Digital Marketing for Car Dealers means adding first-strike capabilities.

Dealers are continually met with new challenges and have to discover different ways to connect with car buyers through digital marketing. Facing the decision to take a transactional business to a more personal level with the added challenge of not being “face to face” can be tricky.

Where does a car dealer begin when it comes to digital marketing, including virtual retailing? Here are 12 tips to get dealers driving in the right direction for their digital marketing journey.

Video is #1 for digital selling.

Create videos showing off your showroom, specific vehicles, and what consumers will experience working with your dealership and team. Ensure all of your video marketing is conversational and don’t lead with “the best deal.” Digital marketing means you have to find a way of being a person but delivered digitally.

Get into social media marketing

Did you know it is possible to drive in-market car shoppers for less than $1 a piece on Facebook? By leveraging Facebook carousel ads, 3rd party data solutions, customer audiences, plus retargeting, you can close more deals. However, don’t lose focus or muddy the waters by trying to maintain all of the channels, especially if they aren’t working or you just aren’t into them.

What do you do with the “scrap?”

Many dealers have found great success selling their scrap and pre-owned vehicles within hours when listing on bargain hunting places like Offer Up, eBay, and Craig’s List. When people are bargain hunting, make sure your bargain is listed too!

Your website is your battlefield.

The majority of your digital marketing will drive traffic to your website – make sure it looks good and is easy to navigate. Always provide car buyers additional options, an E-price button, easy ways to contact, and well laid out staff pages. Use chat features to answer leads questions immediately and quickly learn if they are ready to buy. Some dealers have seen an increase of 2-3 more car sales per day with Car Dealer Now Innovative Solutions.

Throw out the templates.

Every communication your team has with car buyers should be conversational and original. Make sure emails answer all of their questions, reference the vehicle they inquired about, have been spelling & grammar checked, and your messaging is consistent – online shopping happens faster! Use lead generation software to expedite the process and always look useful to car buyers.

Get solid reviews.

When car buyers read reviews about a dealership, they are already deciding whether or not they want to do business with you. Be sure to have reviews that include “what to expect,” but work towards getting more meaty reviews mentioning your sales team. Consider using tools and text to engage customers quickly and efficiently to write that next 5-star review for you.

Facebook. Facebook. Facebook.

Host a Facebook live event at your dealership where people engage “virtually.” Plan a Facebook Marketplace Tent Sale to move more inventory. Consider a live-streamed concert with local bands in your showroom. Consumers also make decisions on who to do business with based upon their community involvement.

Embrace digital retailing

Less than 10% of digital retailing customers ask to change the price. Most car buyers are willing to pay a little more for the convenience of purchasing a car that is delivered to them. Remember, you can show a vehicle to a customer prior to purchase & show off who they will be servicing their vehicle with – Carvana can’t do that.

Start paid advertising slowly.

Start with geography-based ads running on your Adwords within a particular radius of your location, then expand out when you see what is working and change what isn’t.

Used-car inventory issues?

Scan Craig’s List for private party used cars that you would like to buy. Consider launching a digital marketing campaign for people to sell their used vehicles to your dealership.

Cleanse your services.

Audit all of the services you are using, including technology platforms – make sure you aren’t doubling up. Keep the high performers and consider new options for the ones that aren’t. Consider different types of online advertising, including Car Dealer Now advertising rather than traditional media buys on radio and T.V.

Make sure you have a well-oiled sales team.

Get your team to understand the power of video and work on adopting it and how to make it useful. Find video marketing tools that make it quick and easy for your sales team to make, send videos and track engagement. Consider “save a deal” daily huddles with your sales team to toss around new ideas to save THAT deal!

Car Dealer Now can enhance the execution of all of your dealer tools. We are the leader in consumer engagement and digital retailing, helping 7,000+ businesses attract new customers, engage consumers, respond to leads, and build customer loyalty.  The award-winning solutions include A.I.-powered intelligent messaging, patented lead response, innovative advertising technology, and managed service platforms to engage, improve, monitor, and manage consumer interactions for businesses.

Want even more digital marketing strategies for 2024? Read our 21 Digital Marketing Resolutions for 2024