If you want to:

1. Increase sales
2. Generate more leads
3. Promote brand awareness

Then read on…

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PPC (pay-per-click) refers to the advertising method in which advertisers only pay when a potential lead clicks on their ad. Advertising platforms use factors like budgets, keywords, audiences, and landing pages to determine these costs. This allows consumers and advertisers alike to rest assured that they are communicating with the right people. According to Portent, dealerships, service centres and restaurants are prime examples of when location matters most in business. That’s why it’s so important to set a dedicated, winning PPC strategy.

PPC is all about relevance. Users are searching for specific products, services, and information at any given time. Advertisers have the ability to show a targeted ad at the exact moment this search is occurring. Radius targeting adds an extra context layer to your ad and increases the likelihood of consumer engagement.

Times Are Changing

A business that relies on the local populace alone may find themselves losing out on many consumer touch-points. A user across the province isn’t likely to travel hundreds of kilometres to simply visit your store, but they would do so to close a deal! Expanding your targeting tactics is extremely important, especially if you offer incentives like province-wide vehicle delivery or travel rebates with vehicle purchase. Localized PPC campaigns will allow you to spend efficiently while tailoring your ads for your lead’s every need.

A Few Key Benefits:

• Improves SEO relevance and budget optimization
• Provides answers to your consumer’s questions
• Pulls in quality traffic to your site
• Provides competitive advantage
• It can drive offline sales
• It’s under your control

Though times are changing, one key to success remains the same: location, location, location. How and where your consumers find you can make or break your bottom line. 

Which car is best? Is this model right for me? Can I afford it? Where should I buy it? Am I getting a good deal?

These are the types of questions your customers are asking, be sure you’re there to answer.

What started out as a simple classified ads platform, has morphed into the preferred marketplace and e-commerce networks. With 19 million Canadian users on Facebook, it’s no wonder we want to take advantage of this opportunity!

In an interview with Facebook Product Manager Bowen Pan, he stated: “We noticed that auto is one of the most popular categories on Marketplace with millions of North-Americans looking at cars and vehicle listings every day.”

So here’s how it works. Shoppers access listings by using their browser or the app, the latter being most impactful. Consequently, vehicle posts created on WebManager are always Mobile Optimized. In-Market users can browse your inventory at their leisure. Keeping convenience at the top of the social media priority list, dealers can take advantage of Facebook Messenger and WebManager Chat. You no longer have to worry if you lost a potential lead due to lengthy response times.

The benefits don’t end there! WebManager has many features outside of chat and posting. We can utilize its reporting abilities to track and maintain leads and other interactions. With an unlimited listing allowance, you are sure to increase your vehicle visibility. 

The most important benefit of all is trust. Users trust Facebook with their information, hence the level of trust that all content on the app is not crossing over into Craigslist territory.

According to CBT News, scamming is much more difficult on Facebook. Buyers and sellers can see each other’s public profiles. Couple this with a secure payment feature and the choice is easy. Reach your buyers where they are and respond in real-time.

E-Mail or call us to sign up for Facebook Marketplace today!

Part 2

When we last spoke, we were exploring the timeline of marketing practice, many of the principles are still relevant today. With the emergence of technologies like the first mobile phone in 1973 and computers coming on the scene about a decade later, marketing was headed into uncharted territory. With IBM leading the industry, and Apple in hot pursuit, advertising and marketing would become the key ingredient in every sector. According to HubSpot, Apple’s infamous 1984 Superbowl commercial cost a whopping $900,000 to make. 

The digital age wasn’t all bad news for print advertising though, it actually made the process easier! Newspaper ad revenue had reached new heights with $25 Billion spent on ads in 1985; this was only a few years after IBM introduced the first personal computer.

Technology continued to advance, and mobile phones were given an upgrade in the early 90s. 2G networks allowed for features like SMS messaging, thus consumers came one step closer to the smartphone experience. As computers and mobile technologies continued to develop, marketers were given an opportunity to up the ante. 1994 changed everything with one word — SPAM.

Giving the masses mobile access to email and the internet allowed marketers to reach their audiences anytime, anywhere. Though the reach was wide-sweeping, it was certainly a method that lacked efficiency. Keep on reading to find out how marketing was propelled into the 21st century.
Search engines like Yahoo and Ask.com came to be in 1995 and 1997 respectively. By 1997, 1.7% of the population, or 70 million people, were using the web and searching. Stakeholders saw a great opportunity to talk with the average consumer instead of talking at them. Consumer profiles became thorough and complex.

At this point, it was just too good to be true! There must be an impending computer apocalypse… right?

Luckily, we survived Y2K, and we were able to experience the holy grail of digital marketing — Google AdWords.

All of these changes and trends allowed consumers to engage with brands in new ways. Mediums like print laid the foundation of communication, without it we wouldn’t have Twitter, Facebook or E-Commerce and the list goes on. Social Media has completely changed the marketing landscape by connecting our global community.

You could be anywhere in the world, but here you are with us!

Part 1

Advertisers have had ingenious methods of getting the word out long before the dawn of social media. In order to understand and appreciate some of today’s practices, we must look to the past. Because of its long and vast history, this article will highlight the key paradigm shifts in marketing’s journey.

It began as almost strictly outbound marketing. Merchants and salesmen would talk AT potential customers as opposed to talking WITH them. Printed advertising appeared in the mid 15th century and its considered the primary marketing medium up until the 20th century. That’s a long time! During the print era, we saw the likes of magazine ads, posters and billboard ads respectively.

As societal norms evolved globally, so did advertising mediums. Ads began making their way into the consumer home. Radio and TV airways were infiltrated around the 1920s, and by 1933 over 50% of homes in North America had radios. The radio craze allowed advertisers to take a more efficient, aggressive and constant approach to marketing.

And then, video killed the radio, star. The first recorded use of television advertising took place in 1941. Shortly after the rise of radio advertising, video ads began its long lasting reign. 

Let’s fast forward to what is often referred to as the “golden era of marketing.” The 60s saw a 10% drop in radio ad revenue, where as TV revenue grew 17%. Then, the 70s ushered in a new wave of telemarketing tactics, the marketing possibilities seemed endless. Increased mediums created more opportunities in advertising, allowing the industry to become rather lucrative. While all of these changes and shifts are taking place, print media finally begins to feel the pressure. After 36 years, Life magazine, a staple in traditional marketing, ceases publication.

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In 2019, the world is almost completely digital. Though digital encompasses many practices, this series will be focusing on digital marketing and its unlimited uses. The transition from traditional marketing towards digital can be greatly attributed to artificial intelligence.

Everyone has had a piece of AI with technological advancements in smartphones, smart TVs and even smart refrigerators! Long gone are the days of manual redundancies, almost any task can be automated. With that said, we want our readers to note that robots and digital mediums aren’t replacing us, they’re making us better! It’s high time we embrace and explore the world of digital marketing, the benefits are truly endless.

By definition, Digital Marketing is an umbrella term for all marketing and engagement activities done through online media channels.

Here are a few ways in which consumers come into contact with Digital Marketing:

1. Your Website
2. Search Engine Marketing or Optimization
3. Pay Per Click Advertising
4. Remarketing (one of our favourite tactics)
5. Automation (Email and Messenger Marketing)
6. Social Media and Video Marketing

Think of these platforms as a way for your traditional content to reach the masses at the click of a button. The current marketing landscape has allowed small businesses to grow exponentially and has elevated customer engagement at every scale. 

Most of this consumer interaction is taking place on our smartphones and it is believed that the average Mobile screen time will exceed that of television by next year. Hence the transition away from traditional marketing. 

On average, Canadians are spending 3 hours a day looking at their phone screens (EMarketer). We imagine this statistic is DOUBLED for those more closely involved with social media and marketing. Another thing to consider is how many Canadians are looking at media for 8+ hours a day based on their careers.

We are no longer looking through newspapers to stay uptodate, consumers are no longer relying solely on flyers to get the best prices and they depend on one another more and more each day.

Digital Marketing is like a super power, a sixth sense. The methods that fall under this umbrella allow us to easily pinpoint a customer’s intent at any given time. Furthermore, it allows to control advertising costs as we are able to market our target audience alone. You can’t beat that!