10:55 am, June 10, 2019
WE all know how crucial the internet is to car sales – but how can you REALLY make it work for you?
That’s where paid search comes in – and CarGurus will be at CDX this coming Wednesday to show the massive difference it can make to your sales sheets.
Spencer Scott, senior vice-president of advertising and digital marketing solutions at CarGurus, will be giving an unmissable keynote presentation, alongside Hamel Soni, senior industry manager for automotive at Google, on our Live Stage at Farnborough International at 9am.
CarGurus was introduced to the UK in 2015 as an online consumer-focused car-buying platform, although it has existed since 2006 in the US. It’s now the fastest-growing automotive site in the UK according to Comscore and it is showing its intent by investing heavily. Already it has invested in Pistonheads, which it acquired from Haymarket late last year, and is expanding its dealer services too.
The latest stage is the addition of its paid search offering. Paid search is all about targeted advertising, and ensuring that the top advertisements on search engines such as Google match closely what a consumer is looking for in their next car through keywords.
Given that most car purchases start through search engines, CarGurus has accumulated vast knowledge advertising and promoting its site as a growing company – putting it in an ideal position to help dealers improve their paid search, too.
Most important asset
CarGurus’ new paid search tool delivers clicks directly to the dealers’ website, which Scott describes as a its ‘most important asset’.
Scott told us: ‘Paid search delivers clicks to the dealer’s website for consumers who are actively ready to buy, which brings them closer to the sale and cuts off competition. If a dealer is not taking advantage of paid search, it’s highly likely that their competitors will be using it soon if they aren’t already.
‘If that’s where the consumer journey is starting, a dealer has to have a presence there.’
The keynote will focus on high-level marketing trends around paid search and why dealers need to take it seriously, as well as looking at greater consumer trends in the UK. Scott will also be presenting a separate workshop at CDX19 alongside his team as well as car dealers who are reaping the benefits of paid search.
The workshop will be focused on the top tips to win at paid search, and give dealers some practical insight on how to succeed with this, regardless of whether or not they decide to use CarGurus’ service.
Finally, Scott added: ‘Paid search is the most important marketing channel for the modern dealer, and a dealer will struggle in this day and age if they don’t use paid search.
‘As a global leader in this, dealers need to come and see the information that we’re going to share at our keynote and at our workshop.’
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