In my session, “Fixed Operations: The Auto Industry’s Missed Marketing Opportunity,” Iwill explain why a dedicated digital marketing effort around Fixed Operations is essential for dealers to compete with independent service shops for local customers. According to the National Automobile Dealers Association, Service and Parts make up 54 percent of the average dealership’s net profits, yet only receive 3 percent share of voice on its website. This oversight is costing dealers over $225 billion in lost market share each year and more than 225,000 local customers.
A few of the key concepts I will explain will help dealers understand how to maximize Service Department profits using digital marketing and teach them methods to grow their business.Tips on how to reclaim local market share from independent service shops, as well as explain how to drive consumers to their websites will be provided. Dealers are absent in the digital arena when it comes to the Services category, however according to a Millward Brown Digital/Google Auto Parts/Accessories Purchase Study from August 2013, 70 percent of drivers research online before they make a purchase. This makes it crucial for dealers to have an online presence for Fixed Operations.
The key to a successful Fixed Operations digital marketing campaign is to send purchase-ready customers from your company’s digital ads to tailored landing pages for service and parts, tires, brakes, batteries and oil changes. These pages, tailored to your dealership and special offers, can be embedded to your website to make the buying process quick and efficient for consumers.
The bottom line is that dealers are losing money and need to stop giving away service dollars to their competition. The NADA has estimated Fixed Operations to be a $310 billion dollar business, yet dealerships have captured less than 27 percent of the market. Today’s consumer is increasingly digital, and in order to reclaim local market share from independent service shops, auto dealers must learn how to incorporate digital marketing around Fixed Operations.
