As businesses shifted online, the automotive industry followed, adapting marketing strategies to the digital era. While car dealerships must adapt to changing market conditions, they also face specific challenges; strategies that work for other businesses may not work for them.
Therefore, it's important to consider key points when developing an automotive marketing strategy. This article explains 12 ways to improve your car-selling marketing.
Table of Contents
- Customer Reviews
- Customer-Friendly Website Experience
- SMS Marketing
- Social Media Group Interactions
- Google SERP Rankings
- Adding Relevant Keywords
- Managing Negative Keywords
- Adjusting Campaign Budgets
- Effective Targeting
- Video Marketing
- Remarketing
- Introducing Market Offers
- The Best Agencies For Automotive Marketing
- Automotive Marketing Strategy – Key Takeaways
- Automotive Marketing FAQs
#1: Customer Reviews
Besides product quality, customers want to know they can trust the firm they're buying from. This is where customer reviews come in. For car dealerships, reviews are a low-cost way to promote their reputation and service quality.
Reviews can be positive and negative. To address the negative, dealerships should respond promptly and constructively and work to increase the number of positive reviews. They should also monitor reviews on platforms like Google and Yelp. These reviews reach a broad audience, helping buyers make informed decisions and avoid fraud.
Brands can improve their reviews by featuring customer success stories and creating video testimonials to boost authenticity, enhance reputation, and build trust with potential customers.
#2: Customer-Friendly Website Experience
A user-friendly website is easy to navigate, responsive, and loads quickly. Besides these characteristics, your website should provide comprehensive information to address customer queries and concerns. Put yourself in the customer's shoes and consider their pain points and answers they might be looking for.
If your target audience includes buyers who prefer local dealerships, implement local SEO strategies to appear in search results for buyers near you. Complete your Google My Business page, since it provides authentic and easily accessible information about your car dealership.
#3: SMS Marketing
Use SMS marketing to quickly and directly communicate a message to your audience. Think with Google reveals that 60% of automotive-related searches are done on mobile devices.
Implementing SMS marketing can bring traffic and give you an edge over competitors. Additionally, since smartphone users frequently use their devices throughout the day, text message open rates are notably high.
#4: Social Media Group Interactions
According to a Facebook study, 63% of buyers found their vehicle through social media, making it a highly rewarding automotive marketing channel. Maintain active and engaging business pages to maximize social media platforms' potential.
Facebook business pages help potential customers find you when searching for similar businesses, so optimizing your "About us" and "Description" sections is essential. A comprehensive SEO strategy can also help your Facebook business page appear on search engine results pages (SERPs).
To increase visibility, join and interact in relevant Facebook groups and share insights to build authority and credibility. Each post or comment can highlight your brand name, making it more familiar to potential customers.
#5: Google SERP Rankings
With a 92.61% market share, Google is the favorite search engine of most of the world's population. That’s why it’s essential to rank well on search engines.
To ensure your website shows up at the top of Google's search results, include relevant keywords in your Google business profile. Here are some tips for creating an effective strategy:
- Use relevant keywords in your ad text; include 2-3 ads per ad group or keyword list.
- Use ad extensions to provide more information about your business.
- Add negative keywords to block out irrelevant searches.
- Allocate budget for specific campaigns to maximize their effectiveness.
#6: Adding Relevant Keywords
Using keywords your audience searches for, you can increase your chances of being found in search results. Look for low-difficulty, high-volume keywords relevant to your business and use them in your website content, blog posts, and ad copies.
To appeal to your target audience, consider filtering by demographics and creating content that addresses their pain points and offers solutions. You will build a strong connection with your audience and increase engagement.
Another automotive digital marketing strategy is competitive bidding to target users searching for your competitors. This way, you can reach a wider audience and gain a competitive edge.
#7: Managing Negative Keywords
Even if you are bidding on broad or exact match keywords, it is still possible to show up as an irrelevant search. Blocking irrelevant keywords can help you save money and avoid appearing in searches that are not relevant to your offerings. Without blocking negative keywords, you could pay for clicks that are not likely to convert into sales or leads.
In addition to saving money, filtering out negative keywords can help protect a business's reputation by ensuring its ads are only shown to users interested in its offerings.
#8: Adjusting Campaign Budgets
You can adjust a campaign's budget based on different factors, such as timing. People tend to buy cars more on certain occasions or holidays, like the Black Friday sale or New Year’s Eve. Increasing the marketing budget during those times is a good idea.
Plan and analyze busy, slow, or steady phases to adjust the online advertising budget. Platforms like Google make budget adjustments easy. Reviewing the audience demographics helps you allocate the campaign budget properly.
#9: Effective Targeting
You must consider their demographics and user persona to target potential customers effectively. Different vehicles require different marketing strategies to address potential customer concerns, questions, needs, and desires. Therefore, understanding the customer journey and tonality of social media platforms is crucial for effective brand interaction.
Specific aspects may differ based on the type of vehicle, such as luxury cars or sedans, and the audience must be well-segmented and targeted accordingly. Segmentation can be based on various metrics, enabling brands to craft carefully targeted messages for specific prospects. Facebook targeting and other automated tools can be highly beneficial in this regard.
#10: Video Marketing
Video content remains the top choice for automotive marketing. By offering an immersive experience of the vehicle without leaving their homes, videos allow buyers to see and feel their future car up close.
Adding videos to social media platforms, websites, and YouTube can boost visibility on Google search results. According to Google research, 40% of auto shoppers who watched a video visited the dealership in person, reducing the on-site workload.
Give your customers the experience instead of just talking about car features. The best video production companies can help you produce high-performance videos that will delight your target audience.
#11: Remarketing
Remind your audience about your offers through engaging remarketing ads. Ensure that all leads are covered in the process. Remarketing will improve conversion possibilities and reduce the abandonment rate. Remarketing ads can also be configured through Google ads and other social media platforms like Facebook.
#12: Introducing Market Offers
Identifying what sets your dealership apart from others can be a key factor in setting your offerings apart and highlighting why customers should choose you. Your unique value proposition can include incentives, lowered prices, and time-sensitive offers that create a sense of urgency to persuade people to buy an automobile before the offer runs out.
By clearly communicating these unique selling points, you can differentiate your dealership and stand out from the competition.
The Best Agencies For Automotive Marketing
If you need help with automotive design or automotive digital marketing strategy, consider some of the top agencies in this field:
1. AntiDoto 56
- Location: Americo Vespucio Sur 700 of 503, Las Condes., Santiago, 7580309, Chile
- Average Hourly Rate: Inquire.
- Expertise: Video Production, Advertising, Video Marketing.
Head to Antidoto 56, one of the best automotive marketing agencies, for all your video marketing & post studio needs!
Based out of Santiago, Chile, Antidoto 56 has been operating since 2011 and has since refined its talents in concept design, 3D generation, animation, digital VFX composition, and the list goes on. These skills have enabled Antidoto 56 to build a solid foundation in South America, with an excellent reputation in the film and production industry.
Some of Antidoto 56’s clients include DirectTV, Say Whiskey Co, Pepsi Co, and Entel.
2. Fox Digital
- Location: 49 Marguerite Rd, Los Angeles, California 90275, United States
- Average Hourly Rate: $200/hr
- Expertise: Digital Marketing, Digital Advertising, 360° Digital Services, Digital Strategy, Google AdWords...
Based in Los Angeles, Fox Digital, another one of the best automotive marketing companies, is a digital marketing agency trusted by clients to drive digital growth.
The agency highlights its "Fox Smart Approach" strategy that implements a data-centric plan of action to drive high-quality traffic and conversions while minimizing costs and boosting revenue. Their wide array of digital marketing services helps you break through various online platforms, including Google, YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, and Pinterest.
Fox Digital's clients include Super73, Monday Motorbikes, American Needle, Packs Travel, and Publish Brands.
3. EDOT3
- Location: 63 Westgate Road, Tyne & Wear, Newcastle, NE1 1SG, United Kingdom
- Average Hourly Rate: $120/hr
- Expertise: Digital Marketing, SEO, 360° Digital Services, Web Design, Branding…
EDOT3 is a Newcastle-based digital agency, and one of the most accomplished automotive marketing agencies, that has been "finding, convincing, and converting" businesses' target audiences since 2007. They specialize in web design, branding, and SEO.
The EDOT3 team is composed of experienced design and marketing experts. They can boost your online presence through a clean SEO strategy, branding and website optimization focused on generating conversions and sales. Their website services are user-friendly, customized, responsive, CRM-integrated, and built for search.
The agency's clients include Nike, KEP Services, Bells Coaches and Dancepro Clothing.
4. Fenix Media
- Location: 523 Lakeside Cir., Miami, Florida 33326, United States
- Average Hourly Rate: $100/hr
- Expertise: Digital Design, Graphic Design, Branding, Video Marketing, Video Production...
Fenix Media is a video production and advertising agency well-decorated with awards throughout its 20 years in the industry.
If you want that extra leverage through memorable, limitless visuals that are viral-worthy, video marketing is the way to go. Create a catchy commercial, cover an event or animate your branding — whatever your idea, Fenix Media can give life to it.
The agency boasts a portfolio of thousands of video projects, hundreds of artworks and numerous ideas and scripts. Their most notable clients include HBO Latin America, Univision, Telemundo, KFC and P.A.N.
5. Distribute Digital
- Location: Grosvenor House, 11 St Paul's Square, Birmingham, B3 1RB, United Kingdom
- Average Hourly Rate: $60/hr
- Expertise: Digital Marketing, 360° Digital Services, Creative, Web Design, Video Marketing...
Composed of world-class digital marketing experts from across the globe, Distribute Digital offers affordable, comprehensive marketing solutions for small to medium-sized businesses.
The agency is focused on driving growth through web design and development, SEO, PPC and social media. They help ensure that the right people find your business online through content, technical optimization, outreach, SEO audit and monitoring. Round it off with PPC management and tailor-made social media campaigns by Distribute Digital.
Their clients include Leighton Vans, Kay Garage Doors, Maxim Lifting Services, Wharton and Miller Metcalfe.
Automotive Marketing Strategy – Key Takeaways
Selling cars has drastically changed over time. Brands cannot depend on singular platforms, verticals, and strategies to boost their sales.
Keeping up with the current trends is crucial.
While digital marketing is essential, it is important to know the right strategy to align it.
By promoting modern channels to an already saturated market, an automotive marketing strategy offers varied benefits for buyers and sellers alike.
Automotive Marketing FAQs
1. What is automotive marketing?
Automotive marketing promotes vehicles and vehicle-related services to potential customers in the automotive industry. It includes various marketing activities such as advertising, sales, promotions, public relations, branding, and digital marketing.
Like every other type of marketing, automotive marketing aims to create awareness and evoke interest in a brand's products or services, generate leads, and ultimately drive sales.
2. Why do I need a strategy for automotive marketing?
A personalized automotive digital marketing strategy can increase brand recognition, capture leads, and enhance conversion rates, resulting in a higher ROI.
General marketing strategies do not apply in this field because of two main factors. Firstly, cars are a significant investment for most buyers. Secondly, various customer personas have distinct needs, which makes a customized marketing approach essential to reach them effectively.
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