5 Steps to Automotive Digital Marketing Success

The automotive marketing industry is changing, and the race to become the highest-selling and all-around best dealership in your local market is getting more and more competitive.

With that said, it’s more important than ever for you to find new ways to get ahead of the competition and sell more cars. This is where digital marketing can help. Digital marketing isn’t anything new, but it’s one of the best ways to ensure success in the ever-changing automotive marketing industry. To help you set yourself apart from your competitors and sell more cars, here’s a primer on the key tactics you need to implement in your digital marketing strategy.

1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Everyone knows how important search engine optimization (SEO) is to a successful digital marketing campaign. If you want to sell more cars, however, you need to make sure your SEO strategy can effectively boost your website to the top of a search engine results page. Your site’s search engine rank can mean the difference between selling a new car and losing a sale to your competitor. The higher you get your website to rank, the greater the number of opportunities you have to sell more cars. Optimizing your website’s copy and targeting the right keywords are ways to increase your search ranking.

2. Content marketing

Content marketing is one of the biggest trends in digital marketing for one simple reason: It works. A successful content marketing strategy will help you provide the answers to the questions shoppers have in the form of blog posts, vehicle reviews, premium content, and more. Consumers won’t be the only ones benefiting from a great content marketing strategy, however. When you give potential buyers educational copy that helps them find the car or service they need, you position yourself as a knowledgeable thought leader. Consumers that see you as a thought leader trust in your dealership, and are more likely to choose you over the competition to buy their new car.

3. Lead nurturing

Oftentimes, the people who read your educational content may not be ready to buy just yet. You don’t want to miss the opportunity to sell a car to them when they’re ready, however. This is where lead nurturing can help. Lead nurturing allows you to maximize your consumer database by sending automated emails to prospective customers. Having a larger database of potential buyers gives you more chances to sell cars to new customers, and increase overall profits. Plus, sending lead-nurturing emails will keep your dealership on prospective buyers’ radar. So, when they’re ready to buy, there’s a better chance that they’ll take their business to your dealership.

4. Conversion rate optimization (CRO)

Conversion rate optimization (CRO) is a new, extremely beneficial digital marketing trend that gives dealerships a more effective and innovative way to increase website visitors, conversions, and sales. CRO allows you to learn more about your website visitors by using detailed tests that show how customers interact with your site. These tests can also help you improve your website so you can sell more cars. For example, if a certain page isn’t performing as well as you’d like, you can test a few design changes to see if you can improve it. If the modifications increase visitor traffic or conversions, apply them to the permanent site to boost your chances of selling more cars.

5. Display advertising

You can have the most optimized and well-designed site in the industry, but none of that will matter if you’re not marketing your dealership to where your target audience is. That’s why digital advertising is so important. Facebook Ads and display ads put your dealership in front of your target audience at the right place and time, so they’re more likely to buy from you rather than the competition. These ads can also put your dealership in front of a new audience so you can attract more customers in your local area. And because a digital advertising strategy is integrated, all the specials and sales you feature on your website will also appear on the Facebook Ads and display ads.

Bonus tip: Get integrated

If you want to implement a digital marketing campaign for your dealership, don’t do it alone. Instead, take an integrated approach and work with an advertising agency to help you execute each tactic as efficiently as possible. With an integrated advertising agency, you’ll be able to focus all your attention on helping your sales team sell more cars. That’s because the agency can deal with vendors and essentially execute your digital marketing campaign for you.

Best of all, working with an agency means you’ll have a strategy that’s aligned with your specific goals, so you get the results you want. The automotive marketing industry is changing, and it’s more important than ever to take an integrated and digital approach to your marketing efforts. Having an effective digital marketing campaign will boost your online presence, and, most importantly, help you sell more cars.

Jennica Torio is an inbound marketing copywriter at Stream Companies, a fully integrated advertising agency in Malvern, Pennsylvania, who specializes in generating leads through content marketing. When she’s not writing, you can find her binge-watching shows and movies on Netflix, researching the latest in vehicle technologies, and patiently waiting for the next Star Wars movie.