345 Richmond St, El Segundo, CA 90245

The Gold Rush for Views – Google Changes Everything, Again

Most people dream of the grand life while they watch it pass them by…

I’ve seen SEO and PPC in the early days and now we’re seeing the same with another vehicle that arguably sells more cars than both combined.

We Saw it in the Early 2000’s with SEO

Getting ranked was as simple as updating your title tag to “Los Angeles Car Dealership.”  Now, SEO involves much more and some speculate the ability to sell cars.

[image_with_text_over icon=”” icon_size=”fa-lg” image=”12834″ title=”This looks fun”]SEO is more complicated than meta info but you at least get the idea.[/image_with_text_over]
[image_with_text_over icon=”” icon_size=”fa-lg” image=”12833″ title=”New Look, Same Price”]Now, wait for it, YES – it can cost north of $5.00 for a single click.[/image_with_text_over]

We Saw it with PPC

Few remember the good ol’ days of buying paid search traffic for pennies.  Now, wait for it, YES – it can cost north of $5.00 for a single click.  I’ve literally seen hundreds of dealers averaging north of $4.00 for each click to be listed in the Google.com sponsored ads.  Whats more, now dealers have to pay that same average for their own name.  Frustrating.

The “Now” Vehicle – Online Video Advertising

If you’re like the 80%+ of dealers not participating in this gold rush – you need to jump in now.  There are several video ad networks with pricing so low there will be a time a few years from now that you’ll kick yourself in the rear if you don’t jump in.  In this article I’ll focus on YouTube preroll.

To put things in perspective answer me this: Would you rather pay $4.00 for one in-market car shopper to click on your website or pay $4.00 to have 40+ in-market car shoppers choose to watch your video for a full 30-seconds (they have a choice to skip)?  This dealer showed a 15% increase in walk-in traffic as a result of cutting TV and moving to online video advertising.

[image_with_text_over icon=”” icon_size=”fa-lg” image=”12699″ title=”YouTube Example”]With YouTube you only pay for completed views.[/image_with_text_over]

The YouTube Gold Rush

I’m not sure how long Google will keep it’s pricing model this way.  You only pay when an in-market car shoppers chooses to watch your entire ad (or 30-seconds, or clicks to your site).  When that does happen, you pay a whopping $0.03-$0.12 per completed view.

Why the Gold Rush?

  1. Dealers don’t know how to create content and/or target right & measure the ROI (see below).
  2. Google’s pricing model is super low to attract advertisers.
  3. Big advertisers are catching on (think movie trailers, insurance, OEMs, etc).

#3 is the real kicker for me.  The big advertisers are going to price dealers out of the market in the near future.  It hasn’t happen yet but it will.

How to Jump In

You’re going to need video content and a lot of it – there’s nothing worse than showing the same ad over and over again in your market.  Do not think your TV ad will do the trick – our internal data suggest otherwise.  Here are examples of dealer preroll ads that work well.

Hire an in-house videographer or get your sales team to create content and organize it into a professional and concise message (think the opposite of your typical dealer TV ads from the 90s) that is offer-based (true in-market shoppers tune into WIIFM radio and what’s in it for them is the latest deal). We create on average 5 new videos each month to keep things fresh and to NOT piss off your local audience.

Test, test, test, and test more. Then, focus your time on true in-market car shoppers and set your day parting to times that produce engagement.  We’ve tested every targeting option and have content that works well for each.  We’ve also tested every second of a video ad – what to say, how to show it, when to say it, male vs. female voiceover, inflection, etc.

When looking for ROI do not spend time on site engagement metrics like bounce rate and/or time on site.  Just because an in-market car shopper sees your ad today doesn’t mean he/she is going to click today.  They might search your brand and find you organically three days later.  If done right, online video advertising can increase organic traffic by 300%, increase CTR on your paid search & display by 200%, and increase direct traffic by 100%.

In Closing

You are in this moment right now.  Will you watch it pass you by or will you help your dealership sell more cars?

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