Yes it is so true, Indie Results has finally gotten a twitter account. In addition to posting here a few times a week I will also be providing helpful tips via our twitter account. Help us grow our channel by following us.

We will try and get at least one helpful tip up there every couple of days, tips you can implement yourself.


Jeremy

There are a lot of website directories out there on the web. Likely millions. There are several that are part of every core SEO plan. Below is a video recap of what directories you MUST list in. Read the full post here.

With the recent economic hard-hits to the auto and auto dealership industries, many dealerships are finding it more and more difficult to generate the sales they need to stay operating in the black. One key marketing tool that can help boost your sales is email marketing—when done correctly. Recent research done by the Direct Marketing Association revealed that email marketing in 2008 generated an average return of investment of $45.06 for every dollar spent on the initial campaign! In this blog, we’re going to show you the top 10 ways to correctly run your dealership email marketing efforts so you can separate yourself from the competition. 1. Quality Content Is King Above all else, quality content is king. Leave out all the noise and fluff and stick to what’s important. Spend the time getting to really know your market and send only what interests them the most. Don’t send a bunch of junk as filler. We are all familiar with the ubiquitous spam emails that pile up in our junk email boxes, yet when it comes to email marketing copy, many dealerships continue to make the same mistakes by loading their emails with a plethora of sales copy that no human wants to read. The consequence is little-to-nill conversion. In addition, your emails are likely getting picked up by spam filters. The key to writing effective copy that will promote sales is to write engaging copy that’s authoritative, easily digestible and informative. In time, these types of emails (with the right message) will build loyalty, trust, and sales. 2. Build Your Email Lists: Once you’ve started to build loyalty with customers, keep the momentum rolling and start collecting email addresses. Use regular freebees and specials to lure them in, and once you’ve gained their trust, ask your future customer for their email address so you can inform them of upcoming, even more personalized special offers. 3. Build Trust by Announcing Regular Specials Once you've started collecting email addresses, you can send your customers and subscribers regular updates letting them know what your specials are. Sending regular discount offers is a great way to get your customers familiar with you and your site. Ideally, you want to turn first-time customers into regular customers who will buy from you again and again. Offering free services like carwashes, detailing and tire rotations give the perfect opportunity for new potential customers to come down to your dealership and peruse your auto selection while they wait for their free services! 4. Split Testing So you’ve spent the time to write great copy for your email blast and you’ve sent it out to no avail. One of the key things to remember is that nobody gets it right the first time, which is why you need to test, test, and test again—until you get it right. It is critical that you or your marketing team test the numerous variables (one variable at a time) that combine together to create an effective campaign. These variables include the offer, the creative, the list, the links and the landing page. It may take several test launches, but in the end its worth it to take the time and really examine what you did right and what you did wrong so you can better amalgamate the right marketing components to your to-be customers. 5. Landing Pages One of the biggest offenders in email marketing is the landing page. Do not just "drop off" the recipient onto the marketers' home page. Instead, take the time and send them to a custom-designed landing page that is consistent with the offer in the email. Landing pages prevent the recipient from getting lost and ensure that they see what you want them to see first. 6. Link Placement Perhaps the second biggest offender in email marketing is the placement of the links. You or your marketers should make sure the link is placed either as the (call to action) or just following your email’s call to action. You’re recipient’s attention span will generally be a fraction of a second unless you hook them right away! Position your call to action and links within the first paragraph of the message. One of the biggest blunders that’ll cost you is to make the email recipient search the message by scrolling to find the link and the overall meaning of the message. 7. Follow up With Your Leads You can use email to follow up with people you have spoken with personally, but who have not made a purchase. Offer to answer any additional questions they may have, and let them know that you are available to speak with them at their convenience. This can dramatically increase your chances of closing a sale by providing your leads with extra information they're not expecting. 8. Market Other Departments, Not Just Auto Sales More often than not, auto dealerships fail to market the other departments of their business including parts service, body shop finance, and auto repair, which are all huge opportunities to generate a ton of cash even when sales are down. Use engaging copy to inform both current and potential customers of your service and why its better than the competition. Let your customers know your mechanics are manufacturer-certified and are more thoroughly trained than the average Joe Shmo mechanic. 9. Make Sign-Up Easy If you’re trying to run an email marketing campaign, remember—you only need their email address. You might want their first name, so you can personalize their email, but even this should be optional. Don't require postal address, last name, and especially phone number. Requiring a phone number can often cut your signups by at least 80%. If you choose to go with fields like: prefixes, birthday, or gender—be prepared to get zero returns. Why make it hard? 10. Stay on Target Know your target market and don’t allow yourself to stray off course. Some marketers randomly send emails to people who have absolutely no interest in what is being advertised. Not only will this type of desperation deliver a very low response rate it can increase your spam complaints. Ask every customer and site visitor if they are interested in receiving e-mail advertisements and promotions from you. If your email marketing efforts are unsuccessful, take some time to mull over these points. If you think that your email marketing is loaded with sales copy, it could be a sure-fire indication why your efforts are unsuccessful. Take the time and use these tools to pinpoint what your customers want, and then give it to them..

 

 

I realize this is sort of a crummy sales letter, something I pride myself on never doing. I always like to provide nothing but authoritative value, and advice to those seeking it. I have been a member here on Driving Sales for sometime, try and take time to answer questions, and add value with videos and blog posts. What I am wondering, from the dealers out there, why I havent gotten more takers on the free site evaluations, or advice? With most of the OEM approved vendors being corrupt of providing little value I would have hoped to of heard from more dealers by now. I am just wondering, what would you like to see out of me? Would you like more blog posts? More videos or email support? 

Am I perhaps barking up the wrong tree? Would people like advice on PPC or Email Marketing instead? Let me know what the community wants and needs.  I will do everything in my power to provide it. 

 Eagerly awaiting your responses, I am here, and I want to help.

Jeremy Hambly

Indie Results Internet Marketing

 

 

No matter what we have been told or know firsthand, cheap prices and big promises always seem to pique our interest despite the notion if it looks to good to be true, it probably is So when it comes to PPC marketing, the bottom line is that cheaper isn’t better. 

Let’s take for example, one said company. If you aren’t already familiar with them, "said advertiser" offer advertisers packages that include paid search ads from Google and Yahoo; Internet Yellow Pages listings from SuperPages.com; paid inclusion from LookSmart; and geo-targeted banner ads on the Advertising.com network. The service includes campaign set-up and management, simplified online media buying, and campaign reporting.

 

In a nutshell, “said company” specializes in PPC campaigns for just about anybody and everybody. They offer killer salesmanship and big promises for cheap costs—but that’s not without a catch. “Said Company” (and co-op PPC companies like them) also offer a host of drawbacks attached to the terms of agreement. In this blog, we’re going to outline the main reasons why you shouldn’t opt with “said company” or co-op-based PPC companies for your PPC efforts.

 

·        Though “said company” and other co-op PPC companies may have cheaper prices, it’s because they manage a huge volume of clients; therefore getting discounts from Google, Yahoo and other search engines. The major drawback to the lowered cost is that you’re opting with a company that manages thousands of clients. No doubt, software, not humans, are managing your campaign.

·        A PPC campaign needs to be fluid, and you need to be able to monitor and adjust the campaign on a daily basis based on what keywords are getting you conversions/leads.  The problem with “said company” and other co-op PPC companies is they “limit client control,” which in other words means—you have no control.

·        The cost for “said company” and many other co-op PPC companies may initially seem cheap, but it quickly adds up as fees compound. Over $1000 per month for a PPC campaign that doesn’t help your PPC efforts is a lot of money to be wasted.  

·        To get a better idea, let’s take one of our clients who has been working with a co-op based PPC company. The current situation when you Google the client’s company name is their PPC results (which they’re paying over $1000 per month) turn up 3^rd in the adwords list with the entirely wrong URL address for the displayed webpage.

·        Know too, you’ll be hard pressed to ever find “said company” or a co-op PPC company that bothers to use custom landing pages.

·        Most Dealership PPC companies ignore even the most basic PPC 101 type rules, a few are listed below

 

-Split Testing Ad-Copy
-Split Testing Landing Pages
-Custom Landing Pages
-Conversion Tracking
-Relevant Ad Copy
-Relevant URL For Ad

(And that doesn’t even include the massive conflict of interest….)

If you’re considering using a co-op-based PPC company like “said company” for your PPC campaign, know that the majority of these companies don’t offer tailored services. Instead you’ll likely be getting software-fed-and-amalgamated service with results that are borderline atrocious. For the most part—the only one benefiting form the service is the co-op.

 

Jeremy Hambly
Indie Results Internet Marketing

 

 

 

Sorry for the the sensationalist title but the fact of the matter is dealerships are getting fleeced on their websites.  We took a realistic look at what dealerships spend over a five year period on their websites.  It really is a crime, and there is a better way, take control of your dealerships Internet Marketing costs one piece at a time and starting with their website costs.  The video below explains a little more about our thoughts and you can read the full post on dealership websites on our website as well as read about our dealership marketing solutions.

 

In this weeks blog post we take a look at the value of links There are a lot of common mis-understandings when it comes to back links to someones website, quantity does not always beat quality, and I took to my blog to explain things a little better, and made a brief video to further explain the concept.  You can read the full post  I just don't want to spam the web with duplicate content, thats why I used the video approach.  SEO Links Explained  To learn more about our dealership marketing on our website.

Boost Your Show-Room traffic tenfold with SEO

Internet marketing has grown rapidly over the past decade in auto sales, as more and more people compile their research online. With the current economic downturn hitting the auto dealership industry hard, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has become one of the most significant methods of advertising to boost your auto sales locally, nationally, and worldwide—no matter what type of models you’re selling.

Increasing your website's rankings in the search engine results pages and driving extensive organic traffic to your website, SEO builds your dealership into an overall authority. The end result is increased web traffic, which will subsequently boost your show-room traffic ten-fold.

SEO guru, Jeremy Hambly, is one of the leading authorities in the SEO arena because of his highly innovative skills and SEO knowledge:

 

E-commerce director of an Indianapolis Dealership, was so happy with Jeremy’s SEO work that he submitted a case study underlining the dramatic boost in web traffic he received on account of Jeremy’s highly result-driven SEO.

Like many auto dealerships, they felt the ripples of the turbulent economic times. After consulting with Jeremy, they started seeing a dramatic turn-around with with their website. Not too long after, his site traffic and subsequent sales started climaxing: In less than 4 months their website traffic doubled, and now the traffic is growing at an average of 29% per-month. Click here to read the full case study.

While we encourage you to chat with Jeremy about creating your own SEO business relationship, we’d like to cue you in on the debut of our hot-off-the-press DVD series “The Ultimate SEO Video Training Series.”  Designed to give you the inside scoop on all the insider SEO tactics used by the pros, this DVD series is guaranteed to dramatically boost your web traffic while making your auto dealership into the dominant auto dealership in your area—no matter what brands or models you’re selling. 

The DVD series, which is normally priced at $297.00, is now only $97.00 with our $200 - OFF Coupon. ("200DollarsOff")Not to mention you’ll also get a ton of extras including:

 

• SEO Companion Guide: Insider SEO Tactics to Help You Rocket Your Business to the Next Level, a detailed guide on understanding the key techniques of Search Engine Optimization
• The 12-Week SEO Road Map, a step by step procedure guide that will walk you through the process of Search Engine Optimization and show you exactly what to do during your first 12 weeks of SEO to make your website successful.
• How to Design Your Website for SEO Dominance, a tutorial on how to design your website for top search engine rank. With visual diagrams and a detailed explanation of each section of the website, you will discover exactly how to design your website around SEO. By implementing SEO design for your site, you lay the foundations of building a site that can dominate the search engine results pages and drive an unlimited amount of FREE traffic.

 

The information in these materials is invaluable, and the price—is unbeatable. Act today and claim a 400-dollar value for only $97

Just enter the coupon code at checkout.

 

View The Product Here

 

 

My Interview with Internet Marketing Guru Glenn Livingston

 Wow, I just had the chance to speak with one of the best in the game.  Glenn Livingston is one of the best Adwords/PPC advertisers on the planet and we had a great chat about how SEO and PPC are related, and talk a lot about different things to keep in mind when designing your website.  It is a little long but I highly recommend at least launching it in the background and absorbing some of the things we talk about.

 

Here is the link.

 

http://www.indieresults.com/blog/interview-with-internet-marketing-guru-glenn-livingston.html