In some ways, it is getting harder to sell more cars, but in other ways, it is becoming easier. Even as the most professional car salesman on the showroom floor, you probably have more marketing tools such as a car dealer website and a bigger potential audience than ever before, but customers also have a huge amount more knowledge and opportunity to work out more about potential cars before they come to see you. In fact, the car dealership may not be the first port of call for advice anymore.
Taking the positives from that, it means that the market is bigger, and opportunity is out there for any dealership that knows how to be creative in the world of selling cars. So, how can you sell more cars in 2019? We give our top tips here.
Embrace Visual Content
People are getting more and more used to making buying decisions with their eyes. We live in the age of Instagram, which is like a marketing tool for peoples’ lives, showing all the best aspects of what they get up to, their holidays and the parties they attend. And it is no different when buying a car. Your Instagram can be a way to connect with people locally and with good quality hashtagging, Instagram stories and other visual content there are ways to catch the eye... literally.
Making content is easier than ever, too. You could even create a high-quality video of someone test driving a car on your phone. You can take panoramic sales photos or get a 360 stitching app and create an interactive experience for your potential customers, who can look at a car’s interior properly.
Video content and photographic content also provide the perfect opportunity to show your business as a professional and friendly organization.
Be Honest with People
The dot-com age has also brought about something of an age of transparency. People expect to be able to get the facts about everything, and there is no use trying to sell people based on exaggerating or trying to ignore the negatives. Instead of bamboozling customers with facts and empty dealership offers that “promises” them ways of saving money, being honest about a car’s flaws without making an effort to highlight them can help to gain respect. People are judging their car dealership as much as the car itself in some instances and, if they think for a second that you’re not being honest with them, then this can cost you sales.
A good way, to be honest, is to discuss with them the history of a car and not trying to hide the fact it has had work done. Instead, you can even turn this ongoing maintenance into a positive thing. It is all about how you spin it. Honest service with a smile goes a long way.
Be Data Driven
Getting a little scientific with your marketing methods can end up with you getting a lot of leads—and your marketing budget go a lot further. We have so many platforms in which we can advertise now. Which works best for you, however, it will depend on the techniques you are using, the area you are in and much more. The key is to test things. Facebook ads, Instagram ads, YouTube, Google, even private advertising on local publications or blogs can be routes to new customers. All of these should provide you with data, and experimenting with the wording of advertising can be a great way to whittle down to the most efficient methods.
If you are lazy and just set up and leave an advertising campaign, then it will probably end up costing a lot per click or per view. However, if you use tools such as negative keywords to narrow down your audience in Google Adwords, or experiment more with your target audience, you can certainly win over more customers.
Facebook is a great platform for targeting people. The company has such a huge amount of knowledge on people’s buying preferences (e.g., what they like and where they are based) and you can tap into this to try and reach new customers. Though Facebook has recently had a bad rap, the company seems to have ridden the storm and a huge number of advertisers still opt for the platform as their preferred advertising partner. There are plenty of YouTube videos, courses or even experts out there to help you with getting the best value in terms of paying for clicks to your ads.
Never Reject Free Advertising... Seek It Out!
A lot of the methods out there that can lead to the hottest leads are free. Content creation and answering questions, as well as providing value to potential customers, is totally free and will only cost you your time. Whether this is on Twitter, or on websites such as Quora where you can answer people’s queries, you should try and establish yourself as an expert.
Personalized service is hugely valuable and will help you drive sales. If you are willing to go that extra mile to discuss things with customers, show them their options, answer all of their questions and generally be helpful, it can turn into free advertising.
Of course, having profiles on social media is great, but using them to reach people is where the actual value is.
Have an Amazing Website
In 2019, it is not enough to have a static page that looks like it was built in 2001! The automotive industry is not always the quickest to catch up in this respect, but more people are buying by first seeing online, then test driving a vehicle. Your website should be compatible with all mobile browsers and tablets, too.
Luckily, with web building platforms like Wix, WordPress and more, it is easier to do than ever before. It may cost a little to get a good quality site up and running in the first place, but in return, you will get the trust of people who visit it. A site which looks like it isn’t up-to-date suggests a lot of negative things about your business.
A good dealership website can also be more of a draw for people and ensure you get email signups, more traffic to your site and more engagement on social media, too, and potentially ensure more cars sold. It is not something to ignore—the car lot is not the only place customers look anymore!
Lucie Gauvreau is the CEO of Turbo Marketing Solutions. You can contact her by email here or reach her by phone every weekday at Turbo Marketing’s head office.