I was checking into a local restaurant with Four Square in Atlanta and I was presented with a new screen sponsored by American Express.

The program is called "Shop Small".

The promotion was supporting small businesses with a twist: Amex will credit MY card based on my checkin and payment with an Amex Card.  

So, my friend took me out to Cafe Sunflower in Atlanta and when I checked in, I was presented with an offer to save $10.

Linking My Amex Card

I had to link my Amex Card to activate the promotion and then charge the meal with my Amex Card.

I decided to follow the process and it was very easy.  I entered by Amex Card number and was quickly linked to Amex. This "loaded" the special.

Once I unlocked this special and the only thing I had to do is pay for the meal on my Amex card.

I had a great meal at Cafe Sunflower and when the check was presented, I paid with my Amex card.

I few minutes later, I received a message on my iPhone as shown on the third photo on the right.  It was a surprise how fast the actually happened.

Local Based Marketing

I was very impressed at the process and how location based marketing worked with Amex.  This was a clear BENEFIT of being an Amex card member.

I felt that AMEX reached out to me to offer this benefit.  They also offered this program at the Mexican restaurant I had lunch with today.

Something is brewing.  This is very proactive and it felt very good.  If it feels very good, should it be something that dealers should investigate?

Using Location Based Marketing?

I suggest that your dealership investigate local based marketing opportunities.  The strategies may vary from high-line brands to entry level brands. 

I have some ideas on this but I would like to hear what you have to say.  I want to recognize Eric Miltsch for being a pioneer in educating dealers about location based marketing.

Does the fact that consumers buy cars every 3 years nullify these proactive offers?  

Should location based marketing be used for service?

What say you?

Brian 

Brian Pasch, CEO
PCG Digital Marketing
Text PCGedu to 75674 get information on our upcoming conferences
Brian Pasch

I was checking into a local restaurant with Four Square in Atlanta and I was presented with a new screen sponsored by American Express.

The program is called "Shop Small".

The promotion was supporting small businesses with a twist: Amex will credit MY card based on my checkin and payment with an Amex Card.  

So, my friend took me out to Cafe Sunflower in Atlanta and when I checked in, I was presented with an offer to save $10.

Linking My Amex Card

I had to link my Amex Card to activate the promotion and then charge the meal with my Amex Card.

I decided to follow the process and it was very easy.  I entered by Amex Card number and was quickly linked to Amex. This "loaded" the special.

Once I unlocked this special and the only thing I had to do is pay for the meal on my Amex card.

I had a great meal at Cafe Sunflower and when the check was presented, I paid with my Amex card.

I few minutes later, I received a message on my iPhone as shown on the third photo on the right.  It was a surprise how fast the actually happened.

Local Based Marketing

I was very impressed at the process and how location based marketing worked with Amex.  This was a clear BENEFIT of being an Amex card member.

I felt that AMEX reached out to me to offer this benefit.  They also offered this program at the Mexican restaurant I had lunch with today.

Something is brewing.  This is very proactive and it felt very good.  If it feels very good, should it be something that dealers should investigate?

Using Location Based Marketing?

I suggest that your dealership investigate local based marketing opportunities.  The strategies may vary from high-line brands to entry level brands. 

I have some ideas on this but I would like to hear what you have to say.  I want to recognize Eric Miltsch for being a pioneer in educating dealers about location based marketing.

Does the fact that consumers buy cars every 3 years nullify these proactive offers?  

Should location based marketing be used for service?

What say you?

Brian 

Brian Pasch, CEO
PCG Digital Marketing
Text PCGedu to 75674 get information on our upcoming conferences
Brian Pasch

Google Offers is now in Beta testing, have you taken a look at this new advertising platform?  Will you be considering Google Offers in your 2012 automotive advertising strategy?

I am in Atlanta surfing the web and clicked on a PPC banner ad that was running in CNN.com as shown on the screen capture below.  The PPC banner is in the upper right corner.

I had not previously signed up for Google Offers so I thought it was a good time to check it out.

When I clicked on the Google Ad, I was given the option to sign-up for offers in Atlanta.  Since I am normally not in Atlanta, I clicked on the drop-down menu to see which other cities were covered in the Google Offers beta.   Once you find a city of interest, you can SUBSCRIBEto those offers.

If you are already logged into your Google account, the subscription process is seamless.  If you are not logged into your Google account or do not have one, it is easy to signup.  You do not need a Google email address to subscribe to Google offers. 

Cities In Beta

From the list in the drop-down menu you can see if any of these cities is where your business in located.

I decided to see what local offers where being presented to consumers and the first ad was for an automotive service center.

Since it was an automotive offer, I decided to document what i saw and share it with the automotive community.

Google Offers may be something to look for your business if the business model is attractive.

I'm not prepared to discuss or share the costs of Google Offers but I will do some research since Google seems to be picking up their advertising campaign.

Automotive Service Deals on Google Offers

The offer that I was presented with from the Atlanta area is shown below:

The ad also had a tab for "Look Inside" which was a 360 Degree photos walk-around tool which showed the service area of the shop.  I think I would have selected a different photo to use in this feature.   I don't know how long this link to the ad will work, but you can check it out yourself:  Google Offers Atlanta

Paying For Google Offers

 If you click on the BUY NOW button, and if you are logged into your Google Account, you will be taken to Google Wallet.

This is a payment platform that competes with Paypal.

You can start to see how Google is morphing into new ways to monetize their search marketing platform.  In some ways, they are becoming an advertising agency for small business owners who don't have the resources and strategy to leverage digital marketing.

How will car dealers utilize Google Offers and Google Wallet?  That is too early to tell but I thought I would start the discussion.

If you are in one of the BETA markets and are planning on testing Google Offers, keep me in the loop on your success.

Questions For Google Automotive Team?

The Google Automotive team will also be at the 2012 Digital Marketing Strategies Conference (DMSC) on February 1-3rd, so we will be asking them specific questions on how car dealers can leverage their latest marketing tools and strategies.  The conversation will be lively. 

Brian

Brian Pasch, CEO

PCG Digital Marketing
Text PCGedu to 75674 get information on our upcoming conferences
Brian Pasch

Google Offers is now in Beta testing, have you taken a look at this new advertising platform?  Will you be considering Google Offers in your 2012 automotive advertising strategy?

I am in Atlanta surfing the web and clicked on a PPC banner ad that was running in CNN.com as shown on the screen capture below.  The PPC banner is in the upper right corner.

I had not previously signed up for Google Offers so I thought it was a good time to check it out.

When I clicked on the Google Ad, I was given the option to sign-up for offers in Atlanta.  Since I am normally not in Atlanta, I clicked on the drop-down menu to see which other cities were covered in the Google Offers beta.   Once you find a city of interest, you can SUBSCRIBEto those offers.

If you are already logged into your Google account, the subscription process is seamless.  If you are not logged into your Google account or do not have one, it is easy to signup.  You do not need a Google email address to subscribe to Google offers. 

Cities In Beta

From the list in the drop-down menu you can see if any of these cities is where your business in located.

I decided to see what local offers where being presented to consumers and the first ad was for an automotive service center.

Since it was an automotive offer, I decided to document what i saw and share it with the automotive community.

Google Offers may be something to look for your business if the business model is attractive.

I'm not prepared to discuss or share the costs of Google Offers but I will do some research since Google seems to be picking up their advertising campaign.

Automotive Service Deals on Google Offers

The offer that I was presented with from the Atlanta area is shown below:

The ad also had a tab for "Look Inside" which was a 360 Degree photos walk-around tool which showed the service area of the shop.  I think I would have selected a different photo to use in this feature.   I don't know how long this link to the ad will work, but you can check it out yourself:  Google Offers Atlanta

Paying For Google Offers

 If you click on the BUY NOW button, and if you are logged into your Google Account, you will be taken to Google Wallet.

This is a payment platform that competes with Paypal.

You can start to see how Google is morphing into new ways to monetize their search marketing platform.  In some ways, they are becoming an advertising agency for small business owners who don't have the resources and strategy to leverage digital marketing.

How will car dealers utilize Google Offers and Google Wallet?  That is too early to tell but I thought I would start the discussion.

If you are in one of the BETA markets and are planning on testing Google Offers, keep me in the loop on your success.

Questions For Google Automotive Team?

The Google Automotive team will also be at the 2012 Digital Marketing Strategies Conference (DMSC) on February 1-3rd, so we will be asking them specific questions on how car dealers can leverage their latest marketing tools and strategies.  The conversation will be lively. 

Brian

Brian Pasch, CEO

PCG Digital Marketing
Text PCGedu to 75674 get information on our upcoming conferences
Brian Pasch

With all the discussion about Google Places lately it is clear that it is an important source for connecting with consumers in the Zero Moment of Truth.  

I got a call yesterday from Joe Webb asking about a review feature in Google Places that most people do not know about.  

It is the "Best Ever" rating for a business.  

Would you like to have people in your community vote your dealership as "Best Ever"?  I hope so.

Best Ever Ratings In Google

To see the Best Ever rating button, you have to go to Google HotPot.  The link is:  www.google.com/hotpot

HotPot is the WEB based tool to track and manage your reviews and favorite on Google Places.

This is my HotPot summary page, which shows that I rated 37 businesses and wrote 33 reviews on my Google Account. 

Placing The Best Ever Review

In order to vote a business as "Best Ever" you first need to find their Google Places tile, as shown above.  You can search for your business name and the tile will appear.  

Tip: You can also bookmark this page on your iPad to encourage your customers to vote as well.

Google account holders have 10 precious votes to place.  When you hover over the "Blue Ribbon" button, Google will show you how many votes you have left.

In the example on the right, I have 9 votes left and if I clicked on the Blue Ribbon button for Norman Chrysler Jeep Dodge, I would have 8 votes left.

What Do These Special Votes Do?

These "Best Ever" votes show up on the Google Places page and they may enhance search results in the future as Google focuses on optimized local search.

If you have an in-store reputation management process in place, this step can be added for passionate customers that have a Google account. 

Here is an example for Undici Restaurant which shows  how these special reviews show up on the Google Places page.  

If you hover over the ribbon, it tells the consumer what it represents.  

It will be interesting to see how this evolves as Google cleans up Google Places technology and move stronger into the review business.

Whether you use this special button or not, your dealership needs to get reviews on Google Places, and this is just icing on the cake.

Brian

Brian Pasch, CEO
PCG Digital Marketing
Text PCGedu to 75674 get information on our upcoming conferences
Brian Pasch

With all the discussion about Google Places lately it is clear that it is an important source for connecting with consumers in the Zero Moment of Truth.  

I got a call yesterday from Joe Webb asking about a review feature in Google Places that most people do not know about.  

It is the "Best Ever" rating for a business.  

Would you like to have people in your community vote your dealership as "Best Ever"?  I hope so.

Best Ever Ratings In Google

To see the Best Ever rating button, you have to go to Google HotPot.  The link is:  www.google.com/hotpot

HotPot is the WEB based tool to track and manage your reviews and favorite on Google Places.

This is my HotPot summary page, which shows that I rated 37 businesses and wrote 33 reviews on my Google Account. 

Placing The Best Ever Review

In order to vote a business as "Best Ever" you first need to find their Google Places tile, as shown above.  You can search for your business name and the tile will appear.  

Tip: You can also bookmark this page on your iPad to encourage your customers to vote as well.

Google account holders have 10 precious votes to place.  When you hover over the "Blue Ribbon" button, Google will show you how many votes you have left.

In the example on the right, I have 9 votes left and if I clicked on the Blue Ribbon button for Norman Chrysler Jeep Dodge, I would have 8 votes left.

What Do These Special Votes Do?

These "Best Ever" votes show up on the Google Places page and they may enhance search results in the future as Google focuses on optimized local search.

If you have an in-store reputation management process in place, this step can be added for passionate customers that have a Google account. 

Here is an example for Undici Restaurant which shows  how these special reviews show up on the Google Places page.  

If you hover over the ribbon, it tells the consumer what it represents.  

It will be interesting to see how this evolves as Google cleans up Google Places technology and move stronger into the review business.

Whether you use this special button or not, your dealership needs to get reviews on Google Places, and this is just icing on the cake.

Brian

Brian Pasch, CEO
PCG Digital Marketing
Text PCGedu to 75674 get information on our upcoming conferences
Brian Pasch

I'm back on the Google Beat covering the latest discoveries for the automotive industry on search marketing strategy.  

I want to thank DrivingSales member Craig Waikem for commenting on my blog post about new Google PPC Adwords formats that collect email addresses. 

What Craig shared was a landing page that was displayed when he clicked on a Google Adwords advertisement.  

It looks like Honda and Google are testing a number of new initiatives and not just Adwords formats with built-in email collection 

What I saw was very chilling because of the Copyright at the bottom of the page:  Copyright 2011 Google Inc.

Google Co-Ops Automotive Classified Pages

The page in question can be found on this link:  http://automobiles.honda.com/certified-search/google/.  It is sitting on the Honda marketing website and it is a vehicle listing page that is very similar to what Cars.com, Autotrader.com, Everycarlisted.com and other classified websites display.

The page inserted by local ZIP CODE automatically  based on my IP address and displayed Honda cars nearby my home, as shown below:

When you click on a vehicle, the vehicle detail page (VDP) looks like this:

Enhanced Pay Per Click Marketing Tools

It looks that Google is helping manufacturers (Honda) like an advertising agency, to create classified advertising campaigns. What would prevent Google from taking this one step further and create an entire network of car inventory listing website for all OEM's.

Is this something that the larger automotive classified websites should be worried about?  Google obviously has access to Honda dealer inventory.  

Should automotive advertising agencies be the one more worried?  This microsite advertising model looks like a Tier 2 project (i.e. www.buyatoyota.com) that other companies offer. Tier 2 Automotive Advertising vendors should wake up and take notice that Google wants that business.

Should Google have more sepratation between their search platform and their advertising products? Is this example ripe for being accused of placing their own marketing services above others and drawing anti-trust concerns?

How Was Google's SEO Score?

On a side note, I looked at the Page Source and the SEO tags are awful. This is a PPC landing page and most likely viewed as a dynamic websites with temporary pages not to be indexed.  I was hoping to see how new techniques to help search indexing of Vehicle Detail Pages!

What do you think about this design and business model?  Is Google crossing some of its top advertising partners?

Change is in the air....and as always I will do my best to keep you ahead of the curve. 

Brian

Brian Pasch, CEO
PCG Digital Marketing
Text PCGedu to 75674 get information on our upcoming conferences
Brian Pasch

I'm back on the Google Beat covering the latest discoveries for the automotive industry on search marketing strategy.  

I want to thank DrivingSales member Craig Waikem for commenting on my blog post about new Google PPC Adwords formats that collect email addresses. 

What Craig shared was a landing page that was displayed when he clicked on a Google Adwords advertisement.  

It looks like Honda and Google are testing a number of new initiatives and not just Adwords formats with built-in email collection 

What I saw was very chilling because of the Copyright at the bottom of the page:  Copyright 2011 Google Inc.

Google Co-Ops Automotive Classified Pages

The page in question can be found on this link:  http://automobiles.honda.com/certified-search/google/.  It is sitting on the Honda marketing website and it is a vehicle listing page that is very similar to what Cars.com, Autotrader.com, Everycarlisted.com and other classified websites display.

The page inserted by local ZIP CODE automatically  based on my IP address and displayed Honda cars nearby my home, as shown below:

When you click on a vehicle, the vehicle detail page (VDP) looks like this:

Enhanced Pay Per Click Marketing Tools

It looks that Google is helping manufacturers (Honda) like an advertising agency, to create classified advertising campaigns. What would prevent Google from taking this one step further and create an entire network of car inventory listing website for all OEM's.

Is this something that the larger automotive classified websites should be worried about?  Google obviously has access to Honda dealer inventory.  

Should automotive advertising agencies be the one more worried?  This microsite advertising model looks like a Tier 2 project (i.e. www.buyatoyota.com) that other companies offer. Tier 2 Automotive Advertising vendors should wake up and take notice that Google wants that business.

Should Google have more sepratation between their search platform and their advertising products? Is this example ripe for being accused of placing their own marketing services above others and drawing anti-trust concerns?

How Was Google's SEO Score?

On a side note, I looked at the Page Source and the SEO tags are awful. This is a PPC landing page and most likely viewed as a dynamic websites with temporary pages not to be indexed.  I was hoping to see how new techniques to help search indexing of Vehicle Detail Pages!

What do you think about this design and business model?  Is Google crossing some of its top advertising partners?

Change is in the air....and as always I will do my best to keep you ahead of the curve. 

Brian

Brian Pasch, CEO
PCG Digital Marketing
Text PCGedu to 75674 get information on our upcoming conferences
Brian Pasch

I've been actively writing about the weekly changes that seem to be impacting Google SERP and Google Places.  

Are you getting dizzy by the work needed to keep Google Places up to date?  I won't even mention the pain that many dealers have been having with Merged Listings!

One of the MOST crazy changes is that in many markets, the Google Places Business Name is being over-written with the dealer's Home Page Title tag.  

This makes no sense since many websites are not optimized and have no proper Title Tag in place.  

The Denver dealers listed below now have CRAPPY business names and descriptions?  Why is Google asking for the business name and description in Google Places and not using it??  Obviously, the Google team needs to step back and get feedback from the business community.

Until this is fixed and if this applies to your listing, I would update the HOME PAGE title and meta description on your website immediately.

Local Search Results Getting Stronger and Cleaner

Today I was looking at some searches in the Miami market, and a search phrase like "Honda Miami" did NOT pull up Google Places.  It normally does.

In other markets, like typing in "Honda Denver" Google Places does show.  Google Places is not consistent, have you noticed?

But the point I want to make is that when Google Places does not show, the results are very "clean".  Oddly clean.

The results were just like Google Places, in that the results were WAY TO CLEAN and ORDERED for my trained eye.  What I mean is that 9 out of 10 of the organic listings were the primary websites of OEM Honda dealers.  

These sterilized results are not representative of what Google SERP have looked like a year ago.   

It is clear that Google is localizing search better and may be using third party validation and not just SEO to create a SERP.  In the past, this page would have third party classified websites, press releases, and blog posts.  

What is consistent, is that the only non dealer primary website in list is an exact matching microsite. (http://www.hondamiami.org)   Now I have watched the video Matt Cutts filmed that said that Google will "weight' domain names less in organic search, but my experience is different.

Digital Marketing Vigilance

I bring this up to make the point that Google seems to be making visible changes on a weekly basis that impact your digital marketing strategy.  Google Places has become a magnetic for organic clicks which is reducing visitors to third party microsites that once easily apepared on Page One.

SEO strategies need to evolve and get more aggressive and that include more of an emphasis on Video SEO strategies. 

Have you seen how much organic search results have been changing?   If you need a better mousetrap, give me a call.

Share you challenges and success stories here.

Brian 

Brian Pasch, CEO
PCG Digital Marketing
Text PCGedu to 75674 get information on our upcoming conferences
Brian Pasch

I've been actively writing about the weekly changes that seem to be impacting Google SERP and Google Places.  

Are you getting dizzy by the work needed to keep Google Places up to date?  I won't even mention the pain that many dealers have been having with Merged Listings!

One of the MOST crazy changes is that in many markets, the Google Places Business Name is being over-written with the dealer's Home Page Title tag.  

This makes no sense since many websites are not optimized and have no proper Title Tag in place.  

The Denver dealers listed below now have CRAPPY business names and descriptions?  Why is Google asking for the business name and description in Google Places and not using it??  Obviously, the Google team needs to step back and get feedback from the business community.

Until this is fixed and if this applies to your listing, I would update the HOME PAGE title and meta description on your website immediately.

Local Search Results Getting Stronger and Cleaner

Today I was looking at some searches in the Miami market, and a search phrase like "Honda Miami" did NOT pull up Google Places.  It normally does.

In other markets, like typing in "Honda Denver" Google Places does show.  Google Places is not consistent, have you noticed?

But the point I want to make is that when Google Places does not show, the results are very "clean".  Oddly clean.

The results were just like Google Places, in that the results were WAY TO CLEAN and ORDERED for my trained eye.  What I mean is that 9 out of 10 of the organic listings were the primary websites of OEM Honda dealers.  

These sterilized results are not representative of what Google SERP have looked like a year ago.   

It is clear that Google is localizing search better and may be using third party validation and not just SEO to create a SERP.  In the past, this page would have third party classified websites, press releases, and blog posts.  

What is consistent, is that the only non dealer primary website in list is an exact matching microsite. (http://www.hondamiami.org)   Now I have watched the video Matt Cutts filmed that said that Google will "weight' domain names less in organic search, but my experience is different.

Digital Marketing Vigilance

I bring this up to make the point that Google seems to be making visible changes on a weekly basis that impact your digital marketing strategy.  Google Places has become a magnetic for organic clicks which is reducing visitors to third party microsites that once easily apepared on Page One.

SEO strategies need to evolve and get more aggressive and that include more of an emphasis on Video SEO strategies. 

Have you seen how much organic search results have been changing?   If you need a better mousetrap, give me a call.

Share you challenges and success stories here.

Brian 

Brian Pasch, CEO
PCG Digital Marketing
Text PCGedu to 75674 get information on our upcoming conferences
Brian Pasch