Marketing done right is a never-ending cycle of creating, testing, utilizing, and improving.
As a result, dealers today are seeing more and more of their time engulfed by the constant demands for attention that many automotive marketing strategies require.
This is because marketing today requires you to come to the table with a very sophisticated and advanced strategy.
However… if you want it to be highly successful, it has to be very simple for you, your employees and more importantly… your customers.
There are more tools, channels, and strategies to choose from than ever before. In addition, these tools, channels, and strategies can determine the success of your marketing campaigns.
It’s difficult to know what’s best for your dealership and frustrating to deal with multiple vendors – especially if they don’t deliver the results you need.
You’re not in this alone because every dealership is facing these issues – the bad news is that this makes it harder to differentiate your marketing from the rest and get the results you need.
1. Find the Best Vendors for You & Your Goals
Dealers today have to consider more options and more vendors than ever before. It’s expensive, time consuming, and, at times, even confusing.
As a dealer, you have to consider what’s important for you and your dealership and what channels you should prioritize over others. You also need to know what to look for in a vendor and whether they can really provide you with everything they’re promising.
But, how do you narrow down the list? What about the vendors that promise everything and try to be everything to everybody? In a perfect world, wouldn’t it be easier to work with just one vendor?
Or, is it better to work with multiple vendors who specialize in each different channel so you know you’re getting the best marketing across the board?
These are just a few of the questions that arise as you begin to consider new vendors.
The thing is, it’s more expensive and more time consuming to work with a different vendor for each channel. But the vendors that offer to “do it all” aren’t always able to offer the highest quality of service and support – they can only provide so much.
Many times, when you go with a one-stop-shop vendor, the convenience of it all is negated by insufficient results.
So what’s the best formula? What’s the perfect balance?
The goal should be to reduce the number of vendors you work with without sacrificing results. You want the best possible results for your marketing dollars, but you also need to save your time and effort!
Keep in mind one way to save a small fortune is to avoid paying the hidden tax on your DMS data. The more vendors you work with the more you are paying for them to access your data.
By reducing vendors, you can save thousands each month in data charges (each vendor pays this regardless if it is itemized on your invoice or not).
For example, many dealers choose J&L Marketing for our Private Sale and Service Events. Many others choose us for our Digital Marketing products and Digital Retail Marketing products like Virtual Sale Events.
The customers who utilize us for all or even a combination of these products save a small fortune for several reasons.
One, just the business volume alone provides a savings to them. But two… all of our products work with DMS data.
So, dealers who take advantage of this are only paying the data charge one time. This saves time, effort and money. More importantly, we only do the things we can be great at… so dealers don’t have to sacrifice results.
Enough of the cheap plug… the point is as a dealer you have options. For my own stores, my first priority is always results, then time, effort and money.
You can have it all by following this tip.
2. Reach Online Shoppers – Fast
It won’t come as a shock to you that consumers are online. They’re going through as much of their car buying journey as they can on their computers and mobile devices.
This trend is sending dealers around the nation on a desperate journey to increase their digital presence and out-market third-party websites in order to reach the modern vehicle shopper.
But today’s shoppers are smart. They don’t trust the average dealer’s marketing. They continually turn to third-party sites because they want unbiased and transparent information about pricing, incentives, lease terms, trade-in value, etc., etc.
You need to do better. You need a strategy that follows shoppers throughout their journey with offers they want, vehicles they’re interested in and you must be willing to meet them where they are – not where you want them to be.
You need a strategy that offers shoppers all the information they’re looking for when it comes to the inventory that’s currently on your lot – information that shoppers can’t find anywhere else.
Look for a strategy that allows you to monitor every step shoppers take as they interact with your inventory – while still allowing shoppers to feel that they’re in control.
By reaching shoppers before and during their car buying journey with messaging that’s tailored to them, you’ll differentiate your marketing and benefit from the results.
3. Use Digital Marketing for Your Service Department
The average owner takes their vehicle for service 2.7 times per year, with each visit averaging around 178 dollars. But, only 30 percent of these service visits are conducted at a dealership level. And, only 17 percent of those visits occur at the dealership where the vehicle was purchased.
Automotive News reports that dealerships are missing out on as much as 99 billion dollars’ worth of revenue per year.
The truth is, more sales and revenue exist in your service department than anywhere else in your dealership! It’s an easy win.
Digital influences nearly 60 percent of vehicle purchases at the dealership, and that digital influence is even stronger when it comes to post-purchase service – in fact, nearly 25 percent of all automotive searches are parts, services, and maintenance related.
In addition, customers have indicated that interactions with a dealer’s service department impact their likelihood to purchase from that dealership in the future.
If you’re able to find the right strategy, you will not only see an increase in revenue from service, but you’ll see an increase in sales over time – because happy service customers make future vehicle buyers.
Deliver Results
By carefully selecting the right vendors for you, utilizing unique marketing strategies to reach shoppers online, and strategically serving advertisements to previous and potential service customers, you will see a marked difference in your results and save both time and money with your marketing efforts!
This is a smarter strategy to win for dealers looking to eliminate waste and optimize their marketing to reach the highest quality of former, current, and potential customers.
If you want us to show you how to effectively increase your brand awareness and sales, you can reach out to us and schedule a meeting with us at your convenience.
