The entire goal of your marketing activities is to sell more cars.  Online marketing advances allow you to reach a larger audience.

Some of the old strategies for selling cars still work as long as you share the information online. Other ideas for bringing customers to your dealership are strictly online and can be more impactful when you want to enjoy promoting your dealership to the local area to bring more eyes to your vehicles and your ads.

Use Social Media

You’re probably already doing this, but are you being effective with your social media content and posts? This is one way to directly influence the car buying process and engage with your potential customer base. There are many great ways for you to share information and events through this media and you need to make sure it’s being used every day.

Capture some organic leads online with social media with posts that will make a difference. Here are some ideas:

• Share posts that link to relevant landing pages on your site

• Add your contact information on your profile

• Encourage users to subscribe directly to your Facebook Messenger bot

These are great ways to get your name in front of more users; the next step is to improve the content to keep their attention.

Pay-Per-Click Ads (PPC)

One of the most effective and affordable online forms of advertising is with PPC ads. Your PPC campaign can drive your dealership name to the top of the list when someone in your local area searches for terms that you use for your site. This helps you show up higher on search engines and makes it easy for you to engage your customers.No matter the web page you promote with your PPC ad, it should include a contact form or lead magnet to encourage visitors to submit their information and begin a conversation with your dealership team that could turn into a sale.

Local Partnerships

Build a partnership with other local companies and create a team of businesses that support each other and effectively push customers toward each other. While you don’t have to share this information online, you’ll find effective marketing through the sharing of information between companies and cross-sharing on social media.

Some members of the auto industry that aren’t your direct competitors can be the perfect local partners for you. Work together to share information, offer savings across businesses, and create brand awareness of different businesses by teaming up. This is a great way to expand your online audience and show those that follow either business that you’re growing a partnership together.

Referral Program

Typically, referral programs offer a lower cost per lead than any other form of marketing. This is a way to allow others to trust each other through referrals from other companies. This is similar to creating local partnerships through the trust of businesses that work together and create a trustworthy team for customers to take advantage of.

Your program does need to give your customers good incentives to refer you to other people in their network. For every lead you convert from a customer referral program, you can offer a reward to the person who made the referral. Some ideal for this could be:

• A free car service (with a limited value)

• A gift card

• A cash reward

You should share referral successes online to encourage the same from other customers.

Community Events

While you don’t have to share community events online, if you do, you’re going to engage a larger audience and showcase what you have to more people. Let your dealership be a place where you can have events sponsored, hosted, and presented. When there are local events in your area, make sure you have a booth and showcase what you offer at this location.

Use your dealership to host events that align with your message and your organization. Showcase announcements for the event on your social media channels and let the community know where to go to get more information about the event. Being part of your community is one of the most important ways you can impress your online audience.

Bring in the Customers with the Right Online Presentation

You need customers to see that you care about your community, offer engaging content, have partnerships with other businesses, and reward those that talk your car dealership up to their friends and family. Use these different tips to engage and attract more customers that will want to come in and buy a new or used vehicle from your car dealership.