YOUR 2016 MARKETING CHECKLIST:

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1 YOUR 2016 MARKETING CHECKLIST: Are You Ready for the New Year? Ad Budget Digital Strategy Vendor Selection Responsive Website 1

2 2016 is just around the corner. If your marketing plans aren t complete, it isn t too late. In the next few pages, we ll lay out the things you need to know to prepare for the new year. DETERMINING YOUR AD BUDGET: Forecasting is the cornerstone of any advertising budget. Forecasting allows you to look over past years results, month by month, and project what to expect in the future. From there, you can determine your future growth plans by adding your percentage of growth to that ad budget. Say, for instance, over the last three years your average January sales are 100 units. This January, you want to do better. Ten percent better. You would take 100 and multiply it by 1.1 and arrive at your goal of 110 units. You would then take that 110 and multiply it by your advertising cost per unit, arriving at your advertising budget for the month of January. Completing this exercise for each month of the next year will then give you your advertising budget for the entire year. It is at that point that you must decide how to spend those dollars and how spending those dollars will best help you achieve your goals. TRADITIONAL VS. DIGITAL: HOW MUCH TO SPEND Traditional marketing still has value, but in today s increasingly digital society you will want to focus more of your ad budget in the digital space. This shift towards digital is reflected in how marketers are spending their ad budgets-nearly 60 billion dollars were spent on digital advertising this year. [1] Procter and Gamble, the biggest advertiser in the U.S., cut its traditional ad budget last year. 30% of their working media is now digital. [2] $20,000/mo. DIGITAL AD SPEND 2

3 There are a number of reasons companies of all sizes are increasing the amount of dollars they dedicate to their digital message: It s where the world lives. The average adult American spent 5 hours and 38 minutes a day with digital media in [3] It gives the little guy a chance. Unlike traditional media, where the company with the biggest budget usually wins, strategic digital marketing campaigns allow for small, nimble companies with limited budgets to give larger, slower-moving businesses a run for their money. It s easily trackable. Digital allows you to easily see how many consumers have interacted with your message and how they got there. It has greater focus. Instead of the blanket one-size-fits-all philosophy used in televisidvertising, digital campaigns allow you to target consumers who have already expressed an interest in your product. It [4] also allows you to engage and interact with them unlike any other traditional medium. 84 % of auto shoppers use digital content in their path to purchase. The need for a focus on digital marketing is especially relevant in an election year. Social media caused 41% of would-be car buyers to consider a different car 11 % Start tablet 10 % Continue PC/Laptop 87% of consumers use multiple screens simultaneously 25 % Start PC/Laptop 19 % Continue smartphone 5 % Continue tablet 98% of consumers now move between multiple devices within the same day 65 % Start smartphone 61 % Continue PC/Laptop 5 % Continue tablet 5 seconds is all your website has to grab the attention of your consumers % 23 of time Because 2016 will be an election year, you will not only be sharing time with your usual competitors in traditional advertising, but all of the candidates running for office as well. Due to equal time laws, if one candidate makes an ad buy, all other candidates for that positire entitled to the same amount of commercial time, possibly bumping your advertisement from the air. will be spent consuming media mobile device this year 3

4 How to Diversify-Not Dilute Your Digital Budget This can be one of the hardest decisions to make, regardless of your budget size. You know you need to be spending money on digital, but just how much? What percentage should go to search/ppc? How much for display remarketing? How much for other high quality sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube? Here s how we suggest you spend your money for maximum impact. Keep in mind, you should always study your results and adjust ratios as needed. For simplicity of demonstration, let s say your budget is $20,000 per month. Here s a good way to spend it: If you re looking to be where the people are and have a robust budget, Google AdWords is far and away the most popular PPC site, with 67 percent market share on PC and 83 percent in mobile. [5] That popularity, however, means the cost can be prohibitive for some. AdWords also requires a level of experience and expertise to avoid accidental overspending. At DOM360, we have a dedicated SEM team which we have spent years building and training to manage your dollars effectively YBN can be a good test market for a keyword or campaign before moving to the higher dollar Google AdWords Remarketing is another powerful tool at your disposal in the digital space. Remarketing targets those customers who visited your site but left before taking a sales-based action. They browsed your site, maybe even studied one particular vehicle for a while, but left before seeking more information or contacting you. You know they re interested. How do you get them back and convert that potential buyer into a closed deal? Remarketing. When that buyer leaves your site, remarketing acts as a visual reminder of what they left behind. As they surf around to other sites, a remarketing campaign can show your display ad, or even the page for a specific vehicle, to that consumer. Think of it this way, when a potential buyer stops into your dealership and leaves without making a purchase, one of your sellers is likely to follow up with that person via a phone call. Remarketing is the digital equivalent of that phone call but it can actually be much more effective because it follows the potential buyer to other sites. You can base your remarketing efforts specific page the user visited or even a page they didn t visit. For example, you could choose to target all visitors who went to Page A or you could target all visitors who went to Page A but didn t make the jump to Page B. To make your remarketing campaign successful, be sure to include images. Ads with an image have proven much more effective than those that are text-only. Make sure you are keeping your remarketing ads and campaigns up to date. Some cookies can follow users for up to three months. During that time, your inventory may change significantly. You should consider updating your remarketing ads a minimum of every 30 days to make sure the information is as fresh as possible. [6] 4

5 YOUR VENDORS You ve made your plans. You know potential customers are out there. They may even be interacting with your website or social media presence right now. So how do you engage them in a conversatibout your brand that reaches them personal level? A truly integrated content campaign utilizes multiple channels to deliver one consistent message. Based on your plan, goals and budget, you should choose how and where you want your message delivered. These channels can include: A How to determine if it is time to make a change B What factors you should use to decide new vendor C Steps to take before, during and after negotiations Having a system in place to track and evaluate vendor performance is essential for smooth operations and profitability of your company. The most successful vendor relationships come from when a true partnership is created. Vendors can be dropped for poor performance, but strategically it often is better to retain your vendors and correct the problem and not be constantly flipping and replacing them. Vendor management is more than getting the lowest price Focus on quality for the money paid! Is it time to make a change? If you are not achieving your desired results, it could be time to switch vendors. It is not ideal, but if there are irrevocable differences it may be the best option. Leadership that you initially were excited to partner with may have been removed. Your vendor may not be able to effectively measure results, or possibly has none to report. Their ideas could have gone stale and no longer inspire confidence. The #1 reason businesses change vendors: They don t feel courted anymore. The question you should be asking of your new vendor: How are you going to help me attract and create a customer at an acceptable price? 5

6 WHERE TO BEGIN? Look at your needs and budget. The most important thing is making sure you can establish a relationship that will deliver what you want without extending yourself beyond where your business is comfortable. Determine the criteria you re looking for in a vendor. Once you ve narrowed down your choices, you can take a closer look at the top contenders. Just like in your business, each vendor will have their own company culture. Make sure you hire one whose ethics and standards align with your own. Don t let a cheap price entice you into a bad cultural fit. Pitfalls to avoid: 1 Thinking it s only about the creative 2 Failing to align all stakeholders 3 Not effectively defining evaluation criteria 4 Not asking how your organization needs to improve 5 Underestimating the importance of chemistry 6 Allowing inconsistency in your search process 7 Not telling incumbent agency MOVING FORWARD 2016 AND BEYOND If you haven t already, it s time to embrace social media. With the number of options available, you can find a platform to support your marketing goals. Online video is a major part of the user experience when using the internet. In fact, adults will spend an average of 1 hour, 16 minutes each day with video on digital devices. [7] Social media is an excellent platform for spreading your online video message. Linkage can be established throughout your social media channels to drive traffic between them, as well as to your main website. 6

7 Responsive websites are also a must in A responsive website is one that provides an optimal viewing experience based on the user s current device, adapting to the layout for easy navigation. From desktop to smartphone to tablet, responsive web designs make your site look its absolute best across all platforms. You need a responsive site that is robust, SEO rich, custom sites that use the best practices for high search rankings. Beware of cookie-cutter templates. We ll give you a unique site with customized, specific SEO for one price. You want and need a unique site with customized, specific SEO for one price. Some companies provide only generic templates, then upcharge you for customization. It s crucial that your site is responsive and reliable. Look for a company with a proven history of uptime. You want to guarantee that whenever a customer views your site, they ll get an experience that looks great and is fully functional. In business, time truly is money. Make sure the company you choose for your responsive web design provides quick turnaround. Good companies can have new sites up in weeks, but some take much longer, leaving you waiting for months. A great looking site is only effective if it looks fresh and the information is up to date. When choosing your responsive web design company, inquire about the speed of their changes. Top providers get most changes made within hours; some companies take days, which slows down your business and compromises the validity of the information on your site. Watch out for companies that will design a site for one price but charge you repeatedly for maintaining or updating the site. Make sure you fully understand what is included in the agreement. Discuss your long-term plans and goals before signing your contract. It s understandable that you re excited to get your new responsive site rolled out to your customers, and you may not be thinking about what s going to happen a year or two down the road. Don t let that excitement cost you money, though. While some companies offer an annual redesign as part of their service, others charge extra, often requiring you to pay $500 or more on top of your contract price. A responsive site is a necessity in today s marketplace. A great-looking, content-rich site optimizes consumers interaction with your brand, so they don t stray to your competition. Leads are fine, but business success depends on converting those leads into sales. Responsive sites do that. Across the country, in all industries, responsive sites have been shown to dramatically increase conversion rates, adding to your bottom line. 7

8 CONCLUSION A new year is a new opportunity to make a fresh start with your marketing plan. In 2016, you can set yourself up for success by following the steps laid out in this paper. By establishing your budget, selecting a digital strategy, wisely selecting your vendors, and having a responsive website, you will have the tools to deliver excellent return on your marketing investments. Sources [1] [2] [3] [4] pathtopurchase.com, May 27, 2014 [5] Google Market Share: 67 Percent on PC, 83 Percent in Mobile, searchengineland.com, September 22, 2014 [6] 5 Google Dynamic Remarketing Best Practices, searchenginewatch.com, July 19, 2013 [7] 8