Smart online marketing is something that businesses can’t afford to ignore, and auto dealerships are no exception. When your potential customers type their area and the name of the vehicle they want into a Google search bar, you want that search to take them to your dealership’s page as soon as possible. But making that connection with a customer isn’t a simple process. Before shaking hands with that customer and discussing their next purchase, you need to build the effective online presence that will bring that customer to your lot.
Crafting an Effective Online Presence
For an auto dealership, establishing a reputation of integrity and trustworthiness is essential for thriving in today’s highly competitive business environment. It isn’t always clear to dealerships, however, how to communicate that to potential customers online. For many auto dealers, their online content begins and essentially ends by listing their inventory. But there are numerous practical content marketing strategies you can adopt to engage with your customers and attract more business.
These are just a few of the content marketing methods you can use to make your dealership’s online presence as successful as possible:
Concise Content
As a rule, most readers of online content have short attention spans. Your content should be as short and punchy as possible, providing them with the facts they need in as straightforward a manner as possible. If your content is overrun with fluff or written in a rambling style, readers will get frustrated that they can’t easily find the information they’re looking for.
Eye-Catching Graphics
Websites are a visual medium, and a well-designed graphic can stick in a visitor’s mind in a way that nothing else can. A memorable infographic can communicate a large amount of information in a simple and easily graspable way, and it can easily be shared on social media. Animated videos are another graphic feature with wide appeal that can help you make a greater connection with your customers.
Direct Interaction with Customers
One of the secrets of business success is establishing a bond with your customers, and the internet makes that easier than ever to accomplish. Social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter are an excellent place to interact with your customers, whether you are answering their questions or retweeting their content. Hiring a professional content specialist to run your social media accounts for you is a great way to ensure that those accounts stay active and that the updates are high-quality.
Rethinking Your Dealership Website’s Content
Here’s an experiment you might try: Take a look at your competitors’ sites, and then look at your own. Now imagine what you might do to distinguish yourself as sharply as possible from the other auto dealerships online. The most important quality you can communicate to your site’s visitors is relevance. If your site looks and feels like it is continually being updated and added to, it’s going to stand out all the more among a background of websites that have barely seen a change in years. You can’t completely change everything on your dealership site every few months, of course—so how do you keep it relevant?
Here are some features that will help ensure that your online content continues to stay fresh and interesting:
Post Regularly to Your Blog
Having a regular blog is a terrific way to begin growing a consistent readership, which in turn will increase traffic to your site. You can use your blog to talk about the most exciting vehicles of the coming year, provide useful advice on car maintenance and repairs, and explain the various aspects of the car buying process such as financing.
Refresh Your Homepage
The front page of your site is almost certainly going to be its most-viewed feature, which means that you need to take care to keep it fresh. Changing the graphics and copy on the front page from time to time will remind visitors that your site is dynamic and continually changing, rather than remaining static. For example, you might try featuring a different vehicle on your front page every month.
Implement an Email Marketing Campaign
The sooner you begin building a mailing list of your customers, the better. Email allows you to communicate with your customers instantaneously, which means you can alert them to same-day deals, exclusive offers, or recommended services for their vehicle as often as you need to. Make sure that your email updates are well-composed and substantive—never pester your audience with emails that won’t provide them with anything they can use.
Achieving a smart and well-rounded online presence may seem like a formidable goal at this point, but it doesn’t have to be. Relying on the skills of a professional content marketing team can be your secret weapon, giving you the edge you need to keep bringing in new business. With the help of a crew of content marketing specialists, you can make sure that quality stays consistent across your website, social media posts, email updates, and the rest of your online content. Contact us today to get started.
