Car dealership marketing is a comprehensive field that aims to increase your automotive business’ leads, traffic, sales, and bottom line. It includes everything from establishing an online presence through SEO, websites, and advertisements to attracting new clients and reconnecting with old ones.
Dealership marketing capitalises on the trend that 95% of car buyers are beginning their purchasing journeys online rather than visiting physical stores immediately.
Benefits of Marketing for Car Dealerships
Effective marketing can help your car dealership increase customer engagement, draw in new clients, establish credibility, and ultimately boost sales.
Attract more clients.
In today’s information age, building an online presence is the best place to start for car dealerships. Car dealer advertising helps by putting your service out where prospects will likely see it, such as on social media platforms, digital marketplaces for cars, online resources for automotive inventory and information, and car dealership reviews and research.
Targeted marketing.
An effective marketing campaign allows you to target the customers who are most likely to be interested in your offerings. Through personalisation and optimisation based on preferences, your campaign can head straight to leads or customers with the highest potential to convert. This improves your return on investment and helps you builds a solid client base.
Establish trust.
Customers wouldn’t want to deal with non-reputable dealers given current auto prices. Effective marketing strategies use various ways to increase your brand’s credibility. It includes making connections with respectable companies and advocates and encouraging satisfied customers to leave positive reviews.
Increase customer engagement.
Effective car dealer marketing helps retain current customers instead of just attracting new ones. It also provides several opportunities for upselling and cross-selling to increase revenue. For example, a few months before their lease expires, your team could proactively contact former customers to inform them about new vehicles in the inventory or about alternatives for buying out the car.
Gain campaign insights.
Marketing for auto dealerships enables you to monitor your progress. You can then determine whether your campaigns are reaching their target audience and how customers respond to them. Additionally, you can use the insights to find new markets and adjust your strategies.
Thanks to technological advancement, the tools you can use for marketing car dealerships aren’t limited to conventional newspaper ads, direct mailers, and TV commercials. You can now find a nearly endless number of solutions to the point that options become overwhelming. If you don’t know where to begin, consider checking out the platforms on this list.
Instagram and Facebook
Facebook and Instagram are powerful car dealers marketing tools not just because of their large audience. These social media platforms also offer feature-rich Automotive Inventory Ads that help you reach users interested in purchasing a vehicle easily. You simply have to upload your car inventory with details such as location, make, model, and year. The tool will automatically create and show tailored ads to people looking for it.
Aside from ensuring your ads are being seen by the right audience, Facebook and Instagram let you showcase the beauty of your inventory to potential buyers from the comfort of their homes. You can upload quality videos and images of your showroom to capture people’s attention. You can also use the platform to generate buzz around your events and sales promotions or bring back interested shoppers with retargeting ads.
Google Ads
Google Ads is another powerful tool for auto dealership marketing, especially with its Dynamic Search ads. You only have to submit a list of vehicle description pages on your website to Google and let the platform do its thing. Google will automatically create advertisements using the data you provided and link them back to relevant pages. So, people searching for vehicles you offer on Google will likely find you.
Online Classified Ads
Classified ads are relatively low-cost, especially compared to most digital and traditional marketing, making them ideal for small businesses on a tight budget. Some online classified sites even allow you to publish small ads for free. And since classified ads often do not contain images, you won’t have to invest in graphic design, so you can save more.
Email Text Marketing
After finding potential buyers, you can use email or text to communicate with them. Effective text and email marketing can boost conversion. Text marketing is cheaper, and recipients are more likely to open and read your messages than email. But email also has its own charm. You can use both tools to follow up on car sales, send reminders, conduct polls and surveys, etc.
If you have a small car dealership or you’re just starting an auto business, Podium offers marketing solutions tailored to an auto dealer’s needs. Gain a competitive advantage and boost your sales by simplifying communication and bringing speed and efficiency to every customer experience.
Top 19 Marketing Strategies for New Car Dealers
Running a successful OEM/New Car Dealer business can be a lot of work. But we’re here to help.
Read on for our top 19 tips for becoming the titan of your industry without breaking a sweat.
1. Highlight Special Incentives and Offers
Offering incentives and special deals like manufacturer rebates, discounted financing, or low APRs can attract more customers. Advertise these specials on your website, social media platforms, and in-store promotional materials to maximise exposure and entice prospective buyers.
We recommend focusing on short-term offers or seasonal promotions as their limited-time nature can create a sense of urgency and drive immediate sales.
2. Showcase Testimonial Videos
Real customer experiences can make a significant impact on a potential buyer’s decision-making process. Gathering testimonial videos from satisfied customers and sharing them on your website and social media channels can help build trust and credibility with your audience.
We suggest picking diverse testimonials that focus on different aspects of your dealership such as excellent customer service, smooth purchasing processes, and the quality of the vehicles.
3. Utilise Podium Reviews
In a digital world, potential buyers rely heavily on customer reviews to make decisions. Using a platform like Podium Reviews can help you manage your online presence, collect and respond to reviews, give you valuable data insights, and build a strong reputation for your dealership.
With Podium Reviews, you can enhance the customer experience, identify areas for improvement, and use positive feedback to attract new customers to your OEM/new car dealer business.
4. Maximise Virtual Showroom Experiences
Nowadays, customers often start their car-buying journey online. By investing in a virtual showroom, you can provide a fully immersive experience for customers, allowing them to explore each vehicle in detail with interactive 360-degree visuals and relevant information.
We recommend complementing the virtual showroom with live chat support and online appointment scheduling to make the customer journey as seamless and easy as possible. Tools such as Webchat use asynchronous text messaging, allowing customers to switch from their mobiles to desktops with ease and experience the luxury of ultimate convenience.
5. Implement Targeted Retargeting Campaigns
Retargeting campaigns use browser cookies to follow users who have previously visited your website, showing them relevant advertisements as they browse other sites on the internet. These ads can remind potential customers about your dealership and encourage them to return.
We recommend implementing targeted retargeting campaigns based on the user’s browsing behaviour, such as visiting a specific vehicle model page or using the financing calculator.
6. Optimise Local SEO
Local SEO is crucial for your dealership’s online visibility, helping your business rank higher in local search results. Elements like Google My Business listings, local citations, reviews, and keyword optimisation play a vital role in improving your local SEO strategy.
Make sure to keep your listings up-to-date, encourage reviews, and optimise your website content for local searches to increase your dealership’s online visibility.
7. Utilise Cross-Promotion Opportunities
Forming partnerships in your local community with other businesses can enhance exposure and create mutually beneficial marketing opportunities. For example, you could partner with a local rental car agency or host an event in collaboration with a nearby restaurant.
We recommend exploring a variety of partnership and collaboration opportunities to tap into new audiences and expand your dealership’s reach in the community.
8. Develop Expert Educational Content
Content marketing is still important and effective in reaching prospective buyers and driving revenue. Educational content like blog posts, videos, or buying guides can help establish your dealership as an expert resource, offering valuable information to potential customers while helping them make informed decisions.
High-quality educational content can also help with search engine optimisation (SEO) efforts, driving more organic traffic to your website.
9. Offer Trade-In Appraisals Online
By offering online trade-in appraisals directly on your website, you can make it convenient for customers to begin the vehicle buying process from the comfort of their homes. This feature and other automation could lead to increased customer engagement and interest in your inventory.
We suggest integrating a user-friendly appraisal tool on your website and promoting this service on multiple marketing channels for added exposure.
10. Create and Share Compelling Visuals
High-quality visuals, such as vehicle images, videos, and infographics, can significantly enhance user engagement, convey key information, and persuade potential buyers to visit your dealership. Share these visuals on your website, social media platforms, and email marketing campaigns to attract and engage prospective customers.
We recommend designing eye-catching, branded visuals that help tell your dealership’s story and showcase the value of your inventory selection.
11. Offer Transparent Pricing and Financing Options
Cost is usually top of mind for customers when shopping for a brand-new or used car. An upfront pricing may not allow you to maximise the profit potential of a vehicle, but it will help you attract more car buyers. Customers do not like playing a pricing game or feel like they’re being taken advantage of. Not being transparent with the vehicle pricing may deter customers weary of making negotiations.
On the other hand, financing options will help attract shoppers who want to have a new vehicle but aren’t ready to make a big purchase just yet. Financing allows customers to pay in instalments that fit their budget instead of paying the full price upfront.
12. Invest in Paid Search
A car-buying journey usually begins online, with customers searching for their preferred vehicles on Google and other browsers. But even if you have a website, there’s no guarantee your target audience will find you.
Paid search solves that problem. Paid search, or pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, provides highly targeted traffic and immediate visibility. So when someone searches a specific keyword you bid on, your ad will appear on the top of the search engine result page (SERP). It’s one of the effective lead generation methods for car dealers.
13. Leverage Social Media
Facebook, Instagram, and other social media platforms offer a cost-effective way to reach a broad audience. Create accounts on these platforms and post content regularly. Share behind-the-scene glimpses, special promotions, and other valuable content that will keep your followers informed and entertained. Interact with your followers through direct messages and comments to foster a sense of community and build trust.
14. Collaborate with Influencers
Collaborating with influencers in the automotive industry to promote your dealership can help in increasing brand awareness. It’s also an opportunity to tap into new and engaged customers who trust the recommendations of influencers. Let your chosen influencer review the vehicle, invite them for a showroom tour, or let them test drive the car as their content.
Influencer partnerships can provide long-term benefits in the form of increased engagement, conversions, and brand loyalty. But make sure to choose an influencer who aligns with your dealership’s values and image.
15. Optimise Website for Mobile
Making your website mobile-friendly reduces bounce rates and increases conversion. There will be customers who will access your dealership website from their mobile phones. By optimising a website for mobile, you can guarantee visitors will have a seamless experience and will not immediately leave your website and go to your competitor.
Mobile optimisation is all about ensuring your website will perform well on mobile devices like tablets or smartphones.
16. Improve Response Times to Leads
Quick response time can increase your conversion rates. So, aim to respond to the concerns and questions of your potential and existing customers in less than an hour. It will be much better if you can reduce the time to less than 15 minutes.
Chatbots and automation tools can be useful in ensuring customers get the information they need immediately. Text messaging can also help boost response times since texting is easy and you can do it from anywhere.
17. Optimise Vehicle Description Pages (VDP)
A vehicle description page (VDP) is a webpage that lists all details about a specific vehicle, including videos and photos. A good VDP can help you get a vehicle off your lot faster. But the page has to be found by the right people.
Optimise your VDP and increase views by using up-to-date, high-quality real-life photos of the car, using relevant keywords throughout your page, and including as much information as possible.
18. Build Customer Loyalty
Another car marketing idea that can get your vehicles off the lot is reward loyalty. Loyal customers can help bring in more car buyers by recommending your dealership to their friends, family, and friends. Encourage loyalty through referral marketing. Offer discounts, a free oil change, or any money-saving deals for referrals.
Building customer loyalty also increases retention, saving you money on marketing.
19. Provide An Impeccable Test Drive Experience
An impeccable test drive experience can push customers from the consideration phase to the buying phase.
Consider offering unaccompanied test drives, especially to car buyers who prefer driving without a salesperson present. If you accompany the customer on the test drive, act as a trusted advisor instead of a salesperson. Some customers may need more time to consider the car, so spacing out test drives will ensure they won’t feel rushed.
Car Dealer Relationship & Reputation Management
You won’t be able to make the most of your automotive marketing efforts if you have a bad online reputation. Modern consumers consult online reviews before making a buying decision. If people talk ill of you online, you cannot expect more customers to choose your business. That’s why it is critical to include reputation management in your digital marketing strategies.
There are various places online where customers can share their experience doing business with you. The big three are Facebook, Google, and Reviews.com. Keeping a watchful eye on these review websites is one of the ways to manage your dealership’s online reputation.
While you should focus on those big three, don’t forget about industry-specific websites your prospects and customers frequent, such as Carsales.com.au.
People will often have something bad to say. If you happen to get a negative review, do not ignore it. Nothing is worse for your dealership’s social proof than negative feedback left without a response. It can make you look like you don’t care about your customer’s experience and what they think about your business.
Always leave polite and helpful responses to prevent negative reviews from tainting your online reputation. Also, remember to offer a solution to their issues and concerns. Ultimately, be honest and authentic in your responses.
If you’re new in the business and haven’t gotten any online reviews yet, consider sending review requests to your customers. But do not manipulate them to give you positive reviews. That’s unethical and can backfire on you. Let them share their genuine experience. If they leave negative feedback, use the information to make improvements.
You can use Podium Reputation Manager to request customer reviews. It can also help double your review volume. The number of reviews influences customer’s decisions, so collecting more can be good for your dealership.
Car Dealer Marketing Costs
According to the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA), car dealers spent over 8 billion dollars on advertising in 2021. Two-thirds of what dealers spent went to digital marketing.
Automotive dealer marketing can get quite expensive. You can use different methods, including percentage of sales, available funds, objective and task, and competitive parity, to determine how much to spend on your marketing efforts.
Percentage of sales, as the name implies, refers to the percentage of the previous year’s sales. Small businesses usually allocate between seven to eight percent of their total revenue to their marketing. You can also simply determine how much to spend based on your dealership’s available funds.
On the other hand, the objective and task method is a system where a dealership allocates marketing funds based on specific objectives. You have to define your marketing objectives, list the tasks needed to accomplish the goal, and then estimate the cost of carrying out those tasks.
Defining a budget using the competitive parity approach is easier. The competitive parity strategy involves using your competitor’s marketing spending as the benchmark for your dealership’s spending. But remember that spending as much money on marketing as your competitor does not guarantee the same result. So, use this method with caution.
There are also many other factors to consider when determining how much money to spend on auto dealer marketing. If you’re running advertisements, considerations include the platform you’re going to run your ads and the advertisement type.
Use Podium to Win
By following these recommendations, your OEM/new car dealer business will be better equipped to effectively market and promote in the digital age. And we’ve got a secret to lighten the load.
Podium offers a variety of tools, such as Reviews and text marketing, to help streamline your dealership’s online presence and customer communications, leading to increased sales and customer satisfaction.
