Digital Marketing Strategies for 2011

As business leaders review their 2011 automotive advertising and marketing budgets, the more important question is whether they have a strategy for those investments. 2011 digital marketing strategies must have funds allocated for SEO, SEM as well as Social Media.

These three categories of digital marketing expenses are not meant to slight needed testing and investment in mobile, chat and other communication channels to reach consumers.

SEO Works Well With PPC Campaigns

As an SEO strategist I’m often misquoted as not being a fan of Pay-Per-Click advertising which is far from the truth. Some people believe that SEO advocates have an aversion to PPC because it undermines the importance of their work.

Pay-Per-Click is more important than ever with recent changes in Google search results which combines Google Places data and traditional organic listings. For most businesses, the broadest keyword searches are not practical to expect their website to appear on Google Page One.

This fact, combined with the massive “block” of text created by Google Places, and appearing at the top of Page One becomes even more valuable.

Practical Keyword Goals Avoids Dissapointment

For example, a Toyota dealer in Littleton Massachusetts can not expect to be on Google Page One when a consumer searches for “2011 Toyota Camry” or “Toyota Camry MSRP”. These types of broad searches are perfect candidates for PPC. Just make sure that you are testing the click results generated by the words you choose to include in your campaign.

Automotive SEO comes on strong when the consumer types of search phrases that include local town or anchor cities near a local business. In this case, you can expect for a Toyota dealer to appear on page one for “used Toyota Boston”. So a strong SEO attack can help reduce recurring PPC costs by generating Page One results for longer searches or searches that include a city or state target.

Keyword Driven Microsites

With those broad statements made, appearing on Google Page One for broad searches is still possible using a microsite strategy. Purchasing a domain name that exactly matches the search phrase you want to optimize is the first step. Then creating a website with good content on this domain is next. Finally creating external links and traffic to this microsite will normally get the site on Google Page One nationally in 30-90 days.

Examples of this approach for many industries include searches for these phrases that create a microsite with the exact match to be #1 in Google without a geo-targeting word:

BMW Used Cars
Pick and Pick
Distribution Warehouse
Internet Sales Manager
Infiniti Warranty
2010 Acura TL

When you create microsites for a local market, they can become even more powerful like these examples below:

Miami Used Cars
Buffalo Used Cars
Buffalo Ford
Seattle Jeep

Social Media Advertising and Social Media Engagement

The third pillar of a strong 2011 Digital Marketing Strategy is to include investments and testing in social media engagement and advertising. Many companies are finding that paid advertising on Facebook has been generating a high ROI. This investment is generating sales today.

Social Media Engagement is really not ideally suited for selling something today but is best seen as a way to ensure that in the future, consumers will select your brand. Engaging and providing real value to consumers on Facebook will provide and annuity of good will, sales, and eventually lower your cost per

Do You Have A Digital Marketing Strategy?

Does your business have a digital marketing plan and strategy for 2011? Having a budget does not constitute a strategy. If all your doing is updating your website and sending your cars out to Cars.com and Autotrader.com, you don’t have a digital strategy.

Have you taken the time to document how you will measure success? Have you created the reports that will be needed to analyze the data, traffic, and sales results?

Dealer Principals and General Managers can no longer leave this important area of their business to run without significant thought, measurement, testing, and accountability. If you need help, you should call an experienced digital marketing company. The longer you operate without a strategy, the more opportunities will be handed over to your competitors.

Join The Conference

If you would like to join with your peers to finalize your 2011 Digital Marketing Strategies, I suggest you register for the 2011 Digital Marketing Strategies Conference February 1-3, 2011 in the Napa Valley.

The conference is scheduled just before the start of the NADA Convention. At the end of the conference attendees will be taken to San Francisco to register for the NADA Convention.

Visit http://www.digitalmarketingstrategies.org

Brian Pasch, CEO
PCG Digital Marketing
www.pcgdigitalmarketing.com
732.450.8200