While looking for specific long tail keywords that convert for the lowest cost is imperative in any PPC (Pay-Per-Click) campaign, automotive PPC has an extra set of issues to deal with. Many times, potential zero moment clients still use basic terms to search out and ultimately purchase a vehicle.
SEM (Search Engine Marketing) approaches are often geared towards avoiding basic one or two word keywords, instead opting for laser specific long tail terms that indicate buying signals. Unfortunately, this becomes a tad more nuanced when dealing with automotive PPC because many customers will perform an extremely basic search looking for the nearest dealership in order to see its available inventory, and ultimately submit a lead and purchase a vehicle. Thus, while no true buying signals might be present in a given search, clients may still use those broad queries in search engines to find places to purchase.
Another issue frequently arises because manufacturers and competing dealerships realize what kind of searches drive interested traffic to their website and begin bidding on many of these terms, driving up the cost of advertising on search engines. To combat this, dealerships should consider the match types being used on each keyword, what kind of targeting they’re doing and how they can perhaps make their ad copy stand out a bit more.
Finally, many of the search terms used in automotive PPC are the same used when researching a vehicle. If a dealership can include vehicle reviews, specifics and related inventory on their landing pages and/or vehicle detail pages, they have the chance to retain researchers and convert them to shoppers.
Most dealerships cannot afford to miss out on traffic for certain search terms, even if they are a tad more broad than many PPC managers would feel comfortable bidding on. Often, decisions have to be made in an automotive PPC campaign regarding campaign focus – given a limited budget, a tightly focused campaign can do a lot more in a short period of time for simple popular terms than a more general campaign. What are some ways you all account for broad search terms that might mean sales?
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