Are you wasting budget on a poor Paid Search strategy? 
Paid Search is an extremely valuable channel, but only when it’s backed by a strategic approach. Dealerships across the nation are feeling pressure to invest in digital, but they are falling prey to providers that push for expensive and ineffective Paid Search strategies. It’s time to stop wasting money on a strategy that doesn't drive results.

To remain competitive, dealers need to align their marketing with the way buyers think, research, and purchase. You attract people to your dealership by being helpful, relevant, and personal(ized). These are the cornerstones to relationship marketing and to providing consumer value.

Dealers in today’s marketplace must carefully choose strategies and solutions that will best serve their business. Virginia based dealership, Steven Toyota recently did just that and took new steps to be more responsive and improve communications with their customers. They adopted a dynamic, direct marketing strategy provided through GSM called Lifecycle Marketing powered by atom.

The Difference Between Omnichannel and Multichannel Marketing -

One of the biggest marketing challenges, especially in the automotive industry, is keeping clients’ interactions consistent across multiple channels. This 'omnichannel' strategy provides a consistent experience throughout the entire customer journey.

As technology and customer brand-interactions continue to evolve, dealerships will need to adopt an Omnichannel Marketing strategy in order to remain competitive.

It should come as no surprise that prospecting is a necessary evil in the automotive industry. Prospecting has become smarter, more accurate, and more accessible as more technology and communication channels continue to develop. The question is no longer why dealers should prospect, instead, it is how and where they should prospect. In a culture of immediacy, prospecting requires a constant understanding of what consumers want, expect, and need. Today, prospecting needs to be data-driven and data-based in order to provide instant and actionable insights into consumer purchasing behaviors. 

Dealerships have a continually changing availability for growing their revenue and market share. The preferred method is for a consumer to buy into the dealership’s brand with a new vehicle purchase and to continue the purchase cycle into the service lane. However, this isn’t always the case; often times, the source for a new service lead can provide less than a few hundred customers a month. What dealerships need is a consistent method for generating and retaining prospects throughout the purchase cycle. 

The largest area for opportunity lies within intelligently targeting consumers who already live in the dealer’s primary market area and who drive the targeted vehicle make that the dealership services. Dealerships have a large pool of data at their disposal in their DMS, and with their manufacturer, but it’s not the sole source to look to for prospects. Consumers who buy and sell privately, buy used third-party, or who move into the dealer’s primary marketing area (PMA) are all big opportunities that are often overlooked. 

Every business today, regardless of industry, relies on leads and new business to thrive. However, we find that some auto dealers fall prey to marketing partners that dazzle them with promises of sky-high performance metrics. Metrics are inflated for a wow-factor, leaving companies stuck in a contract without seeing the promised outcome. 

We find that some dealers are focused on finding new ways to stand out from the competition and unknowingly give in to slick agency pitches filled with misleading promises about tripling leads. What dealers need from a marketing partner is transparency, consultation, and actionable advice. If you find yourself facing a ‘too good to be true’ pitch - ask direct questions about how the company quantifies their data. What does the provider consider a lead? Can you see a breakdown of the data behind the metrics? Seek answers because not all leads are created equal. 

Debunk the junk: Fact or fiction?
You need a marketing partner, not just a provider. The process of driving leads is a priority for dealerships big and small. When it comes to leads, the expression “quality over quantity” could not ring more true. What does your digital marketing company or website provider count as a lead – a visit to the hours and directions page? There’s a chance your provider counts this page visit as a lead, backing it as customer intent to visit the dealership – however, the problem is that this is not a true lead. That web visitor may never step foot in your dealership or purchase anything from you either. 

A true lead should be tangible - a form submission, a phone call, or contact information (email, phone number). These customers are ready to buy, and more importantly, they are ready to buy from you. GSM focuses on quality of web leads over quantity. Any marketer can drive hundreds, even thousands, of leads to a website – but, that doesn’t mean those leads will convert to a sale or have high purchase intent. Driving quality leads is about being efficient in targeting and attracting consumers that are closer to purchase, to your website.