In today’s automotive landscape, reaching the right audience with the right message is critical. Customers are using more research touchpoints to shop for vehicles than they ever have before– an average of 24, according to a recent study conducted by Google.
When you choose to focus your marketing efforts on just two or three channels (for instance, investing all your ad dollars in television, radio and direct mail at the expense of anything else), you’re missing out on your chance to broaden your customer base and boost your bottom line.
• Multi-channel marketing leads to a higher ROI.
When your marketing strategy encompasses multiple channels, you’re able to reach more customers more efficiently. You have the ability to streamline your strategy across those channels, with a strong and relevant message reflected across them all. Dealers who choose to integrate their marketing strategy across many channels find that their leads and sales increase at a much faster rate than those who do not.
• Personalizing marketing messages increases effectiveness.
A report by Adestra showed that emails with personalized subject lines are 22.2% more likely to be opened than those with generic subject lines. It’s proven that personalization leads to more effective marketing, and this is true for many marketing channels in addition to email. Between your DMS and your CRM, you have the perfect opportunity to imbue your marketing messages with a personalized approach, helping you build a relationship with your customers that’s based on trust and authenticity. Why not take advantage of that?
• Fewer vendors is key for a streamlined strategy.
Take a moment to count the vendors you rely on to create your marketing strategy. Is it more than two or three? If so, then it’s likely too many. Having too many vendors can lead to miscommunication at worst, and missed opportunities at best. When you limit the number of vendors you use by choosing the ones who can successfully handle not just one but multiple channels of marketing, you set yourself up for greater success.
Developing and implementing a multi-channel marketing strategy is a key to succeeding in 2015. There are marketing tools that can help you by allowing you to view all of your results side-by-side, or to automate some of your processes, but ultimately the decision is up to you. Do you want your business to grow with an innovative multi-channel approach? Or would you prefer to keep doing what you’ve always been doing? The choice is yours. Find out more by attending my upcoming workshop at the Digital Dealer Conference & Exposition.
