For car dealerships, marketing has progressed at an unprecedented level and has never required such a low level of strategy making. The most successful dealerships measure, provide their team with a powerful CRM, analyze their campaign results and establish processes to offer a continuity between the online and in-dealership experiences.
A lot of aspects exist to help you improve your marketing success and generate a better return on investment.
Target the right audience with your marketing campaigns
There are a lot of places where you can invest your marketing budget, such as the various marketplaces, Google, Facebook, Instagram, through remarketing, etc. In order to create a successful strategy, you should determine who your client type is. People who will buy a vehicle have different habits, questions, desires and needs when it comes to shopping for a new car. This is why it’s important to have a marketing strategy that’s adapted to your manufacturer, the sources where you wish to invest, and on the model you want to advertise. Having different types of clients requires you to personalize your message, which has to be unique to improve the chances of converting.
Measure the performance of your campaigns and sub campaigns
If you’re getting an overall summary of your marketing performance from your agency or marketing team, you’re on the wrong track. It is essential to analyze performance by source, campaign and sub campaign in order to maximize results and choose where to invest. For example, if you’re doing Adwords, you’re not only looking at the overall performance; you want the results for your campaign – which would be for ‘’new cars”, and for your sub campaigns, such as ‘’performance by model’’.
You could also have a “second chance for credit” campaign, then your sub campaigns would be the evening and weekend ones in order to measure what works and what needs to be improved. The analysis must be done according to different metrics which are the performance indicators. It is imperative to measure their results much further than the traditional data: number of VDP (vehicle details page), visits to the website, conversion percentage, number of internet requests, number of phone calls and the cost per lead.
Today, the dealership and the agency must go further and do their own analysis to see what generates:
- Appointments
- Visits
- Sales
- Deliveries
- Profits
Integrate your CRM effectively into your marketing strategy
CRM is a vital tool for your marketing success. It is the communication and data tool between the agency, the BDC, the sales team, the receptionist and the client. The CRM plays a major role in the successful conversion of your potential clients into appointments and sales. It is the tool that will allow your teams to efficiently follow-up.
Your CRM must capture 100% of web requests and first sales calls. It must be able to automate multiple tasks and follow-ups in order to nurture leads efficiently.
Provide continuity between the online and in-dealership experience
Your CRM is also the transmission belt between the online and dealership experience. Often overlooked, this aspect significantly transforms conversions to sales.
Here are some things that are essential and easy to implement if you have the right CRM:
- Integrate your receptionist with the CRM to personalize the customer greeting.
- Use an appointment calendar so vehicles are ready to be shown and close to the door.
- Use your CRM as a communication tool between the BDC and sales.
- Access communications and notes so you are aware of the customer’s information, desired vehicle and current vehicle so the customer doesn’t repeat themselves.
- Make sure follow-ups are done, are of high quality and that the response time is under 15 minutes.
Aligning your marketing with your CRM is essential for ensuring success and the best return on investment. This is achieved by measuring the results from campaign to sale and having data for each campaign and sub-campaign. Your CRM must provide the essential data and tools for your team to perform and allow you to offer a seamless experience between the online and dealership experience
