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Google Store Visits Attribution Now Available in Google ANALYTICS!

@brianpasch I stole a screenshot (showing a good example of Custom Auto Channel Grouping) from one of your previous LinkedIn posts @ https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6459428960827695105 (even though I argued against Last Touch, it's super useful). As a Google Analytics user, you should be able to create various (themed) channel groups and use them in this situation, against store visits.
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Quite true, but you can see where it's so much easier to find a subject title. Personal preference, I suppose. :)
Yeah I’m mainly using that thread as a brain dump resource like Uncle Joe’s diary was. I don’t want to spam the forums with a new thread every time a new idea pops in my head. Plus all of the content in that thread is focused on a single subject - how to not get taken advantage of by unscrupulous vendors.
 
Ryan

The challenge here is separately fact from fiction. Over 80% of store visits I have analyzed associated with the SEM campaigns buying the dealership's name or location. So, once you see that, it is clear that Google is not efficient in bringing incremental new shoppers to the dealership's website. The shoppers it brings are likely cost effective, but Google is attempting to continue its story that it takes credit for the impact created by other brand influences. When you take the shoppers from GMB and Branded campaigns, many will come to the conclusions that the King has No Clothes.

Brian, on the surface this is true, but it's a false conclusion. To separate fact from fiction, you need to look at OEM Co-op programs separately from properly run independent marketing programs.

First, OEM websites suck. It's almost impossible to create a decent custom landing page for SEM campaigns. That's why their Home pages work better for conversions. If dealers want to get the most out of their SEM spend, they need a non-OEM site that allows them to create landing pages that convert. Second, OEM SEM agencies suck. Every one I've ever looked at grossly overcharged and sucked really bad at SEM. Third, since the easiest thing to do is buy a dealer's name and location, it's not surprising that that's where the majority of the leads are coming from. Dealers don't want to spend money on overpriced campaigns to sell cars that don't work, and since OEM SEM agencies overcharge and suck at doing those, it's no surprise OEM SEM doesn't produce more vehicle leads and sales. Third, OEM Co-op SEM programs are not designed to sell cars for dealers. They are designed to make money for the OEM, the OEM's agencies and to extend the OEMs branding. Fourth, the OEMs and their agencies will not give dealers access to the data to properly manage these investments.

Dealers are left with a choice, rely on the OEM Co-op programs and accept mediocrity, or get what they can out of the OEM Co-op programs and develop a completely separate marketing program to sell more new/used cars and service by taking market share from their competitors. This means having a real website capable of creating custom landing pages that convert, having Google Analytics properly installed and using it, having their own Google Ads accounts, having their own Facebook Ad Manager accounts, taking control of their Google My Business accounts and integrating all of these.

Done properly, SEM is one of the most effective means for generating incremental car and service specials. But it has to be done properly and priced fairly, which leaves OEM Co-op programs out of the picture.
 
Click To Message ads as well...
https://searchengineland.com/google...-features-and-store-visits-updates-307075/amp

Store visits tools rolling out. Data-driven attribution and Smart Bidding, which includes Target CPA, Target ROAS, Maximize Conversions, and Enhanced CPC, will be available to all advertisers with access to store visits data in their accounts.

Data-driven attribution is Google’s machine learning-powered attribution model. Based on probability modeling of all the touch points generated by ads across an account, the data-driven model assigns fractional conversion credit to each interaction along a conversion path. Google first added data-driven attribution in Google Ads (then AdWords) in 2016.
 
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It is worth noting that Store Visits data is not a Magic Bullet -- it is an estimate at best. First, the percentage of automotive shoppers who have turned off Location Services on their phones is fairly high. I've seen monthly figures for shoppers with Location Services enabled in my market (West Michigan) as low as 29% but generally hovers between 35% and 40%.

Google also has written about other limitations.
"Store visit data is based on anonymous, aggregated statistics. Google Ads creates modeled numbers by using current and past data on the number of people who click or view your ads and later visit your store.

Store visit data can’t be tied to individual ad clicks, viewable impressions, or people. We use industry best practices to ensure the privacy of individual users."


Store Visits may prove to give some added useful insights, but the usefulness be limited
 
A vendor using this to show store visit results from their UTM tagged website traffic wouldn’t be forking dealers, that would be a best practice :)
Ryan, how would you envision using the data to make decisions regarding your marketing efforts/vendor relationships? Have you come up with any KPIs using the store visit data you have so far?
 
It is worth noting that Store Visits data is not a Magic Bullet -- it is an estimate at best. First, the percentage of automotive shoppers who have turned off Location Services on their phones is fairly high. I've seen monthly figures for shoppers with Location Services enabled in my market (West Michigan) as low as 29% but generally hovers between 35% and 40%.

Google also has written about other limitations.
"Store visit data is based on anonymous, aggregated statistics. Google Ads creates modeled numbers by using current and past data on the number of people who click or view your ads and later visit your store.

Store visit data can’t be tied to individual ad clicks, viewable impressions, or people. We use industry best practices to ensure the privacy of individual users."


Store Visits may prove to give some added useful insights, but the usefulness be limited

Not quite Ed. Google recently admitted that even if users turn off Location Services, they can still get the data because they partner with a bunch of other apps that use Location Services whether people know it or not. The reality is that it's almost impossible to turn all Location Services off. So the percentage of people trackable by them is going to be in the high 90's. And while it's not a hard one to one sales attribution, it's the most powerful metric available to automotive marketers today. It totally blows every other metric out of the water. And, you can actually track back a high percentage of sales directly if you know what you're doing. In fact, part of your company has done it and the results are amazing, but I'm guessing they don't want to advertise the fact because it more than likely violates Google's Terms of Service. I've included a slide from their presentation below.

And judging from the 3,000 people who have viewed my post on LinkedIn in less than 2 days, and the numbers of people at OEMs and automotive vendors that have viewed it, they are taking it very seriously. As well they should, because it makes them look bad and exposes a lot of them for providing lousy and overpriced services.

Quite simply, Store Visits, and even harder attribution metrics to come, are going to change the game. No more BS about meaningless metrics like exposure, impressions, engagements, etc. Dealers have struggled with that BS for long enough. Now they can demand that you show them what you do drives visits and sales.

InStore Visits.JPG
 
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