Help Needed in Choosing Digital Advertising Company

[Alexander Lau]

**MODERATED**

Alexander, sorry but I had to moderate. The opening discussion from Adam reads... "Would like to hear from dealerships only. No product or service pitching from vendors."


-Kershner

 

[Dayn Riegel]

I'd love to give you my very professional and opinionated thoughts on the matter. I've run my own AdWords campaigns for years and have been thru just about every possible "solution" from every company out there - DDC, YP, Web.com, Reach Local, Gannett, etc. I've used the small-ish, boutique style shops and the Big Box shops. With that lengthy preface I can say I am a very strong and fervent advocate of Showroom Logic. I believe they are HQ'd in Miami but have reps all over the place. We are coming up on our Anniversary w/ them Jan 1, 2016 and can't say I've had a single moment of concern or doubt. I fire all kinds of silly and inane questions - bordering on cosmically stupid - to my sales rep and account manager at all times of day and days of the week. Each email is answered in a timely manner w/ actual "thought" to the question and the answer provided.

Showroom Logic. It really is that simple. They offer a full lineup of options from simple Google AdWords / Bing campaigns as well as some very high-quality advertising options, opinions and "solutions". Their most recent addition of ZipDriven is powerful and will continue, in my opinion, to grow into a must-have tool.

I work at a dealer. We have two stores and have been family owned since inception. Both our stores use SRL. Again, I used to run my own campaigns with great success but the ability to pay a company to run it frees me up for other tasks.

Oh, and our budget isn't the biggest in their client pool and they still treat me, my companies and my GMs like we are their biggest client. Seriously.

Feel free to find me if you want more details.

If you need to speak with our rep, his name is Matthew Shelton. I'll gladly provide his contact info via PM, text or email. I'd hate to post here and it end up getting him attacked by robots.

-_- D.

Dayn Riegel
Loganville Ford / Carey Paul Honda

 

[Mike Manning]

Tammy Anthony Baker and the Showroom Logic team has gone above and beyond to earn my business in SEM. At first, it's a lot to comprehend how much Google has and continues to change the game. But, the fact that Tammy and her associates are a Google Certified vendor has made me want to partner with them the most. I don't see any change in the future of Google not being the big dog and I would feel the most comfortable with AD WORDS BEING managed with Showroom Logic.

Great job with all your hard work Tammy, it really shows!!

Mike Manning
General Manager

 

[Xeps]

Shifting the conversation back to the dealership level, what about an approach to view PPC/Display capabilities with 2 things in mind:

• the human element (service)
• the technology & its' effectiveness relative to the business at hand (products)

The premise is that if you leverage the best of human elements with the best of efficient and relevant technologies, you'll have a sustainable advantage with your ppc/display results.

Here are questions surrounding the 2 elements that I think about at times:

• the human element

1. is the advertising team experienced and able to communicate that experience through an effective digital strategy surrounding ppc/display on a consistent basis?
2. if your advertising representative or dealership team member is not able to do the above, can you find someone who can?
3. if they are experienced, able to communicate that experience, have a digital strategy, are they acting on it quickly and consistently enough to adjust and optimize your strategy based on local market needs effectively?

• the technology & effectiveness of the technology

1. Does your PPC have dynamic vehicle campaigns automated with what is on your lot? Is it a manual effort? Is it an effective manual effort? How much data is being leveraged?
2. Does your display technology hit all the relevant networks for the highest local relevant volume of traffic to your site?
3. Are these ads optimized and effective, is A/B testing being done, is this being done manually or automated, or based on data?
4. Does your display networks hit local relevant sites, is the ROI measured for the largest local sites?
5. What type of data is being used to optimize your ppc/display strategy? How much of it is being leveraged, automated, and is it effective?
6. How is all this traffic for ppc/display funneled to your site/pages? Why is it funneling that way? What data is being leveraged to make that decision?

There is a lot more questions than answers from the responses in this thread, some seem to be human elements, but not a lot shine on the technology, effectiveness of the technology (as well as the data being leveraged here).

% fees for lower budgets, flat fees for higher budgets... why or why not? What if the flat fee is not affordable for dealers?

Maybe the local advertising firm down the street has +10/10 on the human element, but +3/10 on the technology/effectiveness.
But the global advertising firm down the state/country has a +5/10 human element, but +8/10 on technology/effectiveness.

How do we find the best balance and the best bang for your buck?

 

[Tammy Anthony Baker]

Our group is looking for a digital advertising company to start SEM, Display Advertising and Retargeting. We are expanding our digital advertising with all 10 of our dealerships and want to make sure we choose the right company.

We previously used dealer.com for digital advertising at a few of our dealerships, but cancelled due to lack of communication of results. We are now considering Mudd Advertising but don't really know who else in the industry to consider as we are fairly new to this form of advertising.

Who do you guys recommend and why?
Also, who do you use and what do you like or dislike?
Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!


*UPDATE: Would like to hear from dealerships only. No product or service pitching from vendors. :thumbup:

Tammy Anthony Baker and the Showroom Logic team has gone above and beyond to earn my business in SEM. At first, it's a lot to comprehend how much Google has and continues to change the game. But, the fact that Tammy and her associates are a Google Certified vendor has made me want to partner with them the most. I don't see any change in the future of Google not being the big dog and I would feel the most comfortable with AD WORDS BEING managed with Showroom Logic.

Great job with all your hard work Tammy, it really shows!!

Mike Manning
General Manager

Thank you, Mike Manning for the kind words. Based on your professional experience with forward-thinking groups like Van Tuyl and now Group 1, I know you are accustomed to "best in class" service.

Adam, You've received several good points to consider. I'd agree with several other posts, that ownership and access to your AdWords and Bing accounts are paramount. I'd also suggest that a partner should be upfront about their fees and unbiased in their suggestion in the level of your AdWords / Bing investment. The best strategy is one that can be implemented, measured, and realigned with your goals by location, by model, by zip code, by days on lot, by incentives, or any other metric that has intrinsic value for your group.

Happy Holidays ~

 

[ARobb]

Thank you for your insights everyone. We decided to partner with Auto Ad, a smaller company whom our TV and Radio commercials are through. We have a strong relationship with them and were unaware of their digital advertising capacity. They are able to work with us on a more personal level and we are already in constant contact with them. We felt this would help streamline our advertising. Also, we were able to agree on a reasonable fee for their services.

Thanks again!

 

[Chris Leslie]

Huh...

Alright man, good luck with that..

Just remember, data beats opinions, relationships and assumptions.

 

[joe.pistell]

... data beats opinions...

What a great forum post topic this is Chris.

 

[John M]

Here are a couple of thoughts for you.

1) The provider does not need to be industry specific. It sound good on the surface, but not necessary. But they do have to be a compnay that's on top of their game. There are plenty of SEM / re-marketing "experts" out there and there it the problem. I sold into the dealerships years ago for one of the largest. They did do a good job, but you're right they can be pricey.

2) Pricing. Unlike traditional marketing, it's very easy to tie the Digital to ROI. Pricing should be a secondary concern. Example, if company A can get you a ROI of 4-1 and Company B gets you a ROI of 8-1 (hypothetical figures for sure) it's obvious who you would choose. But if you are basing it completely on price, you would have most likely went with A. That is a lot of missed opportunity!

The technology is available for a company that is not Automotive specific to do a great job. Maybe even a better job because they don't cater to hundreds or thousands of dealers.

If you've researched Mudd, and feel good, give them a try. Good company's will work on 30 contracts. (an option I could not offer with mega vendor) And why shouldn't they. If they are doing good for you, why would you leave. keep in mind you should see improvements in month 1. Ask questions, understand which analytics really matter. Ask how can they lower cost per click and at the same time increase conversion. They should be talking about targeted ad groups, specific landing pages and ongoing A/B testing.....

Hope that helps

 

[Linda Hoffman]

Thank you, Mike Manning for the kind words. Based on your professional experience with forward-thinking groups like Van Tuyl and now Group 1, I know you are accustomed to "best in class" service.

Adam, You've received several good points to consider. I'd agree with several other posts, that ownership and access to your AdWords and Bing accounts are paramount. I'd also suggest that a partner should be upfront about their fees and unbiased in their suggestion in the level of your AdWords / Bing investment. The best strategy is one that can be implemented, measured, and realigned with your goals by location, by model, by zip code, by days on lot, by incentives, or any other metric that has intrinsic value for your group.

Happy Holidays ~

Thank you, Mike Manning for the kind words. Based on your professional experience with forward-thinking groups like Van Tuyl and now Group 1, I know you are accustomed to "best in class" service.

Adam, You've received several good points to consider. I'd agree with several other posts, that ownership and access to your AdWords and Bing accounts are paramount. I'd also suggest that a partner should be upfront about their fees and unbiased in their suggestion in the level of your AdWords / Bing investment. The best strategy is one that can be implemented, measured, and realigned with your goals by location, by model, by zip code, by days on lot, by incentives, or any other metric that has intrinsic value for your group.

Happy Holidays ~

Here are a couple of thoughts for you.

1) The provider does not need to be industry specific. It sound good on the surface, but not necessary. But they do have to be a compnay that's on top of their game. There are plenty of SEM / re-marketing "experts" out there and there it the problem. I sold into the dealerships years ago for one of the largest. They did do a good job, but you're right they can be pricey.

2) Pricing. Unlike traditional marketing, it's very easy to tie the Digital to ROI. Pricing should be a secondary concern. Example, if company A can get you a ROI of 4-1 and Company B gets you a ROI of 8-1 (hypothetical figures for sure) it's obvious who you would choose. But if you are basing it completely on price, you would have most likely went with A. That is a lot of missed opportunity!

The technology is available for a company that is not Automotive specific to do a great job. Maybe even a better job because they don't cater to hundreds or thousands of dealers.

If you've researched Mudd, and feel good, give them a try. Good company's will work on 30 contracts. (an option I could not offer with mega vendor) And why shouldn't they. If they are doing good for you, why would you leave. keep in mind you should see improvements in month 1. Ask questions, understand which analytics really matter. Ask how can they lower cost per click and at the same time increase conversion. They should be talking about targeted ad groups, specific landing pages and ongoing A/B testing.....

Hope that helps