Google Adwords Deep Linking VDPs In-House

[Nick Spolec]

Hey everyone! Anyone out there doing Adwords direct to VDPs in-house? I am looking to start doing select vehicles form our used inventory. Just want to know if there is any advice on proceeding.

Thanks!

 

[Jeff Kershner]

Nick,

Wondering what makes you want to take this project on?

Maybe @mwpistell can chime in on this one.

 

[skutchhenks]

This can be done with a inventory data feed, and some creative formulas in excel. Also depends on your website URL patterns which can be programmed to spit out the VDP URL. Some websites are easier than others here. I've done this before many years ago (2009) for both new & used, I was more excited going into it and figuring out how to do it way more than I was after it was running for a few months. I found that Google isn't a vehicle search engine, rather people mostly use it to find sites that have a lot of inventory to search through. Biggest factor IMO was no visual method when they searched, if it wasn't the right color, not right equipment, no sunroof, etc. they bounced. Another factor was if they are turning to search engines to find that exact car to buy, then they probably couldn't find it on ATC, Cars, Cargurus, etc. So you burn through a lot of money to sell a few, when you can reach much larger numbers of shoppers more effectively with generalized terms. I don't want to discourage you, maybe you will have different results, or discover a better method in the process. And @mwpistell might have a different slant, I'm interested in hearing his take as well on dynamic inventory text ads.

 

[Nick Spolec]

Nick,

Wondering what makes you want to take this project on?

Maybe @mwpistell can chime in on this one.

It's a bit of an experiment. I wanted to kinda test the waters really.

This can be done with a inventory data feed, and some creative formulas in excel. Also depends on your website URL patterns which can be programmed to spit out the VDP URL. Some websites are easier than others here.

Actually, that's what I was looking for. My current test revolves around me manually doing this. While it wouldn't be a problem if I'm doing ~20 vehicles. But a 100 or so? I would need some automation. Google offers a guide on the excel format, right?

 

[KevinO]

When I did it I really only advertise some of the inventory. I'm sure you have multiple models so I would create an ad that say's many to choose from $ (with my lowest offer). I'm not sure why everyone looks for a shortcut's? Adwords is all about creativity. It's actually fun and done right can create a much great ROI then anything else!

 

[Nick Spolec]

When I did it I really only advertise some of the inventory. I'm sure you have multiple models so I would create an ad that say's many to choose from $ (with my lowest offer). I'm not sure why everyone looks for a shortcut's? Adwords is all about creativity. It's actually fun and done right can create a much great ROI then anything else!

Sure, and that was really my plan, just do some of the inventory --- obviously, if I have 10 program impalas, I can't create an add for each of them...

 

[Chris Leslie]

I agree adwords is a lot of fun. My advice.

- Take advantage of ad extensions and make sure all the accounts link like GA and G+ page.

- I would probably only focus on 5 - 7 keywords for each ad group/model

- minimum 4 variations of text ads using local market words too like geo and stuff and the typical sale, on sale, this weekend. even put the price in some of the copy too.

If you do start creating some of those ads I would throw in a facebook conversion pixel on those pages too and retarget them with images of that specific car. You could get super meta with it for sure.

 

[joe.pistell]

Nick,

Manually built PPC ads for VDPs are a PIA That being said, if you experiment, you might find some gold out there!! Just remember, if you sell your car, kill the ad!!!

 

[joe.pistell]

Sure, and that was really my plan, just do some of the inventory --- obviously, if I have 10 program impalas, I can't create an add for each of them...

Nick,
Idea: Validate your VDP thesis: "what performs better, a PPC ad to a VDP or to a SRP?"

Pick a few cars and run a few tests. IMO, I'd make 2 test buckets.
#1. Program Cars (or what ever you have a lot of)
#2. Scarce Cars (anything high end where you have 2 or more in stock)

Ad content:
VDP ads speak about why that car is special (color, price, miles, pkg, rare, etc)
SRP ads talk about selection and price "6 in stock, starting at $_____"


What to measure:

• Bounce (higher is bad)
• %New Visits (higher is good)
• Time On Site (higher is good)
• # Pgs viewed (higher is good)
• Return rate (higher is good)

Next, compare your ad buckets against each other (i.e. VDP vs SRP on the program cars, then VDP vs SRP on the scare cars). Lastly, as a reference, I'd compare these 2 buckets vs your other PPC ads (did you find some gold???).

We'd all like to see what you discover!

HTH
Joe

 

[KevinO]

I wouldn't focus on keywords that work (That's Easy!), but rather negative ones that eliminate unwanted impressions that lead to low quality scores.