When consumers begin their car search, they are turning to their smartphones to research this huge purchase. The car shopping journey is increasingly influenced by mobile, instead of dealership visits. According to a Google study, the average car shopper in 2006 made five visits to dealerships in order to research potential vehicles. Ten years later, that number has dropped to two. With buyers making limited visits to dealerships, it’s critical that you have an ad strategy in place to reach active buyers.

Google recently investigated search patterns and foot traffic data and discovered that the most popular to reveal popular times of year for consumers to visit actively shop at a dealership are during summer and the holiday season. Take advantage of these key moments and ensure people head to your dealership and not the lot next door.

During these busy periods, auto shoppers prefer checking out cars during daytime hours. When they’re on the lot, consumers are still using their smartphones to search for information. According to Google, the top action people perform with their phones while on the lot is confirming that they are getting a good price on a vehicle.

An ongoing ad strategy will help you drive foot traffic year round, but during these peak shopping times, consider adjusting your mobile budgets so your ads appear when people are searching for auto information near your dealership. By executing the following strategies and making sure you have a mobile-friendly site, you will reach shoppers when they are ready to buy.

Dynamic PPC Ads: Car shoppers typically begin their search in the Google search bar, looking for a specific make or model. We help you reach active buyers by delivering your real-time online inventory via our Dynamic PPC Ads. Our servers crawl your site and extract the cars you have on your lot. We create ads for your current inventory and when a consumer searches for a car you have in stock, your ad appears. When they click on your ad, they go directly to the vehicle details page (VDP) for that car. Dynamic ads give you the ability to advertise your entire inventory: new and used. Connecting active buyers with their ideal car means more sales for your dealership.

Enable Extensions: Providing detailed information through ad extensions can increase CTR and make it easier for consumers to call, text, or locate your business. Give your ads relevancy and value by enabling the following extensions:

• Sitelink extensions: if you want to direct users to specific pages on your site.
• Call/text extensions: if you encourage phone calls or texts.
• Location extensions: if you want to direct buyers to your lot.

Compelling Call-to-Action (CTA): Put all of your important information and mobile-specific CTAs in the title or first line of your mobile ads. Fill that space with incentives and promotions that will drive traffic to your dealership.