I’ve been watching many savvy automotive digital marketers dividing themselves into two camps. One side follows “Gurus†and seems to think the other side is inherently evil. The only path to salvation from this evil is by becoming part of the religion, part of the cult.
Of course the “evil†in this little analogy has to be the Third Party Lead Providers and the Classified Sites. The path to salvation is SEO or PPC or a combination of both. In the spirit of full disclosure, I need to state up front that I spent ten years helping build AutoTrader.com into the powerhouse it is today. We felt that were battling evil as well. Our evil was print. Dealers were spending huge sums of money on newspapers with zero accountability and no ability to track results or even page views. Dealers advertised in print simply because everyone else did it, and they felt they “had†to be in the paper.
AutoTrader.com started by charging very little for the service. We were unproven. We had a relatively small number of eyeballs. The only way I could get a dealer to even speak with me was to mention that we were a sister company of Manheim Auctions. Manheim gave me a little credibility. Our parent company, Cox Enterprises, had deep pockets and the foresight to understand this was the future of classified advertising. They opened up the wallet and through an aggressive, cutting edge marketing campaign turned AutoTrader.com into a well-known national brand.
Consumers loved the ability to compare dealers and inventory side-by-side. Dealers were selling cars and before long they realized the internet was a much more efficient use of advertising dollars than print. As we became established and proven, rates went up. As we became a household name, traffic went up – lots. Was there some arrogance and hubris? I think the answer is yes. Were there growing pains? Could service sometimes have been better? Yes and yes.
To ATC’s credit they realized that dealers were getting angry. They stopped the rate increases (they haven’t had one in 3 years now) and increased the service. They are working at rebuilding trust.
Now here’s the question: Are they evil? Most dealers that I’ve dealt with have replaced their print advertising (in full or in part) with online classifieds. Even dealers on the most robust and aggressive programs are still spending only a fraction of what they used to spend on print. A full month of advertising on AutoTrader.com and Cars.com, combined, often costs less than what a single, one day, full page ad cost in many major dailies 10 years ago.
This is the “evil†the SEO cult is fighting. I’ve heard some folks state that if they just spent enough time on optimization and enough money on Gurus, they could dump the greedy classified sites. The problem is the consumers love the side-by-side comparison the classified sites offer. Until Google returns used car listings in an easy-to-sort “Shopping Results†format, consumers will continue to see Cars.com and AutoTrader.com as THE used car search engines.
Not all SEO/PPC advocates are part of the cult. Let me be clear: there are reputable SEO experts and many of them post here. There is a solid place for SEO and PPC campaigns, especially on new cars. A strong, well-designed SEO/PPC strategy can replace the new car leads many dealers are still purchasing from the third party lead brokers. I fully believe that a dealer needs a comprehensive online strategy that includes Classified Sites, SEO/PPC and Social Media. But I would strongly caution any dealer against putting all their eggs in one basket. It seems like the strongest, most successful dealers, are the ones that don't choose either camp, but rather work to achieve a good balance in their online marketing programs.
If I were a dealer and heard any guru tell me that if I spent enough time and money on his plan, I’d be saved from the evil classifieds, I’d be leery. In fact, if I heard anyone actually call themselves a guru, I’d run the other way.
The views expressed here are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of any former, current or future employers or employees of mine.
Of course the “evil†in this little analogy has to be the Third Party Lead Providers and the Classified Sites. The path to salvation is SEO or PPC or a combination of both. In the spirit of full disclosure, I need to state up front that I spent ten years helping build AutoTrader.com into the powerhouse it is today. We felt that were battling evil as well. Our evil was print. Dealers were spending huge sums of money on newspapers with zero accountability and no ability to track results or even page views. Dealers advertised in print simply because everyone else did it, and they felt they “had†to be in the paper.
AutoTrader.com started by charging very little for the service. We were unproven. We had a relatively small number of eyeballs. The only way I could get a dealer to even speak with me was to mention that we were a sister company of Manheim Auctions. Manheim gave me a little credibility. Our parent company, Cox Enterprises, had deep pockets and the foresight to understand this was the future of classified advertising. They opened up the wallet and through an aggressive, cutting edge marketing campaign turned AutoTrader.com into a well-known national brand.
Consumers loved the ability to compare dealers and inventory side-by-side. Dealers were selling cars and before long they realized the internet was a much more efficient use of advertising dollars than print. As we became established and proven, rates went up. As we became a household name, traffic went up – lots. Was there some arrogance and hubris? I think the answer is yes. Were there growing pains? Could service sometimes have been better? Yes and yes.
To ATC’s credit they realized that dealers were getting angry. They stopped the rate increases (they haven’t had one in 3 years now) and increased the service. They are working at rebuilding trust.
Now here’s the question: Are they evil? Most dealers that I’ve dealt with have replaced their print advertising (in full or in part) with online classifieds. Even dealers on the most robust and aggressive programs are still spending only a fraction of what they used to spend on print. A full month of advertising on AutoTrader.com and Cars.com, combined, often costs less than what a single, one day, full page ad cost in many major dailies 10 years ago.
This is the “evil†the SEO cult is fighting. I’ve heard some folks state that if they just spent enough time on optimization and enough money on Gurus, they could dump the greedy classified sites. The problem is the consumers love the side-by-side comparison the classified sites offer. Until Google returns used car listings in an easy-to-sort “Shopping Results†format, consumers will continue to see Cars.com and AutoTrader.com as THE used car search engines.
Not all SEO/PPC advocates are part of the cult. Let me be clear: there are reputable SEO experts and many of them post here. There is a solid place for SEO and PPC campaigns, especially on new cars. A strong, well-designed SEO/PPC strategy can replace the new car leads many dealers are still purchasing from the third party lead brokers. I fully believe that a dealer needs a comprehensive online strategy that includes Classified Sites, SEO/PPC and Social Media. But I would strongly caution any dealer against putting all their eggs in one basket. It seems like the strongest, most successful dealers, are the ones that don't choose either camp, but rather work to achieve a good balance in their online marketing programs.
If I were a dealer and heard any guru tell me that if I spent enough time and money on his plan, I’d be saved from the evil classifieds, I’d be leery. In fact, if I heard anyone actually call themselves a guru, I’d run the other way.
The views expressed here are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of any former, current or future employers or employees of mine.
If they get this done, they'll turn on the light to guide dealers to new revenue opportunities.
