Edmonton and Calgary auto dealer internet marketing. Making sense of pay per click advertising

When I wrote my thesis for my masters I chose a rather odd topic at the time. I chose to research how auto dealers in Alberta use internet marketing and advertising.

I can't say that the final result surprised me (only a handful of the researched auto dealers in Alberta spent more than 5% of their advertising budget in web related activities), however at the time when the economy was still booming it made think what would really happen when the economy would fall in harder times.

Fast forward a few years and most car dealers are struggling to cope with a diminished flow of buyers, an automotive industry in big trouble and an unstable economic landscape.

Most auto dealers have already re-evaluated their situation and proceeded in major cuts in expenses, salaries and personnel. However some dealers next to all the cuts have also started asking the obvious question: "should we start spending our advertising money smarter?"

This is the best time for any auto dealer, no matter how big or small, to re-evaluate their online marketing strategies or create an online marketing strategy, if they don't have one. Auto dealers don't have to spend thousands in advertising online. Even though an integrated marketing package is usually recommended for optimal results, in most cases targeted campaigns can also help an auto dealer boost their leads (and eventually their sales) numbers significantly within a short period of time and at a very affordable cost.

So when should an auto dealer choose a pay per click advertising strategy?

1. When the auto dealer needs to boost their website traffic immediately
   Let's say that you decide to create a brand new "used vehicle only" website to complement your existing dealer website and you need to drive some traffic to that website immediately. Pay per click advertising can provide highly targeted traffic at a relatively low cost.

   Search engine optimization (SEO), link exchanges and social media networking could take months to generate some decent and steady flow of visitors to your website. Pay per click on the other hand can bring this traffic in immediately (even for the short term...) and provide you with important insight on your website's strengths and weaknesses.

2. When your website's lead generation activities are straightforward
   If your website offers just a few lead generation options then you're in a good position to use and benefit from pay per click advertising. On average your website should offer no more than 4-5 lead generation activities. That way it's going to be easier to track your leads and optimize your website as necessary.

3. When the auto dealer wants to find out which advertising messages work the best
   Search engine optimization (SEO) has great long term benefits but in order to use the right mix of keywords you need to know your target market very well, and also be able to understand every little shift in the market so that you can adjust your keywords accordingly.

   Pay per click advertising gives you the option to test and customize keywords and advertising messages instantly.

e²media (e-squared media) is an internet marketing and interactive advertising company based in Edmonton, AB offering affordable internet advertising, search engine optimization, web development and corporate identity services. Over the past 12 years we've worked with many organizations mainly in the Edmonton and Calgary area. We're specialized in the automotive industry and in Internet marketing and web development in general, but we've also worked in several projects for small, medium and large size organizations ranging from website design, flash movies, databases, shopping carts, search engine optimization (SEO) to full Internet marketing campaigns and corporate identity design. For more information on any previous projects, or for client references, please click here to contact us.