Google VLAs for Auto Sales
“I don’t want to be at the top of Google,” said no one ever!
The latest and greatest trend in Automotive advertising does JUST that. It brings your dealership and your inventory to the top of Google. The latest & greatest buzzword in automotive advertising (well actually 4 words) is Google Vehicle Listing Ads or Google VLAs. They are paid placements for vehicles that show up at the top of Google Search Results.
Google VLAs provide a new spin on the world’s most-used search engine and marketplace. Because the technology is new and fresh and not yet over-saturated, it gives local dealers a great opportunity for success.
Google VLAs are only for used inventory and display details such as:
• Your dealership’s location
• The specific vehicle make/model/trim + headline
• Price
• Dealership name
• Proximity to the user
When searching for my favorite high heels, I simply search Christian Laboutin and peruse all the listings Google finds for me. From there I look at color, cost, and vendor to determine which I will click on first, and eventually purchase. The process is quick and painless—except for the $800 price tag. Imagine this same simple process for vehicle purchases.
For the first time in history, Google is offering the marketplace a way to display feed-based used auto inventory in search results through a paid placement.
While similar in resemblance to paid searches, they are different in nature and execution, because with VLAs, what’s displayed is your dealerships’ real-time inventory. To put it simply, if you have the vehicle someone has searched for, you’re eligible to bid and show up. If you don’t, you won’t.
Because the program is so new, there are no hard-and-fast standards to adhere to and like everything in marketing, the key to success is monitoring your progress and optimizing often.
So what should you cut to adjust for this new horizon in digital? A broad and simple suggestion is to evaluate your lowest converting media..take a pause and compare your VDP traffic and conversions after 30 days using Google VLAs. Chances are if the customer is typing 2109 Ford Explorer, that’s exactly what they are looking to purchase…low funnel leads at their finest. From there, it’s all about monitoring the data to watch your conversions grow and adjust accordingly!