Search impression share.

Those three words — just 21 letters — carry a lot of weight in our office. If you’re a Ford dealer, you know why.

Last year, Ford created a new co-op policy requiring dealerships to use half of all digital media funds for paid search, unless search impression share was at least 35%. 

Ford’s motivation was some incredibly low Google Ads impression shares in local markets across the United States. The result, though, was only more stress between dealers and co-op. Why? And what can you do about it?

Why Is This an Issue?

The search impression share issue highlights a bigger problem for Ford dealerships: the tension between franchise owners and the original equipment manufacturer (OEM).

Telling someone to do something without clear instructions is an exercise in futility. No owner or general manager would make an investment without understanding why it’s important — unless, of course, Ford says so and plans to withhold your money until you comply.

The benefit of an improved search impression share was never really explained to anyone. It’s no surprise. Co-op is a mess of constantly changing guidelines that even our team struggles to understand at times — and we work in the auto marketing industry every day.

At the end of the day, though, an improved search impression share number will benefit a dealership (yes, even your dealership). And obviously, it’s ideal to improve beyond the 35% mandated by Ford Motor Company.

Here’s what the OEM didn’t explain when it made that ruling.

What Is Search Impression Share?

Our friends at Google tell us that search impression share is “the percentage of impressions that your ads receive compared to the total number of impressions that your ads could get.

Impression share = impressions / total eligible impressions”

That means if you’re eligible to receive 100 searches, and you only receive 10, your search impression share is 10%. If you get 50 searches, your impression share is half. (That’s a simplistic breakdown, but the more numbers involved, the harder the math gets, and that’s just not my forte.)

What you need to know is that ideally, you’d have a larger portion of the impression share — and if you’re a Ford dealer, you must have at least 35%.

How Do I Improve My Impression Share?

The first thing you should do is consult with the Ford representative who runs your Google Ads campaigns. Whether they hold your entire budget or just a small piece of the pie, it’s important they’re aware of the strategy you want to follow.

We’ve found great success by working with these representatives on behalf of the Ford dealers who work with us. We can day-part ads (dividing across specific time periods) or cross-reference keyword lists to ensure you’re not competing with yourself. Even if you’re not working with an agency, though, it’s still important to have this conversation.

Next, it’s time to look at the ads you’re currently running.

How’s the ad quality score? If your quality score improves, you can pay less for your bids while still holding the position you want.

Where are you targeting? Targeting communities where your ads aren’t as relevant or showing your ads during off hours will both decrease your impression share.

Do you need more budget? If your ads are well optimized, and you’re sitting at a good quality score, it might be time to boost your budget. This should be the last step you take after ensuring the quality of your ads is top notch.

How Can I Get Help?

Search impression share shouldn’t be the only metric you monitor. It takes a lot of strategic planning to determine the best marketing campaigns for your dealership. But this number is valuable for Ford dealers and competitors alike.

We often remind dealership marketing managers about this automotive purchase touchpoint graphic. The data is from 2015, but it still holds true.

The average car shopper makes 24 actions before purchasing. 19 of those 24 actions are digital.

You can’t afford to miss these online opportunities. Not in 2015, and definitely not in 2023.

If you have questions or need help with co-op, search impression share, or just online marketing in general, reach out to our team.

We’re happy to answer questions or even conduct a free audit of your website to show the greatest areas of opportunity.