Harvest might be winding down but capital equipment dealers still have time to offload used equipment. Paid search is one of the most cost-effective ways to generate quality leads, especially in the ag and farm equipment industry, and now is the right time to start focusing on capturing and converting searches for used equipment.
For most ag and turf equipment dealers, digital advertising campaigns for new equipment are where you’ll have co-op advertising dollars, but used is where you’ll see the best margins. To maximize your return on investment and drive more used leads through paid advertising, here are 5 tips to keep in mind.
1. Create Multiple Used Campaigns
Sample Used Equipment Ad on Mobile
Divide your used campaigns into branded and non-branded keywords. You’ll want to heavily build out the branded campaigns with OEM keywords and categories of agriculture equipment, but not necessarily names of specific pieces of inventory. Our average capital equipment Google Ads account has 30+ campaigns with 100,000+ keywords and 650+ ad variations. We’ve seen that the most common search query is “used [brand]” or “used [brand] tractor,” with very few shoppers searching for single pieces of equipment by name. Customers will most likely want to talk to you about actual application (i.e. slope, amount of acreage, use cases, and attachments) before they know the exact piece of used inventory they need.
Non-branded campaigns are important to build out as well, but you’ll get a lower cost-per-conversion (CPC) when the searcher has already identified an OEM. Focus your attention instead on the used brands you sell and types of equipment you have in stock.
2. Advertise For Inventory You Actually Have
In our experience, 15+ units is the minimum amount of inventory you should have in stock to feel comfortable advertising on related keywords. For something as highly searched as a “tractor,” if you have a dozen or so in stock you wouldn’t have enough inventory to justify the time and expense. Single pieces of inventory will be covered by general branded keyword searches, so there’s no need to go more specific unless you have more units in stock.
Whether you’re running paid ads yourself or working with a trusted digital provider, it’s important that you only advertise for inventory that you have in stock. Make sure your website inventory and CRM are kept up-to-date as you sell or acquire used inventory, so you’re never wasting ad spend on keywords for used equipment you don’t actually have at your dealership.
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3. Match Your Ad Copy and Landing Page Copy
Ad copy should provide a clear indication of where clicking on an ad will take you. The more specific your ad copy, the better. But it doesn’t stop there; it’s even more important that the landing page for each ad matches the ad copy. Not only does it provide a better customer experience, but it will save you wasted ad spend from searchers who click on your ad, but quickly hit the back button if they think the landing page isn’t right or relevant.
As much as possible, use the same (or similar) copy in the headline of your ad and the header of the related landing page. If the ad is for a category of used equipment, like John Deere combines, the landing page should be pre-filtered to only show John Deere combine inventory. Clearly connecting your used ads and equipment landing pages will help visitors to your site find what they’re looking for and convert.
Sample Used Equipment Landing Page
4. Optimize Your Website to Convert
Sample Used Equipment Filters
Ultimately, you want paid ads for used capital equipment to help you sell more used inventory. To make sure your website is set up to convert, here are a few conversion-friendly elements to include:
- Robust filtering options are a must. Give your customers the ability to filter by the things they care about: price, category, hours of operation, year, etc. Clear clutter by removing filters they won’t know or care about, like VIN number, stock number, or serial number.
- Make sure each landing page has a strong call-to-action at the top of the page, with additional calls-to-action for each piece of used inventory. Ideally, these should be dynamic to each customer’s actual location so it’s easy for searchers to contact the location nearest them.
- Your website must be mobile-friendly, with a strong site speed. Not only will a slow site that doesn’t work on mobile frustrate your customers, but Google’s mobile-first indexing means search engines admittedly show preference to sites that work well on mobile. Evaluate your website on a smartphone and tablet, as well as a desktop computer to make sure it’s set up to convert paid leads.
To learn more about building a website designed to convert, download our free eBook for Equipment Dealers.
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5. Expand Your Geotargeting
Used equipment campaigns are one place where you can really expand your geotargeting and target users far from your physical locations. There are two reasons for this. First, when customers are looking for a specific type of used equipment, we’ve seen that they are more willing to drive. In our experience, you can extend your geotargeting up to 80+ miles to capture used customers who are willing to travel to find the equipment that meets their needs and budget. If you offer shipping for used equipment, you can expand your geotargeting as far as your shipping options allow.
Sample Used Equipment Ad
The second reason you may want to expand your geotargeting is if you’ve acquired inventory that is not applicable where you’re located. Machinery that’s meant for cornfields in the Midwest has little value in fruit orchards, which is why we helped an agriculture equipment dealer in Washington state who acquired inventory that is used for corn harvesting sell to farmers in the Midwest. In this case, the dealer in the heart of apple country had combine harvesters with corn heads that they were looking to move, so we created a campaign that targeted areas with a high density of corn farmers.
Do You Have Used Inventory You’re Ready to Move?
With more than a decade of experience working with ag and turf equipment businesses and OEMs, we love partnering with dealers to find creative and cost-effective ways to help them see a high return from digital advertising. Get in touch to learn more about our approach and discuss the results you can see from used campaigns.
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