The other day a long time friend shot me a note to say that my Facebook account was hacked.  I really appreciated the call but when I checked my account, it was not hacked.   I had allowed the "would be hacker" permission to post on my Facebook page. What had happened was that I saw a "funny" video posted on a friends website.  When I clicked to view the video, it requested that I use my Facebook login to view it. The implied permission gave the video website the ability to post what I watched to my Facebook profile any time I watched a video on their site.   Needless to say the video was not one I wanted to broadcast to my friends and colleagues; a parody of Wallmart shoppers caught in what you might call embarrassing poses.   As more websites use your Facebook account as the login key, I wanted to advise everyone to conduct an AUDIT of all the websites you have given access to your Facebook account.   When I did m...

You have been reading (hopefully) that on or around April 24th, Google rolled out another update to its search algorithm code named "Penguin". This update was to enforce it's existing terms of service guidelines regarding link quality. This update is important to car dealers who have been working hard to increase their search visibility for specific keywords.  Automotive SEO Strategies must be adjusted for Penguin compliance.   I've created a list of 10 things dealers must do as a result of the Penguin update.  What is ironic about this update is that since Google started, external linking strategies have been one of the core tactics to achieve page one placement for very competitive keywords.  SEO strategists now have to determine if Google thinks their links are "natural" or "unnatural". ' An example of this is the footer area on a website, which you can often find the name of the website author  with a lin...

Mobile Adwords campaign investments are becoming an important aspect in dealership digital marketing strategies.  Smartphone advertising is a unique opportunity to get to the top of the smaller screen which consumers view multiple times a day.  If a business is marketing to consumers that would search for their products and services "on the go", mobile pay-per-click and mobile display advertising is a must.  All dealers should be using mobile Adwords formats.   I was reviewing the success that our clients are having with mobile paid search and was thinking that body/collision shops could be an ideal candidate for paid mobile search.  If a consumer is involved in an accident that does not disable their car, they will be searching for a local body shop to fix their car immediately.     How many consumers will do that right after the accident on their smartphone?   If not right away, isn't it worth running Ad...

My team and I have been very busy this year producing dealer assessment reports.   The goal of these reports are to benchmark the dealer's current Internet/BDC operations, staff phone skills, website merchandizing, budget effectiveness, and the strength of their digital marketing investments.   The research culminates with a final report which often includes: - Summary of Online Reviews — - Brand Leaks or Distractions —- Paid Search Campaigns —- Video Marketing Campaigns —- Social Media Engagement - Functionality/Engagement of Website - Results of Mystery Shops & Phone Skills - Review of Marketing Budget The report also includes immediate market opportunities and recommended actions.  The need in the marketplace for this research and guidance has been confirmed by dealer demand.  Executives want to know how to fix the things that they can't see or don't know to look for. ...

I love the automotive business and the diversity of people that I meet at conferences, 20 Groups, and of course online on DrivingSales.com.   There are so many success stories in automotive retail but in order to sustain success, car dealers need to be developing the next generation of leaders. How is your dealership developing leaders?  Passing the torch from generation to generation is not easy.   Some second and third generation dealer principals have struggled to grow on the past success of their parents or grandparents.   Others have flourished to built a multi-generation, multi-million dollar business enterprise. One thing I know from personal experience, is that there are many smart people in the world to learn from.  Many of these leaders have published books that are a wealth of knowledge to develop leaders.  Are you an avid reader?  Does your dealership have a leadership reading library? Two Books You Must Read I'm on ...

YouTube is the second most popular search engine, so my question to you is how are you leveraging this platform?   I've been writing over the past year about the importance of video marketing and video optimization. I wanted to enhance those marketing suggestions with a quick discussion about the YouTube promoted video program.  It's the Adwords equivalent on YouTube. Take a look at the search I did on YouTube for a keyword "2012 Honda Accord" below.  Notice that only ONE video was "promoted" for this keyword (highlighted in green) and it was not for a local dealer.  Promoted videos are like PPC ads that dealers run on search engine results pages. Notice how many VIEWS the four videos under the promoted video received for this keyword, which are highlighted in red.  Over 110,000 views on four videos for this keyword.  It is clear that this keyword, or a variation on it, is being used by consumers and the video th...

Lately there has been significant buzz about a statement that Matt Cutts made at SXSW in regards to a project that Google has been working on.  This project, is designed, according to Cutts, to level the playing field for websites that don't do any SEO but have good content.   If I interpret his statement correctly, Google is trying to give Page One ranking to the most relevant content to the person searching regardless if the author had a budget or knowledge about proper website page formatting, links, keywords, and/or social signals.   Whether this can be done, will only be seen over time. White Hat SEO strategies are working well today.  It is clear to me that social signals can influence search rankings today just like White Hat SEO tactics in the past.  Companies or authors with strong social followings can already "game" SERP's with social influence and instant traffic. I think the cheese has already moved and this c...

Dealers, if you have been having problems with Google Places, this may be the right time to join the Google+ Hangout. I just received a call from the Google Jumpstart Auto Team about an event that is scheduled for tomorrw.   Join +Joel Headley and +Vanessa Schneider at 11 a.m. PST this Wednesday, April 4, 2012, as they discuss Google Places for business.  To join the Hangout, follow this link:  Google Places Hangout I know that many of you have tried to escalate your questions and issues with Google Places and have not gotten very far.  I understand your frustration, and I encourage you to be patient.  Things will be getting better in the future. How do I join a hangout?   You must be in a video conference room or have a video chat camera on your computer Next, login to Google using an existing gmail address or creating a new one (you can login to Google by visiting Google.com and clicking on the '&#...

The last time I wrote about specific dealership practices online, I got tremendous negative feedback from the dealer community about calling out a dealer by name.  Fortunately, this time someone else started the ball rolling and I thought it was important enough to volley back. +Ben Popken is the founding editor of Consumerist, and runs Stealerships, Jalopnik's aptly-named consumer protection section.  In an article he posted on Jalopnik, Ben shares how College Park Hyundai was marking up Door Edge Guards $1,495 when other dealers in the market were so much more realistic. Ben called a few local dealerships, including my client Pohanka Hyundai of Marlow Heights,  to compare costs.  Pohanka told Ben the door guards were $100 at their store and could not explain the price demanded by College Park Hyundai. Commenting about the markup pratice, Popken closes he piece with these words. "With such a huge markup, College Park is able to advertise a low...

Tonight I was speaking with some very successful Wall Street executives and I asked one gentleman: "What has the formula for success?"  His response triggered a number of thoughts about the automotive industry. He told me that success was not guaranteed year after year or month after month.  What worked very well last year was not necessarily what would work this year.  The formula for success in fact was the trader's ability to adapt and change to market conditions. Moreover, he stated that successful traders reinvented themselves on a regular basis.  At this point I started to see some parallel paths in our industry. How many dealers are sticking to advertising, marketing, and customer service strategies that worked 10, 15, or 20 years ago.  They are convinced that staying with what worked "back in the day" can still be relevant today. To their credit, some things never change.  Providing a great customer experience and ...

So a week has passed since dozens of dealers found out that their Google Places pages were updated inadvertantly by a massive update by Google.  

The original goal of this update was to "claim" and/create listings for dealers that had never claimed their Google Places pages.

The blogs have been filled with critical commentary regarding the update which GM participated in with Google, but as we have come to find out, the update impacted more than just GM stores.  

For many dealers their listing is in a state of "purgatory"; not publicly fixed although their Google Places login shows the correct data.

Without any direct conversations with GM, I think that GM recognized that a percentage of their dealer body was missing free traffic generated by Google Places.  Their intent was to help their dealer body get more traffic, leads, and calls.

For most dealers, Google Places ranks in the top 3 referring websites to a dealer's main domain. &

Lexus compliance has been reminding dealers that they may only use their factory approved URL for marketing if the word "Lexus" is in the URL.   This is not new in regards to their prohibition on microsites with the word "Lexus" in the domain name but recently I saw another variation on domain compliance. Social Media & Online Directory Compliance Dealers need to make sure that their primary OEM approved domain is the only website used to register business profiles on review sites like Google Places, DealerRater, Yelp, etc.  This also applies to any social media profiles that are setup with the dealership name. Lexus is intent on making sure that all public directories or social media sites that have a website URL are all directing to the approved domain. So before you get a compliance "strike" for your dealership, make sure you check all your business and social media assets carefully.   Brian  ...

If you are looking for ways to bring your search marketing strategy to the next level, one of the strongest opportunities will be to show your employees how to expand the visibility of their social connections to Google. Why should you take that action?   When a consumer (i.e. your employees) click on the  Google +1 button, their connected network of "friends" is influenced.  The greater the consumer's network, the greater their influence. I recently visited a dealer group that had 1,200 employees.  If each of these employees were trained on how to maximize their social network connections visible to Google, they could help the dealer increase their local search visibility very quickly.  This dealer could easily impact 30,000 - 50,000 local consumers if they trained their employees to invest 15-30 minutes of their time to assist the dealership with their local search visibility I hope you would agree that increasing local ...

Have you setup your Google+ profile page for your dealership? Have you posted a few optimized content posts to see how well they are appearing in Google organic search?   If you have answered No to either of the above questions, you need to dive into the Google+ pool.   Change is in the air and great opportunity is available for those who are first to act!   Google+ Is Powerful Organic SEO Why? Google+ content is ranking very strongly on Page One organic results.  You may even consider Google+ as your best investment for a dealership blog. That's right, the power of Google+ content posting with the correct formatting and strategy, may very well be much stronger than any content that you post on your dealership blog.   I have seen many examples where Google+ content is ranking on Page One for national search phrases to people connected with your Google account.  So the goal will be to connect with as MANY local consumers on Google+ a...

Google's use of cookies to track consumer behavior on the web has been front and center in the news this past week. According to The Christian Science Monitor article Jeff Ward-Bailey: Google spent much of last week dodging criticism from Apple users about its online privacy practices. But when Microsoft got involved this week, that's when things got really interesting.   Users of Apple's Safari browser recently claimed that Google was violating their privacy by circumventing a mechanism the browser uses to disable tracking.   Here's what's (apparently) going on under the hood: by default, Safari disables third-party cookies, nuggets of code that companies can use to identify users returning to a site they've visited before, or to track what other sites they visit. Safari can accept cookies if a user explicitly gives permission, but Google's ad platform reportedly used a workaround to mimic approval of its cookies.   Wil...

There are many reasons why your dealership should be using Google+.  Content on the portal is being indexed well in Google search if you have the right strategy in place. One thing that you may not know is how to create a Title for your Google+ post when it only have ONE open box for content. The trick is to start your article off with a one line title.  Then surround the First Line of your post with asterisk..   The title of the blog post I created here in Google+ would look like: *Create Title Tags in Google+* When you save the post, Google+ will make what is BETWEEN the asterisks the title and use it as the title for search engines result pages.   This of course makes the Title part of your Google+ SEO strategy so think on the best balance between social and search. I hope you enjoyed the tip! Brian    Brian Pasch, CEO PCG Digital Marketing  Brian Pasch ...

American Express and Twitter announced a new pilot program starting in March for 10,000 Amex small business owners.   Car dealers looking for new tools in their Automotive Advertising strategy, should take note of this limited trial. The Amex program will allow business owners to fund sponsored Tweets, similar to how Pay-Per-Click advertising works. It is performance based so the dealer would only be charged if a consumer decided to  "Follow" your Twitter account or click through to your linked page. Could this be a new powerful way to drive traffic to your website? This may be another tactic in a powerful Automotive Advertising strategy. I will be testing this new program and I think that this is very worthwhile to test and measure the best ways to create Sponsored Tweets that attract qualified traffic and local car buyers. Sign-up For Twitter Pilot With American Express To sign-up for the pilot, you need to visit this registration page:  http...

When I started working with car dealers in 2005 on their SEO strategies, there was little a dealer needed to do in order to influence their search rankings.   Most dealer websites did not have blogs so secondary blog sites (microsites) had to be created.  Dealers were not setup to create content let alone maintain a blog.  Dealers needed outside consultants to optimize their website pages, since most website platforms came un-optimized out of the box.   In 2005, the Wild West of SEO was taking dealers my storm.  They just didn't know if this "SEO Stuff" had any value.  Social What? Back in 2005 Google Places, Social Relevance, +1 Buttons, or Google+ did not exist and were NOT in the SEO equation.  In the early days I was focused on quality content, microsites, off-site links, and creating strong flows of qualified traffic.  SEO Consultants did a majority of the SEO work for dealers. Back then, the SEO tactics were ...

Working with many dealers across the United States and Canada has allowed me to tinker with over 40 different website platforms designed for the automotive industry.

Being part of the Automotive Website Awards (AWA) review committee has also allowed me to get to know the developers of many fine website platforms.

So here we are in 2012 and there are some website features that are not universally provided by website companies that I think should be a part of their core platform.  

You may have more things you want to add on my Automotive Website Wish List below. My requests are based on marketing and analytical needs.  Members of Internet/BDC or Fixed Ops departments will have a different perspective for sure, but here is my top 5.  

(Some providers deliver a few of these items, but none that I am aware of provide all.)

Automotive Website Wish List



Ability for a dealer or advertising agency to use their own Adwords account to setup ads that pass tracking

This week as thousands of automotive professional head to Las Vegas for the 2012 NADA Convention, hundreds of vendor are preparing their booths to connect their products and services to interested buyers. If you have never been to NADA, it can be overwhelming. Walking the exhibit hall can be exhausting.  If you can wear sneakers, bring them. I wish  Segways were allowed to move me around the hall because vendors and dealers know the sore feet and backaches that are associated with being at a trade show for three days. Finding The Magic Bullet at NADA I'd like to make a suggestion to dealers who are heading to NADA to look for the next "magic bullet" to improve their sales and profits.   You may have a shopping list filled with booth numbers and VIP parties and those things are well and good.  However, the next magic bullet for your business and professional life may be something you didn't think to add to the list. To lead ...

In the past few months I've had the pleasure to work with passionate dealers who have asked me to do a comprehensive assessment of their Internet operations. I called on my good friend Jerry Thibeau to help me with the mystery shopping part of the assessment. In addition to the innovative Phone Ninjas process that Jerry created,  my team also made calls and lead submissions on our own. It was an eye opener to see that a number of submissions failed basic customer service standards.   Operating WIth Broken Processes Some of the leads we submitted were never responded to via an auto-responder or a personalized email.  Some leads never received a phone call.   Readers in the trenches of BDC/Internet departments may not be surprised by these findings but the dealers we worked with and their staff were very surprised that their processes were broken. When you consider the tens of thousands of dollars invested each month to drive calls, l...

I've made a commitment to read 70 books a year and one of my latest finds is "Great by Choice" written by Jim Collins. I actually received the book as a gift from Jane Berentson, Editor in Chief at Inc., to whom I am very grateful for the introduction of this book. Great by Choice  grabbed my attention in the second chapter as Collins tells readers about the two adventurers who set out to be the first people in modern history to reach the South Pole. The contrast between the two leaders of the expedition parties is what immediately made me stop an think about my business strategy. Roald Amundsen and Robert Falcon Scott both set a bold goal, just like many entrepreneurs.  One achieved his goal and the other one was frozen to death. Want To Create 10X Results? Jim Collins documents business leaders that achieved what he calls "10X" results.  Collins entices readers early in chapter two with this statement: "Let's first ...

In the past month I've had the chance to look at a number of dealer websites that are still using Flash technology that is not rendering properly on iPhone and iPad devices. If your home page is using Flash and you have delayed getting a technology update, this is a reminder to expedite that change. Mobile traffic as well as Apple devices is on a exponential rise and you should be capturing these online shoppers.  In addition to having your main website with cross-browser and device compatibility, you have no excuse to ignore getting a mobile site up and running. Google Analytics Shows Mobile Device Traffic   Here is an example of the last 30-days of traffic to a dealer website and you can see just how many Mobile devices are using Apple technology.  This report is easily accessed through Google Analytics.   So take a look at your Google Analytics reports and check all your website pages from an iPad, iPhone, and Android mobile devices.   &...

For many dealers, Google Analytics is not yet one of the standard tools they review each month to provide business intelligence and accountability for their digital marketing strategy.   I encourage dealers and marketing managers to learn more about Google Analytics in 2012.  There are three free webinars starting in February 2012 if you join the Automotive SEO Study.  A majority of dealers who are looking at Google Analytics data are using the "base" level functionality and few have setup "Goals".   Why Setup Goals?     Goals in Google Analytics coupled with Multi-Channel Sales Funnels can start to give you insight into the influences that brought local consumers to your website. For example, a company comes in to sell you a product/service that claims will drive more qualified consumers to your inventory pages.  How do you measure that claim?   Another vendor claims that by adding video to your website, con...

As I have been looking at Google Analytics Multi Channel Sales Funnels, I have to ask dealers if they have misjudged the impact of Craigslist on their  website traffic and lead generation?   How are consumers finding a dealer's used car inventory?  Is it through Autotrader.com, Cars.com, or is it a combination of Craigslist as well? Since we have the opportunity to work with hundreds of dealers across the US and Canada, we have tested setting goals on a number of different business objectives. Get Consumers To View Used Car Inventory In the case below, we set a goal to look at how consumers get to a dealer's USED CAR inventory search pages.  Here is an example of how Craigslist is driving traffic to a DEALER'S used car inventory pages: The LAST Referring Source Will Fool You 90% Of The Time If you look at the LAST referring source, all but one of these LAST influencers to the dealer's USED CAR inventory pages would NOT be a...

If you are collecting American Express points for your summer vacation and already advertise on Facebook, you might as well get 3X the points until April 22, 2012.   Today I received an email from Amex outlining the Facebook 3x Advertising promotion which you can read below or visit their website page. If you have decided to test Facebook pay-per-click advertising in 2012, this may get you moving a little faster!    Many dealers are testing Facebook advertising so if you have been having success with Facebook, take a minute to share your results with the DrivingSales Community. Brian   Brian Pasch, CEO PCG Digital Marketing Text PCGedu to 75674 get information on our upcoming conferences Brian Pasch     ...

As we start 2012, I would like to start a discussion on automotive advertising and dealer messaging strategies. This blog post was inspired the PCG Pit Stop Conferences where DrivingSales' own  Dennis Galbraith was as one of the featured speakers. Dennis challenged car dealers to evaluate the messaging of their traditional media investments.   Dennis asked dealers who focused on "price" or "payment" advertising what the ROI of their investment yielded once the "limited time" sale was over.   That was a very bold challenge by Dennis knowing that dealers often turn to payment and price advertising strategies on a 30-day window rather than branding or unique value proposition marketing.  The later takes more thought and a comprehensive/patient strategy that spans more than 30-60-90 days. Looking In The Mirror So dealers in the DrivingSales community I would like to ask you: "Are your radio, TV, and newpaper adver...

With just a few days before 2012 arrives and I celebrate my 50th birthday in January, I wanted to know if you have made any special New Years Resolutions? Personally, I don't wait till New Years to make changes or new commitments in my life but traditionally this time of year we talk about change.     So what do you want to change?   Making a Shift in 2012   I love to write and most of my writings are about marketing, advertising, and strategy for the car business but today I wanted to shift to something more important.  Your health and success in 2012. Two years ago this week I made a commitment to change my lifestyle so I am talking from experience.    After two years of success it is time to lead others to a better life in the years ahead. Two years ago I was sitting in fromt of a computer for 12-15 hours a day building my business and ignoring my health.  I belived that I did not have time to exercise or eat better. ...

  Have you been able to quantify how much Autotrader, Cars.com, or other third party classified websites contribute to your dealership's ability to sell more cars?     Have you questioned the importance of alternative classified websites like Craigslist or Ebay?     I started off with these questions because if you are a car dealer using any of these services, you most likely have been frustrated getting answers on the ROI of third party classified websites.     Industry leaders like Dennis Galbraith have rightly suggested that dealers should look at Vehicle Detail Page (VDP) views per month and SRP's as one benchmark of value.  (Read Article)   Dealers frankly, wanted more confirmation and I'll let you decide if this is another way to confirm your digital marketing investments. Your Best Kept Secret Today, we have some other ways to look at your best kept secrets!  Why do I use the ...

Have you ever wanted to see which websites and influences during the Zero Moment of Truth resulted in the highest conversions or achieved goals set by your marketing strategy?   You you want more information on which websites are "assisting" conversion so you can properly give them credit? I wrote about Google Analytics Multi-Channel Sales Funnels in the past, but as I have been tinkering with the setup, it is clear that dealers should take action for better visibility in 2012. So If you want to have greater visibility of the ROI on your 2012 Digital Marketing Investments, follow these 4 steps:   1. Make Sure Analytics and Adwords Are Linked In order to fully leverage the Google Analytics data which will show the digital influences that result in the most conversions, you need to link Google Analytics and Adwords. If you are NOT using Adwords, then add that as a fifth step for 2012 action items.   You can read how to Link Google Adword...