Ryan Everson's Ultimate Guide to Not Get Forked by Vendors

[Rick Buffkin]

@Jeff Kershner and @ryan.leslie . @reverson, Awesome thread. Please keep it going!!

 

[joe.pistell]

...The problem with creating these lists, most dealers aren't you. They don't have a you internally...

FYI: Last week at DD and DS, I met dozens of players that would find Ryan's posts very useful (plus, this is the spirit of DR). @Alexander Lau you're highly skilled in these matters, why not create a thread and create a thread that's a brain dump?

 

[Alexander Lau]

FYI: Last week at DD and DS, I met dozens of players that would find Ryan's posts very useful (plus, this is the spirit of DR). @Alexander Lau you're highly skilled in these matters, why not create a thread and create a thread that's a brain dump?

All for the useful info, but I suppose I'm used to a different format or a perceived format within a forum. I just think it's smarter to create a thread with a clear title for each issue, not a singular individual's thread and then sub posts within it. I think it dilutes the extent to which is can be used and why should I post in a Ryan thread if I have relevant info on the subject? Should I create my own thread on a subject or issue? Doesn't that duplicate the effort? I dig in the dB and on Google (thanks @Rick Buffkin = https://cse.google.com/cse/publicurl?cx=018437389317799583975:yppyxfo7p-g) for relevant threads before posting new content, for sake of de-duplication.

Also, I would think it smarter for SEO, using the title for things like 1. Adding UTM Tags on Internal Website Links, etc. and allowing that to rank within indexes.

 

[joe.pistell]

Ryan,
When you're evaluating a digital marketing product (e.g. chat, SEM, tradein tool, etc) what KPIs do you focus on? Do you look into engagement KPIs? If so, many internet directors would find this helpful as so many lack the technical background that you have.

Thoughts?

 

[C Dorman]

Love this thread. I'll add Access as one of the best ways of not getting "Forked" by vendors. And for a lot of dealers, that's a problem, because their vendors will not give them access to the reporting available in their accounts. And for good reason, if dealers saw how badly they were managing these accounts, they would fire these vendors immediately.

All too often dealers don't have their own Google Ads accounts that they control. Their vendors usually create an account for them and then restrict access to it to hide ineptitude and over charging.

Most dealers are not aware that they can create their own Google Ads account that they own and control so that they have full access that they can have a vendor manage under their MCC master client manager account.

If a vendor refuses to do this, you're going to get "Forked."

 

[Alexander Lau]

Love this thread. I'll add Access as one of the best ways of not getting "Forked" by vendors. And for a lot of dealers, that's a problem, because their vendors will not give them access to the reporting available in their accounts. And for good reason, if dealers saw how badly they were managing these accounts, they would fire these vendors immediately.

All too often dealers don't have their own Google Ads accounts that they control. Their vendors usually create an account for them and then restrict access to it to hide ineptitude and over charging.

Most dealers are not aware that they can create their own Google Ads account that they own and control so that they have full access that they can have a vendor manage under their MCC master client manager account.

If a vendor refuses to do this, you're going to get "Forked."

Again, much of this has been repeated throughout a ton of threads in this database. Access is always a problem, especially with agencies that have something to hide or don't want to play nice with other 3rd parties, as part of their paranoia. It's a lot easier to add it to a thread that has a title related to the subject (Google Analytics issues...) and for more pertinent.

 

[Sheena]

This thread motivated me to reach out see everyones throughts on my vendor.. I am fairly new to all this and have just recently gained access to our Google Ads Account...

I have been worried that we weren't getting the best bang for our buck with our PPC vendor for Google Ads. After analyzing our account and realizing we were appearing for irrelevant searches, I had asked for her to organize and optimize our campaigns. Her response: please send me what you would like changed.

After I had sent her a novel of every little thing that i thought should be updated/changed, she fixed it within a couple days. (She added a couple keywords of 'new for escape' rather than Ford...)The next monthly phone, she had explained that our budget isn't going to spend as much as it did last month and that the words were too specific.and reverted the changes.

I asked why 3/5 campaigns were on accelerated delivery and she explained that they had to be on accelerated in order to spend...

She suggested turning our OEM campaign into a dealer general campaign...I agreed. However, I noticed that both campaigns with the same keywords, ads, targeting, etc were both running. After asking if its worth it, she explained that we need to have the other campaign along with of our OEM campaign incase our OEM budget runs out. I gave it a couple days and noticed that we were spending a significant amount less in the OEM campaign - She gets back to me a week later and ensures me that our OEM campaign will be spending over the other campaign

... However, Our OEM campaign has still only spent $105 and our other Dealer General campaign has spend $484.

Is this normal? Should we be concerned?

 

[C Dorman]

This thread motivated me to reach out see everyones throughts on my vendor.. I am fairly new to all this and have just recently gained access to our Google Ads Account...

I have been worried that we weren't getting the best bang for our buck with our PPC vendor for Google Ads. After analyzing our account and realizing we were appearing for irrelevant searches, I had asked for her to organize and optimize our campaigns. Her response: please send me what you would like changed.

After I had sent her a novel of every little thing that i thought should be updated/changed, she fixed it within a couple days. (She added a couple keywords of 'new for escape' rather than Ford...)The next monthly phone, she had explained that our budget isn't going to spend as much as it did last month and that the words were too specific.and reverted the changes.

I asked why 3/5 campaigns were on accelerated delivery and she explained that they had to be on accelerated in order to spend...

She suggested turning our OEM campaign into a dealer general campaign...I agreed. However, I noticed that both campaigns with the same keywords, ads, targeting, etc were both running. After asking if its worth it, she explained that we need to have the other campaign along with of our OEM campaign incase our OEM budget runs out. I gave it a couple days and noticed that we were spending a significant amount less in the OEM campaign - She gets back to me a week later and ensures me that our OEM campaign will be spending over the other campaign

... However, Our OEM campaign has still only spent $105 and our other Dealer General campaign has spend $484.

Is this normal? Should we be concerned?

Sheena, you're getting FORKED!

I'm amazed that they gave you access, so I'll give them that, but you're getting FORKED big time. Never spend any of your own money with an OEM vendor that's handling your co-op spend.

Never.

In fact, NEVER HAVE AN OEM CO-OP VENDOR BUY YOUR NAME!

NEVER!

I swear to God I'm going to start a service for dealers that just buys their name and the names of their competitors/regional terms. Those campaigns are so simple there is no reason to waste your money, co-op or not, on them.

Make your OEM Co-op search vendor actually generate you car leads.

I know, what a concept, actually generating leads from people who want to buy your cars instead of doing next to nothing and blowing your budget on buying your name.

If you have any questions about how to set up an account, buy your name, etc, reach out, I'll be happy to show you how for free.

 

[Sheena]

It took me a while to finally gain access to the account... I have asked her in the past why we don't allocate money to the other campaigns rather than spending almost triple the amount on dealer campaigns... She didn't give me a clear answer. I am recently new to this dealership and only work part time. I am afraid that prior to me starting, the google ads were rarely monitored.

 

[C Dorman]

Sheena, if you look on the Deals forum, I posted an offer/rant on this exact topic. I will set up and manage a separate account owned by the dealership for a fixed rate of $200 a month that does nothing but buy their name, the names of their competitors and regional terms. This will force the OEM vendor to focus on what should be their real job, generating car sales leads.

I checked your background, you have more than the ability to do this.

I'm serious as a heart attack, I'm tired of these OEMs and their vendors ripping off dealers. What's worse is that the dealer is under the false impression that they are actually doing SEM marketing. They're not, they're just wasting their money with these thieves.

If you want to learn how to do this call me at 949.910.0421 or email me at chip@torqueanalytics and I'll help you do it. For free.

The only thing that I ask is that you give back to the automotive community by sharing your results.

But I will warn you, Ford and FordDirect will not like this. You will be exposing them and if all the other Ford dealers follow suit, costing them a lot of money.