Posts Tagged ‘ Social Media ’

How to Increase Your Digital Presence in the Automotive Industry and Who’s Doing it Right!

As people turn to more digital outlets to get information, it’s important for companies to alter their marketing styles to meet the digital needs of consumers. The automotive industry is no exception; however, these companies need to approach their marketing efforts a little more…creatively, rather than just basic social media and a website. Below are tactics to inspire you, to increase not only your digital presence, but your overall reputation in the automotive marketing world. Here are examples of automotive companies that are implementing these tactics to the fullest. Social Media – To the Max It’s no shock the...

Note: To get a true Generation Y marketing perspective, our genuine Gen-Y marketing intern, Brad, researched and wrote this article, which dispels a lot of myths about marketing to the millennial generation. Generation Y, better known as the millennial generation (born in 1980-2000), is the first generation to grow up with modern technology and this influences how millennials view cars and car accessories. For this generation, technology is not just another accessory; it is necessity and a way of life. Millennials find it extremely important to have top of the line technology that can be synchronized between devices. Millennials...

If you sell automotive parts or services online then you need to know what we discovered in our automotive SEO ranking factors and correlations study. This study evaluated factors that may contribute to a high SEO ranking in Google. This market research should be interesting to SEMA, Auto Care Association, MEMA or AASA members. Only Google knows the actual factors that contribute to high organic rankings and this study doesn’t “prove” these factors will result in a high automotive SEO rankings. But, for organic search results, it does show what highly-ranked automotive web pages have in common. We’re indebted...

Here are our 5 Google automotive SEO and paid search predictions for 2014. Regular readers of this blog may be familiar with our previous Google predictions for the SEMA industry, which we’re proud to say, have mostly been on target. Prediction #1 for 2014: Automotive SEO and paid search continues to be a battle for real estate, not just position We made this prediction a year ago and it’s an even more important auto industry trend SEO efforts, or paid search (PPC) marketing. A few years ago automotive SEO and paid search was all about position—marketers wanted to be...

You can improve automotive SEO and Google AdWords paid search results by understanding how automotive parts and accessory customers originally find your website, and how they return to make a purchase. You can discover a lot of information hidden in the Multi-Channel Funnels reporting section of Google Analytics (menu shown at left) so as an automotive aftermarket digital marketing agency we thought we’d pass this along in our blog. As Google puts it, “…these days, the customer journey has grown more complex.” Amen! Customers can come to your site from many marketing channels: social media, email, paid search ads...

Trend 18: Where Consumers Find Information on Engine Parts, by Age Group

Today we are going to look at some of our own research to give you an idea of where enthusiasts go to find information about engine parts. We will also look at how certain age groups tend to visit different outlets to find their answers. As a part of our own syndicated Hedges & Company research, we sought to find out where enthusiasts find information about engine components. We surveyed 2,768 enthusiasts and asked them where they tend to look for information. Their choices were the following: mail order catalog, social media sites, garage, independent shop, blogs, chain parts...

Trend 21: Using Social Media Effectively

Here’s how to effectively use your social media campaign to connect with your customers and evaluate your business. Building a large following of fans is nice or fun to brag about, but to really make your social media campaign work, you have to attract fans that have the potential to become customers. For example, if you are a small business with no online presence operating in Miami FL, having fans from Cleveland, OH won’t do you much good. “Likes” vs social media interaction Having “likes” and “fans” is helpful, but what you should really strive for is actual interaction...

Google is significantly changing the online landscape with new services like Google+, Google Wallet and Google Shopping. Here are our predictions how these services will be a significant specialty auto parts industry trend. Prediction 1: SEO and paid search is a battle for real estate, not just position. Search engine marketing will no longer just be about being on the first search results page. It will be about the total real estate on the page including results for Google+, Google Shopping and other Google search enhancements. (Editor’s note: this article was written in 2012. For a more recent update...

4 Things Wrong With Your Social Media Strategy

Are you making these common mistakes with your social media strategy? Mistake 1: Assuming that consumers follow you to have a “relationship.” Most don’t. The vast majority of consumers follow brands on social media to get discounts. Only two out of ten consumers follow brands to have a relationship (these are the hard-core evangelists that really like a brand) and eight out of ten really want a deal. Many brands with social media sites spend a lot of time trying to build relationships with their followers but a lot of these marketers are actually spinning their wheels. To maximize...

Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites play a huge role in the everyday lives of millions, but do they influence the buying decisions of automotive enthusiasts and automotive DIY consumers? Here are some facts to keep in mind. 1). Enthusiasts don’t rely heavily on social media interaction when making buying decisions. While millions of auto enthusiasts participate in social media with their friends, far fewer enthusiasts use it to make buying decisions on parts and accessories. 2). Enthusiasts use ‘old-fashioned’ social media to help the buying decision process. In Hedges & Company’s BuyerZoom market research, covering thousands of...

New Auto Market Research: Secrets of Parts Buyers Revealed

New BuyerZoom and BrandZoom research reports are available through the Hedges & Company Market Research Store. We’ve added new reports covering engine bearings, carburetors, connecting rods, cylinder heads, engine blocks, performance fasteners, fuel and oil pumps, gaskets, lifters, pistons, push rods, rocker arms, valves, and valve springs. For the first time in the automotive aftermarket it is possible to obtain affordable research reports focused on buyers of specific types of parts. BuyerZoom reports give you extensive behavioral data on consumers who shopped for or purchased specific types of parts, while BrandZoom reports show consumer perceptions and opinions on brands...

Groundbreaking SEMA Show Opinion Leaders Report Released; SEMA Market Research by Hedges & Company

The Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) has released a new market research report authored by Hedges & Company covering results of the SEMA Show Opinion Leaders program. This is important to aftermarket companies because the feedback from the Opinion Leaders SEMA market research program is a big opportunity to better understand the buying process used by automotive enthusiasts. As with the previous year, Opinion Leaders Program participants were granted access to the SEMA Show. These enthusiasts completed a detailed survey to share their opinions and buying habits, and shared impressions from the SEMA Show through social media using their...

When Is The Best Time To Send An Email Campaign?

Rising above the clutter and noise in the inbox is your goal. First impressions are critical in email marketing and although the subject line grabs attention, when does it grab attention? If your email is sent at the wrong time, your message may be buried by emails received after your email. Your prospect may start with the newest emails first, ignoring older emails further down the queue. Here are some examples of what we’ve observed in our email marketing, but all audiences are different and you need to design tests on your customer list to determine what works for...

Ideas For The Best Email Marketing Subject Lines

Email marketing best practices call for analysis of subject lines which have a huge influence on the open rate. An appropriate subject line also influences the click-through rate. Why is this so important? Let’s say in a year you send 100,000 emails. Improving your open rate from 15% to the industry average of just over 19% means over a year’s time your messages are seen by 4,000 more sets of eyeballs. Clearly the entire email message is important, but the first few words of the subject line, the overall approach and the call to action are just a few...

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Posts Tagged ‘ Social Media ’