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Many of you may remember that bbout a year ago, PCG Digital Marketing coined a term PODScore to help businesses understand how much “brand leakage” happened in a simple search for their name online. (you can find more about PODscore at www.podscore.org) We had a dealer type their company name into search and then count the number of listings they controlled. The result, through the PODscore formula, gave you a very simple numerical value of how well they dominated page one in search.

Our goal was two fold. First, get dealers to see what is online when they type in their name. Secondly, help them see that the more content they put out online, the more customer reviews they received, the more they were putting information out for their customers to see the more of the page they controlled and the better their PODscore would be.

Why I bring this up is I have been very inspired by reading Jim Lecinski, Winning The Zero Moment of Truth (ZMOT) and it made me think of how connected PODScore is in this pursuit. By no way am I saying that PODscore is the same as the zero moment, but it is a piece.

Statistics demonstrate that 70%-80%-90% of shoppers begin their search online to research not only WHAT to buy but WHOM to by from. Yet businesses spend less that 20% of their marketing budget online. Does this seem unbalanced?

I am a firm believer in using traditional marketing as a stimulus, but as the authors of ZMOT point out, this stimulus now drives people to the web to research your business or product. In the past it my have driven them to your store so they could rely on you as the expert, but now they can find out more online before they even set foot on your property.

Even though Google continues to rattle the search pages, I think bringing PODscore back to the discussion for businesses will help them understand how important ZMOT is for the future of their business.

Let’s use an example of a person looking for a car and assume they are not a brand loyalist. Even if they are, you can skip the first part and jump to the section dealing with “Where do I find it”.

First the customer decides on their price point. Then they search for vehicles that fit that price point. They will do their research on the vehicle using multiple websites to accomplish this task. Once they decide on what the vehicle is, then they move to the next step. “Where can I find it near me”

Next they type in the brand+dealer+geo-target location (ford dealer nj ). They are presented with options in Google Places.

In many cases you will find a multiple dealers listed with most having few or no customer reviews. Potential customers are looking for verification from your previous customers to help them make their decision. When you have no reviews, the potential customer moves on to another listing and you lose business.

If you dominate the Google Maps with reviews, then they should click through to your website to see what you have to offer. Understand that the more content you have online, the more listings you have in search for customers to see, this is an opportunity to reinforce with the customer that you are the place to shop.

If you are not dominating you give your competition a chance to steal that business away thanks to your advertising.

Winning the Zero Moment of Truth (ZMOT) is something all businesses need to embrace. A quick way to get a jump start on this is by using PODScore to give you a baseline to build from.

Glenn Pasch, COO

PCG Digital Marketing

Writing viral tweets and SEO-friendly content are more similar than you’d think.

When your dealership assesses your Page One Domination, the first thing you do (after logging out of Google) is check the SERP for each of your keywords.

Now, when thinking about Page One Domination and SEO it is important rank for phrases that your target market is searching for. If no one is searching for it, there’s no sense optimizing for it.

For example, one of PCG Digital Marketing’s target audiences is automotive dealers. Therefore, our keyword bank would include (but is not limited to) the following terms:

• “Automotive Internet Reputation Management”
• “Car Dealer Microsites”
• “Car Dealer SEO”
• “Fixed Operations SEO”
• “Internet Sales Manager”
• “Google Analytics For Car Dealers”
• “Automotive Digital Marketing Agency”

This process for coming up with an SEO strategy isn’t all that different from coming up with a Twitter strategy. If you approach Twitter from an SEO frame of mind, your tweets will be more specific and found by more people, therefore increasing engagement and following that could turn in to potential leads. Once you’re in the SEO mindset, it’s a lot easier to write these kinds of tweets and to be found on Twitter.

The #HashTag: The Crux of SEO-Minded Tweets

The hashtag (#) is to Twitter what anchor text is to SEO-friendly content. Think of the types of keywords you would optimize for and use them as hashtags in your tweets.

Think about it: you choose keywords based on what your target market is searching for. Hashtags are used to organize tweets topically, so you want to use hashtags for topics relevant to your business that your target market is searching for on Twitter.

Step 1: Research. When coming up with an SEO strategy, you would turn to Google Adwords Keyword Tool to find out which keywords return the highest number of local monthly searches. For Twitter, this is done using the same keywords, attached to a hashtag (#), in the search bar on Twitter.

You can test out your keywords to see who else is using them and what they have to say. This will help you determine which hashtags are being used in ways that are relevant to your business and are returning the types of results that you were looking for.

Why use the hashtag when searching as opposed to searching without the hashtag? The hashtag allows you to write tweets and search for tweets are are purposely trying to be found for the word or phrase attached to the hashtag. This leads to mean more relevant results than searching without the hashtag.

Step 2: Content. Make a working list of these terms and sharing it with anyone who manages your main Twitter account and adjoining Twitter accounts as well as your employees who have Twitter accounts. When writing your tweets or re-tweeting others’ content, make these words or phrases hashtags either throughout your tweet or at the end of your tweet.

Don’t forget: there are rules for using hashtags: the word or phrase you are using must be written as one word, without spaces or punctuation other than the # at the beginning.

For example: #automotiveseo or #parkavenuebmw

The moral of the story: Apply what you know. Use what you know about SEO and keywords in your Twitter campaign. You will find that your tweets are re-tweeted more often, you are gaining more followers from your target market, and your engagement will increase significantly.

Need a few examples? Follow @pcgdigital on Twitter to see how we’re using SEO concepts to write better tweets.

PCG Digital Marketing, a NJ-based leader in automotive digital marketing, automotive advertising and social media strategies, recently commenced its 12-week Automotive Internship Program.

Fourteen graduates from automotive dealerships across the nation successfully completed the AIP summer session, taking away invaluable tools in social media and digital marketing to help hoist their dealership’s online presence.

The 2011 Summer AIP Graduates are: Maria Bethard, Safford Auto Group; Dan Cioffoletti; Iris Claudio, Howdy Honda; Robert Dees, Jack Burford; Lindsey Geiger, Home Run Auto Sales; Liz Gutierrez, Lynn Smith Chevrolet; Jordan Jett, Prestige Volvo; Kristina Partin, McConnell; Tyler Russell, Lakewood Chevrolet; Jordan Scott, Davis GMC Buick; Brad Sill, Fisher Honda; Anna Taylor, McDonald Automotive; Kim Toth, Tunkhannock Auto Mart; Andrea VanderMey, McConnell.

About PCG Digital Marketing’s Automotive Internship Program

The AIP aims to prepare the next generation of automotive marketing professionals. Offered three times a year, the program is affordable and yields tremendous values for those seeking to dominate their competition.

The Automotive Internship Program, conducted by PCG Digital Marketing in Eatontown, NJ, is the first of its kind digital marketing internship program for car dealers. The program is composed of a 12-week long course, complete with weekly webinars, homework and exams. Students also receive a printed curriculum and online materials and community forums for support.

Read testimonials from graduates of PCG Digital Marketing’s Automotive Internship program at http://www.automotiveinternships.org/students/.