You most likely have heard the expression "Arranging The Chairs on The Tititanic"  before but I never found a use for this phrase before in my writings.

As I have been working with 20 Groups around the country, this phrase came to mind to describe the state of affairs regarding dealer awareness and action regarding online reviews.

I acknowledge that my expertise only covers a portion of all the tasks and responsibilities on the shoulder of dealer principals so I’m not implying that online reviews are the most important thing to worry about.

I will say that if a dealer principal created a top 10 list to check each week, online reviews would be on the list. 

The importance of online reviews is both a cultural phenomena and a search engine reality. Consumers are empowered to use social media and online review sites to share their experience when visiting a local dealership. Google Places and other review sites appear on Google Page One tens of thousands of times a month for basic auto shopping phrases and searches on a dealership name. 

The fact that search engines show your online reviews as an “Internet Scorecard” thousands of times a month reinforces the concepts outlined in Jim Lecinski’s book “Winning the Zero Moment of Truth”. Every day consumers are deciding not to shop at local dealers BEFORE they even visit the dealership, place a call, or submit a lead based on online reviews. 

I review hundreds of dealership Google Places a month and honestly over 50% of the dealers I score seem “content” that their negative online reviews are not important. This conclusion is based on two things.

First, they have not responded to any negative reviews. Second, they have not solicited any positive reviews.

Dealers who have not put in place an in-store reputation management process are very busy with the hundreds of tasks required to run a dealership and yet they are unknowingly defeating their own marketing efforts.

In fact, you could make the case that their ignorance or lack of action is helping send business to their nearest competitor.

In-Store Solutions For Googlized Consumers

How pervasive is this problem? Search your local market and find out for yourself.

If you live in Chicago, type in Google “Chicago Toyota Dealers”.

How many dealers have over 100 reviews? How many have over 50? How about 25?

Let’s see what the reasonable potential is for a dealership that sells 200 cars a month between new and used.

This dealership will normally see about 5x that number in service repair orders, so 1,000 service customers a month.

So every month a dealer of this size has 1,200 potential satisfied customers but let’s say that 5% were not really “happy”. 

That leaves us with 1,140 happy customers a month.

On average you will find that 25%+ of your customers will have a Google Gmail account or a registered business email address associated with a Google product.

That means this dealer has over 275 happy Googlized customers a month in their store that can post a review directly on Google Places in about 2 minutes.

So let’s just say that not all Googlized customers would post a review, and only half would say yes. That gives you over 130 reviews a month on Google Places alone.

In-Store Solutions For Non Googlized Consumers

Now what about the customers who don’t have a Google email address? You implement an in-store review collection process that allows you to OWN and SYNDICATE your customer reviews. It is 10x easier to get a review from a customer when everyone is hugging and kissing in the dealership.

When you chase reviews once customers leave the store, you have made the decision to increase calls and emails when they are at home or at work.

This may be annoying to the customer. It may impact your OEM CSI calls.

Why? Because the customer who leaves a review for you online based on an email or call, may not want to participate in an OEM CSI call.

They could easily confuse the nature of the call and say: “Hey, I already did a review!” and hang up.

In-store reputation management processes are vital to socializing your website, blogs, and marketing strategies. By owning some of your reviews they can be syndicated to blogs, portals, and even used for Automotive SEO.

In-store processes are cheaper, require less of your staff time, reduce customer irritation and can produce hundreds more reviews a month.  Reminder: In store processes also identify problems before a customer leaves the showroom.

Let’s face it, when consumers leave the “buzz” of the dealership they go back to their daily routine.

Yes, a fraction will post a review because they made a commitment in the store to the sales team. Post delivery reviews are nowhere near the volume you can obtain simply with in-store review collection processes.

The Value of Reviews

I recently published a case study showing what 278 reviews on Google Places was worth for a New Jersey BMW dealer.

The 278 reviews generated the equivalent of $9,000 a month of Google Adwords spending.

That does not include the 100+ phone calls that were generated without a click. So, while dealers make sure their showroom floors are clean, their staff are properly attired, their TV ads running and their website is updated with the latest specials, the reality is that hundreds of potential buyers have decided not to call, not to click to their website, or drive in to see that sparkling showroom floor.

The reviews that they found when searching the dealer’s name scared them away.

There were so many bad reviews compared to positive reviews. The owner didn’t respond to the negative reviews so the consumer decided they must be true.

Am I exaggerating? Check out 20 dealers in your area at random and count how many have responded to the negative reviews on Google Places.

Count how many dealers have fewer than 20 reviews and see what percentages of those reviews are less than flattering. Count how many dealers have recent reviews that are negative.

Reputation Management Must Be a Core Dealer Certification

It is time that the automotive industry understands the profound yet simple facts outlined in Jim Lecinski’s book “Winning The Zero Moment of Truth”.  Download this free book and read it.

If you like the book, DrivingSales members who are a dealer principal, GM, GSM, or Marketing Director have until Monday to join the Automotive ZMOT Study which starts this month. 

Online reviews for products and dealers are an important factor in the sales process. OEMs and NADA need to prioritize dealership understanding and training on proven reputation management processes.

There is just too much at stake to let the number of dealerships I see each day blow up their franchise opportunity in the local markets.

For some dealers, it also means getting back to the basics of providing great customer service. For many dealers, however, they just are not aware of the importance of asking their customers to write a review.

In absence of any proactive measure, the squeaky wheels are the ones that post, even for very good dealerships.

Digital Marketing Strategies

Dealers looking to educate their team on winning reputation management processes and hands on review collection role playing should attend the Digital Marketing Strategies Conference (DMSC) as well as 2012 NADA in Las Vegas.  

The DMSC is February 1-3rd and NADA directly follows so you can make one trip out of the dealership for the best training, inspiration, and collaboration in our industry.

If you register for DMSC by November 1st you will save $300 off registration fees.  Act quickly since only 150 tickets will be sold. We will have special workshops designed to build the knowledge and confidence to implement a powerful in-store reputation management process.  

We will be able to demonstrate in-store reputation management software tools and review syndication technology.

Of course, post sale processes are valuable and produce meaningful reviews, but an in-store process can reduce the nuisance factor to the majority of your customers and focus on only those that chose not to write a review in the store.

Isn’t that model the most efficient and effective to produce the greatest quantity and quality?

If you found this article helpful, please click on the +1 button (top of page) and share it on your social networks.

Brian Pasch, CEO

PCG Digital Marketing

Text PCGedu to 75674 get information on our upcoming conferences

Brian Pasch

You most likely have heard the expression "Arranging The Chairs on The Tititanic"  before but I never found a use for this phrase before in my writings.

As I have been working with 20 Groups around the country, this phrase came to mind to describe the state of affairs regarding dealer awareness and action regarding online reviews.

I acknowledge that my expertise only covers a portion of all the tasks and responsibilities on the shoulder of dealer principals so I’m not implying that online reviews are the most important thing to worry about.

I will say that if a dealer principal created a top 10 list to check each week, online reviews would be on the list. 

The importance of online reviews is both a cultural phenomena and a search engine reality. Consumers are empowered to use social media and online review sites to share their experience when visiting a local dealership. Google Places and other review sites appear on Google Page One tens of thousands of times a month for basic auto shopping phrases and searches on a dealership name. 

The fact that search engines show your online reviews as an “Internet Scorecard” thousands of times a month reinforces the concepts outlined in Jim Lecinski’s book “Winning the Zero Moment of Truth”. Every day consumers are deciding not to shop at local dealers BEFORE they even visit the dealership, place a call, or submit a lead based on online reviews. 

I review hundreds of dealership Google Places a month and honestly over 50% of the dealers I score seem “content” that their negative online reviews are not important. This conclusion is based on two things.

First, they have not responded to any negative reviews. Second, they have not solicited any positive reviews.

Dealers who have not put in place an in-store reputation management process are very busy with the hundreds of tasks required to run a dealership and yet they are unknowingly defeating their own marketing efforts.

In fact, you could make the case that their ignorance or lack of action is helping send business to their nearest competitor.

In-Store Solutions For Googlized Consumers

How pervasive is this problem? Search your local market and find out for yourself.

If you live in Chicago, type in Google “Chicago Toyota Dealers”.

How many dealers have over 100 reviews? How many have over 50? How about 25?

Let’s see what the reasonable potential is for a dealership that sells 200 cars a month between new and used.

This dealership will normally see about 5x that number in service repair orders, so 1,000 service customers a month.

So every month a dealer of this size has 1,200 potential satisfied customers but let’s say that 5% were not really “happy”. 

That leaves us with 1,140 happy customers a month.

On average you will find that 25%+ of your customers will have a Google Gmail account or a registered business email address associated with a Google product.

That means this dealer has over 275 happy Googlized customers a month in their store that can post a review directly on Google Places in about 2 minutes.

So let’s just say that not all Googlized customers would post a review, and only half would say yes. That gives you over 130 reviews a month on Google Places alone.

In-Store Solutions For Non Googlized Consumers

Now what about the customers who don’t have a Google email address? You implement an in-store review collection process that allows you to OWN and SYNDICATE your customer reviews. It is 10x easier to get a review from a customer when everyone is hugging and kissing in the dealership.

When you chase reviews once customers leave the store, you have made the decision to increase calls and emails when they are at home or at work.

This may be annoying to the customer. It may impact your OEM CSI calls.

Why? Because the customer who leaves a review for you online based on an email or call, may not want to participate in an OEM CSI call.

They could easily confuse the nature of the call and say: “Hey, I already did a review!” and hang up.

In-store reputation management processes are vital to socializing your website, blogs, and marketing strategies. By owning some of your reviews they can be syndicated to blogs, portals, and even used for Automotive SEO.

In-store processes are cheaper, require less of your staff time, reduce customer irritation and can produce hundreds more reviews a month.  Reminder: In store processes also identify problems before a customer leaves the showroom.

Let’s face it, when consumers leave the “buzz” of the dealership they go back to their daily routine.

Yes, a fraction will post a review because they made a commitment in the store to the sales team. Post delivery reviews are nowhere near the volume you can obtain simply with in-store review collection processes.

The Value of Reviews

I recently published a case study showing what 278 reviews on Google Places was worth for a New Jersey BMW dealer.

The 278 reviews generated the equivalent of $9,000 a month of Google Adwords spending.

That does not include the 100+ phone calls that were generated without a click. So, while dealers make sure their showroom floors are clean, their staff are properly attired, their TV ads running and their website is updated with the latest specials, the reality is that hundreds of potential buyers have decided not to call, not to click to their website, or drive in to see that sparkling showroom floor.

The reviews that they found when searching the dealer’s name scared them away.

There were so many bad reviews compared to positive reviews. The owner didn’t respond to the negative reviews so the consumer decided they must be true.

Am I exaggerating? Check out 20 dealers in your area at random and count how many have responded to the negative reviews on Google Places.

Count how many dealers have fewer than 20 reviews and see what percentages of those reviews are less than flattering. Count how many dealers have recent reviews that are negative.

Reputation Management Must Be a Core Dealer Certification

It is time that the automotive industry understands the profound yet simple facts outlined in Jim Lecinski’s book “Winning The Zero Moment of Truth”.  Download this free book and read it.

If you like the book, DrivingSales members who are a dealer principal, GM, GSM, or Marketing Director have until Monday to join the Automotive ZMOT Study which starts this month. 

Online reviews for products and dealers are an important factor in the sales process. OEMs and NADA need to prioritize dealership understanding and training on proven reputation management processes.

There is just too much at stake to let the number of dealerships I see each day blow up their franchise opportunity in the local markets.

For some dealers, it also means getting back to the basics of providing great customer service. For many dealers, however, they just are not aware of the importance of asking their customers to write a review.

In absence of any proactive measure, the squeaky wheels are the ones that post, even for very good dealerships.

Digital Marketing Strategies

Dealers looking to educate their team on winning reputation management processes and hands on review collection role playing should attend the Digital Marketing Strategies Conference (DMSC) as well as 2012 NADA in Las Vegas.  

The DMSC is February 1-3rd and NADA directly follows so you can make one trip out of the dealership for the best training, inspiration, and collaboration in our industry.

If you register for DMSC by November 1st you will save $300 off registration fees.  Act quickly since only 150 tickets will be sold. We will have special workshops designed to build the knowledge and confidence to implement a powerful in-store reputation management process.  

We will be able to demonstrate in-store reputation management software tools and review syndication technology.

Of course, post sale processes are valuable and produce meaningful reviews, but an in-store process can reduce the nuisance factor to the majority of your customers and focus on only those that chose not to write a review in the store.

Isn’t that model the most efficient and effective to produce the greatest quantity and quality?

If you found this article helpful, please click on the +1 button (top of page) and share it on your social networks.

Brian Pasch, CEO

PCG Digital Marketing

Text PCGedu to 75674 get information on our upcoming conferences

Brian Pasch

As the importance of online reviews becomes part of basic dealership operations, a number of companies have come to marketing with Internet Reputation Management tools and strategies.  

Dealerskins, Cobalt, and Dealer.com have all launched impressive tools and strategies to increase online reviews and to syndicate customer reviews on blogs, faceook, etc.  

If you haven't seen these new tools, check them out in Vegas at the DrivingSales Executive Summit, October 9-11th.

One IRM model includes sending emails out to consumers asking for a review.  Based on their response to the email and if they respond with a positive review, a second screen prompts them to cut-and-paste their review to a third party site.  Some consumers are responding and posting.

In addition to emails, some dealers are making thank you calls and asking/reminding customers to post a review.  This also has mixed results.

Impact on Existing CSI Processes

I would like to hear from the field on this topic.  I heard one dealer tell me that the OEM has prohibited them from asking for a satisfaction survey inside the store!

The more I dig into customer review processes, I'm convinced that the majority of effort should be in the store when everyone is hugging and kissing.  

This eliminates extra calls and emails and will not be confused with an OEM CSI follow-up process (call or email).  It is also a better use of your staff's time.

What do you have to say?

As the importance of online reviews becomes part of basic dealership operations, a number of companies have come to marketing with Internet Reputation Management tools and strategies.  

Dealerskins, Cobalt, and Dealer.com have all launched impressive tools and strategies to increase online reviews and to syndicate customer reviews on blogs, faceook, etc.  

If you haven't seen these new tools, check them out in Vegas at the DrivingSales Executive Summit, October 9-11th.

One IRM model includes sending emails out to consumers asking for a review.  Based on their response to the email and if they respond with a positive review, a second screen prompts them to cut-and-paste their review to a third party site.  Some consumers are responding and posting.

In addition to emails, some dealers are making thank you calls and asking/reminding customers to post a review.  This also has mixed results.

Impact on Existing CSI Processes

I would like to hear from the field on this topic.  I heard one dealer tell me that the OEM has prohibited them from asking for a satisfaction survey inside the store!

The more I dig into customer review processes, I'm convinced that the majority of effort should be in the store when everyone is hugging and kissing.  

This eliminates extra calls and emails and will not be confused with an OEM CSI follow-up process (call or email).  It is also a better use of your staff's time.

What do you have to say?

About the 1st Automotive ZMOT Study

I've been profoundly impacted by a free book called "Winning the Zero Moment of Truth" by Jim Lecinski.  As a result of reading this book, I have created training materials, online workshops, and planning materials for car dealers on this topic.

If you never heard about ZMOT, read the free book, and then decide if you want to be part of this exciting automotive study.

Before I launch our national ZMOT education campaign, I am inviting 100 dealers at no cost, to participate in the PCG six week educational program.   The program will consist of six, 1-hour webinars and follow-up conversations offline each week with each member,

The  Automotive Zero Moment of Truth study will take 100 dealers through an educational process that will guide their marketing and budgeting decisions based on the concepts shared by Jim Lecinski and the research of Google on online consumer shopping behavior.

The study members must be either a Dealer Principal, Dealership COO/CFO,  or General Manager and have the permission to share and discuss their marketing budgets with the study team at PCG Digital Marketing.  

Budgets will NOT be shared with study members unless permission is granted.  If budgets are discussed, they will not disclose the member dealership name.  Privacy is key, but actual data will power the members of this study to new heights of success.

PCG Digital Marketing will NOT include dealers that are direct competitors in local markets because of the confidential data or innovative strategies that will be discussed on conference calls, webinars, and on the private forums.  

Dealers will receive priority placement on a first come basis.

PCG will provide each member a set of proprietary budgeting models based on current consumer shopping models.  We have developed a series of tools that will guide dealers on restructuring their current advertising budgets.  If you want to have a powerful audit of your current spending, this is the study for you!

Dealers interested in joining this study should register at http://www.automotivezeromomentoftruth.com by November 1, 2011.  

Dealers who are accepted to the program will be notified by email or by phone.  We reserve the right to accept/deny participation in this study based on competitive conflicts with current PCG clients or existing members of this study group.

I look forward to working with 100 dealers and creating 100 powerful marketing strategies for dealers who want to WIN the Zero Moment of Truth.

Brian

Brian Pasch, CEO

PCG Digital Marketing

Text PCGedu to 75674 get information on our upcoming conferences

Brian Pasch

About the 1st Automotive ZMOT Study

I've been profoundly impacted by a free book called "Winning the Zero Moment of Truth" by Jim Lecinski.  As a result of reading this book, I have created training materials, online workshops, and planning materials for car dealers on this topic.

If you never heard about ZMOT, read the free book, and then decide if you want to be part of this exciting automotive study.

Before I launch our national ZMOT education campaign, I am inviting 100 dealers at no cost, to participate in the PCG six week educational program.   The program will consist of six, 1-hour webinars and follow-up conversations offline each week with each member,

The  Automotive Zero Moment of Truth study will take 100 dealers through an educational process that will guide their marketing and budgeting decisions based on the concepts shared by Jim Lecinski and the research of Google on online consumer shopping behavior.

The study members must be either a Dealer Principal, Dealership COO/CFO,  or General Manager and have the permission to share and discuss their marketing budgets with the study team at PCG Digital Marketing.  

Budgets will NOT be shared with study members unless permission is granted.  If budgets are discussed, they will not disclose the member dealership name.  Privacy is key, but actual data will power the members of this study to new heights of success.

PCG Digital Marketing will NOT include dealers that are direct competitors in local markets because of the confidential data or innovative strategies that will be discussed on conference calls, webinars, and on the private forums.  

Dealers will receive priority placement on a first come basis.

PCG will provide each member a set of proprietary budgeting models based on current consumer shopping models.  We have developed a series of tools that will guide dealers on restructuring their current advertising budgets.  If you want to have a powerful audit of your current spending, this is the study for you!

Dealers interested in joining this study should register at http://www.automotivezeromomentoftruth.com by November 1, 2011.  

Dealers who are accepted to the program will be notified by email or by phone.  We reserve the right to accept/deny participation in this study based on competitive conflicts with current PCG clients or existing members of this study group.

I look forward to working with 100 dealers and creating 100 powerful marketing strategies for dealers who want to WIN the Zero Moment of Truth.

Brian

Brian Pasch, CEO

PCG Digital Marketing

Text PCGedu to 75674 get information on our upcoming conferences

Brian Pasch

We all know by now that at the end of July, Google changed how they calculate star counts on Google Places.  (see previous post)

Dealers that relied heavily on Dealerrater.com, Yelp.com, or CitySearch.com saw their review counts drop drastically toward the end of July.

I have been encouraging dealers to post review on Google Places because it will increase referral traffic to their website and increase calls.  Some dealers are skeptical just how important Google Places is to their overall website traffic.  Others are skeptical if posting reviews directly on Google Places makes an impact.

I finally have some direct proof that focusing your attention on customer reviews has a major impact on consumers clicking through to your website from Google Places. The term Zero Moment of Truth refers to the digital "scorecard"  and "influences" consumers see prior to selecting a product or service online.   You can download my ZMOT white paper on this link: Automotive ZMOT

For dealers, Google Places reviews play a major part of the Automotive ZMOT experience. For the dealer in the case study below, Google Places shows over 40,000 times a month. Where can dealers get 40,000 impressions (opportunities) a month for free?

If you have been lackadaisical on adding reviews each month to Google Places, this is your wakeup call.  Take a look at the data below.

When Referral Traffic Dropped 86%

I am sharing the Google Places analytics summary data for a dealer in the period from June 1st  through September  16th in the graph below.  Notice that over this period of time, the number of impressions have stayed basically the same.

However, there was a big drop in "actions" when the dealer's star counts dropped from 275 to 3 when Google changed their algorithm.  Google removed the DealerRater.com reviews from their star counts and look at what happened.

So let's dig deeper and look at traffic in June and then we will look at traffic in the last 30 days.  In June, the dealer had over 275 reviews in their star counts, primarily from DealerRater.com.  In August, their review "star" count dropped to 3.  Notice the BIG difference in referral traffic in the two graphs below:

June Traffic and Actions

Last 30 Days

The Big Drop Defined

In the month of June, this dealer had over 275 starred reviews and it resulted in 3,176 clicks through to their website. In the last 30 days, with 3 reviews this dealer had 429 clicks through to their website.

This is an 86% drop in referral traffic and the impressions stayed basically the same.   So if anyone is NOT taking their Google Places account seriously, here is the data.

To get 3,000 replacement visitors would cost you over $8,000 in pay-per-click a month or $100,000 a year in automotive advertising PPC.  Is the effort to get reviews posted by your customers worth it?  You decide.   

The more reviews you have on Google Places, the more FREE traffic you will generate to your website.  This makes a strong case to immediately implement an in-store review process using the Google Places app.  Once this dealer gets their review counts over 275 using Google Places App, their high referral traffic will return.  For a store of this size, this can be fixed in a short period of time.

When you have the highest number of reviews in your market, you can amplify the benefit by running Google Adwords Express. Google Adwords Express is not available in Canada as of today.

Reviews are a trusted resource by consumers.  They become your online brand.  Whatever you think your brand is does not matter.  What matters is what people see online BEFORE they contact you.

What Are You Waiting For?

If you have been holding off implementing on in-store Google Places review process, this data should light a fire under your ass.

Choose if you want to leverage Google Places to drive free traffic to your website or drive traffic to your competitors.

I hope to see many dealers at Internet Battle Plan 7 in Park Ridge New Jersey on October 5-7th and at the Driving Sales Executive Summit on October 9-11th.

If you need help, give us a call.

Brian Pasch, CEO

PCG Digital Marketing

Text PCGedu to 75674 get information on our upcoming conferences

Brian Pasch

We all know by now that at the end of July, Google changed how they calculate star counts on Google Places.  (see previous post)

Dealers that relied heavily on Dealerrater.com, Yelp.com, or CitySearch.com saw their review counts drop drastically toward the end of July.

I have been encouraging dealers to post review on Google Places because it will increase referral traffic to their website and increase calls.  Some dealers are skeptical just how important Google Places is to their overall website traffic.  Others are skeptical if posting reviews directly on Google Places makes an impact.

I finally have some direct proof that focusing your attention on customer reviews has a major impact on consumers clicking through to your website from Google Places. The term Zero Moment of Truth refers to the digital "scorecard"  and "influences" consumers see prior to selecting a product or service online.   You can download my ZMOT white paper on this link: Automotive ZMOT

For dealers, Google Places reviews play a major part of the Automotive ZMOT experience. For the dealer in the case study below, Google Places shows over 40,000 times a month. Where can dealers get 40,000 impressions (opportunities) a month for free?

If you have been lackadaisical on adding reviews each month to Google Places, this is your wakeup call.  Take a look at the data below.

When Referral Traffic Dropped 86%

I am sharing the Google Places analytics summary data for a dealer in the period from June 1st  through September  16th in the graph below.  Notice that over this period of time, the number of impressions have stayed basically the same.

However, there was a big drop in "actions" when the dealer's star counts dropped from 275 to 3 when Google changed their algorithm.  Google removed the DealerRater.com reviews from their star counts and look at what happened.

So let's dig deeper and look at traffic in June and then we will look at traffic in the last 30 days.  In June, the dealer had over 275 reviews in their star counts, primarily from DealerRater.com.  In August, their review "star" count dropped to 3.  Notice the BIG difference in referral traffic in the two graphs below:

June Traffic and Actions

Last 30 Days

The Big Drop Defined

In the month of June, this dealer had over 275 starred reviews and it resulted in 3,176 clicks through to their website. In the last 30 days, with 3 reviews this dealer had 429 clicks through to their website.

This is an 86% drop in referral traffic and the impressions stayed basically the same.   So if anyone is NOT taking their Google Places account seriously, here is the data.

To get 3,000 replacement visitors would cost you over $8,000 in pay-per-click a month or $100,000 a year in automotive advertising PPC.  Is the effort to get reviews posted by your customers worth it?  You decide.   

The more reviews you have on Google Places, the more FREE traffic you will generate to your website.  This makes a strong case to immediately implement an in-store review process using the Google Places app.  Once this dealer gets their review counts over 275 using Google Places App, their high referral traffic will return.  For a store of this size, this can be fixed in a short period of time.

When you have the highest number of reviews in your market, you can amplify the benefit by running Google Adwords Express. Google Adwords Express is not available in Canada as of today.

Reviews are a trusted resource by consumers.  They become your online brand.  Whatever you think your brand is does not matter.  What matters is what people see online BEFORE they contact you.

What Are You Waiting For?

If you have been holding off implementing on in-store Google Places review process, this data should light a fire under your ass.

Choose if you want to leverage Google Places to drive free traffic to your website or drive traffic to your competitors.

I hope to see many dealers at Internet Battle Plan 7 in Park Ridge New Jersey on October 5-7th and at the Driving Sales Executive Summit on October 9-11th.

If you need help, give us a call.

Brian Pasch, CEO

PCG Digital Marketing

Text PCGedu to 75674 get information on our upcoming conferences

Brian Pasch

PCG has a number of microsites optimized for the automotive industry on popular terms like "Automotive SEO", "Automotive Advertising", as well as "Automotive Social Media".  

I periodically check search results based on a list of key search phrases I want to target via our own SEO strategies.  

We always want to practice what we preach!  What happened today created one of those "Ah Ha" moments that I wanted to share with car dealers and our industry. 

You first have to know that Google changes the search engine results page (SERP) if you are logged into your Google account. While logged in, Google records your past activity with the goal of making sure that it can display the best search results for your online behavior.

So, with this in mind, have you asked what happens when you click on the +1 button next to a website you like, or own. :)

Automotive Social Media Searches

Here is the SERP for the search phrase "Automotive Social Media" when I am logged out of my Google Account:

Notice that TK Carsites website located at AutomotiveSocialMedia.com is ranking in position #1 over the PCG website at www.AutomotiveSocialMedia.org.   To clarify this screen capture, notice there are no "+1" buttons or thumbnails of my friends since I am logged out of my Google account.

Now look at the same search result while I am logged into my Google Account:

Notice a few things.  First, Google PULLED from Page Two our Automotive Marketing Boot Camp website which has content optimized for "Automotive Social Media" into first position.  

Secondly, it placed our microsite AutomotiveSocialMedia.org into position #2,  It also pushed up websites that I visited frequently or +1'd (like DrivingSales.com) which in effect pushed the TK Carsites website into position #5.

Also see how the thumbnail effect colorized the SERP and reminds me that my friends ALSO liked certain pages or companies.

Identifying The Googlized Consumer

Now, think about what this means to your digital assets if you could get people to +1 them.  

If you are implementing a proactive reputation management process in your dealership which uses 3G iPads or iPhones to get "Googlized Consumers" to post a review from inside the store using the Google Places App, why stop there?

When they are done with their 60 second review posting using the Google Places App, why not setup a boomark on your browser for a search that shows your key website pages one the iPad?

Hand the iPad back to the consumer and ask the consumer to click on the +1 buttons next to your key pages or at least just your home page.  

Here is what a Google search using the site command does, which in some cases is all you need to show for your dealership.  (You should see what this command brings up for your website)

In this case, many key pages are displayed like the home page, service page, parts page, and used car pages.  So if this page was bookmarked, it would be a breeze to touch the +1 button next to the pages that the customer chooses to +1.

If your website has the +1 button on each page, most do not today, then you could also have them go to the page directly and click the button.

Now the bonus.  Since they are logged into their Google account, their +1 activity is recorded.  Since they are logged into their Google account, their +1 activity is recorded.  

This means that when they search for car dealers in your area in the future from their home or mobile device, your website assets will get priority placement.

In this example, my +1 activity significantly changed my top SERP placements. This means that your customers can lock in priority placement for your website in their FUTURE browsing sessions if you ask them inside your dealership.

Mmmmmm the benefits of connecting with your Googlized customers are getting better by the day.  If your dealership needs assistance with a comprehensive IRM, SEM, and SEO strategy, give us a call.

You know I have to ask.... If you liked this article, please click on the +1 button on the top of this page and also share it with your network om Facebook.  I practice what I preach.

Brian

Brian Pasch, CEO

PCG Digital Marketing

Text PCGedu to 75674 get information on our upcoming conferences

Brian Pasch

PCG has a number of microsites optimized for the automotive industry on popular terms like "Automotive SEO", "Automotive Advertising", as well as "Automotive Social Media".  

I periodically check search results based on a list of key search phrases I want to target via our own SEO strategies.  

We always want to practice what we preach!  What happened today created one of those "Ah Ha" moments that I wanted to share with car dealers and our industry. 

You first have to know that Google changes the search engine results page (SERP) if you are logged into your Google account. While logged in, Google records your past activity with the goal of making sure that it can display the best search results for your online behavior.

So, with this in mind, have you asked what happens when you click on the +1 button next to a website you like, or own. :)

Automotive Social Media Searches

Here is the SERP for the search phrase "Automotive Social Media" when I am logged out of my Google Account:

Notice that TK Carsites website located at AutomotiveSocialMedia.com is ranking in position #1 over the PCG website at www.AutomotiveSocialMedia.org.   To clarify this screen capture, notice there are no "+1" buttons or thumbnails of my friends since I am logged out of my Google account.

Now look at the same search result while I am logged into my Google Account:

Notice a few things.  First, Google PULLED from Page Two our Automotive Marketing Boot Camp website which has content optimized for "Automotive Social Media" into first position.  

Secondly, it placed our microsite AutomotiveSocialMedia.org into position #2,  It also pushed up websites that I visited frequently or +1'd (like DrivingSales.com) which in effect pushed the TK Carsites website into position #5.

Also see how the thumbnail effect colorized the SERP and reminds me that my friends ALSO liked certain pages or companies.

Identifying The Googlized Consumer

Now, think about what this means to your digital assets if you could get people to +1 them.  

If you are implementing a proactive reputation management process in your dealership which uses 3G iPads or iPhones to get "Googlized Consumers" to post a review from inside the store using the Google Places App, why stop there?

When they are done with their 60 second review posting using the Google Places App, why not setup a boomark on your browser for a search that shows your key website pages one the iPad?

Hand the iPad back to the consumer and ask the consumer to click on the +1 buttons next to your key pages or at least just your home page.  

Here is what a Google search using the site command does, which in some cases is all you need to show for your dealership.  (You should see what this command brings up for your website)

In this case, many key pages are displayed like the home page, service page, parts page, and used car pages.  So if this page was bookmarked, it would be a breeze to touch the +1 button next to the pages that the customer chooses to +1.

If your website has the +1 button on each page, most do not today, then you could also have them go to the page directly and click the button.

Now the bonus.  Since they are logged into their Google account, their +1 activity is recorded.  Since they are logged into their Google account, their +1 activity is recorded.  

This means that when they search for car dealers in your area in the future from their home or mobile device, your website assets will get priority placement.

In this example, my +1 activity significantly changed my top SERP placements. This means that your customers can lock in priority placement for your website in their FUTURE browsing sessions if you ask them inside your dealership.

Mmmmmm the benefits of connecting with your Googlized customers are getting better by the day.  If your dealership needs assistance with a comprehensive IRM, SEM, and SEO strategy, give us a call.

You know I have to ask.... If you liked this article, please click on the +1 button on the top of this page and also share it with your network om Facebook.  I practice what I preach.

Brian

Brian Pasch, CEO

PCG Digital Marketing

Text PCGedu to 75674 get information on our upcoming conferences

Brian Pasch