• This thread is just the tip of the iceberg.The people ahead of the curve aren't Googling for answers — they're already in here, having the conversations you haven't found yet. DealerRefresh is free.Get the full picture →

Is PPC a window to all visitor behavior?

Jump to latest Follow Reply
#31
Sorry Larry, but I have to continue the conversation too so Ed and Craig don't get lonely. I found this on your site:

"So how did I come to this 30% benchmark? Ok it starts with my own store were we track everything. We found that we could use the visitors query string data to determine intent and direct visitors to the part of our website that closest matched that intent and when we did so our conversion rate rose 377% to as of this morning 26%. We also found that by tracking and changing certain things about our eBay motors ads we got a higher conversion rate to as of this morning 17%. We also found that using Facebook marketing in ways that were geared to customer interests not so much to customer in market probability we got higher click through and as of this morning a 47% conversion rate, ironically add all of that up and average it and as I write this post we are an average of exactly 30% (there are some decimals there but I am rounding up) and we are a small independent used car operation with none of the brand help dealers have today."

Two things:

1. The average of these #'s might be 30, but that doesn't take into account the volume of traffic to those properties. I could put up a site that says "click here for a free car!" then wait for the first visitor to convert and report a 100% conversion rate. That wouldn't be too fair though :).

2. Averaging Facebook into your conversion numbers is interesting. How are you defining a FB conversion? A "Like"?

Seems like reporting a 30% conversion rate may be a bit misleading in this case.

As a reminder, the main point of the original post is that customers consider a product or many products, move up and down the funnel, then pick a dealership, not just a vehicle. This results in higher conversion on the dealership name.
 
#32
Wow, I am tired after reading all of this. Kershner should be thrilled because this thread has created more content for the search engines in a few days than the site has in several months, lol!

I agree with the statement that the higher the sense of urgency, the higher the percentage of calls verses web forms. In our experience, most of our "web forms" are from folks who are higher up in the sales funnel and are not "ready to talk". This also ties into our service calls, which greatly outnumber our sales calls in ppc campaigns.

I like what I have seen with Larry's sites because he is setting up a microsite to deliver exactly what the shopper is looking for. Simply put, a shopper types in a search phrase, and optimally, Google will deliver a site that gives him exactly what he is looking for. Rather than delivering a site which offers multiple options, Larry is delivering a site that takes them to exactly what they are looking for, hence higher conversion. This is how I have seen what Larry has presented in the past, and our experience with ppc landing zones with much higher conversion rates supports that approach. Love the passion Ed and Larry!
 
#33
Wow. This really is a conversation that would be best suited for a podcast with all of you guys. I don't have time read all this stuff all the time, but if it was a podcast, I could listen to it while I get some work done. I think I saw a thread about DR Radio on the forum. Might not be a bad idea for topics just like this???
 
#34
Larry - you are still the only one trying to paint me into a company role in these online communications. When I said your claims are causing problems I was referring to people reaching out privately on DealerRefresh. They're all pretty much asking if you're "full of...?" Since you obviously didn't get my message to you and plan to continue spinning things further you should stop considering me a friend.

Craig - this is what Larry does. He spews novels of stuff all over the place that only make complete sense to Larry, gets pissy and leaves, writes a blog article on his own website, tweets about it, gets called out some more, and then comes back to repeat the process.

Back on topic:

I have to agree with Ed on Autotrader.com grosses. That is one source that might not provide a ton of volume, but the undeniably-directly-attributed leads from Autotrader.com do ring the bell.

As for tracking. Yes, things *can* be tracked quite accurately Larry. The problem is that most dealers don't put the effort into it or have too many tracking tools to get it done efficiently. This is why I say a form submission (Internet Lead) is the only reliable measurement. I speak from reality; not some small corner anomaly in Texas that kills it in eBay sales and selling cars out of plane hangers. Would I prefer your world to exist on a larger scale - yes. Does it - no.

I'd love to see some numbers Larry. I'd love to see some full story numbers with transparency. Prove it.
 
#38
This conversation got started on Friday and unfortunately I was not around this weekend. For that I apologize but at this point I don’t even know where to interject.

I have my opinions on all of this and as much as I love the passion that Larry exudes, telling dealers they should be achieving conversion ratios of 40% - well, that’s really stretching it and setting the some standards that not even you have been able to achieve.

For others bashing this thread for whatever reason (there has been a few moderations due to irrelevant comments), this is an arena of opinions and a topic much deeper than the tyipcal ead response time and vehicle comments still being spoken about at conferences and other forums. We have some heated opinions here no doubt and a few cheap shots here and there, but personally knowing every person that has commented, this is the same conversation that would happen in person and in the end we would have a level of respect for each other.

Larry, when you have that 40% conversion ratio locked in – I would hope that you track every bit of it while allowing me to throw my PPC budget your way to work this “magic” of yours. :)
 
#39
Well said Jeff. I think we're all friends, here to exchange ideas. Unfortunately it's difficult for the written word to convey tone sometimes ultimately leading to what we have here. That's why it would be great if you guys could moderate a Blog Talk Radio type of forum for a topic of this nature and put it out in podcast form. That way everyone's points can be made with proper context. I hope you'll consider it.
 
#40
Larry and I debate online - a lot. Across multiple forums and and twitter. I hope nobody mistook our disagreements for animosity. I like Larry and I truly enjoy our discussions (ok, debates). I just want to make sure that nobody thought our disagreements were out of anger, because they weren't (even though he did say I was brainwashed) :)

I'd also like to apologize to the community; if I anyone thought my lengthy posts took anything away from a forum I value very much.

Dealer Refresh gives us an opportunity to share, and yes sometimes debate, ideas and for that I'm thankful.

BTW debating Larry in 140 charactors or less should be an olympic sport.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply
Jump to latest Follow Reply
Menu