Auto Dealer Monthly Magazine is the daily operations publication serving the retail automotive industry. This automotive publication serves dealer principals, officers and general managers with the latest best practices.
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can expect to see more websites move to adaptive or responsive designs. "Tey're updating their services, and we're updating our services based upon the way people actually browse," he explains. "I think, more than anything else, it's about, 'How do you have a seamless experience across all devices?' Every company is looking to do that." Tracking the race between the two companies, Brian Burt, CEO and founder of Chicago-based WebRev Marketing & Design, says there's only one factor that should dictate where marketers direct their attention. "Wherever there are eyeballs on the Internet, you want to put your business in front of those eyeballs," he says. According to Experian's 2013 Digital Marketer Report, Google accounted for 72 percent of total search trafc in 2012, and search is where a majority of online ad spending is directed. "Google has to be top of mind for any marketer," the report states. Conversely, the top search term across all search engines, including Google, was "Facebook," a distinction the social network has held four years in a row, according to Experian. Te social media site was also the most visited site for the past three years, accounting for 79.1 billion total U.S. visits last year alone. NEED A RIDE Ignoring Google's hold on the lion's share of online web searches, Facebook rolled out its own search engine called Graph Search. Founder Mark Zuckerberg describes it as "more natural" than typical web searches because rather than pulling from the entire web, the search engine's algorithm pulls results from the site's database of one billion profles, 240 billion photos and one trillion connections. "We're not indexing the web," Zuckerburg said during a Jan. 15 press event. "We're indexing our map of the graph." Te search engine allows users to search by 112-character phrases rather than just keywords. Tat means a Facebook user in Los Angeles can search for a dealer by simply typing "Dealerships in Los Angeles." Graph Search will then list results based on the dealerships the user's friends "Liked" and by the level of engagement the business has with its fans. Te unveiling of Facebook's new search feature set of a race between social media marketing frms looking to help dealers stay in front of what Google and Facebook are doing. But even they are struggling to keep pace with the companies' ever-evolving strategies. Tere was the recent webinar hosted by Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Digital Air Strike, during which Alexi Venneri, the frm's cofounder and COO, informed attendees that Facebook was collecting reviews to feed Graph Search. Eforts at the time centered on the restaurant industry, but Venneri said Facebook would expand those eforts to automotive. But not everything Venneri shared turned out to be fact. Tere was the claim that dealers would need to "pay to play" in order to get their fan page updates into their followers' News Feeds. She reasons that because only 16 percent or less of updates are seen by users due to Facebook's high level of content being posted, advertising is crucial for dealers who want to land high visibility. Facebook, however, tells a diferent story. "Tere have been recent claims that our News Feed algorithm suppresses organic distribution of posts in favor of paid posts in order to increase our revenue. Tis is not true," Facebook says on its site. Workman says there are no plans as of yet to monetize Graph Search with a Google AdWords-like business model, adding that dealers will need to continue engaging fans to secure top results. As for attracting new fans, paid advertising continues to be a major driver. Workman says one of the frst things a dealer can Alexi Venneri, Digital Air Strike's co-founder and COO, told dealers in a recent webinar that they will have to "pay to play" to see results from Facebook. do is build a custom audience, which will connect them to potential customers by using email addresses, phone numbers and Facebook user IDs. Afer that, it's up to the dealers to maintain that connection. According to Experian, the No. 1 reason consumers support business fan pages is to receive discounts and coupons. Getting product information and sneak peeks at new products rounded out the Top 3 motivations. WebRev's Burt recommends supplementing those ofers with creative updates, contests, and photos of satisfed customers and in-house events. "Variety is the spice of Facebook," he says. "Ultimately, you still have to be fun. Tat's the whole idea about Facebook. If it's something that can be read quickly and ingested quickly, it's OK to throw it on your page." Facebook Autos Client Partner Patrick Workman works with the industry to make sure dealers' social media strategies are sound. Google's Head of Industry for Auto Lindsay Schultz leads the search giant's automotive team in Detroit. M AY 2013 • AUTODE ALE R MONTHLY.COM 15