Google recently released their Dealer Guidebook 2.5, about 1 month after we released our 2021 Automotive Success Playbook. The timing is perfect! Google’s Dealer Guidebook 2.5 is a standalone resource, but it’s also a great complement to the Dealer Teamwork 2021 Automotive Success Playbook.

Our Playbook covers a wide swath of topics to help dealers strategize for omnichannel digital marketing success. Google’s Guidebook focuses specifically on Google tools and best practices to maximize ROI from their channels. We recommend reading the 2021 Automotive Success Playbook first, and then read Google’s Dealer Guidebook 2.5 for a deeper dive into Google-specific solutions and recommendations.

We offer a brief comparison here to outline the insights that align between the two. Then we highlight key insights that our Playbook does deeper dives on vs areas Google does deeper dives on. Together, these resources arm your dealership with the tools, insights and action plans needed to succeed in 2021!

• 3 Primary Differences
• Key Similarities
• What’s Unique to the Dealer Teamwork 2021 Automotive Success Playbook?
• What’s Unique to the Google Dealer Guidebook 2.5?

3 Primary Differences

Key Similarities

• Both have actionable checklists to help you implement these strategies and solutions right away. The checklists are unique in each though, so be sure to download both for full coverage.
• Each contains a brief recap of the previous editions of the Ebook to cover what’s still relevant.
• Most importantly: marketing automation isn’t the way of the future, it’s your key to success now!
  • Google’s automation helps you reach people with purchase intent, and then “deliver it in the most effective way.” – Google Dealer Guidebook 2.5
  • Dealer Teamwork’s automation comes from our patented digital marketing software, the MPOP®. It helps you craft the best message possible with many variations to meet shoppers at every stage of the journey. Plus, automation saves you time getting that high-quality message out there.
• Both Ebooks cover search engine marketing (SEM) / pay per click (PPC) recommendations, including use of Local Campaigns and Smart Bidding strategies.
• Both vehemently stress the importance of video.
• Both cover the importance of Digital Retailing, also known as Online Retailing, including tips to provide the best experience possible.

“73% of auto buyers are comfortable negotiating purchase, lease or financing terms completely online or with a mix of online/offline.” 

“65% of auto purchasers expect to have more online options to purchase a vehicle.”

Insights from the Google Dealer Guidebook 2.5

• And finally, both wrap up themes of the Ebook in a high-level summary about what successful dealers are doing now.

What’s Unique to the Dealer Teamwork 2021 Automotive Success Playbook?

• Our recap section not only summarizes insights from our previous Automotive Success Playbook, it also covers what’s no longer relevant.
• Our SEM section focuses on newer tactics and strategies to try, specific to 2021. We have covered this subject many times in webinars, blog articles and other Ebooks, so this time we focused on what’s new and offer links to other resources throughout the Ebook to learn more.
• We cover Google Discovery Campaigns. The Google Guidebook mentions it in a checklist item, but does not go into detail about it.
• We cover search engine optimization (SEO) tactics that are vital to the success of dealerships, especially amid the market turbulence we’ve had and will continue to have.
• We also put special emphasis on local SEO efforts, because your most valuable opportunities are often in your own backyard.
• We cover social media marketing topics like Facebook and Instagram’s new On Facebook Destination for Automotive Inventory Ads (OFDAIA) feature and the importance of leveraging Facebook Marketplace.

“A Dealer Teamwork Ford dealership using OFDAIAs increased used vehicle purchases by 83% and lowered their cost-per-lead by 53%.” 

Insight from Dealer Teamwork’s 2021 Automotive Success Playbook.

• On top of providing insights and trends that prove the importance of having video in your digital marketing arsenal, we also take a step back to help dealers new to video get started. Specifically, we cover tips for creating videos and where to post them before we get into video advertising recommendations.
• We answer the question, “Is email marketing still important?” Answer: yes! And we cover email marketing best practices for structuring your campaigns and audience segmentation, plus tips on how to be more efficient.
• The final section of our Ebook ties the rest together by covering how to measure digital marketing success. Google also talks a lot about measurement being a key to success, but we cover this theme on the omnichannel scale.
• We also have many additional insights that are still extremely helpful to dealers in the 2020 Automotive Success Playbook which can be downloaded here if you want to read it first.

As previously mentioned, we recommend you read the 2021 Automotive Success Playbook before you jump into the Google Dealer Guidebook 2.5 to work your way down to deeper dives into channel-specific recommendations. 

What’s Unique to the Google Dealer Guidebook 2.5?

• A very helpful feature of the Google Dealer Guidebook 2.5 is the case studies they use to support their best practice recommendations. Dealer Teamwork highlights stats from our case studies and other subject matter experts, but we do not list full case studies in our Ebook. Full Dealer Teamwork case studies can be found here.
• Google also has a great recommendation for taking online retailing to the next level. They recommend using video to create a virtual showroom. This is a great way to help car buyers shop and “test drive” your inventory before they are ready to connect with your dealership. This is important because of another insight Google provides in their Dealer Guidebook 2.0, “41% [of auto purchasers] first communicate with the dealership when they arrive in person.” That’s a huge percent of shoppers who are influenced solely by information they find on their own to make their purchase decision. So you better be there with the resources they need to choose you, or you’re missing out on almost half of the potential sales opportunities out there!
• Smart Bidding is an amazing feature of Google Ads that helps dealers drive more conversions and store visits through machine learning and automation. But keep Google’s words in mind. They state, “the system is only as smart as the inputs it’s given,” and they highlight the common pitfalls to avoid when using Smart Bidding strategies.
• Since the entire Ebook covers Google-owned channels, they naturally dive deeper into additional SEM ad formats and helpful Google tools. A few additional topics to look out for are Dynamic Search Ads, TrueView for action (YouTube ad format), the Dealer Opportunity Explorer and their Profitability Calculator.

When you’re done with the 2021 Automotive Success Playbook, get the Google Dealer Guidebook 2.5 here!

If you’re ready to get started with any of these tactics right away, Dealer Teamwork is a Google Premier Partner and offers omnichannel digital marketing services. See how we can help you succeed in 2021 with a product demonstration.