Is Your Automotive Advertising Agency Going To Test Google Offers?

Google Offers is now in Beta testing, have you taken a look at this new advertising platform?  Will you be considering Google Offers in your 2012 automotive advertising strategy?

I am in Atlanta tonight surfing the web and clicked on a PPC banner ad that was running in CNN.com as shown on the screen capture below.  The PPC banner is in the upper right corner.

I had not previously signed up for Google Offers so I thought it was a good time to check it out.

When I clicked on the Google Ad, I was given the option to sign-up for offers in Atlanta.  Since I am normally not in Atlanta, I clicked on the drop-down menu to see which other cities were covered in the Google Offers beta.   Once you find a city of interest, you can SUBSCRIBEto those offers.

If you are already logged into your Google account, the subscription process is seamless.  If you are not logged into your Google account or do not have one, it is easy to signup.  You do not need a Google email address to subscribe to Google offers. 

Cities Covered in Google Offers Beta

From the list in the drop-down menu you can see if any of these cities is where your business in located.

I decided to see what local offers where being presented to consumers and the first ad was for an automotive service center.

Since it was an automotive offer, I decided to document what i saw and share it with the automotive community. Google Offers may be something to look for your business if the business model is attractive.

I'm not prepared to discuss or share the costs of Google Offers but I will do some research since Google seems to be picking up their advertising campaign.

Automotive Service Deals on Google Offers

The offer that I was presented with from the Atlanta area is shown below:

The ad also had a tab for "Look Inside" which was a 360 Degree photos walk-around tool which showed the service area of the shop.  I think I would have selected a different photo to use in this feature.   I don't know how long this link to the ad will work, but you can check it out yourself:  Google Offers Atlanta

Paying For Google Offers

 If you click on the BUY NOW button, and if you are logged into your Google Account, you will be taken to Google Wallet.

This is a payment platform that competes with Paypal.

You can start to see how Google is morphing into new ways to monetize their search marketing platform.  In some ways, they are becoming an advertising agency for small business owners who don't have the resources and strategy to leverage digital marketing.

How will car dealers utilize Google Offers and Google Wallet?  That is too early to tell but I thought I would start the discussion.

If you are in one of the BETA markets and are planning on testing Google Offers, keep me in the loop on your success.

Questions For Google Automotive Team?

The Google Automotive team will also be at the 2012 Digital Marketing Strategies Conference (DMSC) on February 1-3rd, so we will be asking them specific questions on how car dealers can leverage their latest marketing tools and strategies.  The conversation will be lively. 

Brian

Brian Pasch, CEO
PCG Digital Marketing
Text PCGedu to 75674 get information on our upcoming conferences
Brian Pasch