Joe Tarell... discusses
Digital Advertising for Small Business
Digital Advertising for Small Business
Part 1 – The Website
Your website today is the most important piece of advertising that you have and is the glue
that holds your entire marketing strategy together. In fact, if you do not have a store front
where you can consider the location, building and signage as a strategic marketing asset,
the website is the first thing a business should build and the most important part of their
company. In today’s marketplace, the Internet is now the phone, the window shopper, the
consumer digest, the referral, the reputation and the face of your business. SPEND MORE
TIME WITH IT! (And yes, I just yelled at you)
Because my current area of focus and expertise is automotive digital marketing (and I like
to add keywords to articles I write) this piece will use automotive marketing and digital
advertising examples. In fact, throughout the whole series you will see these references. It
does not mean that this information does not apply to other businesses. Use your
imagination or drop me a line and I can give you some specifics examples that pertain to
your business.
Let’s use the automotive shopper for an example and examine a typical life-cycle of a
particular customer. My niece recently purchased her first car after the beater that her dad
bought her in high school finally bit the dust. She talked with her uncle because he is a
digital marketing director in the automotive business and settled on a dealer that she could
trust. The dealer’s website was her first stop. Because of the need to examine financing
options, she left the lot with a car in process, but no new car. When she returns home, she
goes back to the dealer website to show her mom and dad the car. In fact she shows the
car to several friends and cousins. There are now six to ten website visits associated with
this event.
When she returns and consummates the deal, she adds a warranty and gets her pre-
owned vehicle certified because in order to keep the payments down the loan is 72
months. The dealership sets an appointment with her for her first oil change. Now, given
that the store is about 25 minutes away and a quick lube center is about 4, she may or may
not return for that oil change. If she does what are the odds she goes back to the website
first? And when she needs repairs, since she has that warranty, there is a good bet that
she goes back again and again. She is 24 years old and had a great experience so do you
think she might encourage her friends to visit. In the next 30 years, this dealership should
count on easily 100 websites visits in her future.
Before this particular consumer ever came to the store she visited the website. After
visiting the store once, there were at least six more visits to the site before the next store
visit. That is why I like to ask dealer principals and General Managers of the store; “if you
see a piece paper lying on your showroom floor do you pick it up?” “So why are you
leaving that crap on your website when it gets six times as many visits as this showroom
does?”
The website should be the launch point and the landing point for everything that you do to
market your business. We always used to say that marketing begins with the receptionist,
now we have to worry about the prior engagement with our business. Every promotion,
every direct mail piece or TV ad must first be represented on the site. Every department
must be represented and every page must be maintained and optimized for search
engines. What I would tell car dealers is to analyze your P&L and every place that you
have revenue you should have represented on the website.
Call in your department heads and ask them to prioritize their business based on revenues
and profitability. Then ask them how they plan to represent the top items on the website.
The Service Director should give you his six or ten best revenue and profit generators and
those should be represented on the website and optimized for search. Then Parts, Used
Cars, Finance, Body Shop, New Cars, and Accessories. Replicate your physical store’s
profit centers and make the department head accountable for maintenance.
A website is more than a doorway to your business; it is your business to many consumers.
Give it the attention it deserves. Make sure your curb appeal extends all the way out to the
information superhighway and spend the money necessary to ensure the paint isn’t pealing.
Coming Soon - Part 2 - ReMarketing
Joe Tarell, 2011
| What is Digital Advertising An ongoing beginners series designed to educate small and medium sized businesses on the various ways to advertise on the Internet. |
"Selling starts with
personal integrity so
find a way to deliver
what you promise...
What we sell, is the
audience."
Joe Tarell
personal integrity so
find a way to deliver
what you promise...
What we sell, is the
audience."
Joe Tarell
A favorite quote
from Steve Jobs;
"Simple can be
harder than
complex. You have
to get your
thinking clean to
make it simple.
But it is worth it in
the end, because
once you get there
you can move
mountains."
from Steve Jobs;
"Simple can be
harder than
complex. You have
to get your
thinking clean to
make it simple.
But it is worth it in
the end, because
once you get there
you can move
mountains."
| If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough." - Albert Einstein |
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