When most dealers think about advertising, it’s either afterthought or treated as a siloed piece of a dealership marketing plan. And it’s often thought of as the last part of the marketing plan, when in fact it should be the first piece of consideration to really build out a full-proof, lead-generating, profit maximizing digital marketing plan.
Advertising is:
- One of the first touch points you can have with a customer
- The entry point to your website
- The first step into your digital retailing process
In today’s automotive world, dealership websites must do more than navigate shoppers the car inventory. But here is the thing, having a good website on its own is only a partial solution to getting more quality leads and turning cars on the car lot – dealers must take a holistic approach to beef up their entire digital marketing strategy. Without effective advertising, they’re truly missing out.
The Automotive Industry is Changing. Is Your Marketing Strategy Keeping Up?
In today’s tumultuous world, in-market auto shoppers have new and different considerations during the shopping journey, such as fluctuating interest rates, inflation concerns, inventory shortages, and more. To stay competitive, dealers must have new and different ways of grabbing their attention. A successful strategy should be firmly centered on meeting consumers where they are. No longer a linear path, consumers follow the purchase path in different ways, at different times, and take different steps in a different order.
It’s no longer enough to rely on contextual targeting to capture the attention of the right buyer, right when they’re most impressionable. Broad contextual placements generate waste through low-value impressions and low engagement. On the other hand, audience targeting leverages the intelligence of behavioral data and serves your message to the shoppers who are most likely to buy.
Modern Challenges Require Modern Solutions.
There are many factors contributing to the need for dealers to focus on perfecting their advertising strategy:
- Consumers are spending more time online. 52% of buyers who reported limited inventory selection said they spent more time researching and shopping online as a result. This presents an opportunity to strategically target car shoppers with cars they want to see based on their shopping behaviors. With access to exclusive Cox Automotive dealers can leverage these insights to serve up the exact car consumers are looking for.
- The cookieless future is upon us. We’ve all heard it – third-party cookies are going away. Dealers must have access to first-party data that allows them to gain insights on their customers to effectively market and advertise to them. Will your dealership be ready?
- Digital retailing is the road forward. Advertising can be the entry point to your dealership digital retailing process. And because 70% of shoppers are more likely to buy from a dealer if they can start their deal online, it’s important to use targeted advertising to reach potential car buyers.
- A new way to buy ads across Google Ads inventory. Google PMax was created to help advertisers reach customers more effectively and drive better results through automation. These ads allow the dealers to promote their inventory to interested and relevant shoppers online by featuring them in the most desirable real estate on Google’s search results page.
Dealer.com Advertising delivers data-driven intelligent advertising so dealers can own the moments that matter most for their customers. With the right data, the right partner, and the right innovations to bring it all together, Dealer.com Advertising helps reach the right consumer with the right message at precisely the right time in the buying process and service selection, providing a superior dealership experience.
+28% More Advertising Leads
And as dealers think about creating an effective Advertising strategy, the need three things: the right data, the right technology, and the right expertise.
The Right Data: In the fast-approaching world without third-party cookies, dealers can use our Cox Automotive proprietary data to build audiences on each buyer’s intent and predict the make with 90% accuracy and exact model with 55% accuracy that those evaluators lowest in the funnel will purchase in the next 30 days.
The Right Technology: Choose the channels that work best and adjust your strategy in real-time. With proprietary Advertising Management software, dealers can identify opportunities for growth and optimization, so they can shift with their market and maximize the impact of their advertising spend.
The Right Expertise: With Dealer.com Advertising, dealers can achieve your advertising goals with the help of our highly trained Advertising Architects who specialize in every area of marketing strategy, understand how to leverage the largest first- party data source in the automotive industry, and help dealers get the most out of your advertising spend.
With Dealer.com, you get a data-driven partner that delivers real results, powered by exclusive Cox Automotive data.
+13% More Website Visits
+25% More Vehicle Display Page Views
Advertising is usually a siloed piece of a marketing plan, but it must be considered at the front end, not the back. If you are just worried about website reach and closing deals, you are too far down the funnel because it all starts with advertising.
Want to learn more about beefing up your dealership advertising strategy? Download our guide for the effective practices being used by today’s top dealerships.