You’re probably working with a marketing/search provider that promised you the world when they sold you, and you’ve seen yourself on Google a few times.  Times are tough and your boss is asking you if this campaign’s actually working and if it’s worth the money.  I've listed a few pointers to gauge your Internet marketing campaign’s effectiveness on my personal blog. You can check out the full post here.

To summarize, make sure you do the following:

• Set a Benchmark before you begin
  
• Set reasonable, measurable goals
  
• Make sure your expectations are reasonable
  
• Track your progress
  

These simple rules will start you off in the right direction for your campaign.

If you're working with a company that hasn't gone through these points with you, talk to them about it. If they refuse to assign accountability, or cannot explain your ROI, it might be time to find a partner that can deliver the results you need.

Obama man of strategy, everything executed so well. But, one of the most obvious things that he proved, is the power of the internet.

No one has been able to move the younger generation better than he has. With him having so many young internet savvy supporters he was able to take the internet by storm and stream his message to millions 24/7 by having that strong presence online. For those that may disagree: If you did not see those ads then guess what you weren't the target market.

I have said over and over again your car shopper is not that same shopper 10, 5, or 3 years ago and I know all of my fellow internet marketing guru's can co sign my thoughts. You have the biggest proof right here in this history making event  that shows you the power of the internet.  My generation the generation right behind me are accustomed to this way of getting information, and that's not going to change. Their not going to suddenly start reading the newspaper or stop listening to XM or Ipods and Mp3's in the car and go back to the radio.  So right now we all know budgets are tight, but that doesn't mean close your doors until this storm passes. When you are looking at your budget and evaluating your marketing strategies the last thing anyone should be cutting is the internet.  You might as well consider yourself cut off from the world. If you're not closing the door to your dealership then why would you close the door to your digital dealership?  And  trust me I'm not telling you to spend more, but simply reallocate. It was nicely stated in a blog last month, you have 90% of car shoppers online searching for what you may have on your lot. So just ask yourself do you still choose to keep that door closed and fish for car shoppers the old fashioned way? If you are still thinking that then it's definitely time for "CHANGE!"

Auto Dealer Traffic Launches Advanced SEM/SEO

and Online Inventory Marketing Services Suite

Maximizes Dealership Web Site Traffic and Conversions

COLUMBUS, Ohio (October 6, 2008) — SEM pioneer Auto Dealer Traffic, Inc. (ADT), the retail automotive industry’s leading pay for performance Internet marketing company, today announced the release of SEM Accelerator, SEO Overdrive and SIM Full Throttle, a new benchmark in search engine marketing, search engine optimization and online inventory marketing services for dealers.  The new services suite uses ADT’s proprietary, highly advanced Internet marketing technology to quickly and easily maximize dealership Web site traffic from new and used vehicle in-market consumers, resulting in increased sales conversions.  Dealers pay month-to-month with no long-term contract commitments, and only for top placement on organic search rankings.

“Since ADT was founded in 2001, many companies have tried to imitate our Internet marketing technology, but no one has been able to really duplicate it,” said Larry Tabloff, vice president of sales for Auto Dealer Traffic.  “Our new product suite not only streamlines the entire SEM/SEO process, it dramatically increases the dealership’s online presence and number of auto shoppers directed to their site.”

ADT’s SEM Accelerator is a new Pay Per Click service aimed at all phases of the purchasing funnel that can start producing results in as little as three days.   Unique ad creatives support all brands of cars in a dealer’s inventory with call-to-actions.  On-going ad copy is regularly optimized to insure best results.  SEM Accelerator also includes call-tracking numbers so dealers can monitor ROI.

SEO Overdrive optimizes Web site pages for search engines using Keyword IQ, which determines the most strategic and effective placement of keyword phrases on the dealer’s Web site. SEO Overdrive is available in 2 unique pay for performance packages in which dealers only pay for their keyword phrases when the dealership appears in the top 10 search results over a thirty-day period.  ADT’s in-depth reporting features let dealers track how their site is ranking in search results to insure performance accountability, and shows all keyword results for Google, MSN and Yahoo.

SIM Full Throttle solves the problem search engines have reading and indexing dynamic content such as new and used vehicle inventory listings.  With SIM Full Throttle, dealers can now optimize their dynamic pages so that every page is visible to search engines and can be found by consumers. 

Dealers can also use SIM Full Throttle to create optimized inventory feeds for syndication to automotive vertical search engines and classified sites.  This feature is fully automated, requiring no technical integration or additional software.  Traffic analysis reports can be generated by date and details showing the visitor’s IP address, host browser, referrer, search engine used and query Information.

Services can be purchased individually, or as a group all with a month-to-month service agreement.  “We understand today’s market and economic challenges.  Dealers want and need solutions that produce results.  They don’t want to be locked into lengthy contracts,” said Tabloff.  “ADT believes that the vendor dealership relationship is a partnership, and vendors need to be held accountable for the success of the programs they sell to their dealer clients.”