Dealership Marketing

Dealership Marketing – Top Strategies To Attract Prospects

By: Frank DePino | March 15, 2024

As a whopping 92% of buyers do their research online before setting foot inside a car showroom, an effective dealership marketing strategy can help you get your inventory off the lot and on the road. It will help build trust and entice prospects to visit your dealership.

But first, what is Dealership Marketing?

Dealership marketing refers to the strategies you use to attract prospects and sell your products and services to them. It can increase sales, enhance brand awareness and positioning, and resource optimization. It can also help you understand your KPIs to create an even bigger impact in the automobile world.

There’s a catch, though.

The automotive industry is incredibly competitive, so you’ll have to be smart about the elements you incorporate in your marketing strategy. Read on to learn about the most effective dealership marketing strategies to lure customers and increase sales.

How to use Car Dealership Marketing strategies to attract new clients, ultimately increasing sales

12 Car Dealership Digital Marketing Strategies and Ideas to Attract New Clients and Improve Sales

95% of sales occur in-store, but most customers turn to search engines for information when purchasing big-ticket items like cars. This heavily influences their buying decision.

So, to get an edge over your competitors, you must establish your online and offline presence. Incorporate these car dealership marketing ideas into your marketing approach to get your wheels turning.

1. Understand Your Target Audience

An automotive dealership caters to customers from all walks of life — and it’s vital to consider the differences between various target groups when building a marketing plan.

Before you sketch out a marketing strategy, ask yourself:

  • What type of customers are we marketing to?
  • What does our ideal customer look like?
  • What are our customers looking for?

You should monitor and apply the latest trends and consumer behavior and combine it with demographic and geographic information to create content for the target audience.

Consider the wants, needs, and concerns of prospective car buyers to develop unique marketing strategies. This will help attract individuals interested in luxury cars and those looking for an affordable option.

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2. Create a Stunning Website and Optimize it for Search Engines

Customers conduct research on a new dealership before visiting it in person to test-drive the vehicle and potentially seal the deal. So, you must update your website regularly and optimize it for a top-tier user experience.

In addition to a mobile-friendly design, multiple payment options, and accessibility features, you should also provide timed chat assistance to enhance your dealership’s digital storefront experience. You can also use strategically placed ads and offers, but keep them few and far between to avoid overwhelming your prospects.

3. Invest in Local SEO

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) can improve your chances of appearing at the top of search engines like Google. With 70% of consumers looking to buy a car turning to search engines for help, investing in SEO is critical to your campaign’s success.

To motivate the algorithm to put you at the top of the search results, use keyword tools to find relevant keywords to draw your target audience. Use long-tail keywords to increase your chances of ranking higher on search engines. You can then curate your content around it to achieve your marketing goals.

Local SEO solutions can help you establish yourself as a thought leader in the space, and you can pair them with ad extensions to improve lead interaction.

4. Post on Local and Business Directories

List your dealership in popular local and business directories to lure in customers.

It should include all the important information needed to create a mark—business name, address, website, opening hours, and more. It will improve your SEO by giving search engines rich content and local signals to make you more visible to your prospective customer. This will increase your leads and offer prospects a platform to share their experiences with your business.

Video Content Marketing can help you raise your online profile and attract new costumers

5. Check out Video Marketing

70% of buyers use YouTube when shopping for a new vehicle, and 90% of consumers say that video marketing helps them make a more educated buying decision.

So, if you want to tip the buyer’s decision in your favor, invest in video marketing.

In your videos, highlight safety features, how new models compare to old ones, and how effective the GPS is through walk-arounds, virtual tours, 360-degree videos, panoramic videos, and other interactive forms of videos.

Video content marketing will help you stand out from competitors, enhance brand awareness, and increase your visibility in the automotive space.

6. SEO Reputation Management

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Reputation Management is a strategy that improves the brand’s reputation with the public. It helps manage the type of content the public sees on the search result page when looking up a business.

If you integrate it into your marketing strategy, it will allow you to enhance the quality and volume of your website’s traffic. This will polish your reputation, increase your leads and, in turn, your revenue.

Focus on Brand development before launching your dealership marketing campaign

7. Focus on Brand Development

Your marketing approach gets people through the doors, but your branding campaign lures customers in and tempts them to stay and stop.

So before launching your dealership marketing, you must be clear on how you’d like to assert yourself to your customers. Branding can help you stand out from the crowd and influence buyer decisions. You should also see how it affects your dealership marketing campaigns, analyze how it pans out across channels, then make changes for future branding campaigns.

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8. Use Email Marketing to Your Advantage

Email marketing can generate $36 for every $1 spent. With stats as good as this, you should consider email marketing campaigns to acquire new leads and customers.

You can send emails tied to specific blog posts, exclusive offers to tempt prospects to make a purchase, and offer incentives, like a discount for an oil change or a coupon for complimentary mechanic services in exchange for customer feedback or surveys. This fosters a personal connection, which can enhance customer retention rates.

Pro-tip: Avoid sending too many emails, as that is the #1 reason why 69% of people hit unsubscribe.

Manage Online Reviews, replying both to bad and positive ones

9. Manage Your Online Reviews

User-generated content influences the buying decisions of about 76% of customers. This means your online reviews can make or break your marketing campaign.

To improve your foot traffic, you must manage your online reviews.

Encourage your customers to post a review of their experience when they visit you in-store and write testimonials on your website or third-party sites like Yelp. The glowing reviews will bump up the popularity of your business. You can pair them with customer success stories and videos to bank on the popularity of social proof.

While we’re on the subject, make sure you reply to the bad reviews, too—not just the positive ones. Accept the criticism gracefully and express a desire to make things right. It will help you improve your relationship with the customer in question while projecting a positive, customer-centric image to potential customers.

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10. Network with Local Businesses

If you want to build a community loyal to you, network and establish meaningful relationships with local repair shops, car wash shops, auto parts stores, and car insurance companies in your area. You can cross-promote them to your customers and post videos in collaboration with them to educate the public.

How does this benefit you?

Well, it shows customers that you’re a customer-centric brand that sees them as more than just a cog in the money-making machine. It helps build trust and ensures that your dealership is on top of your prospects’ minds when they are ready to buy.

Pay Per Click (PPC) and digital Advertising is the best strategy to reach your target audience

11. PPC and Digital Advertising

65% of consumers click on Google Ads—which operate on a pay-per-click(PPC) basis—before making a purchase. On the other hand, Facebook has 2.96 billion monthly users, which can give you greater odds of reaching your target audience. They allow you to customize the keywords, car makes, and models, helping you reach the relevant target audience for maximum leads.

Understanding it can be challenging, so you should consider hiring a PPC ads agency for the best results.

Pro tip: For a comprehensive digital marketing approach, consider promoting your products and services through videos, blog posts, infographics, podcasts, and even website content and aim to improve the buyer journey from start to finish.

Download Our FREE E-Book

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Does your luxury website include any of these common mistakes? Learn the secrets to driving more traffic to your luxury website, generating more leads, and ultimately increasing sales.

12. Get Active on Social Media

There are 302 million social media users in the U.S., which means you must establish a favorable social media presence or risk being left behind in the rat race.

To market your car dealership on Instagram or even Facebook, you must engage your target audience and post content that will draw them in. From behind-the-scenes footage to glamor shots of new models, you should cover every inch of the product, all while keeping your online presence polite and professional for maximum impact.

Pro-tip: Customize your content for different channels, and use a marketing performance tool to evaluate the success of your digital marketing campaigns.

Hire a Digital Marketing Agency for your Dealership Marketing success

Hire a Digital Marketing Agency

These dealership marketing strategies are essential for selling more cars but are difficult to incorporate.

That’s where Mediaboom comes in to help maximize the success of your car dealership marketing strategies. We offer valuable insights, help you build a strong client-brand relationship, and make you stand out from your competition.

So, what are you waiting for? Contact us today.

By: Frank DePino

Frank DePino is Principal and Founder of Mediaboom. Since 2002, Frank has led Mediaboom’s award-winning staff of creative and technical professionals, building the most effective marketing and advertising solutions for its clients.

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