1. GOOGLE ADWORDS CASE STUDY – AUTOmOTivE TEAm AT GOOGLE
Top auto dealer increased leads 350 percent
with campaigns combining traditional media
and Google AdWords.
Marketing challenges and goals
• Courtesy Chevrolet
• www.houseofcourtesy.com
• The largest Chevrolet dealership in America with more than 11,000 annual vehicle
About the Automotive teAm sales and nearly 400 employees
At GooGle
Marketing challenges and goals
The Automotive Team provides industry
insight and advises all Google teams
• Advance customers through the sales funnel
managing Automotive accounts. We
work to ensure that Automotive clients
• Maintain low cost per lead
get industry-specific solutions and the
maximum value from their partnership
• Acquire new customers
with Google. • Increase visibility to previous customers going online
• Target specific demographics in defined local areas
About GooGle AdWoRdS • Maximize marketing return on investment
Google AdWords is currently used by Solution
thousands of businesses worldwide to
gain new customers in a cost-effective • Use Google AdWords™ during all phases of the sales process
way. AdWords use keywords to precisely
target ad delivery to web users seeking • Devise branding-oriented campaigns using non-vehicle-based offers that capture
information about a particular product or the attention of consumers prior to the start of their shopping process
service. The program is based on cost-
per-click (CPC) pricing, so advertisers only • Create campaigns using model- specific relevant offers to reach online car buyers
pay when an ad is clicked on. Advertisers
can take advantage of an extremely broad further along in the sales cycle
distribution network, and choose the level
of support and spending appropriate for • Implement site targeting, by placing text-based sponsored links and image ads on
their business. relevant sites in the Google content network
For more information on launching your • Create targeted microsites, landing pages and deep links into relevant content
own campaign or getting expert help, visit within the website
http://adwords.google.com.
• Use geographic targeting to direct specific ads to customers located in the
Phoenix metro area and selected micro-markets based on specialized segment
opportunities
• Integrate online marketing efforts with traditional media such as billboards, radio,
television, magazines and direct mail
Results
• AdWords is the most cost-efficient tool for branding and advancing customers
through the sales funnel
• Integrated marketing strategy including AdWords has boosted lead volume 350
percent over 19-month period
• Almost 30,000 people visited Courtesy websites by clicking on AdWords-placed
ads, generating well over 2,000 online and phone leads, resulting in 174
vehicles sold

2. GOOGLE ADWORDS CASE STUDY – AUTOmOTivE TEAm AT GOOGLE
Business overview
“When you compare $2 Edward Fitzgerald and R. Mitchel McClure founded Courtesy Chevrolet in 1955 in
per click with AdWords an old farmhouse in Phoenix, Arizona. With nearly 400 employees, the company
to an outdoor billboard is currently the largest Chevrolet dealer in America by total sales volume. Courtesy
campaign that costs us Chevrolet relies heavily on the Internet to communicate with customers and increase
sales while honing in on specific target markets. For example, they have set up an
$10 to $15 for every
online information and referral service to offer Phoenix-area women a hassle-free
person who visits the URL place to get advice on car purchases, maintenance and other automotive related
featured on the sign, you topics. Using online sales processes that completely remove the confrontational
can see why AdWords is aspects of more traditional automotive retail sales, Courtesy has been able to recruit
so attractive.” and hire a team of female sales professionals who offer a female-friendly car buying
experience. The AskPatty.com team has its own dedicated monthly AdWords budget
Ralph Paglia for generating customer leads.
Courtesy Chevrolet
Marketing challenges and goals
Ralph Paglia, Director of CRM and eBusiness Operations, heads up the dealership’s
interactive marketing campaigns. As part of the overall multi-channel integrated
marketing strategy, he puts together marketing campaigns using a blend of
new technologies and traditional media. He constantly seeks ways to maximize
marketing return on investment and to move customers from interest through
to final purchase as efficiently as possible. Paglia also supervises a team of
more than 60 Internet Sales Specialists, Customer Service Representatives,
CRM Administrators, Internet Sales Managers, Team Leaders and Business
Development Managers.
Among Paglia’s mainstay marketing tools is Google AdWords™ search-based
advertising. “Measurable yields are what we’re after, and we’ve found time and
again that AdWords delivers tremendous return on investment for us, both in terms
of acquiring new customers and keeping cost per sale as low as possible,” he says.
He has introduced AdWords to several of his managers who have their own accounts
and use online campaigns for such specific purposes as recruiting Internet
Sales Specialists and finding potential sellers who own certain vehicles that
the dealership seeks for its used car inventory.
The Google solution
Paglia uses AdWords to reach customers during all phases of the automotive
sales cycle. Using his interactive marketing strategy, he strives to reach potential
automotive buyers during the awareness, engagement, consideration and purchase
stages. Using relevant microsite content, inquiries are directed to specialized teams
working in the phase of vehicle shopping targeted by the AdWords campaign.
For example, to raise awareness, Paglia sets up integrated online and offline
campaigns to build the Courtesy Chevrolet brand. In one campaign, potential
customers were directed to www.YouGotGas.com using traditional offline media
like billboards saying “Got Gas?” together with TV commercials and radio ads.
As part of the campaign, he used AdWords to help drive people to the site, which
contained the contest specifics. When directed to the site, people were asked to
enter a weekly drawing by filling out a registration form on the web. The winner
received $500 in free gasoline. Furthermore, if the customer completed the online
registration process, and then purchased or leased a new Chevrolet car or truck from
the Internet sales department, the consumer was offered a year’s worth of pre-paid
fuel cards.

3. GOOGLE ADWORDS CASE STUDY – AUTOmOTivE TEAm AT GOOGLE
In order to engage a customer, Paglia creates targeted microsites and landing
“Site targeting in AdWords pages to provide the consumer with relevant information that is specific to an
associated AdWords campaign. As of February 2007, Courtesy Chevrolet has over
is a fantastic tool that 350 URL addresses for their websites, microsites, landing pages and deep links,
has really improved our and uses Google’s capabilities to direct the consumer to these sites. For example,
ability to reach specific for www.LatinoChevy.com and other sites targeted to the Latino community, the
demographics and team deploys Spanish-language AdWords ads to improve results. Furthermore, he
improve our results.” takes advantage of geographic targeting in AdWords to help ensure that potential
customers are located in targeted areas throughout Phoenix and Arizona.
Ralph Paglia
In addition to Google’s ad products, Paglia uses Google Groups to promote Courtesy
Courtesy Chevrolet
Chevrolet’s message. Once an interested consumer lands on one of his sites, she
is encouraged to learn more, subscribe to Courtesy’s newsletter, or discuss her
questions with other members of the group, thus continuing a dialogue during a key
consideration period.
In Paglia’s interactive marketing strategy, the Google advertising platform has proven
to be an effective way to reach online car buyers who are further along in the sales
cycle, at the moment they’re looking for a new or used car. Using Google’s site
targeting program, Courtesy Chevy ads appear on specific and relevant content sites
in the Google network. Given that the Google Network reaches more than 80 percent
of US Internet users*, Paglia’s strategy is to use both text-based sponsored links
and display image ads containing photos and rich media on these sites. Courtesy
creates the ads and then distributes them using AdWords keyword based campaigns
or by selecting specific sites using AdWords Site Targeted campaign capabilities to
reach target customers. For example, in order to reach potential customers during
the consideration phase, ads are placed on product research related automotive-
oriented information sites. Alternatively, if a consumer is reading about gas prices,
he or she may notice a relevant Courtesy ad next to the article offering an incentive
to register for a coupon that is converted to a prepaid fuel car upon taking a test
drive, or simply receive new model information updates.
To measure results, Paglia uses Google Analytics™ to track where website visitors
are coming from and how they interact with the site. With this data in hand, he can
measure the effectiveness of both his online and offline campaigns.
Google and Courtesy Chevy’s Buying Cycle
Integrated online/offline
Awareness campaigns w/Google AdWords
Targeted Microsites & Landing Pages
Engagement AdWords, Geo Targeting Google Groups
Consideration Site Targeting
Purchase Google Analytics

4. GOOGLE ADWORDS CASE STUDY – AUTOmOTivE TEAm AT GOOGLE
Results
“AdWords has spoiled us.” Paglia recognizes that traditional and online media work together to contribute
to the success of every campaign. He also has learned that AdWords has become
Ralph Paglia the most cost-efficient tool in the Courtesy Chevrolet marketing mix. It enhances
Courtesy Chevrolet localized branding with the dealership’s extensive customer base, targets new
arrivals to the Phoenix area, generates leads and advances customers through the
sales funnel to final purchase. “When you compare $2 per click with AdWords to an
outdoor billboard campaign that costs us $10 to $15 for every person who visits the
URL featured on the sign, you can see why AdWords is so attractive,” he observes.
Using an integrated marketing strategy including AdWords and other Google
products, Courtesy Chevrolet has increased the volume of leads generated over a
19-month period 350 percent. “The real magic lies in using an integrated approach
that combines online sponsored links, text and image ads pointing to easily- tracked
unique URLs along with different URLs featured in traditional media,” notes Paglia.
The ability to target sites for AdWords placement based on specific categories
or markets has been an especially fruitful tool. From December 2005 through
March 2006 alone, Courtesy Chevrolet’s in-house marketing campaigns generated
33,257,657 impressions. Almost 30,000 visited one of Courtesy’s sites, generating
well over 2,000 online and phone leads, resulting in 174 vehicles sold. “Site
targeting in AdWords is a fantastic tool that has really improved our ability to reach
specific demographics and improve our results,” he says.
Moving forward, the Courtesy team is creating even more granular landing pages
and microsites and expanding their strategies to create more targeted ads and place
them on specific sites using site targeting in AdWords. Paglia sums up: “AdWords
has spoiled us.”
* comScore, September 2006
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