Whether you’re starting a new car dealership or you want to give your location a fresh appearance online, automotive digital marketing is key.
You want your dealership website to be easy to find, to show up at the top of search pages, and for the engagement, you receive to turn into leads that can be converted to sales, but what should you do?
A General Guide to Online Marketing for Your Car Dealership
Let’s look at a few of the ways you can engage with your online audience and create the right look and feeling that will bring more customers to your dealership.
Paid Advertising Can Be a Great Place to Start
If you want to be successful with automotive digital marketing, you have to be willing to pay for it. This doesn’t mean throwing money at the wall to see what will stick. What you want is targeted advertising that you pay for when customers engage with your ads or content. Review Pay-Per-Click (PPC) marketing, find the right places to advertise on social media and figure out which keywords you want to pay for.
Paying for keywords is a sure way to put your name at the top of search engine results pages, but that doesn’t automatically mean you’re going to see more visitors to your site. Review various paid advertising methods and find the right ones for your dealership.
Put Your Content on the Right Social Media Channels
What type of dealership do you have? Which social media channels are your target customers using? If you’re not looking to reach the 18-25-year-old crowd, you want to stay away from TikTok, but nearly every age group and income level make use of Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Employ tools that will tell you if you’re receiving engagement from the channels you use. If you’re not getting attention from some of the posts you expect to do well, change your approach, and create the content that will give you the attention you’re looking for.
Bonus Focus Your Energy the Right Way
Does your service center receive the social media attention it deserves? If not, you can increase traffic by using the right social media channels. Facebook and Instagram are great for your service department and YouTube is a fantastic place for the how-to videos you want to share. Learn how each channel works and what content is best for your dealership.
Your Automotive Digital Marketing Strategy Needs to be Specific to Your Business
Not all car dealers should advertise the same way or try to engage with customers in the same manner. There are some activities that should be similar, but you want to tell the story of your dealership and your organization. This can only be done with a specific plan for your marketing.
Review the goals and tools being used for your marketing plan and make sure they fit the needs of your dealership. There isn’t a one size fits all marketing strategy available to you, you’ll have to create the plan that works for your company.
Make Online Reviews Essential to Your Success
Every satisfied customer that comes through your doors is a potential positive review that can boost the online reputation of your dealership. Ask your customers to pose for pictures, be part of a video, or simply write a review that can boost your online scores. Make sure your sales team understands the importance of these reviews.
As important as these reviews are, you want to make sure you approach customers professionally and with a bit of humility. Some customers aren’t going to give you a review, and that’s just fine. The goal is to have as many positive reviews as you can to support your website.
Show Customers Your Difference in Your Automotive Digital Marketing
How does your dealership stand out from the rest of the crowd? Do you have special sales regularly, is your repair shop rated at or near the top of the industry in your area, do you have a friendly team that’s engaging to work with. What makes you different? This is what you want to show your customers so they can understand what makes your location special.
If you’re not sure what makes your dealership location special, you can ask your team or some of your previous customers and see what they have to say. This can give you a great idea of what the community thinks of your dealership and what they expect from your team.
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