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5 car dealer marketing mistakes you can’t afford to make in today’s digitally connected world.
There isn’t much room for debate when it comes to the importance of digital marketing these days. Consumers are expecting the best digital experience from businesses. As technology continues to influence how your customers make decisions for buying products, the more intense the consequences of not having a solid digital marketing strategy will become.
The car business is in the flux just like everyone else. Car dealer marketing now expands over several different digital platforms. The once powerful marketing tools of television and radio are lagging behind in terms of audience targeting. Now it seems that every marketing strategy funnels towards one place: the internet. Smartphones are changing the intensity of how often consumers are viewing, comparing, and making buying decisions online. Car dealer marketing teams, in many isolated businesses, are not equipped to connect with these turbulent audiences.
In this post, we’ve specified the five most damaging marketing mistakes car dealerships make. Luckily, these problems are not extremely hard to fix. But they can be detrimental to remaining competitive and procuring sales from a new technology-driven audience, if not made a priority. Keep reading ahead to see what mistakes you should avoid and why.
5 car dealer marketing errors you should fix or avoid altogether
1.) Not having a dedicated marketing team at your dealership
We begin at the core of all issues: not having a marketing team. Every car dealer should be investing in themselves by hiring a small team of digital marketing professionals to lead your efforts. We mentioned before the several different marketing platforms available now because of the internet. These platforms include websites, blogs, videos, mobile devices, apps, social media, and more. If you want to tackle all of these tasks effectively, do not place the responsibility in the hands of one person.
Remember that all of your employees are capable of supporting your marketing efforts. It’s likely that every salesperson at your dealership owns a smartphone and checks it non-stop throughout the day. Have your marketing team train your sales team on how to use digital platforms to increase lead generation and better customer follow up. Social media is a powerful networking tool–take every opportunity to spread your brand awareness on it.
2.) You don’t have a responsive website for mobile or tablet viewers
If you haven’t already, hire someone to build a responsive website for your business. Otherwise, you are losing out on every customer who tries to view your website on their phone or tablet. Car dealer marketing–heck, any business marketing–works best if offering clean and feature-rich user experiences to their internet viewers. A responsive site opens up opportunities to convert interested customers at every angle and keeps them engaged wherever they are.
3.) Not making use of video advertising on the web
Imagine two local dealerships are offering similar cars at a low rate, with no money down at time of purchase. On their websites, one dealer offers a detailed report with features, multiple pictures, and ownership history. The other dealer also has a similar report, but includes an embedded video, too. The video shows a first-hand look at the features, what it looks like on the inside and under the hood, and one of their sales reps taking the car for a spin around town. Which dealer do you think the customer would be more invested in?
Video marketing gives a greater impression every time. Take advantage of the opportunity to communicate the benefits of your products and make your user experiences more interactive.
4.) Your social media platforms are not purposeful or helpful to customers
Believe it or not, social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook provide more uses than posting featured sales and special offers. These platforms give dealerships a way to communicate their brand to targeted audiences in a personal way. Remember the first time a business retweeted your post or responded to your comments? It makes you feel important. It makes you feel like this business cares about me.
Car dealer marketing should continue to focus on the idea that buying a car is an emotional experience. Many emotions come into play for potential buyers–trust and confidence in your brand plays an important role. Utilize social media actually to be social with consumers.
5.) Haven’t discovered the power of content marketing via a business blog
The term “content marketing” has been floating around for a few years now. Industries like publishing discovered right away the dynamic force of SEO-rich content. Car dealers are behind the mark, but here’s an opportunity to set yourself apart from the competition.
Develop a business blog for your dealership and write content targeted at your audience’s online search traffic. When you’re hiring the digital marketing team mentioned above, ask them if they know how to conduct in-depth Google search measurements and write content around that data. If you create a consistent editorial schedule targeting key phrases directed to your business, you will watch your website traffic increase every month.
Be willing to adapt to the new technology-driven audience
Car dealer marketing is most effective when you are willing to adapt to the environment. The challenge is that the environment today changes at a much quicker pace. You need to keep your finger on the pulse at all times and hire a skilled marketing team to implement the changes listed in this post. The good news is that, when you do fix all these issues, you’ll be amazed how far you’ll be above the crowd. Car dealers are still catching up in many respects because that’s the nature of the business–very roots-centric, face-to-face sales philosophy. But nothing stays the same forever.
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