Leverage online marketing to grow your business

by Dawn Austin - Seattle Auto Dealers Examiner
 
There is no question that dealerships and auto manufacturers have been hit hard in the past few years. First hit by skyrocketing gas prices and consumer shift in vehicle preference, then by the crash of the economy and the impart of TARP bailout for manufacturers. All of these events have left those dealers still open for business stinging and closely withing the bottom line.
 
So how do you continue to promote your dealership, maintain your tight advertising budget, and preserve your dealerships reputation in this challenging environment? these goals can be accomplished by tapping into the power of online advertising. Adding online marketing channels to your marketing mix can help you in three ways:
 
  * Help keep traffic coming through your doors
  * Measure the effectiveness of your ad dollar
  * Grow your reputation in the local community
 
While traditional advertising is capital intensive, difficult to measure in terms of return on investment and requires a significant lead time online advertising can be quite affordable and can be measured and optimized for effectiveness. Online marketing is simple enough to be managed in house or can be outsourced to agencies or consultants.
 
There are three areas of online adverting to add to your marketing mix:
 
Display
Display ads can be as affordable or costly as your resources allow. For instance, Google AdWords allows you to upload your existing creative and distributes your display ads across their network. You can target your ads to geographic locations and publishers that are relevant to your community or audience. Google AdWords uses an auction based payment system and offers affordable CPM's.
 
Paid Search
Paid Search ads are highly powerful in that they place your test ad in front of your audience when they are in the purchase mindset. The best part? Each time your text ad is displayed you increase your mind share with that individual and you only pay for your ad when it is clicked on. Paid Search ads are highly target-able and are extremely optimize-able to meet your business goals.
 
Social Media
One of the newcomers to the online marketing space is Social Media advertising. Social Media advertising leverages the natural conversation happening between people on sites such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, blogs, and online communities to extend your brand and share your dealerships offerings. Your customers are already using Social Media to share with each other their experiences around your service, your dealership and your competitors. By using Social Media marketing you are able to tap into these conversations and build a feedback loop with your customers.
 
Adding online advertising to your marketing mix has very low barriers to entry, will allow you to get the most value from your ad dollars, while monitoring and growing your reputation in the community.
For more info: Visit Google AdWords for information on display ads. Learn more about Paid Search from Wikipedia and Social Media advertising Social Media Today.
 
 
found:
http://www.expertclick.com/NewsReleaseWire/Smarter_Social_Media_Names_Shawn_Shahani_Lead_Marketing_Consultant_Distinguished_Online_Branding_Expert,200927883.aspx

Posted via email from Yellow Door Media