In the digital age, the ability to get leads online is one of the most valuable opportunities a dealership can take. The internet makes an experience that was previously only physical—that is, car shopping—to a whole new level, and it is possible to use it to your advantage. If you know how to generate leads online using internet resources, you can expand your business greatly.
Here are some top 5 ways that dealerships can get leads online.
1. Show off your product with videos.
This one may seem obvious, but making video advertisements that are easily available at any time to your customer base is incredibly important. The ability to see your dealership —in many aspects—without physically being at your dealership is priceless.
A video about your dealership can include many elements that will generate customer interest. For example, you can include salespeople in your video in order to make customers feel like they know them on a deeper level, bolstering a feeling of community. Testimonials from past and present customers can also be incredibly helpful—potential customers may like to see what other customers think of you.
These types of videos can be of high value to generating dealership leads.
2. Use email marketing.
A physical, direct-mail pamphlet can be useful, but people tend to check their emails much more frequently than they check their snail mail. People can have all the information that would be included in direct mail right at their fingertips on their desktop, laptop, or phone.
By curating a quality email list and keeping up with it, you can ensure high levels of responsiveness to email marketing. Emails should be easy to read and full of information that potential customers can refer to. If you reliably market through email and reply to email inquiries, you can rely heavily on email for your online dealership marketing.
3. Become discoverable with search engine optimization.
Search engine optimization, or SEO, is a process by which websites (normally businesses) make themselves more discoverable in searches. Successful SEO can allow your dealership to rank higher in results, increasing the amount of traffic the website gets, which can have overall positive turnarounds for business.
Creating unique pages with target audiences is an incredible SEO strategy that makes your website all the more discoverable. Claim business listings, write with meta descriptions and keywords, and target a local audience that will create a local base of customers. With SEO tactics, online dealership leads become a lot more achievable because your dealership website becomes one of the first options in a search.
4. Optimize your website for mobile platforms.
Once you’ve made your website climb to the top of searches, it only makes sense for customers to be able to navigate your website. But in our modern time, a website on a computer can only do so much. It is very important that your website is navigable on a mobile device as well! Internet usage on mobile devices like phones and tablets is at an all-time high, and it’s in your absolute best interest to be usable on mobile if you want your website to maintain traffic.
Make sure that any websites, articles, listings, chatbots, and other elements are easily accessible and functional on mobile. There is nothing more frustrating than a website that is improperly optimized, making it hard to navigate on mobile. Customers will think it professional and enjoy the fact that your dealership website is easy to navigate on a convenient, handheld platform. By having a mobile optimized website, your dealership can gain leads from a greater variety of platforms, widening the scope.
5. Engage on social media platforms like Facebook.
Websites need to be mobile optimized because phones are used so often. But it’s not just the browsers you need to worry about; social media platforms are incredibly useful for dealership marketing. People use social media all the time—it’s not uncommon at all to see someone stuck to their phone for hours on end, scrolling aimlessly through a given social media platform. Use that to your dealership’s advantage!
On Facebook, for example, targeted ads can be a huge help. Sponsored listings can draw the attention of potential customers who are searching for something specific. You can create a business page to aid in your overall SEO and post graphics to catch the attention of potential customers. It’s also possible to create event pages for a sales event, leading to thousands of impressions which can quickly and easily become leads.
And that’s it! Those are 5 of the best ways that dealerships can use online platforms to get leads. If you’re looking to gain leads from social media and reach thousands of potential customers through online platforms, look no further than BDC Promotions. We will help your dealership gain a huge amount of traction through Facebook campaigns, and we are devoted to making sure you generate leads. Be sure to contact us for more information, and allow us to be your digital concierge service.