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PPC Numbers? How do we compare? CPC and CPL

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#31
SteveD said:
Yes, Update Please! (re: Haystack)
Click to expand...

Gulp... OMG that was 15 months ago! The internet marketing world has re-invented itself 5 times since that post! ;-)

HayStack is a great success. It's executing as well as I had hoped and it runs with little to no supervision. The visitors are high quality, the lead count is as expected (roughly matches my non-paid visitors), I set the budget and forget it.

p.s. I hope your not known as Panama City Automotive Group to the public. You're nearly invisible on Google.
 
#32
Nah... do a search for John Lee Nissan. We're very visible! I've seen to it.

Thanks for that update. I had noted how old the thread was by the way, so I was curious if my post would rekindle the discussion. I've been toying a little with PPC the past year and a half since I've been here, but only recently have been given a budget to do some greater things and had heard of Haystack a long while now. We have a Dealer.com site and I just did a webinar with my account rep there for their TDC but I didn't like the lack of control I have with them. You have to contact them just to change the default settings for Broad/Phrase/Exact match which they have set to all three for all keywords.

Anyway, Haystack really looks cool and I might just give them a shot. Thanks again!!

Steve
 
#33
Steve,

PPC has 2 prongs of attack.

#1). Ads that appear for Broad terms like 'Used Cars for sale', or, 'best price on a nissan', etc.. (aka "Short tail")

#2). Ads that appear for what ever you have in stock only like your 2008 Chevrolet Avalanche 1500 (aka "Long Tail")

Your lowest cost and highest ROI will come from the #2 ads. HayStack and TDC will do this for you. These "Long Tail" ads will perform well, but, will have a low volume of traffic (relative to "short Tail" ads).

WARNING: There is great danger of burning thru cash if you set the 'Broad/Phrase/Exact' controls incorrectly. I know where you're coming from, your goal is to improve the results and understand how it works but "tweaking the knobs" can bring a jump in traffic, but, do you really know what traffic you've created?

Example:Chevrolet Avalanche.
Set it wrong and you'll be bringing in traffic related to Avalanche (as in snow and the touring band)

Example:Chevrolet Avalanche.
Set it wrong and you'll be bringing in traffic related to Chevy Avalanche floor mats and wipers and recalls and air bags and replacement body cladding for a 1999, etc...

If you really want control, there are thousands of variables that you must understand and conquer. For example, it took me WEEKS to build a 'negative key word' list. If you want to persue this, I HIGHLY suggest that you run 2 campaigns.

Campaign #1 is let TDC or HayStack run with the ball on both the long and short tail campaigns.

Campaign #2 will be DIY, but make it a small and focused campaign with the intent to grow and learn. Re: DIY. If your negative keyword list isn't at least several hundred keywords, then beware broad matching anything. Also if you don't know what a Broad Match Modifier is, then acknowledge this and keep your DIY budget tight tight tight and use it as a learning tool.

HTH
 
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#34
Steve,

Be careful with the "short tail" PPCs. You've got a strong new car inventory (220+ units), but your used is <90 units.

An ad for 'Nissan Car Dealer' with a wide radius may produce good visits, but, 'used car dealer' with that same radius may not (based solely on the depth and width of your nissan inventory vs the depth and width of your used inventory). When your mapping out your game plan, BATTLE FIELD STRATEGY is essential.

Are dealers in your market all over PPC? Its an auction based system, so, if your martket is alseep, ATTACK IT. If other dealers are working PPC ads, then the ads are more expensive and you need to be smarter than they are (to produce ROI).

HTH
 
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#36
oh oh Steve, I'm on a 'Uncle Joe' roll now. Look out! Lots of upside revenue coming your way!!!

Your flushing cash down the toilet...
AUDIT YOUR TOP 10 MOST EXPENSIVE USED CARS... NOW.

Example: 2008 Chevrolet Avalanche 1500 LTZ
Your data entry people are not walking around the truck and doing an option inventory.

Look at your MISSING options on this 08 Avalanche:
--No Sun Roof
--No Back up Camera
--No Rear Parking Aide
--No DVD Player
--No CD Changer
--No Leather Seats
--No Climate Control System
--No OnStar
--No Navigation System
--No Rain Sensing Wipers

There is more, but I gave up after it took me 5 minutes to find that it's 4 Wheel Drive!

The base Avalanche is $9,000 LESS than this Avalanche LTZ. You can't assume that shoppers KNOW trims... they don't. You can't assume that your pics will tell the shopper what it has. All you've done is create a conflict with the shopper.

I see your a AutoTrader tradein dealer and a RealDeal dealer. I KNOW your team is trying to make this work, but, everyone on your team needs to agree that every ounce of marketing effort your team makes is ALL flows through the VDP (Vehicle Details Page).

If your VDP is a FAIL, nothing else matters.
 
#38
JoePistell said:
....Are dealers in your market all over PPC? Its an auction based system, so, if your martket is alseep, ATTACK IT. If other dealers are working PPC ads, then the ads are more expensive and you need to be smarter than they are (to produce ROI).
Click to expand...

Hmmm... what if AutoTrader/Cars.com changed their biz model to an auction based system like Google (higher bids = higher placement).

It'll never happen, but Wow, that would change everything!
 
#39
Joe,

Thanks for the tips, and for pointing out those errors. Our inventory manager/used car purchaser is no longer with us as of yesterday. In his defense, he had a million hats he was wearing, but still. We've sold the Avalanche, but yes it had those features and had I been paying attention I would have corrected the listing. Looks like I'll be working a lot of extra hours now going over all the other vehicle descriptions! :(

As to the pics.. we've been on a tangent to increase our pre-owned inventory the past couple of weeks and a lot of it had just come in. Previously before my department was doing the merchandising photos it took 7 days to get them photographed and uploaded. We are now getting that down to 3 days for many of them, but we have an occasional log jam in service and detail that can still make it 4 to 5 days, but we are aware and are working on it.

As to the PPC pitfalls, yes I'm aware. I've done PPC for other industries in the past, and yes, broad is very dangerous territory as is the lack of negative kw. I'm taking all of what you say to heart because I'm the one accountable for the spend! Thanks again!!

Steve
 
#40
JoePistell said:
Hmmm... what if AutoTrader/Cars.com changed their biz model to an auction based system like Google (higher bids = higher placement).

It'll never happen, but Wow, that would change everything!
Click to expand...

I toyed around with a proposal for a bidding structure set up like this for AT / Cars.com. Allowing dealers to bid on placement of each individual vehicle. This would be a big change for dealers and either of the 2 mentioned listing companies. Not to mention the extra work that would go into bidding.

Wanna hear something ironic? Much of Autotrader.uk is structured this way...and HookLogic powers it.
 
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