Pub. 9 2019 Issue 2

20 AUTOMOBILE DEALER NEWS ILLINOIS www.illinoisdealers.com ”Those little yellow stars result in clicks gained or lost, social engagements won or lost, physical visits that might never happen and, bottom line, lost revenue.” Learning by doing can’t be beaten, and we do a LOT of doing. The thousands of hours we spend helping automotive clients (and other markets) some perfect their social media marketing and take control of their online reputation result in new best practices. Just released, our Seventh Annual Automotive Social Media and Online Trends Study covers many of our learnings and captures insights from over 4,000 consumers. The report contains both promise and potential peril, sometimes hidden in plain sight. On the upside, we learned social media is more important to prospective auto buyers and service customers than ever. On the search front, performing local Google searches and reading corresponding ratings and reviews are sometimes the only research customers undertake. Customers say reviews are the most helpful tools when conducting online research, and they say they trust these metrics. Given our business, none of this shocked us. What gave us pause, however, were seemingly innocuous facts like: “73% of car buyers and service customers use Google Maps” Most respondents use Google Maps. Most Americans use GoogleMaps—so what? The problemwe uncovered is the double- edged sword of Google reviews: Since Google Maps lists star ratings alongside local business results, your poor star rating might be throwing up a last-minute red flag reading “Customer Beware.” Even for potential clients who are on their way to your business. AreGoogleMaps Reviews SteeringYour Customers Away? If your star rating is poor or non-existent, almost certainly. Especially if you’re listed next to a business with solid reviews. Customers tell us online star ratings and reviews are paramount, and statistics show they behave accordingly. Those little yellow stars result in clicks gained or lost, social engagements won or lost, physical visits that might never happen and, bottom line, lost revenue. Homing in on Google’s Rank Recipe We can’t knowGoogle’s algorithms unless we work at Google, and probably not even then. Any source who claims they have an inside track is likely peddling snake oil. Still, we can use Google’s published best practices and real-world testing to determine closely the factors at play. First, when we conduct a local search (e.g., “car dealerships Chicago Illinois”), Google returns three featured businesses (you definitely want to be one of them) and an option to view additional place results. Following the featured businesses are the top organic search results. While star ratings used to accompany the organic listings, they appear now only for maps results—making these listings critical. So, what determines local search rank? Geo-location likely plays a minor role, favoring businesses nearer to the searcher. Organic rank seems to play a major role, as businesses in the top 10 are more likely to be featured in the Local Pack top three. Google reviews (star ratings) factor in, and businesses may notice their How Google Maps May Be Hurting Your Business and 5 Ways to Prevent It