Automotive Marketing: 11 Strategies to Drive More Sales

Automotive marketing is a complicated and nuanced process that can be difficult for dealerships to get right. With so many channels, messages and tactics available to them, it’s easy for dealerships to spend too much time focusing on the wrong ones. But suppose you want your dealership to succeed in this competitive market. In that case, you must run an effective marketing campaign and employ the best strategies possible. In this article, we will give 11 of our favorite strategies for automotive marketers. 

1. Put together a newsletter campaign. 

Newsletters allow you to reach out directly to customers without resorting exclusively to paid advertising methods like Google Adwords and Facebook ads. You should consider using Constant Contact or SendGrid, as they both offer tools that will help you build relationships with your target market while also driving sales at the same time. 

2. Optimize your website for mobile devices and SEO rankings 

It’s no secret that mobile search is on the rise, so it’s essential to make sure your dealership has a mobile-friendly version of its site available at all times. Start by using Google Analytics to track how many visitors you get from both desktop and mobile sources. You can also use tools like Moz or SEMrush, which will help you learn more about how people find your dealership through searches online. They also help optimize various pages of your website to improve their ranking on local search results pages (SERPs). Try out different keywords and see what kinds of responses you receive before changing the actual content itself. Get creative when thinking up new titles for your site’s pages that will help them stand out when people search online. 

3. Use CRM software to increase the number of leads you generate. 

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools can be an incredibly effective way for dealerships to keep track of all their incoming leads, including inbound phone calls and emails. Some examples are LeadMaster or Salesforce, which will help your dealership’s marketing team stay more organized. They also provide a wide range of features that make it much easier for marketers to take action on these incoming requests at any level within your business. This is one area where investing some time into proper research could pay off big dividends down the road if implemented correctly. However, be sure not to use too many different platforms, as this can cause confusion when managing customer records across each one. 

4. Use video to market your dealership on various social media platforms. 

As consumers are increasingly flocking towards visual content providers like YouTube, Vimeo and other similar services, it’s become easier than ever before for marketers to generate new leads by using short videos which highlight certain features or benefits associated with different vehicles. Using this type of marketing strategy will allow you to get better results from each campaign instead of only relying solely upon text-based posts across Facebook, Twitter and more. If done right, this could be one strategy that drives higher engagement rates and potentially converts into additional sales down the road. 

5. Create an online community for customers and prospects 

Creating an online community or forum for all of your dealership’s consumers to discuss the various currently available vehicles is a great way to build loyalty among current customers. This type of strategy will help ensure that both existing and future clients are exposed to positive information about your business. This also helps with providing potential leads with additional opportunities to learn more about what makes you stand apart from everyone else. 

6. Evaluate ongoing performance through relevant metrics 

It can often feel like there isn’t enough time in any given day when working at a car dealership. It can be easy for marketers who aren’t used to using many data and analytics tools to overlook one of the most important aspects of any successful marketing strategy – evaluating where you’ve been to make better decisions going forward. 

One great way for dealerships to get started with this is by using software like Kelley Blue Book and Google Analytics, which will allow your business’ marketers to more easily assess what’s working well and what could be improved upon from a performance standpoint. This might include looking at everything from bounce rates on various landing pages right through referral traffic sources that are driving consumers into becoming leads in the first place. 

7. Develop your own app 

While not every dealership will have the necessary time and resources to invest in creating a full-blown custom application for their consumers, there is a lot of value from doing so. It can be an effective way to drive additional leads into your business. Apps are becoming increasingly interactive, which means that they’re much more likely to keep visitors on target regarding providing them with information about both current and upcoming vehicles available at your location. If your dealership doesn’t have the current budget to develop an app, consider using mobile platforms already built like Kelley Blue Book to showcase your inventory. 

8. Invest in marketing automation software 

Marketing automation is one of the most important aspects of any successful dealership using online marketing strategies to generate additional leads and sales. By creating personalized campaigns with email providers like MailChimp, it’s possible for marketers at your business to keep better track of how their efforts are performing overall. Which means they can make necessary changes when something isn’t working quite as well. 

9. Maintain a consistent presence through regularly scheduled posts 

It doesn’t matter what type of content you’re planning on providing consumers with moving forward. Whether this includes weekly blog posts about common problems associated with your industry or perhaps monthly reviews focused around particular vehicle makes/models – it’s always going to be essential to come up with a schedule and stick to it. 

10. Create a contest or sweepstakes with prizes that people can’t refuse  

There are countless ways to use contests to generate leads at your dealership, but there’s no denying that the best types of these strategies provide consumers with an opportunity that they’ll be hard-pressed not to take advantage of. A few great examples might include a chance for people who sign up early enough to win free oil changes each month or perhaps even monthly giveaways related to various car products available through your business. 

11. Give back to the community. 

Some of the best leads you’ll ever generate will come from consumers who are interested in donating their time or money to one of your dealership’s charitable causes. By setting up an online fundraising page through platforms like GoFundMe, Rallybound and more, it’s possible for marketers at your business to get started with this type of strategy fairly quickly while making a difference within your local community. 

How Kelley Blue Book Can Help Your Dealership 

Kelley Blue Book is a handy platform that dealerships of all sizes can use to generate additional leads at the dealership. No matter which marketing strategy your dealership ends up using, sellers will ultimately need to visit your location or website to learn more about what you have to offer. 

With Kelley Blue Book Instant Cash Offer, you can streamline the car buying process by enabling your customers to get a quote on their vehicle with a few clicks of a button. This removes any negotiation friction and makes it easy for your customers to get a price on their car without visiting your location. 

Kelley Blue Book also allows dealers to analyze customer behavior on their platform so you can understand how to better engage with your customers and know exactly which users are ready to make a purchase, trade-in or sale. To find out more about Kelley Blue Book’s platform and how it could help your business, click the link here.