Automotive Email Marketing (Part 3)
This post is part of a series on automotive email marketing. Read part one and part two of the series here.
Now that you’ve created your email marketing list, it’s time to start writing emails. Many people think this is the most difficult part of the automotive internet marketing process, but it doesn’t have to be frightening. Here are some tips for writing emails that your readers will actually read.
Write about things people are interested in.
For a local dealership, most of the people on your mailing list will be from your area. If you write about things that are relevant to your region, you’ll get a lot of people interested in that alone. Is there a July 4th parade coming up? Do you have a local watermelon festival? Target your writing to local events.
If you can’t think of anything local to write about, think of writing something seasonally topical. You can talk about keeping cars cool in the sun or give tips for long summer car rides with kids. Think outside the box with your email content and you’ll keep your readers interested.
Don’t sell too hard.
The harder you try to sell in your marketing emails, the more likely your readers are to view your communications as spam. Nobody is going to buy a car because they saw an email, so your copywriting doesn’t have to sell them on it. The objective of your automotive internet marketing strategy is to increase brand awareness through online brand marketing and drive traffic to your site, not to directly sell cars.
Keep in mind, there are a lot of ways your dealership can make money without selling a vehicle. Just keeping your name out there can increase future sales, and there’s plenty of money — and loyalty — to be gained from getting people to the service department.
Let people know what you’re doing.
While you don’t want to sell too hard, make sure people are aware of your dealership and what you sell. You can do this by suggesting your readers check out your selection of new cars, or mention a deal in your service department. It’s important that you do this subtly, but you still have to do it.
If you have a particularly good deal on, make sure to highlight it. People will pay more attention if you notify them only of the things that might really interest them and not every time you knock a few hundred dollars off the price of a car.
Stay tuned for the last installment in the automotive email marketing series, How To Get More Clicks.
Email Marketing (Part 2) Getting More Names
This post is part of a series on automotive email marketing. Read part one in the series, Starting an Email Marketing Campaign, here.
Once you’ve decided that you want to start an email campaign as part of your automotive internet marketing plan, the first thing to think about is getting names. You can write the most persuasive email in the world but if nobody’s reading, nobody’s buying. Here’s what you need to know about getting names for your automotive email marketing campaign.
Figure out what names you want.
Many email marketers simply buy a list of names and send emails to the addresses on the list. This can work for some people but with spam filters getting more and more savvy, it’s often hard to get through to actual readers.
Also, when you buy names, they’re not targeted. They might be targeted by demographic or by geographical location, but you know very little about the person behind the email address. It’s hard to sell to people you don’t know.
Use the names you already have.
You probably have a whole database of names and email addresses somewhere — now’s the time to use them. Your personal electronic Rolodex is a good place to start. Email the people who know you but don’t necessarily know what you do. Email the people who know what you do but haven’t heard from you in a while. Email the customers who gave you their addresses in the past. It won’t get you thousands, but it will get you a start.
Ask for email addresses in person.
Consider making email a contact option on your paperwork. Have a space for an email address on your feedback forms. You could even hold a contest offering free oil changes for life with email as the primary form of contact. Just by giving people the opportunity to give you their address can multiply your numbers effortlessly.
Ask for email addresses online.
Whether you have a blog, a website, or both, there are plenty of opportunities to get people’s email addresses via your website. Your contact form, your comments section, an email opt-in box — and the possibilities don’t stop there. Your email newsletter can be a big part of your automotive internet marketing strategy, so give people the chance to hear what you have to say.
Once you’ve secured the initial batch of names and email addresses you need, you’ll have to start thinking about what to say in your emails. Stay tuned for the next piece in this series, How to Write Your Marketing Emails.
Automotive Blog Marketing — Does Keyword Density Matter?
One of the most common theories in automotive search engine marketing is the idea that a high keyword density results in better search engine results. But is it true? Does the highest possible keyword density really result in great rankings?
No. Well, maybe. OK, a little bit. Let’s explore.
First off, what is keyword density?
Keyword density is the percentage of your text that is made up of your keyword. If your page has 100 words and your keyword occurs once, you have a keyword density of one percent. If your keyword occurs ten times, you have a keyword density of ten percent.
Does keyword density give you high search engine rankings?
This is where things get complicated. Keyword density does certainly contribute to your search engine rankings, but not nearly as much as many people think it does.
When the internet was younger, search engine ranking algorithms were far more simple than they are now. It was assumed to be true that if someone enters the phrase “blue widgets” into a search engine, they want their results to show something that is highly focused on blue widgets and only blue widgets. Search engines used to believe that the more times “blue widgets” showed up in your text, the more relevant your page was to what they’re looking for.
Unfortunately, too many people got ahold of that information and started abusing the system. They stuffed pages and pages full of the same search term over and over. They were trying to game the system, and the search engines caught on. They changed the system so it couldn’t be gamed that way anymore.
The key with modern search engines is human relevance. Use your keyword frequently, but not so much that it wouldn’t make sense if read aloud. If it would look ridiculous to a human reader, it looks ridiculous to the search engines. Don’t eliminate your keyword entirely, but use common sense. Sprinkle it through the text, but do so sparingly.
If you build your site for search engines and visitors equally, you’ll have a head start on all the rest.
Email Marketing (Part 1)
Email marketing is a hot topic these days. Seasoned marketing professionals say there’s no more efficient way to get business, but you’ve heard a lot of people refer to email marketing as spam. Is it worth the time you’ll spend? Can you really get more customers this way? Here are some things to think about before you start your auto dealership email marketing campaign so you begin on the right foot.
Figure out your objectives.
The most important part of any marketing initiative is the beginning. You need to figure out what you’re trying to accomplish. If you don’t know what constitutes success, you’ll never know if you’ve achieved it, let alone how to accomplish it. Email is part of a comprehensive automotive internet marketing strategy and you need to know what part your emails are playing.
Are you trying to build up your public profile? Get people to your blog? Get existing customers to come in for an oil change? Know what you want to do from the outset.
How much is it going to cost?
If you’re sending emails from your own email account to a list of addresses you already have, email marketing can be inexpensive. If you’re paying a copywriter and buying a list of names and email addresses, the cost goes up dramatically. This cost may be worth it to you, but you need to figure out ahead of time what you’re willing to spend.
While you’re figuring out your numbers, compare the cost of your email marketing campaign with the cost of your other marketing initiatives and the rest of your automotive internet marketing efforts. You may find out that what seems expensive is actually cheap compared to what you’re paying for more traditional advertising media.
How are you going to measure your success?
If you’re only sending five emails, it’s fairly easy to tell who responded to what. When your mailing list numbers in the hundreds, thousands or more, you’ll need a plan to track what works and what doesn’t. There are software packages and services available to help you track your success metrics and find out what is creating the desired response and from whom.
With any new online brand marketing effort, there’s always a period of trial and error. If you take the time at the beginning of your marketing campaign and make sure you’re doing it right you can save yourself a lot of time on the learning curve.
How Yahoo’s New Technology Affects Your Ranking
With spiders becoming more and more intelligent, it’s necessary to reevaluate your online brand marketing strategies constantly to conform to the new technology. And with Yahoo’s new phrase-based indexing, nothing could be truer. Here’s how you can use Yahoo’s new technology to positively affect your website’s ranking.
1. The first thing you can do to increase your chances of getting picked up by spiders is to place relevant keywords close together on your pages. This makes it easier for the search engines to recognize the relationship.
2. Use related keywords that have been optimized for a particular keyword. That basically means that you use several different words that mean the same thing as your keyword. When you do this, search engines can get a better understanding of the content on your page from the keywords that you use.
3. Optimize several pages of your website for best results. Use different search terms on each page, but make sure they are closely related so the search engines will notice them. This also shows that your content is relevant to your website’s topics.
Yahoo’s new application is different because it focuses more on concepts rather than simple keywords. This website’s explanation uses the concept of “tiger woods” as an example. When you do a search for “tiger woods,” the new application helps return stories that involve golf terms instead of stories about tigers in the woods. It does this by searching through the related keywords in websites and focusing on overall theme and concept.
This is a new and exciting innovation in the area of search marketing and brand recognition. It’s good to see that the major search engines are continually trying to make their services better for online users.
Automotive Providers not addressing Consumer Needs
Cobalt and Yahoo have been rolling out some good data on automotive consumer behavior trends and I had the fortune of sitting in on their training session Sunday at NADA in the San Francisco this year.
I was really taken at how they had actual data to show what buyers want today:
- Competitive prices
- A good buying experience
If you think about it though, what customers want today hasn’t really changed. What has changed is consumers’ access to the right information and the ability to attain real leverage in the buying process. Dealerships that are genuinely responsive to this are the winners.
The challenge though is “how”?
When I look at the Automotive Search Marketing products and techniques out there, I don’t see this “consumer interest” truly being met the way it should be. A lot of the reason why has to do with the fact that most providers are not responding to the consumers’ true needs and interests. They provide technology for dealers to manage a process, or, they provide marketing that caters to old-school dealer sales techniques. What confuses dealers is that they have outdated marketing strategies wrapped around complicated technology.
Blogging of course is changing this. Blogging not only addresses the SEO need. It also addresses the 32% factor, that is, the 32% of buyers that do not buy within 90 days of submitting their first web inquiry. A good blog that is incorporated effectively should accomplish what a newsletter does except that it works for you ALL MONTH LONG, not just one week a month.
If you break it down to the bare bones benefits (SEO and CRM), it shouldn’t be confusing to dealers.
My message today with dealers is that when leads and prospects come into their realm,
“The goal should be to attain a relationship, not a sale.”
Dealers need to demonstrate to customers that they can and will assist them with their immediate automobile needs and interests as well as their long-term interests.
Five SEO Tools of the Pros
Whether you’re new to the SEO industry or simply trying to add tools to your existing toolbox of resources, it’s always good to see what others are doing. Here are five important tools that SEO experts are using for online brand marketing, Internet marketing or any other goals.
1. Wordtracker
This handy website is an SEO user’s best friend. This is where you can find out what words people use when searching for the types of products or services that you offer. It also ranks the popularity of the different words that typical Internet users use, so you can tailor your website around the most popular keywords.
2. Google Analytics
With this resource, you can learn where your webpage visits originate and what the visitors are doing once they get to your page. And those are only two of many bits of information that Google Analytics provides so you can make your website as efficient as possible.
3. Thumbshot Rankings
You can find how certain keywords rank against each other so you can optimize your website more efficiently. It also gives you important statistics; for example, the average Internet user only visits the top two results provided by a search engine.
4. Copyscape
Everybody who has written for the Internet knows what this tool is. Copyscape helps prevent plagiarism by searching the billions of websites for copied content. This comes in handy if you’ve hired somebody to write content or if you want to make sure that other websites aren’t copying your existing content.
5. Webposition
As a website owner, you can use this resource to report your rankings, target your keywords, optimize your webpages and much more. It also includes trend graphs and tips for increasing revenue.
Mingle with SEO Experts at Search Marketing Expo
If you’ve never attended the Search Marketing Expo, you’ve been missing out on a great way to find more ideas and the latest trends in the SEO industry. This year, you can catch the SMX between February 26-28 in Santa Clara, California. If you decide to attend, here are a few things you can expect to find there this year.
• More than 50 SEO sessions designed for a variety of industries and skill levels
• An SEO “Boot Camp” that covers the basics of the search engine optimization industry: Link building, copywriting and other fundamentals are the focus of this group. This is especially useful for beginners trying to learn how SEO can work for their businesses.
• More than 20 SEO sessions designed to teach the latest organic techniques for those who already have experience in search engine optimization
• Sessions that explore the future of the SEO industry, such as Search 3.0 and Search 4.0: Internet user behaviors, trends and patterns are the basis for upcoming success in search engine marketing.
• Seminars and discussions led by people who have already achieved a great deal of success with SEO: Danny Sullivan, program chair and editor-in-chief of SearchEngineLand.com will be making a keynote address to begin the exciting event. Former founders of Google and other Internet powerhouses will also be on hand to give expert opinions and thoughts.
You can register now for the Search Marketing Expo All Access Pass and save $200 at the same time by clicking here. The knowledge and expertise you’ll receive in online brand marketing and other marketing strategies is well worth the price alone.
Online Marketing during a Troubled Economy
The search marketing industry is a fairly new concept. Although it’s been around for several years, it’s difficult to monitor how it will change or operate in various circumstances. And with the impending troubled economy, many are speculating about the future of the online marketing industry and its chances for profitability. A recent interview with a New York economist, Lauren Capp, discusses some of these concerns. Following are some interesting points she made:
• Search marketing trends follow advertising trends to an extent. But search marketing has a better chance of turning a profit in the case of a recession because it is more internationally-based than advertising.
• The advertising industry doesn’t suffer the effects of a recession immediately. This is because advertising companies typically get paid for their services well in advance.
• Search marketers will feel the effects of a troubled economy, but it will be only after consumers buy fewer products online and companies decide to stop spending as much money on online campaigns.
• Customers are less likely to cut their budgets for search marketing campaigns because they are an essential part of having a successful business.
• If you specialize in search marketing, you can generate an income by focusing on recession-proof industries like health care, food, pharmaceuticals, tobacco and alcohol.
• Some analysts say online marketing is immune to the effects of a recession.
• The upcoming elections will likely prove to be a profitable opportunity for online marketers. Candidates will probably spend more money on Internet ads this year than ever before.
You can read the entire interview here.
Three Ways to Drive Dealership Business with Your Blog
There are several ways you can increase the number of customers that visit your dealership. But any marketing professional will tell you that word-of-mouth is one of the most effective means of advertising. The Internet and online marketing have taken that concept to an entirely new level, though. Here are some ways that you can create an effective blog for your dealership and attract more customers by virtual word-of-mouth.
Show Testimonials on Your Blog
This is the 21st century’s version of telling your friends and family about your great experience as a customer. Ask your satisfied customers to write positive reflections of their experiences and grant you permission to post them online. Some companies even have pre-printed testimonials and ask customers to sign them if they agree with what they say.
Add Content Frequently
In terms of search engine recognition and the greatest chance for exposure, content with specific keywords relevant to your dealership is ideal for advertising your company. Google and Yahoo are more likely to pick up on original and fresh content that is updated frequently. And by frequently, I mean at least five times a week, but ideally every day or even more often than that.
Allow Subscriptions and Feeds
These two simple additions to your dealership’s blog ensure that your customers have easy access to the website without needing to remember the URL. With subscriptions, the customers who have subscribed to your blog receive an e-mail each time you update the blog. Feeds are slightly different, but they essentially work along the same concept.
Come back next week for more tips on how to make your dealership blog work for you.
