SEM: Soar Above the Summer Rush
With summer fast approaching and most dealerships entering the busiest season of the year, we encourage dealers to take some time and strategize on how they plan to maximize summer sales in an era when most people are shopping online.
Here are some important statistics to keep in mind:
- 87% of shoppers start with an online search.
- 90% of these shoppers stay on the first page of search results.
- 60% only click on one of the top three results.
Looking at the above information, it’s clear that dealerships must have an effective method to appear at the top of search engine results pages in order to connect with online shoppers. Search Engine Marketing (SEM) can ensure that your brand content is not lost among the millions of search engine results.
Why does SEM matter? What does it do?
SEM, which uses paid ads or pay-per-click (PPC) ads, places your brand content at the top of search engines results, above the organic search listings. To further enhance the performance of your SEM campaign, your paid ads only appear to search engine users who have demonstrated an interest in inventory like yours based on their search behavior, demographic, location and more.
Online users may also see your paid ads when they submit relevant search queries involving keywords related to your dealership. For example, searches for “RV sale near me” or “Yamaha bikes Denver” could generate your paid ads if these searches apply to your dealership’s inventory and/or location. By using SEM, your paid ads can even appear above organic search listings for a competing local dealership, even if an online user has searched for that dealership by name.
What should I be mindful of when using SEM?
When launching a new SEM campaign, there are many factors to consider to ensure its success. The most important is to make sure that your ads align with your dealership’s online marketing goals. Potential goals can include:
- Increasing website visits
- Building awareness of your spring promos
- Getting more eyes on your third-party listings
- Driving more lead submissions
And this is just to name a few. Whatever you wish to accomplish through your online presence, SEM is a valuable ally to have at your side. Identifying the specific goal(s) you want to achieve and designing your SEM campaign to match will help you see a greater ROI on your efforts.
I already use SEM. What else should I know?
If you’re already using SEM strategies to enhance your online presence, you likely have witnessed the boost in online traffic and sales conversions that SEM can bring. So, what can you do now? We encourage you to keep your SEM ads optimized and running throughout the summer months. If you can, increase your ad spend, too. Summer is the busiest time of year for sales, which means your competitors will also be doing everything they can to claim valuable search engine real estate. With other local dealerships targeting the same leads as you, make sure your paid ads are appearing consistently at the top of search results. This may seem like a small action amid the craze of meeting summer demand, but by keeping your dealership at top of search results, you’re also keeping it top of mind for potential customers.
SEM works hard to accomplish a singular goal for your dealership, and that is to drive quality online traffic from search engines to your dealership. With proper strategy and wise investments, you can see fast results through SEM. Instead of vying against millions of search results, you can get ahead of the competitive summer rush with a clean, smart SEM campaign.
Want to learn more about SEM? Connect with our digital marketing experts today!