How are sales this month? Meeting your quota? Or are you looking for new car marketing tools that will save you? A quick Google search might offer familiar advice in Connecticut: optimize your website, invest in pay-per-click ads, use email marketing platforms like Constant Contact or MailChimp, leverage social media advertising on Facebook, or create video ads (even though producing high-quality videos can be challenging). While these strategies have their place, they often lack a unique touch.
So, what can you do to stand out in the Connecticut market?
Car Marketing Tools You’re Overlooking
Here are three “outside the box” solutions that aren’t as heavily promoted as the big-ticket marketing ideas everyone is selling, but they work. These strategies will inspire word-of-mouth advertising and attract more of the right kind of customers. Each of these offers new opportunities to connect with your next customer.
- Community Involvement: Step out of the showroom and join your local Chamber of Commerce, MADD, Rotary Club, or other civic organizations. If your community only thinks about you when they’re car shopping and comparing you to other dealerships, you’re already fighting a losing battle. But if they think of you as a valued part of the community, you’ll be top-of-mind when they need help, not just when they’re looking for a deal.
- Get Involved in Schools: Yes, really! Take every opportunity to talk to kids during their formative years about auto safety and maintenance. The goodwill you build with the children will extend to their households, fostering positive relationships with parents who may become your future customers.
- Optimize Your Customer Experience, and Then Brag About It: From an easy-to-use website to making every phone call more user-friendly: routing calls efficiently and providing callers with engaging, informative messages when they have to wait on hold. This small yet impactful touch can make a significant difference. Greet visitors to your showroom personally and ensure every interaction is memorable.
Big Money Marketing vs. Big Results
Madison Avenue marketing is an expensive battlefield, a relentless arms race to capture buyers’ attention when they’re actively comparing you to your competition. This approach often talks “at” customers. It’s an easy route because everybody does it.
But You Can Go Further
When you engage with potential customers on a deeper level, you’re talking “to” them. This makes a big difference. Your potential buyer is on a journey as they navigate the buying process. Using these tools, you can succeed because:
- When you’re involved with the community, your customers already “know, like, and trust” you. You’re ahead of the competition.
- When you’re involved in schools, you’re seen as part of their family.
- When you take control of the customer experience, with tools like messages on hold, you get an opportunity to showcase the compelling benefits of visiting your showroom:
- Hands-on experience
- Test drives
- Personalized advice
- The chance to see and feel the quality of the vehicles
- Exploring various options and features
You can follow the traditional route, just like your competition, or you can go “off-road” and find a shortcut that gets you where you want to be faster. By integrating innovative tools like community involvement, educational outreach, and enhancing the customer experience (including the strategic use of messages on hold), you create a unique and memorable journey for your customers, setting your dealership apart.
Want more ideas? In Stamford, Bridgeport and Hartford, Connecticut call us at (203) 655-3920. Nationwide call (800) 862-8896.
