The term “digital native” describes people who were practically born with smart devices in their hands and have grown up consistently using technology for communication and information gathering. This tech-savvy consumer group mainly comprises Millennials and Generation Z (aka Zoomers), representing over $3 trillion in purchasing power.

As a dealer, you already know that these generations’ purchasing behaviors are more technology-oriented than previous generations. According to Statista, digital natives are commonly influenced by social media, positive reviews, experiences, interactive media, and the opinions of family or peer groups when shopping for products.

As this demographic with a digital-first mindset becomes a growing percentage of your customer base, future-proofing your dealership with strategies to engage digital natives effectively is vital for competitiveness and longevity, now and in the future.

Offer Automotive Product Expertise

Digital natives want to understand all their options before purchasing anything without feeling pressured by a salesperson. This is especially true for big-ticket items requiring a significant financial commitment, such as automobiles.

Product experts guide shoppers to make the right decision, increasing customer satisfaction. Many dealers have product experts available in person at their dealership. These experts should be leveraged when responding to online messaging leads that share where the shopper is focused.

Car shoppers always start their journey online, so making a positive impression during this initial interaction is crucial. By having a warm, personable interaction waiting for your shopper, you are creating a stickiness to your site. This, in turn, generates relationships that are more valuable than just a name and number. The online social nature of today’s culture creates a great starting place for shoppers.

In exchange for this personable, attentive assistance, your dealership will benefit from more valuable sales insight and improved customer ratings and reviews.

Optimize Your Website

According to CDK Global, 62 percent of digital natives say they use the dealer website as a source of information, which is significantly higher than the 38 percent who visit OEM sites. To engage digital natives, websites should leverage technology and a user experience design with fast load times to meet their expectations for convenience, speed and interactive features with quality videos and photos.

Make it easy for digital natives to contact your dealership in the way they want to communicate. That means you need more than a phone number and contact form.

Adding an instant live chat feature that feels similar to texting or a phone number they can text greatly enhances the user experience for digital natives.

Learn Communication Channels

Millennials and Zoomers grew up communicating via text and through social media platforms. They prefer to avoid talking to your salespeople on the phone. They do not read newspapers, watch very little broadcast television, and don’t listen to the radio.

Instead, they search the Internet for hashtags, allow systems to access their location, and hope that a dealership like yours has invested the time and money in targeted digital ads.

On social media, it’s widely recognized that business-generated content often carries an agenda. Consider incorporating user-generated content (UGC) into your strategy to establish an authentic and influential brand. According to Forbes, a staggering 84 percent of digital natives claim that UGC significantly impacts their purchasing decisions. This underscores the power of UGC in shaping consumer perceptions and choices.

UGC involves real customers explaining and promoting your inventory or dealership in their own unique way. For example, many brands have gone viral on TikTok when users demonstrate and promote their products.

Interpret Their Language

Providing career opportunities to digital natives is the first step towards establishing communication with a customer base of digital natives. Your employees should be relatable if you want to relate to this consumer group.

While most digital natives are comfortable using technology in their personal lives, some may be surprisingly uncomfortable using social media for business purposes or being on video. However, by choosing to hire individuals adept at using video and social media to communicate and network professionally, you can tap into a wealth of potential. Imagine the excitement and inspiration that could come from hiring a local ‘brand influencer’ with a ready-made following!

Understanding the digital native language is not just a skill; it’s a commitment. It’s about more than knowing the terms—it’s about understanding their context and how they’re used.

For example, if a shopper responds to finance terms as, say less, this is a sign of approval. This commitment to understanding their language helps your team feel more confident and builds trust with this consumer group, fostering a stronger relationship.

Future-proofing your dealership for digital natives is not just about adopting new technology but understanding Millennials and Zoomers’ unique preferences and behaviors. To keep your dealership at the forefront of this consumer group’s mind, you must interact with them when, where, and how they want.