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Dealer Paid Search Playbook2019

08/2016

To grow consistent traffic from relevant search results across all tiers, Search Engine Marketing (SEM) and Pay-Per-Click (PPC) ads play a vital role in Volkswagen’s advertising structure. By driving dealership traffic to sell cars, PPC ads offer brand-wide flexibility to achieve each tier’s overall goal. For the most successful campaign impact, each tier should focus on specific goals suited to its position within the consumers purchase path. Objective: To maximize paid search effectiveness across all tiers by coordinating tactics and sharing best practices for success.

Benefit: Boosting presence of dealer paid search dollars by coordinating the national and LMA search programs to keep the brand consistent across campaigns.

WHY ARE PAID SEARCHCAMPAIGNS IMPORTANT?

TODAY’S AUTO SHOPPING IS DONE IN DIGITAL SPACE

of vehicle shopping research time is

online

75%of in-market auto searches occur on

mobile

54%vs. 5 visits 10 years ago

Dealer visits only

1.2

ARE YOU SELLING TO THOSE DIGITAL SHOPPERS?

Do they know you exist? Online Video ad 43%

36%

33%

30%

30%

Website ad

Mobile ad

Search ad

TV ad

Are you responding?Search is as important of a research source as OEM site & Dealer site

Dealer site 75%

74%

71%

64%

OEM site

Search

3rd party

Video & online ads are more effective in expanding consideration set

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Source: Automotive Shopper Path to Purchase, Millward Brown Digital, September 2014; Avg. time spent per day by US adults, eMarketer, Sept. 2014; DME Automotive, Apr. 2015

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Volkswagen Paid Search StrategyA well thought out marketing campaign for insightful keyword selection and quality user experience is commonly organized through a “funnel” technique. A search process begins through a variety of decisions a visitor goes through in their initial steps as a consumer. As the consumers’ awareness and goals adjust through different steps in their decision making process, some may drop out and the size of the consumer group decreases through the “funnel” until only relevant consumers are left to reach the sale.

This cross-tier strategy through the Certified Volkswagen Dealer Digital Program assists dealers by aligning keyword bidding strategies across tiers and further coordinates the transparency across the Volkswagen brand and dealers. Through managing greater optimization and efficiency by guiding search investment with the certified providers, it creates a more solidified campaign for the brand as a whole.

The upper portion of the funnel is where consumers begin their search for a vehicle by researching varying brands, makes, models and key features they are interested in. The more involved buyers will move further down the marketing funnel to reach their goal.

The lower portion of the funnel contains the ideal group of remaining customers that have researched their preferred sale and are intent on making their final purchase.

UPPER FUNNEL

LOWER FUNNEL

WHICH CAR IS BEST?

IS IT RIGHT FOR ME?

CAN I AFFORD IT?

AM I GETTING A DEAL?

WHERE TO BUY?

The upper funnel of marketingcampaigns includes Micro Moments with broader and brand-specific keyword terms such as “Volkswagen” or “Sedans” that the brand can focus on as they’re more rele-vant to the awareness stage of car buying.

The lower funnel of digital marketing is where the dealers should concentrate most of their paid search efforts. As the lower funnel of a campaign includes Micro Moments most relevant to the customers’ final purchase intent, the majority of a dealer’s New Car Search campaign budget should be focused on that group capturing the most ready-to-buy shoppers.

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DEALER PAID SEARCH BEST PRACTICES

Go “always on” with top keywordsConsider leveraging an “always on” strategy to ensure strong impression share year-round on terms like your dealer name and other top performing keywords with a competitive Cost-Per-Action (CPA)

Cover your geographic search terms first [Philadelphia Volkswagen]

Use location targetingFocus only on the geographic areas where your customers are to prevent ad waste.

Utilize Google AdWords, Bing Ads and Yahoo! Gemini search enginesWhile Google has the largest search reach, you can often buy traffic from the other search engines at a lower cost-per-click (CPC).

Avoid broad match if budget limitedUtilize exact and phrase match keywords to spend ad dollars on the right search terms for your business without waste on irrelevant or unrelated queries.

of customers decided to purchase a vehicle before

they left the house

out of 24 in market touchpoints are digital

85% 19

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Focus on keywords in your LMA or local area

BENEFITS OF CERTIFIED PAID SEARCH CAMPAIGNS

Greater share of each dollar spent goes towards media

Easy setup - just select a provider and budget

Take advantage of new vehicle launch awareness and increase consumer search activity

Cohesive campaigns align with Volkswagen brand strategies

Design to drive low-funnel shoppers to your website

100% IDM eligible

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Below is a list of guidelines for conducting bidding strategies within the upper and lower funnel of marketing campaigns. Dealers should focus on the lower funnel Micro Moments as first priority to capture ready-to-buy customers. Due to the Volkswagen brand presence in the upper funnel Micro Moment categories, dealers should bid to the 2nd and 3rd positions for these terms. This cross-tier bidding strategy aligns with a consumer’s path to purchase and drives the dealer’s budget efficiency.

RECOMMENDED as 1st priority for dealer paid search programs.

Recommended as 2nd priority for dealer paid search programs after 1st priority terms are covered.

Once 1st & 2nd priorities are met and as budget allows, expand into additional keyword categories.

BID PRIORITYEXAMPLEMICRO MOMENT

LOW

ER F

UN

NEL

CA

MPA

IGN

S

WHERE TO BUYDealer, Dealer Name, Geo

BRAND MODEL DEALER Volkswagen Jetta Dealer

Volkswagen Jetta Inventory

Dealer Name

BRAND MODEL INVENTORY

DEALERSHIP NAME

Volkswagen Jetta DealershipBRAND MODEL DEALERSHIP

Volkswagen Jetta Test DriveBRAND MODEL TEST DRIVE

Philadelphia VolkswagenGEO BRAND

Philadelphia Volkswagen DealerGEO BRAND DEALER

AM I GETTING A DEAL?Offers, Incentives

BRAND MODEL DEALS Volkswagen Passat Deals

Volkswagen Passat Discounts

Volkswagen Passat Incentives

BRAND MODEL DISCOUNTS

BRAND MODEL INCENTIVES

Volkswagen Passat SaleBRAND MODEL SALE

Volkswagen Passat OffersBRAND MODEL OFFERS

Volkswagen Passat QuoteBRAND MODEL QUOTE

Volkswagen Passat SaleBRAND MODEL SALE

CAN I AFFORD IT?Price, Financing

BRAND MODEL PRICE Volkswagen Tiguan Price

Volkswagen Tiguan Financing

Volkswagen Tiguan MSRP

BRAND MODEL FINANCING

BRAND MODEL MSRP

2nd2nd2nd

2nd2nd2nd2nd2nd2nd2nd

1st1st1st1st1st1st1st

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PAID SEARCH KEYWORD STRATEGIESNEW

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UPP

ER F

UN

NEL

CA

MPA

IGN

SMICRO MOMENT EXAMPLE BID PRIORITY

IS IT RIGHT FOR ME?Specs, Models

BRAND MODEL Volkswagen Atlas

Volkswagen Atlas MPG

Volkswagen Atlas Features

MODEL MPG

MODEL FEATURES

Volkswagen Atlas SafetyMODEL SAFETY

Volkswagen Atlas TechnologyMODEL TECHNOLOGY

WHICH CAR IS BEST?Make, Segment, Reviews/Accolades

BRAND Volkswagen

Volkswagen SUV

Volkswagen Accolades

BRAND SEGMENT

BRAND ACCOLADES

Volkswagen Passat RatingsBRAND MODEL RATINGS

Volkswagen Passat ReviewsBRAND MODEL REVIEWS

3rd3rd3rd3rd3rd

3rd3rd3rd3rd3rd

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Note: Playbook guidelines based on Google/Shift Digital overall industry best practices. Recommendations may vary based on dealer location, size, budget, strategy & other factors. Please consult your Volkswagen Digital Consultant, as well as your Digital Advertising provider for more information.

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DIGITAL STRATEGY CHECKLIST MARKETING MUST-HAVES

CONSIDER YOUR LEVERS

LEAN INTO THE MOBILE EXPERIENCE

YOUR DIGITAL MARKETING BUDGET ALLOCATION SHOULD FALL SOMEWHERE BETWEEN 45% AND 75% OF YOUR OVERALL MARKETING.

PERSONALIZE YOUR MESSAGE

DRIVE LOCAL ENGAGEMENT

MEASURE THE CONSUMER JOURNEY

Prioritize reaching customers who are actively searching for Volkswagen vehicles

Influence shoppers early to help form opinions

Measure the customer journey - from online research to offline purchase

UNDERSTAND YOUR BUDGETCompare your online vs. offline marketing spending

Align spending with where your customers are spending time

Measure the effectiveness of each channel

SPEED UP YOUR SITE

IMPROVE SITE NAVIGATION

MAKE IT EASY TO GET IN TOUCH

Test your site’s mobile speed and work with your web provider to implement their recommendations

Simplify your site menu and try to keep everything visible without having to zoom in to read it

Confirm click-to-call buttons are enabled and ring thru to the correct dealership department

CUSTOMIZE YOUR SEARCH ADS

Use the Google Ad Preview Tool to make sure the messaging in your ads matches a shopper’s search

RETAIN EXISTING CUSTOMERS

Utilize remarketing strategies and Google Customer Match to remain top of mind with consumers

ACQUIRE NEW CUSTOMERS

Grow your customer base with audiences that are similar to those on your existing remarketing lists

UNDERSTAND YOUR IMPRESSION SHARE

Your search ads should show up at least 9 out of 10 times for the keywords you value the most

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PROMOTE YOUR VIDEO CONTENT

Use TrueView Ads to reach in-market shoppers and pay only for those who choose to watch videos

REACH SHOPPERS SEARCHING FOR VIDEOS

Promote your videos to people searching through TrueView video discovery ads

SET UP GOOGLE ANALYTICS

Use Google Analytics to help track how people get to your site and what they do once they’re there

SET UP CONVERSION TRACKING

AdWords Conversion Tracking measures how clicks from your ads lead to actions on your site

LINK ADWORDS TO GOOGLE ANALYTICS

Get a better view of your customers by linking your AdWords account to your Google Analytics

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