Brands and Internet Marketing + Archives
Search Marketing As Your Market Research Department
by Frank Reed on May 25th, 2010
We realize that sometimes it may feel like we bludgeon our readers with statistics supporting certain Internet marketing areas but we do it for a reason. We do it because we know that it is one of the best ways for the SMB (small and medium business) who are independent dealers of large brands as well as the brands themselves to promote their products, services and special offers.
Not exactly breaking news, right? There are still, however, many companies that STILL sit on the sidelines with regard to this opportunity to generate more sales. We don’t understand that so we try to continue to provide more evidence that getting involved...
Read More »Spending 77% of your advertising budget on a 6 percent decline…
by Steven Wagner on May 19th, 2010
I recently was with an employee talking about a very well known brand. One we would like to do business with. It is a highly recognized brand with dealers in almost every city in North America. The brand does not sell online and have thousands of dealers nationwide. A perfect fit for Dealer Ignition’s solutions!
We went to The List to get some additional information about their marketing budget.
We discovered that they spend $45 million a year in advertising. They are supporting their dealers with national advertising. But upon deeper analysis, we realized that nearly $34 million was in national magazine advertising. So 77% of the total budget is being spent in National Magazine ads.
The web was $501,000, or roughly 1.1% of the total marketing budget!
So...
Read More »Who Should Ultimately be Responsible for Local Online Marketing and Advertising in the Channel?
by Frank Reed on May 10th, 2010
We see plenty of relationships between product manufacturers and the dealers that sell their products. As with any relationship there is the good, the bad and the ugly. Most manufacturers and dealers have a healthy dose of respect for each other since there is a very deep reliance on each other for success. This respect, however, doesn’t cloud the fact that when it comes to the true online local advertising of a store and the brand(s) that get showcased there can be some confusion. Unfortunately, this confusion can lead to missed opportunities, bruised egos and badly damaged business relationships.
In any dealer/brand/manufacturer advertising relationship only three options exist for the...
Read More »Are Social Media Efforts Helpful Without Any Help?
by Frank Reed on May 5th, 2010
Social media is the buzzword for the foreseeable future with regard to all things business. The ability to connect with current and future customers in a truly meaning way can create opportunities for sales that until several years ago did not exist.
While the theory of social media sounds wonderful the application of the tools don’t always translate into what every business needs to see: sales. Why is this a regular occurrence? I have a few ideas that I will share here as well as possible solutions. Just remember as you read these, that there is no social media fairy that does things easily and for free. That kind of talk is for marketing hucksters which there are (at last count)...
Read More »Google Looks to Make AdWords More Effective
by Frank Reed on May 3rd, 2010
Part of what we provide for brands and their retailers / dealers is the ability to effectively target and reach their customers through Google AdWords. Not all businesses have the budget or the resources in general to do full blown search engine optimization so their best bet to getting on the first page of the search 
engine results pages (SERP’s) is through Google AdWords campaigns.
Google is always experimenting and testing new ways to make these ads more effective and part of our job here at Dealer Ignition is to keep our customers informed of just what Google is up to that could eventually help their business.
We found...
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