Looking for dealership marketing strategies? You’re in the right place. Making car sales isn’t always easy. Your sales team often has a lot of work to do to build trust in the car buying process. And that’s why reaching out to your prospective customers with solid marketing ideas is so key.
A robust marketing strategy for the auto industry should include everything from social media to events to SMS—and more. In this article, you’ll learn about the best marketing tools and techniques to add into your digital marketing strategy and take your car dealership to the next level.
In this article:
1. Establish a strong online presence
2. Optimize your website for SEO
3. Connect with users on social media
4. Manage customer reviews
5. Host events and promotions
6. Refine your email marketing strategy
7. Use SMS for marketing or sales purposes
8. Build partnerships with local automotive businesses
9. Utilize influencer marketing
10. Start a referral program
1. Establish a strong online presence
When someone needs or wants a new car, what’s the first thing they do? In today’s day and age, they hop online. And that’s why it’s absolutely crucial for your dealership to not only have an online presence, but to have a presence that’s overwhelmingly positive.
The first step to establishing your presence on the internet is to create a compelling, user-friendly website.
Work with a professional designer to build a website that’s visually attractive with its fonts, colors, and graphics. Guide visitors around the site using visible menus and easy navigation links. And make sure your site is mobile responsive! Over half of all web traffic happens on mobile devices.
After your dealership’s website is set up, social media comes next. Increase your social proof by gaining more followers and more engagement on platforms like:
- YouTube
- TikTok
The best way to grow on social media is to regularly post professional, engaging content that provides value or entertainment to your target audience. Interact with your followers and use strategies like hashtags to increase visibility.
Finally, your dealership should make an effort to be visible on third-party sites like Cars.com and Carfax. You can post listings on these sites so more prospective buyers can come across the cars you have for sale. This will also help improve your SEO—which is what we’re going to talk about next.
2. Optimize your website for SEO
SEO stands for search engine optimization. This is the process of strategically incorporating keywords and phrases into your site so it will show up higher in search results. For example, if someone types “car dealership near me” into Google or searches for “Kia for sale new” on Bing, you want your website to show up at the top of those search results.
You can add these keywords on your website pages, including body text, photo alt text, and URL slugs. Just make sure the keywords sound natural instead of forcing them in.
Creating engaging, valuable blog content also goes hand-in-hand with SEO. Blog posts are a great place to naturally include target keywords. As you write to your audience of car shoppers, you might write blog posts based on topics such as:
- How to choose the best car for your family
- Tips for cleaning your car
- The benefits of leasing vs. buying a car
Consider outsourcing this work to a freelance writer or a content marketing agency. Paired with your car expertise, these trained professionals will produce the kind of high-quality work that draws people to your website and keeps them there.
3. Connect with users on social media
Car dealerships need to be active on social media. This is an important form of digital marketing: Using social media allows you to build brand awareness, generate leads, and so much more. Eighty-nine percent of marketers say social media is very important to their overall strategy.
Build a social media marketing strategy based on posting engaging content (consider repurposing blog content where you can) and engaging with user comments and messages. Use the following tips to help make your efforts more effective:
- Use free graphic design tools and social media scheduler platforms.
- Post consistently, adding or sharing content on a regular basis.
- Vary your content (educational, informational, humorous, promotional, etc.).
- Lean into best practices for each individual channel.
- Answer messages and comments as soon as possible.
- Measure the success of your social campaigns so you can tweak them where needed.
Bitly can help make your social media posts easier and more effective by creating branded links. A branded link (commonly known as vanity URLs) is a shortened URL that uses your custom brand name. These links improve brand awareness and are highly shareable. Add a branded link to your social media post or Instagram bio anytime you’re directing followers back to your site.
4. Manage customer reviews
Customer reviews can make or break your business. Online reviews serve as a form of social proof—convincing people that they should (or shouldn’t) buy a car from your dealership. Ninty-eight percent of people read online reviews for local businesses. And 85% of consumers trust online reviews just as much as personal recommendations. This is why it’s in your best interest to cultivate good reviews online.
Start by figuring out where you want to get reviews. Your website is one option. Third-party sites can also be helpful, though—places like Facebook Business Pages, Google My Business, or Trustpilot.
After making a sale, ask your happy customer for a review. Give them a direct link to where you’d like them to leave the review. Then make sure to respond to reviews as they start rolling in.
Say thank you for positive reviews, but less-than-complimentary reviews need your attention, too. Apologize for a bad experience and offer to correct it. This will reassure potential customers that you’re willing to handle issues correctly should they arise.
5. Host events and promotions
Even in today’s hyper-digital world, in-person events are still a valuable way to engage customers, especially for local businesses like car dealerships. Special promotions help increase your exposure and forge relationships with new leads. Events are a unique way to connect with customers, get to know them, and let them get to know you.
Choose from the following list of ideas for events and special promotions, or create your own:
- Car wash
- Holiday events (such as photos with Santa)
- Charity drives
- Raffles or giveaways
- Test drive incentives
- Summer cookouts
- Car seat safety educational presentations
- Anniversary celebrations for your dealership
6. Refine your email marketing strategy
Email marketing is a great way to reach out to customers and leads with personalized offers and information. Sixty-four percent of small businesses use email marketing to reach their customers. Emails are also an easy marketing method to get started with and to measure as you go along.
However, you don’t want to overwhelm your prospects with too many sales promotions. Weekly emails are a good cadence, but daily emails are likely not necessary. Settle into a good rhythm that will make your audience look forward to your emails instead of dreading them. Here are some other tips and ideas to help:
- Build an email list by collecting email addresses from customers in person or online.
- Segment your list by dividing customers into groups based on different criteria.
- Choose a campaign type (such as newsletters, promotions, and welcome emails).
- Write and design your email.
- Send the email and measure the results.
- Rinse and repeat.
7. Use SMS for marketing or sales purposes
SMS marketing (text messages) is another effective way to directly get in touch with leads and prospects. Some of the proven benefits of SMS marketing include:
- Higher open rates, response rates, and click-through rates
- More engagement thanks to personalized content
- Affordable (low-cost or free marketing is key)
- Easy to scale
- Better customer data
Leverage these benefits by launching an SMS strategy. Get started by allowing users to opt-in to receive messages from you. Then figure out what kind of messages you’ll send, and when you plan to send them.
You do have a character limit with SMS—160 characters (approximately 30 words) is the max. But that’s still plenty of space to send a survey, offer a personalized promotion (birthday, anyone?), or remind customers of their upcoming appointment.
8. Build partnerships with local automotive businesses
Other local automotive businesses aren’t your enemy. In fact, they could be one of your biggest resources. Joining forces with businesses that offer a service that’s complementary to yours (for instance, a car detailer instead of another car dealership) could bring in more business for you both.
Approach another automotive business and ask if they’d like to run a joint promotion with you—something that benefits customers when they shop at both places. You might choose to work with auto parts stores, car washes, or car insurance companies.
For example, when someone buys a car from you, give them a voucher for a free car wash at the car wash down the road. Likewise, the car wash could hand out coupons or special promotions for you.
9. Utilize influencer marketing
Influencer marketing is a smart tactic to incorporate into your social media strategy. Remember how people trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations? Consumers trust influencers, too. Partnering with the right influencer can open up your business to an influx of new customers, boosting your brand awareness and reach.
For businesses in the car industry, look for influencers who appeal to your target audience—perhaps influencers who live locally. Make sure your target influencers have a high engagement rate on their social media posts.
Instagram and TikTok are two of the best social media platforms for influencer content. You can ask an influencer to visit your dealership and create content such as a tour of your showroom or taking a car for a test drive. You’ll likely expect to pay the influencer a lump sum per each post they share on your behalf.
10. Start a referral program
A referral program is another great marketing opportunity for car dealerships. With this word-of-mouth strategy, your customers will tell people they know about your dealership, and then you’ll reward the original customer if one of their friends makes a purchase.
Referral programs work because word-of-mouth marketing is so effective. Chances are, your satisfied customers will be telling their friends about your business anyway. So why not sweeten the pot by incentivizing them—adding a reward for the customer, and more business for you?
Give customers a free car wash, a free product accessory like a steering wheel cover, or even a cash bonus when somebody they referred makes a purchase of a certain amount.
Increase your brand visibility with Bitly
Marketing for car dealerships can be a lot of work! But the results—greater brand awareness, more leads, and overall higher revenue—are 100% worth it. Start by building out your website and social media platforms to create a solid online presence. Then expand into other marketing strategies, like events, referral programs, and SMS and email.
Supercharge your car dealership marketing with Bitly. Features like branded links, QR Codes, and link-in-bio tools make it easy for car buyers to find the information they’re looking for.
View our pricing page (including our Free plan) and learn how you can improve the customer experience in the automotive industry.