How Auto Dealers Can Use Digital Strategies to Increase Sales Leave a comment

In the extremely competitive auto sales market, dealerships must use every tool available to maximize their sales volume. These days, that means leveraging an array of digital strategies that can help the dealership increase exposure, boost leads and ultimately sell more vehicles.

At My Dealer Supplies, we always emphasize the importance of using tried-and-true sales aids, such as car dealer stickers, promotional / auto service hang tags and car dealership flags, all of which help attract attention to your vehicles and inform your prospective buyers. But those tools alone won’t cut it in today’s market. 

Dealerships that fail to harness digital marketing will only fall behind. Here are 5 digital strategies to leverage at your dealership.

1) Online inventory

Data from Google shows that 95% of car buyers go online when looking for a new vehicle. As such, your dealership’s website needs to be a valuable source of information about the vehicles you sell. That includes not only general information about the vehicles (specs, colors, etc.), but also up-to-date inventory availability and pricing.

2) Lead generation

Every page on a dealer’s website should be focused on generating a lead. For example, you can offer buyers the opportunity to request more details about vehicle models, schedule a test drive, contact the dealership with general questions, chat with an associate in real time, etc. 

To boost leads, you can also try offering small incentives for scheduling a test drive, such as a Starbucks gift card, free key chain and so on. 

3) Contact management & email marketing systems 

Contact leads as quickly as possible. Then, stay in touch with them. 

Ideally, a sales associate should personally reach out to each prospect right away. But also, dealerships should leverage CMS platforms and email marketing to deliver automated messages over time. Depending on the prospect’s original interest/action, these emails can be used to announce sales, send service reminders or provide more information about vehicles.

CMS platforms can track users’ engagement and divert them to different types of email series over time as they go through your sales funnel and interact with your dealership.

4) Third-party car listing sites

Sync your online inventory with listings on third-party auto sales websites, such as Autotrader, Cars.com, etc. These sites are primary destinations for today’s car buyers (especially those who have no attachment to any dealership), so you want to be sure these prospects can find your vehicles.

5) Social media

Maintain an active presence on the top social platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram. This will keep your dealership “top of mind” for local car buyers, while enabling you to announce promotions, highlight vehicles and build your followers – all of which ultimately helps to increase sales.

Need auto dealer supplies to support your digital efforts?

Remember: increasing your digital presence does not mean abandoning the other proven methods that help to attract buyers and make your operations efficient. Shop My Dealer Supplies to stock up on critical auto dealer supplies, including car key tags, car dealer stickers, car dealership flags and more.