Another successful Automotive Analytics and Attribution Summit is in the books for Brian Pasch Enterprises and PCG Digital. It’s no secret that this event is filled with the most progressive minds in the industry, all of whom have a mission to drive Automotive forward. When all of these people are in one room, great things are bound to happen.
At this year’s AAAS, a point was made across dealers and vendors alike that our industry needs to move forward with a team mindset if we are going to continue to make the advancements needed. Through multiple keynotes, workshops, and panels, the takeaways are endless. As the Paid Media Director at PCG Digital, my most important takeaways from industry events always lean on the strategic marketing end, and AAAS 2021 was no exception. Here are my top 2:
1. Standardizing the way we execute and report Search Engine Marketing
It’s no secret that our industry has never had a standard way of running our Google Ads. Yes there’s the playbook, and yes, there’s consistency in the type of campaigns we run, but after that we fall short. Brian, myself, and PCG’s SEM Team are working towards advancing our current playbook to include how to best run and measure Google Ads for optimal success. This new framework includes account splitting for sales and service, standardizing Google Analytics views, and optimizing campaigns using a value-based bidding strategy.
2. It’s no longer attribution, but influence
Digital advertising is going privacy-first, meaning there has been and will continue to be a large emphasis on user privacy when it comes to the way we execute and measure digital. No longer are we able to truly attribute digital to a sale, but rather measure influence. Frustrating? Yes. The future whether we are frustrated or not? Also yes. Now is the time for dealers to adopt measurement tactics like Media Mix modeling into their monthly and quarterly reporting.
The Automotive digital climate has changed more in the last 18 months than it has in the last 3 years. It’s full steam ahead for this industry, making events like the Automotive Analytics and Attribution Summit just that more important for not only General Managers and Dealer Principals, but for Marketing Managers too. See you in 2022!
Sarah Ciociola
