote at BlogWorld was provided by Chris Alden and Anil Dash from Six Apart. Six Apart’s presence was huge as the conference, not only because they were a gold sponsor of the event, but because much of the audience uses Six Apart products, which include TypePad, Movable Type, and Vox, while some of the speakers also seemed to be Six Apart evangelists.

The two founders of Six Apart, Ben and Mena Trott, were actually born six days apart, hence the company’s name.

Alden and Dash stressed the ease at which it was to publish online these days. With current technology, almost anyone can develop a blog. It was just a few years ago that this opportunity was far more difficult, and required a substantial technical and financial commitment.

The ease of starting and maintaining a blog has fostered a unique environment on the Web, where anyone can have a voice. From huge corporations beginning a business blog, to the average person who wants to discuss issues that matter to them, to traditional media folks making the transition to the Web via a blog, the blogosphere is always changing, and with it comes a growing influence that bloggers can possess.

Both Alden and Dash posed the question to bloggers: where do you think blogging 2.0 should go? Regardless of any one answer, I’m sure Six Apart will continue to develop the products and services that will be at the forefront of blogging, wherever the direction of blogging 2.0 is heading.

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BlogWord Opens With Technorati

Published
by
dlux
on September 22, 2008
in Blog World
. 1 Comment

BlogWorld opened to a great start thanks to an insightful keynote by Technorati CEO Richard Jalichandra. In addition to commented on current data and trends in blogging, a subject matter that he and his company are perhaps experts, Jalichandra also hinted at future trends as well. He also used the opportunity at BlogWorld to announce that Technorati will be releasing data called the State the of Blogosphere beginning this Monday to highland the most current trends and what can be expected in the future.

Jalichandra at BlogWord08

Jalichandra at BlogWord08

The blogosphere as it stands today, as Jalichandra and others echoed, opens many opportunities for both publishers of blog and advertisers. Today, advertisers no longer dump their advertising dollars into one or two portals and just hope for the best. The Web gives readers the ability for limitless segmentation, making it important to advertisers to seek out those blogs and niches in order to find areas where they can communicate with their target audience.

While advertisers are looking to blogs and niche websites to move their advertising dollars to, many blogs are also expanding their focus. Blogs such as the Huffington Post and TechCrunch are becoming full fledged media companies, capturing a high volume of traffic from an important and influential demographic.

Bloggers are increasingly relevant to advertisers. Most bloggers are male, about two-thirds actually, and 50 percent of bloggers fall into the 18-34 age bracket — which is also the crucial age range for advertisers. Bloggers are usually highly educated and affluent when compared with the general population. In addition, one in four blogs have multiple writers.

As an expert in this subject, primarily for his unique role in having a unique overhead view of the blogosphere, Jalichandra did recommend posting and tagging frequently. Posting multiple posts a day consistently is the best way for bloggers to gain exposure for their content, especially with the help of such tools such as Technorati.

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Heading to BlogWorld

Published
by
David Lux
on September 19, 2008
in Blog World and Top Dealer SEO
. 1 Comment

The Top Dealer SEO team is excited to announce that we’re heading out the door to this year’s BlogWorld & New Media Expo in Las Vegas! BlogWorld is the first event of its kind which caters exclusively to bloggers and those who are active in the realm of new media.

While at BlogWord ‘08, we’ll be participating in a range of seminars, keynotes, and discussions. Just like our recent visit to San Jose for the SES Conference, Top Dealer SEO will be attending BlogWorld to gain some excellent insights into powerful communication tools and tactics which can certainly be used to help car dealers reach out to potential customers and drive leads online. This will include learning how to develop new media content, learning what the blogosphere is all about, and gaining greater knowledge of new technologies beyond blogging, vlogging, podcasting, and much more.

Perhaps needless to say, we love to blog and love new media, and it is truly a valuable tool for online publishing, communication, and even SEO and Social Media Marketing. And best of all, we’ll be sharing updates from the conference right here, covering a wide range of topics including blog publishing software, podcasting, Internet TV & radio services, equipment and networks, social media technology and communities, badges, widgets and plug-ins, computer hardware, software and peripherals, RSS services, advertising networks, affiliate programs, mobile blogging and vlogging, and more.

If we don’t see you in Las Vegas, we’ll be discussing it all right here shortly…

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Browser War Heats Up With the Google Chrome

Published
by
dlux
on September 2, 2008
in SEO News
. 0 Comments

Google appears to be heating up the browser war by introducing the company’s own open source Web browser called Chrome. Word of the new browser first spread thanks to an early release of a comic strip that depicted the Chrome and its functionality.

One of the Google Chrome functions is powerful tabbed browsing that will allow each tab to run its own processes, improving overall speed and performance. This will require additional memory upfront, but will improve stability when opening and closing multiple tabs over time.

The Google Chrome will also be running with Webkit, which can also be found in Apple’s Safari browser and the upcoming Android mobile platform. In addition to Webkit, Google has also built its own JavaScript virtual engine called V8 that will improve the rendering of JavaScript applications. Google will also make V8 available to other browsers as well.

Of course, the Google Chrome will also have robust search features built in. The Chrome will feature an address bar, called the omnibox, which will also enable users to search using their favorite search engine. The Chrome also supports private Web browsing thanks to its Incognito mode that prevents the browser from recording any information your activity. The tabs will also be located above the address bar, rather than below such as with other browsers.

Security has also been a top priority in the development of the Google Chrome. One such security feature is the sandbox that will help stop malicious malware from getting through. In addition, a constantly updated list of phishing and malware websites will also be downloaded to the user’s computers to help warn users before visiting potentially harmful sites.

Not only is Google trying to continue its ongoing battle with Microsoft by fighting Internet Explorer’s dominance, but it will also be competing with Mozilla’s Firefox and Apple’s Safari browsers.

With an additional Web browser available, car dealers need to consider compatibility issues when developing their websites. Chances are that the Google Chrome will have a strong following considering that many users already using Google’s search, email, and chat products will also be curious about their new browser.

The Google Chrome should be available in beta tomorrow.

Continue reading ‘Browser War Heats Up With the Google Chrome’