Does SEM work? Not according to this stinging indictment.

[ed.brooks]

According to this article published online on March 11th in Harvard Business Review/Slate, eBay has come to the conclusion that SEM - paid search - is a waste of money.

Do Paid Search Ads Work? - Slate

This has created a lot of discussion online, much of it consolidated here: AdWords “Ineffective” Says eBay, Google “Meta-Pause Analysis” Contradicts Those Findings - Search Engine Land

What are your thoughts?

 

[ddavis]

Ed, great article. I put a link to the study that Dataium did for Cars.com on here before. It came to many of the same conclusions. Note that it says that the average dealer is spending 55% of their internet budget on search. This is a subject that many don't seem to want to talk about. To Read the study click here.

 

[Alex Snyder]

A couple of things:

1. eBay is an enigma. To try to run your dealership off of eBay practices is not advisable.
2. With a nationally known brand name your advertising needs are more about branding than specifics.
3. With a nationally well known name and great reputation you are a destination that people don't need to search for. You are the search engine!

I'm not going to deny that a diverse portfolio is always the key to good investing and that applies to marketing as well. But if you're not eBay, don't try to be eBay

Thanks for sparking the conversation Ed - this may turn into a lot of fun.

 

[ed.brooks]

A couple of things:

1. eBay is an enigma. To try to run your dealership off of eBay practices is not advisable.
2. With a nationally known brand name your advertising needs are more about branding than specifics.
3. With a nationally well known name and great reputation you are a destination that people don't need to search for. You are the search engine!

I'm not going to deny that a diverse portfolio is always the key to good investing and that applies to marketing as well. But if you're not eBay, don't try to be eBay

Thanks for sparking the conversation Ed - this may turn into a lot of fun.

eBay is a completely different animal - agreed. But studies from Cars.com, Dataium, AutoTrader.com, Polk, etc. all suggest that dealers at least reevaluate their SEM money when it is spent on Branded Keywords - "Billy Bob's Ford" rather "West Bumblefudge Ford".

All the data suggests that a reevaluation is in order.

 

[jgreen0909]

Great article. Clearly, not every business is an "Ebay" however, If you are properly optimizing your website and regularly producing timely relevant content, your organic search results will be sufficient enough that you wouldn't have to spend significant ad dollars for your brand specific keywords. There is a place in your marketing mix for that, but it should not be a significant investment. Paid ads are best used for expanding the reach of your brand beyond the basics. Use paid for special events, promoting smaller aspects of your business that you are not as well known for. Of course, none of this matters if you're not effectively measuring the return on your advertising dollars.

 

[ddavis]

Thanks for sparking the conversation Ed - this may turn into a lot of fun.

I'm sure this would be more "fun" if it was on one of the other websites where the vendors out number the dealers by 10:1 and their participation (self promotion) is encouraged.

Jeffrey, good points and glad to see your participation.

 

[Adam Ross]

Good discusion, Ed. In defense of AdWords, Ebay can blame Google all they'd like, but when you don't differentiate your campaigns, you're destined to fail. Don't blame the medium, blame the one placing the ads. They were bidding on keywords that they already ranked for organically, not using AdWords to expand their reach. Check out this article that explains WHY Ebay failed, over and over again, at AdWords. "Historically, eBay’s approach has been to bid on pretty much every keyword possible, with no targeting whatsoever" How Not to Run a PPC Campaign, Inspired by eBay?s AdWords #Fail | Search Engine Journal

From "The UK's Daily Telegraph" - "The eBay study found that most people who clicked through the advertised links were loyal customers who would have come to their website anyway." This is what dealerships used to tell me was the reason they didn't need to buy leads, or advertise online. The "Anyway argument" opens the door for your competition to steal away your loyal organic followers. It's also, for dealerships, almost impossible to accurately measure. eBay study dismisses value of advertising on Google - Telegraph

Maybe somebody at Google should have worked closer with them, considering that they were spending millions monthly on AdWords?

 

[joe.pistell]

I didn't read the article and I already know drawing conclusions from an ebay study and applying it to a local Landscaping Business is simply failed science.

...Likewize, so goes the loose connections to our market place.



(I can't help but stirr the pot!!

 

[joe.pistell]

I know LOTS of smart people making BONE HEADED decisions because the "pied pipers song of big data".

The Larger, wider and deeper the data set, the more critical becomes CONTEXT.




p.s. I still haven't read the article

 

[ed.brooks]

I didn't read the article and I already know drawing conclusions from an ebay study and applying it to a local Landscaping Business is simply failed science.

...Likewize, so goes the loose connections to our market place.



(I can't help but stirr the pot!!

I know LOTS of smart people making BONE HEADED decisions because the "pied pipers song of big data".

The Larger, wider and deeper the data set, the more critical becomes CONTEXT.




p.s. I still haven't read the article

Wow, Joe! So many obscure and unrelated references. Big Data. Landscaping Businesses. I'm assuming that you have started smoking SOMETHING since the move to Vermont. I look forward to your insights AFTER you read the article.