Radio advertising has just been dealt another blow–even Google can’t find a way to track ad spend. A few years back, Google decided to try to automate radio advertising much as they do Internet advertising (PPC). However, even the King of Analytics couldn’t figure out how to effectively track the success of radio ad campaigns.

According to the Wall Street Journal, “Google never came up with a good way to measure listener response.” After trying for over three years, Google’s engineers were unable to develop the technology needed to track ads as well as they were able to do with the online advertising model. Google’s Chief Executive, Eric Schmidt, explained that “in the audio case, there wasn’t a good signal back to us about which ads performed.”

If Google can’t figure out a way to effectively measure and track the necessary analytics to prove the ROI of an ad campaign (directly related visits, leads, sales), your auto dealership or an ad agency isn’t going to be able to prove these analytics.

Traditional media advertising (like radio) can’t be measured in the same way that online advertising can, plain and simple. Your dealership has no way of knowing whether or not your radio spend is bringing sales into your dealer showroom, and Google just showed that. Given the ever-present threat of dealerships closing these days, it’s more imperative now than ever that your dealership knows which marketing spend is bringing in which sales. With the right tools, this is only possible with your online marketing campaigns.

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Happy Hao Car Marketing Manager acacia@creationfantasy.fun

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