Under the Hood
Rockauto.com used Google Print Ads to increase new customer
orders by as much as 16%.
To say that brothers Jim and Tom Taylor
love cars would be an understatement.
Representing the third generation in a
family of auto engineers, both brothers
consider a weekend tinkering under the
hood to be a weekend well spent. And
when they discussed starting a new
company together, they didn’t think
twice about its focus.
“It had to be cars,” says Tom. “We just
needed to find the right opportunity.
Jim and I talked about our best and
worst experiences with cars, and visiting
parts stores was definitely one of the
worst. For the average consumer they’re
intimidating, difficult to navigate, and
service is usually sub-par. We thought
we could do better, so in 1999 we
started RockAuto.”
Shifting into gear
With Jim as CEO and Tom as vice
president of sales and marketing, the
brothers Taylor intended to leverage
technology in order to improve the auto parts shopping experience. “We wanted it
to be simple to search for and find not only the correct parts,” explains Tom, “but
instructions on how to install them.” In addition to featuring thousands of auto
parts and body parts, the website Rockauto.com provides service manuals to help
customers learn how to perform a repair.
To increase website traffic and sales, Tom began testing different marketing
approaches. “First we tried classified ads,” recalls Tom, “because we knew that
over 50 percent of adults in the US read newspapers. I think we tried 30 different
papers, small and large, but sales ended up decreasing. Then we tried placing our
own display ads. Sales went up, but the amount of work and the price negotiations
made it a nightmare. ‘You’re not local,’ was the phrase we constantly heard from the
newspapers. We decided it just wasn’t worth the hassle.”
In the meantime, Tom looked into online advertising and opened a Google
AdWords
™
account. “AdWords was a completely different animal – it’s what
advertising should be. We could test which keywords worked best for us and target
specific geographic areas. Best of all we could see how our campaigns were doing,
so we knew what kind of return we were getting.” Soon, Tom was relying exclusively
on online advertising for new customer acquisition.
Read all about it
Despite his disenchantment with newspaper advertising, Tom still thought it could
be a valuable advertising channel, provided it wasn’t so resource intensive. So when
he heard about Google Print Ads
™
, a new extension of Google AdWords that enables
GOOGLE ADWORDS SUCCESS PROFILE
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All other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.
What they needed
?
To reach potential customers through
print advertising
?
To measure the effectiveness of their
investment
?
To increase qualified traffic to their
website
What they did
?
Began using Google AdWords in 2002
?
Began using Google Print Ads in 2007
?
Developed a creative and engaging
newspaper ad
?
Uploaded their ad to Google Print Ads
?
Targeted customers based on
demographics and location
?
Tracked sales through zip codes, city
names, and a customer code
What they accomplished
?
Grew business: Reached hundreds of
new customers, increasing sales by
13% overall and up to 16% in certain
regions
?
Streamlined ad buying process:
Purchased ads for multiple newspapers
through a single online interface
?
Lowered costs: Improved budget
control and return on investment
Who they are
?
RockAuto, LLC
?
?
Madison, Wisconsin
?
30+ employees
?
Online auto parts sales
AdWords | Print Ads
advertisers to run ads in newspapers across the U.S., he decided to give it a try.
“With Print Ads, it looked like Google had taken much of the pain out of print
advertising,” says Tom. “I could do everything through a single interface, deal with
one organization instead of several newspapers, and get a single invoice.” But Tom
was still cautious. “I wanted to avoid the ‘name a budget and spend it’ approach.”
Tom set up his print campaigns in a single morning and uploaded his ad. “The
interface was easy to navigate,” he says. “Ad requirements were pretty simple and
negotiations much easier.” He then launched his campaigns, targeting both small
and large newspapers in different areas of the country, and worked to track his ads’
success. “Using zip codes, city names, and a custom code in our ad, I compared
the number of orders placed by new customers in the 30 days before and after
newspaper ads started running in the region,” Tom explains. “I then compared that
region to a similar population and geographic region nearby – the control city. All of
our non-newspaper marketing was unchanged during the two time periods or was
changed equally in both the target ad city and the control city.”
Rockauto.com was very pleased with the results. “Overall, we’ve seen a 13 percent
increase in new customers from the large city newspapers we’ve targeted, with an
increase in some markets of up to 16 percent.” he says. “And electronic tearsheets
have been a pleasant surprise,” Tom adds with a smile. “We usually can view them
through our account within a day, so we can see exactly how the ad ran without
having to get hold of the paper.”
Going to print
Tom is now rolling out newspaper campaigns in new markets, and is able to tap into
print advertising without sacrificing resources. “We’ve been conditioned by AdWords
to think about managing campaigns in this way – through an online interface – and
we apply our learnings from what works in AdWords to our print ads.”
The Taylors now run a successful business with an international customer base,
and their interest in cars hasn’t waned. Jim has even installed a lift in his garage so
he can easily work on the underside of his ’77 Lincoln. They continue to leverage
technology to improve how customers find and buy parts through Rockauto.com.
“Google Print Ads is a wonderful example of using new media and technology
to improve old media,” says Tom. “I expect it to be the main way we buy print
advertising from now on.”
About Google AdWords
Google AdWords
™
is a performance-
based advertising program that enables
businesses large and small to advertise
on Google and its network of partner
websites. Hundreds of thousands of
businesses worldwide use AdWords for
text, image, and video ads priced on
a cost-per-click (CPC) and cost-per-
impression (CPM) basis. Built on an
auction-based system, AdWords is a
highly quantifiable and cost-effective way
to reach potential customers.
For more information, visit
About Google Print Ads
Google Print Ads
™
is an extension of
Google AdWords that makes newspaper
advertising easy. Google has partnered
with hundreds of publications, including
The Boston Globe, The Chicago Tribune,
The New York Times, The Seattle
Times, and The Washington Post to
reach millions of readers throughout
the United States. Using the AdWords
online interface, advertisers identify
target newspapers, enter bids for the
available ad space, and upload their ad
creatives. After reviewing bids, newspaper
publishers will either approve, decline, or
counter offers, and can choose to provide
direct feedback to the advertiser. Tracking
is simplified through online reports, which
feature virtual tearsheets indicating where
the ads ran.
For more information, visit
GOOGLE ADWORDS SUCCESS PROFILE
“With Print Ads, it looked like Google had taken much of the pain out
of print advertising. I could do everything through a single interface,
deal with one organization instead of several newspapers,
and get a single invoice.”
