If you have been around long enough, you'll remember that when the Internet first came to national attention, it was often called the Internet Highway.  Business owners were told that they needed to get their business on this promising new road.

I chuckled last year when Sean Wolfington showed by a vintage automotive marketing that had animated a consumers journey down the "Internet Highway".  The concepts still were very true and the company who created the film had great insights into the future but it was like watching a Jetson cartoon. 

Boy have we come along way from those days!  Yet at times I am reminded how far we still need to grow as an industry and I'm patient to help educate dealers on the process.  

Sadly, adoption of strong digital marketing strategies are still being trumped by outdated OEM co-op policies that encourage dealers to use funds for traditional advertising more than digital strategies.  That is a topic for another blog post completely!

ReTargeting Is The Digital Analog to Billboards

One of the easiest digital marketing strategies to implement is retargeting. Think of retargeting as low cost Internet billboards that actually can be tracked.  The ROI of traditional billboards is sketchy.

As consumers shop the "Internet Highway" your messages can appear on websites that offer paid advertisements. Paul Potratz commented that about 93% of Internet websites allow paid advertisements across different advertising partners like Google, Yahoo, Bings, etc.

They key to retargeting is that the consumers has to visit your website(s) ONCE so you can "tag" them and so that you can follow them around the Internet.  There are many cool ways to get consumers to your website once at a low cost, which is a strategy discussion.

Your Message On Respected National, Regional, and Local Websites

This morning, I was reading the homepage of CNBC.com. When I click on the home page link to read the LEAD story, one of the retargeting banners for the 2012 Digital Marketing Strategies Conference appeared on this popular national website.

Here is what the page looked like:

The DMSC banner will only appear to consumers who visited the DMSC website or one of the website in the PCG Digital Marketing network.  Larger dealer groups that have multiple websites in a state or dealers that have an extensive microsite network get additional benefits from retargeting strategies. 

Benefits of ReTargeting

There are a long list of benefits to retargeting and unique ideas on how to leverage this technology.  Let me list a few for your consideration:

1. You leverage the EXISTING traffic to your website(s) that you have already paid for which can IMPROVE the return on investment for your other marketing investments.
2. You only pay for the banner placement if a consumer clicks on the banner which brings them to your website landing page.  This is a pay-per-click model, and you just have to include the monthly management costs your service provider charges.
3. It associates your BRAND with other high quality websites, like cnbc.com.
4. It makes your brand look bigger and omnipresent.
5. With the right banner strategy, you can drive targeted messages to consumers who are interested in the brand of cars you sell.
6. These ads may block ads from your competitors that may be using Adwords banners.

So, as long a the consumer who visited your website, does not clear their Browser "cookies", you can follow a consumer around for 20, 60, 90, or 500+ days.  

ReTargeting Strategy Considerations

Now what if there were ways to inexpensively get LOCAL consumers to visit your website, can you see how retargeting could build a local marketing campaign to keep your dealership in front on web surfers?

Banners can be changed as often as you like, so you can have different messages each month to keep things fresh.

If your website provider supports advanced retargeting, you can have unique retargeting code on your service pages to follow customers around with service messages.  This would be best for dealers that have high website traffic of course.

Dealers who are promoting contests and charity projects on Facebook should rethink your strategy.  We have recently been testing charity projects that leverage special media and retargeting, that have the potential to create amazing long term marketing lists.

Are You Using ReTargeting?

If your dealership is not using retargeting, it is time to get your billboards up on the Internet Highway.  If you would like to know more about retargeting strategies consider sending someone from your dealership to the 2012 Digital marketing Strategies Conference and learn form the best. 

You can also ask questions here or give me a call.  I would love to help you get started.

Brian

Brian Pasch, CEO
PCG Digital Marketing
Text PCGedu to 75674 get information on our upcoming conferences
Brian Pasch