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Service / Parts / Body Shop SEM

rlamb

3rd Base Coach
Mar 5, 2013
40
5
First Name
Robert
Not sure if this should be posted here or in the Service / Fixed Ops Section, it's a little of both, so figured I would post here.


I'm looking to start doing some SEM for our Fixed Ops (Service, Parts and Body Shop). I was wondering if any other dealers on here have tried this or are currently doing it? What type of results you've had? If you have any best practices? And if you recommend any 3rd parties (preferably GM Turn Key Vendors) that you've found to be good at this.
 
Robert,

I would suggest doing some searches on your own for the key words/services you want to rank for and see what others are doing.

In many areas you will have national companies with very fine tuned campaigns (jiffy lube, tire centers, etc).

That will at least give you an idea of where to start, times they run, areas, etc.
 
Robert,

I would suggest doing some searches on your own for the key words/services you want to rank for and see what others are doing.

In many areas you will have national companies with very fine tuned campaigns (jiffy lube, tire centers, etc).

That will at least give you an idea of where to start, times they run, areas, etc.

Thanks Yago. I guess my main questions is - has anyone found this to be profitable? If AutoZone, Pep Boys are doing it...there must be some type of profit in it?

There are countless posts, threads, articles, webinars, etc. on sales SEM but I don't hear anything about Fixed Ops SEM, if this is such a good profit center for the dealership why aren't we (as "refreshers") talking about it?

My assumption is because most people here don't get paid off Fixed Ops so we have no reason to care.
 
The reason you don't see much talk about it is because how detail oriented it is. I consult on a few different specialty part websites, mostly racing stuff, that has more forgiving margins. We can play the game because of less competition, and good margins.

When you are talking about specific parts you need to have a solid understanding of your profit margins, conversion rates and cost per acquisition. Your website needs to be optimized for ecommerce.

Point being, it's very hard. You would need a website dedicated to parts, and someone managing it that is willing to spend hours every day optimizing it for seo, sem and conversions. That is not what you will find from an OEM campaign manager. Those companies are probably capable of doing the ppc portion, but you would be far better off with an outside company specializing in ecommerce.

If you want to bid on your generic local searches, such as "auto repair Boston, " you can get that anywhere. Your cost per click will be pretty low, and you could use your current site with a few tweaks.

if you want to play parts with Auto Zone you will need an expert. Not a $350/month bid manager.
 
Thanks Yago. I guess my main questions is - has anyone found this to be profitable? If AutoZone, Pep Boys are doing it...there must be some type of profit in it?

There are countless posts, threads, articles, webinars, etc. on sales SEM but I don't hear anything about Fixed Ops SEM, if this is such a good profit center for the dealership why aren't we (as "refreshers") talking about it?

My assumption is because most people here don't get paid off Fixed Ops so we have no reason to care.

Rob,

Most dealers that we work with get the best ROI out of service campaigns. There are a lot more people looking for service than buying a car.

Whether is profitable or not will depend on your gaol and strategy.

I have worked with dealers with a goal to reach out of their DMA (so harder target) and others advertising a loser oil change ($10 oil change) but with a great team of service writers so they work the up-sell.

Before anything, you have to think about your goal then set a strategy.