In 2022, consumers are spending more time on the internet than any time before. According to Google, 95% of customers looking for a car use some form of internet to do research on car buying information. As shoppers use the internet to research and buy vehicles more and more, it’s critical your dealership can accommodate them both virtually and physically. Your dealership needs to do its marketing in a way that reflects the usage of how people interact with each medium whether it be social media, radio advertising or signs in public. In this article, we’re going to speak about that exactly and how digital marketing is an integral part of achieving success at a dealership. 

1. Digital Marketing is More Profitable than Traditional Marketing

Typically, digital marketing is not only cheaper than traditional marketing but it also allows you to ensure that your marketing efforts are being shown to the people who you want to see it most. While TV ads, billboards and radio ads may be great for overall exposure, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the people watching them are considering buying a vehicle. With digital marketing through Google or social media, you can target specific audiences to ensure the people viewing your ads are at least considering buying a car. According to a report done by DealerSocket, on average, digital marketing costs $150 to sell a car whereas traditional marketing can cost over $1,500 to sell a single car. It doesn’t matter if you’re a small indy store or if you’re the biggest dealership in your city, investing in digital marketing is the most financially rewarding form of marketing. 

2. Buyers Are Doing a TON of Online Research

According to a Google study, 95% of people shopping for a car do online research before buying. So it’s pretty safe to assume that when someone walks into your dealership, there’s a good chance they’ve checked out your website and have a pretty good idea of your inventory. With that being said, there’s also a great chance that they’ve looked at your competitor's website. So when customers walk into your dealership they likely already have their eyes set on a few or possibly just one particular vehicle. You need to make sure that your website is performing well, organized, and constantly updated to reflect your inventory. 

3. Facebook and Google Make it Simple 

Running ads on Facebook and Google is very easy, regardless of if you have marketing experience or not. You have the choice of running pay-per-click ads, inventory ads or just advertising that will show up in people’s news feeds. You may be surprised at how little you need to invest weekly to see results. If you’re concerned about spending money on advertising, you can always use organic social media posts to spread awareness. Customers like to see what your dealership is about and that you're an active member of the community, there’s no better way to do this than by posting regularly on your dealership's social media pages. If you can create authentic posts that resonate with your audience you’ll be at the top of mind when a customer decides it's time to buy a new car. 

4. Take Advantage of Video Content

In 2022, pretty much everyone has access to a high-definition video camera through their cellphone. As a dealership, you have no excuse not to utilize this valuable tool. Video is a great way to show both the interior and exterior of a vehicle in great detail. If you have video walkarounds of each of your vehicles it will give your online customers a much better idea of the cars you have on your lot. On top of that, using video content is a great way for your community to learn about the culture at your dealership and meet some of your team members. These are just a few video ideas but the possibilities of how you can use video to leverage your dealership are endless. Try out tons of different ideas to see what works and what doesn’t.

5. SEO Can Be Extremely Valuable and Cheap

The last digital marketing strategy you NEED to be using is Search Engine Optimization otherwise known as SEO. This is about ranking in Google search engines at the very top of the results page from a certain search query. SEO can be accomplished by doing a few things. Firstly, focus on certain keywords on your website that reflect your dealership. If you’re a used car dealership, you’d certainly want to be at the top of the search results when someone in your city googles “used car dealership near me”. You can get to the top by attempting to rank for the keyword “used car dealership” and other similar keywords. Another thing you’ll want to do is ensure your website is responsive and organized. Whether you want to teach yourself how to use SEO at a basic level or outsource your SEO to an agency, you need to put focus on it.