Automotive marketing can be a bit of a challenge, due to the industry being particularly competitive and high-stakes. Consumers usually research very carefully before making purchases, purchase infrequently, and are making high-cost purchases, therefore strong marketing strategies go a long way to stay competitive.
Whether you work as an auto broker, dealership, or auto auctioneer, marketing tactics will likely go a long way in helping your business. Here are some effective marketing tactics that auto workers should try today.
Have a Strong Online Presence
Nowadays, the world is practically run online; therefore, having a solid online presence is absolutely vital. The biggest and most important way to market your business, regardless of the industry, is by having an online presence. If you don’t already have a website for your business, then make it a priority to create one immediately. Additionally, make sure that your website is interactive, with plenty of photos and details provided alongside your inventory.
Secondly, we suggest having accounts on all major social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok) and to have an active presence on each of them. This will help your business to get noticed and can lead to future leads.
Finally, it’s important to create original content – both written and visual content (e.g. videos on YouTube and TikTok). Original content such as a company blog, test driving videos on YouTube, and more can help your brand reach wider audiences, provide value to the consumer, as well as establish your brand as an authority within the industry.
Reach Out to Existing Customers
Another great marketing tactic that every dealership should try is to simply reach out to existing customers, including both current and past clients. This is as easy as sending an email, and requesting if your previous customer is interested in a standard upgrade, new model, or even to invite them to an upcoming dealership event. This can be done easily through the use of a CRM, or customer relationship management system, which allows users to create and schedule automated emails.
This marketing tactic just makes sense, as customers are more likely to buy from someone that they’ve already bought from, as there is already an existing customer-dealer relationship; if they were satisfied with their first purchase from you, they are only more likely to return again.
Use Referral Marketing
If a close family member of yours had a great experience buying from a car salesperson, then logically, you are more likely to also be more trusting of that same salesperson. And because many people can sometimes be distrustful of car salespeople when first walking into dealerships, referrals are essential to increase leads.
Referral marketing is essential for dealerships looking to increase their sales, so they should incentivize customer referrals. One great way to do this is by offering programs with bonuses like cash rewards, to reward any customers that refer new customers to you. Try promoting said rewards via business cards or emails, as this is a great way to incentivize customers.
Collect Customer Reviews
Another excellent way to market your dealership is by collecting customer reviews. Like referral marketing, customer reviews are a solid way for dealerships to gain the trust of potential customers. Consumers are much more likely to buy from you if you can prove that you are trustworthy, and have already helped many other past customers successfully.
Online customer reviews help by building social proof, increase your business’ visibility in search results, and will allow your business to stand out from competitors. To obtain customer reviews, we recommend any of these methods:
- Emailing users a few days after an appointment or purchase and requesting a review from them.
- Tell users that they can leave reviews on multiple platforms. Doing so will help increase your brand’s visibility on more than one platform.
- Have sales team members reach out to customers that whom they have good relationships, and “request a personal favor” to leave a review.
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