Are you paying more attention to paid search in 2010?

A recent research report from Borrell Associates projects that the total U.S. ad spend for new cars will rise to $19.2 billion this year from the low of $18.4 billion in 2009. Of that total spend, franchised car dealers account for the majority of all auto ad dollars spent online. In 2009 they spent about $3 billion online, compared to $1.7 billion for manufacturers.

While digital media spending was down for 2009 – the first time digital growth had dipped since 2002 – an eMarketer report released in December states that paid search spend has remained steady.

What is different about paid search that allowed it to keep its head above water in 2009? Paid search offers the best ROI out of the digital media portfolio because of its measurability. When thinking about your advertising moving forward in 2010, consider the following for why you should put more effort into Search:

Measurability

When prioritizing your marketing channels, it is important to remember the measurability of paid search. With traditional media, it is extremely difficult to obtain conversion data. Paid search, using Search Engine and/or third party tracking, helps identify patterns in conversions that can be tested, refined, and repeated. Many automotive marketers will not bat an eye at dropping $30K on a newspaper or magazine ad or $130K on a homepage takeover. The depth of data available to measure the effectiveness of these ads is significantly less in print than it is online.

Granularity of optimizations

Did your promotional tagline add much to your latest campaign? Through copy testing in paid search, you can tell if more users clicked on the ad, comparing it against a control. What difference do landing pages make? Do users searching on keyword X and landing on Page Y convert better than when they land on Page Z? Does paying a premium for top positions from 12 – 8pm yield more conversions and therefore make it worth your while to be more aggressive during those hours? Paid search is the one marketing vehicle that lets you measure these things. Coordinated, Integrated Digital Advertising Companies like Google are paving the way for fully integrated digital campaigns under one roof. This past year saw vast improvements in Google’s integration of Display and Video ads into its AdWords platform. Automotive marketers can now easily manage multiple tactics across different channels and obtain reports from the convenience of one Google login. Additionally, with its November acquisition of AdMob and the Nexus One phone release, Google is going to do a lot more to integrate mobile. You can already specifically target smartphones in the AdWords platform.

Peer pressure

“Come on, everybody’s doing it.” This is usually advice to ignore – especially during high school and college. However, with paid search, if you are not advertising your brand, odds are somebody else is capitalizing on your name. Even if you rank No. 1 in natural search results, advertisers get priority as the first listings on the page. This is especially important to remember since Google relaxed its trademark enforcement policies last year, which allowed resellers to use trademarks in ad copy and potentially steal search traffic away from those not owning their own brands in paid search.

A version of this article originally appeared in Razorfish Search. It has been revised to make it more relevant to the Headlightblog.com audience.

Related links:

• Auto Advertising: 2010 Outlook – Running On Empty, Borrell Associates, 11.12.09
• US Online Ad Spend Turns the Corner, eMarketer, 12.11.09

Image credit:
Local ad spend image appears courtesy of Borrell Associates