Superstars Miranda Kerr, Catherine McNeil & Abbey Lee Kershaw – all from DownUnder – are among the 11 models in this year’s Pirelli calendar.

The Pirelli calendar is about to be released to its usual select audience of 10,000 world wide.
You first read about it on the Cars Guide site, and the three Aussie models follow a well worn trail of Australian pulchitude that has adorned this calendar over the years, at exotic locations all over the world.

But here’s the twist.

The review of the Pirelli calendar on the Cars Guide site is written by a lassie called Karla Pincott. So what’s remarkable about that?

All it shows to me is that the smell of rubber dust in the nostrils can even jump a generation or two. I bet London to a brick that she’s related to an old pioneer of the Australian retreading industry, Jim Pincott, who used to make the “Kookaburra” buffing blades used to prepare a tyre for retreading, and a whole range of retreading equipment. Jim had a flourishing business in the fifties/sixties, and his involvement in the industry dated back to the days of Sir Frank Beaurepaire. So when I said “pioneer”, I meant it!

SEO, Page Rank, Link Building… for automotive specialists

Running an automotive shop requires a large set of skills. Expertise in servicing and repairing cars is one thing, but the way you market your shop to attract and retain customers will make your living.

Nowadays customers research information online before they make buying decisions. This is especially true when they do  not really understand precisely what they need, which is the case more often than not.

The customers are online, and therefore, mechanics and service centres need to reach them online. The ideal way to do so is to be well ranked in the search engines.

But how do you do this?

Search Engines like Google, Yahoo or Bing, use a large range of metrics to rank websites (the most popular being the page rank). Most of these metrics take the quantity and the quality of links pointing to your website to rank it in the search engine results pages.

The nugget is this: you need to get quality links pointing to your website to boost your rankings.

When subscribing to CarbonBlack, we take really good care of your SEO position. Of course you will receive leads from qualified customers, but SEOwise, the CarbonBlack  subscription will help you:

• Manage your online reputation with a page dedicated to your business that will rank well when someone searches for your business name.
• If you don’t have a website, your CarbonBlack page will be found when someone searches for your services in your suburb.
• Carbonblack promotes your own website in various places giving you links that will boost your own website’s rankings.

Don’t stop at CarbonBlack links to your site. Look for good quality links whenever you can.

Yahoo! / Microsoft Deal – and what this changes for us

Two weeks ago we discussed the algorithm changes in Google that was largely commented among Search Marketers and ended the article with a nice tease “pack your bag for Bing”. Now it’s official, with the Yahoo! / Microsoft deal on search, you can definitely pack!

What is the deal between Yahoo! and Microsoft about?

This deal means Yahoo search engine will be replaced by Bing. Bing becoming Yahoo! + Microsoft’s only search engine.  If you do the maths, even with minimum numbers, Bing should grow naturally to a 15% market share in search.

That should only be a start as the deal was signed with a 10 year term and Microsoft will have full access to the entire Yahoo! core search technologies, meaning they should be able to further improve Bing and throw marketing dollars at it, whish they have already started doing!

Another major consequence is the merger of Yahoo! Search Marketing and Microsoft Ad Center, bringing a strong player in the paid search marketing space…

What should YOU do, if you are in the automotive space online?

Clearly, it’s time to stop focusing on Google only. Microsoft has the motivation to catch up and this deal shows us that it’s not only about motivation!

Think about SEO for Bing, create a Bing webmaster account to ensure your website pages have been indexed by this engine, and check your rankings regularly.

Then, it’s time to diversify your Search Engine Advertising and give the Microsoft Adcenter a try for your ads. You’ll first realise the average cost per click is cheaper than Google Adwords and conversions generally higher, but this is only due to the fact the competition is not as fierce as in google, and this is likely to change!

What’s the timeline?

Yahoo says the entire operation will take 24 months to be completed. Therefore, you don’t have to rush just right now, but this deal will still bring a lot of changes for all online businesses and it’s better to anticipate it.

At CarbonBlack we rank better in Bing than in Yahoo. That’s a good start, but we’ll be providing better insights on how to best leverage Bing, be it organically or in regards with paid advertising to all our clients.

If you are a tyre dealer, a mechanic, a car dealer, an automotive brand… you can let the CarbonBlack experts worry about what happens between Bing, Google and Yahoo!.

Become a member now and CarbonBlack will start sending you qualified leads at the lowest cost in the market.

Google’s new algorithms – patience required or we pack our bags for Bing

SEO gurus and webmasters have watched over the last few weeks as Google has been changing its SERP rankings. From what we can tell so far, there seems yet to be clarity on the changes. To the frustration of all of us, Google does not announce their algorithm updates, and we continue to test results and frequent blogs and forums to gain any further insight. But many gurus suggest Google is experimenting with trust and authority in their algorithms.

“We have well established sites being outranked by new sites and by sites with very few backlinks. Also by sites using black hat techniques and unfortunately we see some established and often very trustworthy white hat websites simply disappearing from the rankings altogether. At the same time we have literally day old Craigslist posts ranking in the top results. Some .edu and .gov sites have flown to the top while others have plummeted.” (SiteProNews)

Patience required or we’ll pack our bags for Bing.

The CarbonBlack SEO team will keep you updated in our blog.

CarbonBlack talks to The Australian Business

CarbonBlack talks about the importance of lead generation and it’s expansion into parts and accessories ecommerce. CarbonBlack in the Australian.

- The Australian, June 2009

From tyres to e-commerce – AFR Mar 3 2009

Motor Traders’ Association finds new customers online

The Motor Traders’ Association (MTA) of New South Wales offers Pre-Purchase Inspection facilities for anyone buying or selling a used car. To reach this mass consumer market the MTA has previously undertaken both traditional and online advertising campaigns. However these considerable investments were not successful in putting them in front of most of the people, most of the time and did not produce successful measurable outcomes. The MTA wanted to raise its the brand profile in the community and directly target those consumers in the market to buy or sell a used car.

The Solution

The MTA had already incorporated a level of technology into its Pre-Purchase Inspection program. Gone were the days of impossible to decipher, scribbly hand written inspection forms. Modern inspections are now conducted by an accredited professional with tailored hand-held technology able to download the reports to a central server. Records are emailed to every client.

The MTA realised that its adoption of technology and capitalising on the benefits of the internet were crucial to the next phase of development. It needed to reach the mass market on a regular basis to keep them up to date on its services, but within budget.

The MTA elected to partner with CarbonBlack TyreXchange to strategically drive its service leads. It signed up to the CarbonBlack pay-per-lead plan to join Australia’s leading independent online directory for all things auto. The CarbonBlack TyreXchange allows the MTA to reach its target market via a range of options including email marketing programs, toll free number hosting and online facilities including a ‘Click to Phone (Voice over Internet Protocol) button, clicks through to the MTA website and online bookings.

The Benefits

The MTA is already experiencing early days of success with a great return on its investment.
Now the MTA only pays for sales leads it generates; it can choose from a variety of channels of customer contact; and it has access to over 600,000 profiled consumers with the CarbonBlack offering. CarbonBlack is expert at acquiring customers for auto-related organisations and is a new and innovative medium for connecting the auto consumers with industry.
CarbonBlack Membership has allowed the MTA to undertake electronic marketing campaigns to regional markets, further supporting the cause of its members and car owners based both in the city and outside of urbanised areas. With an early influx of calls requesting local details for inspection centres, the MTA will continue to receive interest as the search index options increase.

According to James McCall, CEO, Motor Traders’ Association:

“CarbonBlack has been servicing our organization now for the past few months. Their lead generation marketing offers a great solution to many of our members. I fully endorse their services and I encourage all of you to take a look at what they have to offer. In times like we are facing success based marketing should be front of mind.”

Running a Business online can now be “All Things Auto”

The internet has been highly successful in reaching consumers and profiling a wide range of products. Well now the auto industry is taking its turn. Australia’s number one independent tyre site, CarbonBlack is rapidly becoming the preferred place to shop for tyres and auto parts for both consumers and trade buyers.

CarbonBlack TyreXchange links consumers and trade buyers to a network of premier auto service centres and directories for tyres, parts and servicing requirements. Its recent agreement with Advanced Automotive Data Services now includes more than 920,000 catalogued aftermarket auto parts online. Over 7,800 vehicle makes and models – from the 1950’s to current models can be matched to tyres and parts quickly and easily, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

By directly connecting auto dealers to consumers and trade buyers, individual dealers can measure the marketing investment for establishing an internet presence and generating online sales leads with the CarbonBlack online reporting system.

With measurable sales leads doubling every six months, Australian auto and tyre dealers are generating new business opportunities and revenue streams – plus creating a unique internet presence.

It’s as easy as ABC with CarbonBlack

For ABC Tyre power and Mechanical in Sydney’s suburban Rosebery, subscribing to the CarbonBlack TyreXchange increased relevant customer enquiries and sales, generating an estimated 8% annual growth to the business.

We have experienced a growth in both regular and casual customers

outlined Chris Tofalakis, proprietor of ABC Tyre power.

ABC Tyre power’s company profile was viewed more than 20,000 times in the first eight months of subscription, converting over 6% of $200,000 worth of internet-generated quotes to sales, providing ABC Tyre power with a marketing return on investment greater than 2000%.

Independent Service Providers Want a Competitive Edge

North Manly Tyres and Automotive Services is a family owned business providing quality services to the Northern Beaches of Sydney since 1988.
Since subscribing to CarbonBlack TyreXchange in May 2008, the company has appeared in over 3,000 directory services, such as Google™

The Support of Coffey Ford in Victoria
It’s not just the independents reaping the benefit of CarbonBlack.

Coffey Ford in Dandenong Victoria listened to what their customers were saying and introduced tyre sales to their product offering with a vision of becoming a one-stop shop for both auto and tyres. By signing up to the CarbonBlack pay-per-lead plan Coffey Ford now can measure the viewing and buying behaviour of Ford and non-Ford auto owners.

According to Service Manager, Tony Maroun,

The inclusion of CarbonBlack as part of our tyre offering complements the investment in advertising that Coffey Ford are targeting the tyre market with.

Social marketing and the automotive industry

I  just found this interesting article discussing the move of the automotive industry toward direct marketing, particularly online marketing.

Timeliness and depth of information are the major constraints faced by advertisers in the automotive industry. These constraints are easier to break when using online marketing channels. Not surprisingly the tourism Industry, which to some extent faces the same constraints, is one of the most active online.

The article could have highlighted two important online channels – social marketing and search engine marketing. While the “conversation” has moved from the “brand” to the “consumers”, we find it crucial to offer product reviews, service centres reviews… and all actors in the industry should listen to the conversation and “manage” it when possible, be it on Facebook, Myspace, blogs or forums. The brand just doesn’t have the monopoly of the communication anymore, and consumers are increasingly making purchase decisions based on peer reviews.

Timeliness sometimes is so hard to manage that pushing the information to the consumer becomes far less valuable than being there when the consumer needs products / services. Search engine optimisation and search engine advertising are the brand’s best weapons to answers consumers’ enquiries online.

Overall, the author emphasises this, one channel is not better than another, they all have their specificities (price, audience, information, tracking capabilities…). What really counts is the choice of the information the marketer wants to convey via each channel, and the mix of channels that she or he chooses to use.

At CarbonBlack we’re using all possible channels to engage a relationship with consumers looking for tyres and servicing. Whilst consumer acquisition is one thing, we also need to make sure we’ll be around when the consumers need new tyres in 2 or 3 years.

CarbonBlack releases latest independent Tyre Brand Scorecard

Today, CarbonBlack released the findings of its latest Independent Tyre Brand Scorecard on consumer purchasing behaviour.The latest scorecard reveals a growing sophistication and awareness among consumers and tyre retailers that traditional advertising no longer has the same impact on consumers. Social marketing (word-of-mouth) information, relevant point-of-sale marketing and consumer education are becoming more influential in the purchase cycle and are having a greater impact on consumer choice.

The report details the changing trends in tyre purchase decisions, the strong influence original equipment manufactured tyres still maintain, brand preference outcomes for the general market and specific brand preferences for the female decision maker and luxury car driver.

Based on these findings, CEO, Jodi Stanton thinks the Tyre Scorecard message is clear, “Tyre manufacturers that now cater for both female and male purchasing habits in the new online space and traditional retail channel are going to benefit the most. The game certainly has changed.”