The automotive marketing industry is a competitive place to be and if you’re a car dealership looking to get the word out and move those cars, then perhaps just having the right inventory isn’t enough!
With more and more buyers starting their search online, if you want to sell, your dealership has got to have a marketing strategy that shines just like the cars in your showroom!
So, what goes into a winning car dealership marketing strategy?
We’re glad you asked! Whether you’re looking to attract first-time buyers or boost repeat business, today’s blog is guiding you through the key elements of a marketing strategy that grabs attention, builds trust, and keeps your dealership ahead of the competition!
Buckle up and let’s get started!
The Challenges of Car Dealership Marketing
So, what makes marketing for car dealerships such a tricky landscape to navigate?
Well, for starters:
- High Competition — The automotive market is highly saturated and highly competitive. Many dealerships are selling similar or even the same models of vehicles all in the same zip code, making it a challenge to stand out.
- Price Wars — Intense competition can often lead to price wars, creating a sad, race-to-the-bottom scenario, which can erode your profit margins.
- Customer Trust and Transparency — Buying a car is a big financial decision for most folks and building trust is crucial. Car salesmen have a negative stereotype to begin with, making it a challenge to win over a customer’s trust and purchase.
- Complex Buyer Journey — The car buying process is long and involves several steps, starting from initial research to final purchase. This requires dealerships to keep up consistent engagement and follow up multiple times.
- Digital Transformation — It’s 2024 and most of your customers start their vehicle search online. Adapting to these digital trends requires significant investment in technology to keep up.
- Local SEO Optimization — Making sure your dealership ranks well in local search results is challenging but necessary since most customers search online for dealerships near them before visiting in person.
- Managing Online Reputation — Online reviews and social media can make a huge impact on a dealership's reputation.
- Inventory Management — Marketing both new and used inventory, especially when models are constantly changing, requires a dynamic approach that can adapt as your stock levels shift.
- Seasonal Sales — Car sales can be highly seasonal, with noticeable peaks and dips throughout the year.
- Compliance and Regulation — Navigating the complex regulatory environment around automotive advertising, including truth in lending and disclosure requirements, can be challenging and requires careful attention to detail.
Your Guide to a Winning Car Dealership Marketing Strategy
Need a hand overcoming those marketing hurdles and getting your dealership the attention it deserves?
Here are 6 steps to a winning car dealership marketing strategy. Take a look and see how you can implement this guide into your marketing strategy today!
1. Understand Your Audience
First off, the key to any successful marketing strategy is to have a deep and thorough understanding of who your target audience is.
For car dealerships like yours, this means first identifying whether you’re primarily trying to reach local buyers or casting your net further to hook regional customers. This will help you better tailor your messaging and advertising efforts!
Next, consider segmenting your audience further by vehicle type.
Will you be targeting families looking for vans or SUVs? The eco-conscious crowd looking for hybrids? Perhaps those in search of a nice luxury sedan?
Whatever crowds your inventory attracts, each segment will require a unique approach that speaks directly to the needs and pain points of that specific audience.
Finally, it’s important to change up your marketing efforts for first-time buyers and repeat customers. A first-time vehicle buyer will likely need more education about what they’re looking for and what you have to offer, as well as more reason to trust you with their money.
Repeat customers, on the other hand, might be drawn in by loyalty programs, special offers, and personalized messaging. Consider creating detailed user personas to represent each segment of your audience so you can better understand where they’re coming from and tailor your messaging accordingly!
*If you need some assistance creating these detailed user personas, check out our recent blog on the subject!
2. The Importance of a Strong Brand Identity
If you really want to differentiate your dealership and stand out from all of the many, many car dealers in your area, then you’re going to need a strong brand identity.
A strong brand identity that’s consistent across all of your dealership locations (if you have more than one) creates a more unified presence, which gives your visitors a better customer experience and allows them to instantly recognize your business, no matter where they happen upon it.
And not only does a strong brand identity make you more memorable and recognizable it also reinforces your visibility and builds trust in your brand, making your dealership seem like the reliable and honest choice for new and returning car shoppers alike.
If applicable, consider making your dealership’s unique history a part of your brand identity and story! Your history can be a powerful tool to boost your reputation.
Highlight your years in business, any involvement you have with your community, and your satisfied customers to show potential buyers that your dealership is the real deal; an established, honest, reputable, and dedicated organization dedicated to customer satisfaction!
3. Building a Strong Online Presence
In today’s Internet-first world, your dealership is going to need a strong online presence if you want to move cars and grow your business.
Here are some important steps to take to build up your dealership’s presence online:
- Optimize Your Website — Make sure your site loads quickly, is mobile-friendly, and easy to navigate. Use high-quality images, have valuable content, and use clear calls to action to guide your visitors, computer and mobile device users alike, toward the car of their dreams.
- Add Vehicle Search and Filtering Features — Make it easy for your visitors to find what they’re looking for by adding search and filtering tools that let them easily browse your inventory.
- Keep up Your Online Reputation — Highlight your positive customer reviews and testimonials (and incentivize your customers to share them with you) on your website and social media to build trust and credibility. Be sure that you respond to any reviews you get on Google to show users that you’re a trustworthy organization that values their opinions and feedback.
- Be Active on the Socials — Social media is a powerful tool. Post photos and videos regularly to attract buyers with new arrivals, special deals, or featured vehicles. Be sure to engage with your audience as well by responding to comments, messages, and reviews!
- Email Marketing Campaigns — Email marketing is a powerful tool to stay connected with your new and returning customers, gather leads, nurture leads, and keep your dealership top of mind. Send special offers, reminders, auto care tips, buying tips, newsletters, and more to keep your audience engaged and informed.
4. Search Engine Optimization
If you want your dealership to be visible to local buyers, you need to boost your SEO strategy.
The websites that are optimized for SEO are the ones that show up in those precious first few rankings and get the most clicks. Get your dealership to the top with the following SEO tips:
- Optimize Your Website for Local SEO — Use location-based keywords like "car dealership in [Your City]" to make sure that your website ranks well for local searches. Be sure to also add your dealership to Google My Business to improve its visibility on local search results and Google Maps.
- Use High-Quality, Relevant Keywords — Use tools like SEMrush or Ahrefs to identify keywords related to the cars you sell and the services you offer. Long-tail keywords like "affordable used SUVs in [City]" or "best car dealership for financing options" can work wonders too. Find these keywords and sprinkle them through your website in places like FAQs, vehicle descriptions, and other content.
- Improve On-Page SEO — Make sure that the pages on your website have optimized meta titles, descriptions, and headings that include relevant keywords. Add alt text to images and create high-quality content that is optimized for search engines.
- Create Quality Backlinks — Encourage partnerships with local automotive blogs, community pages, and other relevant sites to link back to your dealership’s website. Backlinks help build your website’s authority and improve your rankings.
- Optimize for Mobile — Make sure your website is mobile-friendly. Many users will search for dealerships and vehicles for sale on their smartphones and Google prioritizes mobile-first indexing. This means a mobile-friendly site can boost your SEO rankings.
5. Digital Marketing Done Right
Automotive digital marketing is key these days to drive the right kind of traffic to your dealership.
And to do it right and make sure that you’re getting the most ROI on your ad spend, you need to use targeted ads. Targeted ads will help you to zero in on specific audiences based on things like their location, their preferences, what kind of car they’re looking for, and their online behavior.
This allows you to target your messaging and timing so that those audiences are getting the right messaging at the right time.
Here are some additional tips:
- Targeted Ads — Use your data and some creativity to craft highly targeted ads that reach potential buyers who are already actively searching for vehicles. Tailor your messaging to speak directly to their needs and interests to help your ads cut through the noise and stand out from competitors.
- Geo-targeted Advertising — Focus your efforts on local buyers by using geo-targeting. These ads only appear to users within a specific area to make sure your dealership is attracting the right people in your local or regional market.
- Inventory Retargeting — Keep your inventory top of mind by retargeting users who have already visited your website. Show them the exact vehicles they viewed, reminding them of their previous interest and encouraging them to come back to seal the deal.
Popular Ad Platforms That Are Worth Your Time
Need some ideas on what platform to use for your effective and targeted ads?
Here’s a handy list to get you started:
- Google Ads – For search ads, display ads, and video ads.
- Microsoft Advertising (Bing Ads) – Search and display ads on Bing and Yahoo networks.
- Meta Ads – Highly targeted social media ads on Facebook and Instagram.
- LinkedIn Ads – Ideal for B2B advertising, with targeting options for job title, industry, and more.
- Twitter Ads – Promoted tweets, accounts, and trends.
- Pinterest Ads – Visual ads to promote products and services.
- Snapchat Ads – Snap Ads, story ads, and filters for younger audiences.
- TikTok Ads – In-feed video ads and branded hashtag challenges.
- YouTube Ads – Video ads before, during, or after videos.
- Hulu Ads – Ads on the Hulu streaming platform.
- Cars.com – Display your vehicle inventory and special offers to car shoppers actively browsing for cars.
- Autotrader – A major hub for car buyers, placing ads on Autotrader can target a high-intent audience.
- CarGurus – Another site specifically for car buyers; ads here focus on converting users browsing for their next vehicle.
6. Compelling Content
Having compelling and valuable content can make or break your marketing strategy.
Do it right and you can not only stand out from the competition, but build trust with your potential buyers, drive traffic to your website, improve SEO rankings, and sell more cars.
Do it wrong and, well…
To make sure that isn’t an issue, here are some examples you can use to keep your content engaging and appealing to your audience:
- Video for the Win — Videos are an excellent way to showcase your vehicles and engage your audience. Create walkaround videos that highlight the key features of popular models, giving potential buyers an up-close look from the comfort of their homes.
- Automotive Blog Content — Keep your website fresh and engaging with regular blog posts. Topics like vehicle maintenance tips, how-to guides, and industry trends can position your dealership as an expert and keep visitors coming back for more.
- Seasonal and Event-Specific Campaigning — Timely content around holidays, sales events, or new model releases can create urgency and excitement. Seasonal campaigns can focus on winter vehicle prep or summer road trips, helping connect with your audience at the right time.
- Customer Testimonial Videos — Video testimonials from satisfied customers are a powerful way to build trust with your audience. Potential buyers are more likely to feel confident in their purchase when they hear real experiences from people like them.
- Behind-the-Scenes Content — Show your customers the human side of your dealership. Share videos or photos of your team, service bay, or behind-the-scenes at events. This helps build a more personal connection with your audience.
- Interactive Tools — Offering interactive content, like a car payment calculator or a trade-in value estimator, can keep users engaged while helping them with their purchasing decisions.
- Vehicle Comparison Guides — Create comparison content that shows how different models stack up against one another. This helps potential buyers make informed decisions and positions your dealership as a helpful resource.
- Social Media Stories — Engage with your audience on platforms like Instagram and Facebook by posting short, snappy Stories. Highlight new arrivals, special offers, or give quick tips about car ownership.
7. Tracking Your Data
Tracking your data is essential to understanding how your marketing strategies are performing.
Here are some tips to keep in mind to help you optimize your strategy, stay competitive, and grow your dealership:
- Watch Your Metrics — By keeping a close watch on crucial KPIs like leads, conversions, and customer behavior, you can pinpoint which tactics are driving results and sales and which are potentially wasting your time, allowing you to tweak as needed and make adjustments to boost performance.
- Monitor Leads — Monitoring leads and conversions also helps you identify where your potential buyers are coming from — whether that’s through your website, your social media pages, or paid ads — and what it is that’s converting them into actual customers.
- Customer Behavior — This is another piece of the puzzle. By analyzing how customers are interacting with your site, what vehicles they’re searching for, and how long they spend on specific pages, you can better tailor your content and marketing to speak to their needs and interests.
<div class="c-blog_comp-cta cc-component-1"><div class="c-blog_comp-cta-left"><div class="c-blog_comp-cta-left-wrap"><img src="https://global-uploads.webflow.com/61cdf3c5e0b8155f19e0105b/6369722e59155470b6840033_Potential-clients.png" loading="lazy" alt="" class="c-blog_comp-cta-left-img"></div></div><div class="c-blog_comp-cta-right"><div class="c-blog_comp-content"><div class="c-text-wrapper cc-mb-32"><div class="c-title-4 cc-bold"><strong>Want to save money without sacrificing the quality?</strong></div></div><div class="c-text-wrapper"><div class="c-text-2">Say goodbye to traditional, expensive agencies and unreliable marketplaces. Say hello to Designity.<br></div></div></div><div class="c-blog_comp-wrapper"><a href="/pricing" target="_blank" class="c-button cc-primary cc-inverted w-button"><strong>Get Your 2-Week Trial</strong></a></div></div></div>
Looking for a Winning Marketing Partner to Help You With Your Automotive Marketing Strategies?
If your car dealership is ready and willing to start implementing the above tips into your next automotive marketing campaign, then that’s great! We’re behind you 100%!
And if you’re ready to start implementing the above tips into your next automotive marketing campaign, only you lack the manpower, the creative team, and the time to get it all done and done right, then that’s great!
And we’re still behind you 100%.
Because Designity is an innovative Creative as a Service platform that can give your dealership instant access to the best of the best in fields like graphic design, social media management, copywriting, video production, motion graphics, web design, and more — every skill you need to pull off an effective and attention-grabbing campaign that boosts your visibility and increases your sales.
And with your account led by a designated Creative Director, an automotive marketing and design expert, who acts as your single point of contact, manages your creative team, and makes sure you have the deliverables you need, when you need them, you can get it all done without spreading yourself too thin.
Why not have a look at our automotive marketing services page and portfolio and see how Designity has been just the right answer for automotive brands just like yours?
And if our style vibes with yours, then go ahead and book your demo call. We’ll get you started on your two-week, no-obligation trial so you can test drive our 100+ marketing and design services and see firsthand why Designity is the only marketing partner your dealership will ever need.
We’re ready when you are.
