Today, the most progressive dealers are leveraging interactive marketing technologies to identify and engage automotive shoppers throughout the path to a purchase. Identifying the best and most efficient way to get those buyers to walk through the front doors of a dealership has become more and more difficult.
Four years ago Google introduced us to the Zero Moment of Truth or ZMOT as they called it, There is no doubt that it was a groundbreaking marketing study. But things have changed tremendously in the last four years.
This study identified a moment between the Stimulus, identified as traditional media advertising and the First Moment of Truth, the point of purchase.
The key to engage and drive influence with shoppers today is understanding that digital isn’t one section along the path to purchase but, it is present in every step a customer takes along that path to purchase, from the stimulus to ownership experience.
Marketing experts continue to advise businesses to allocate more of their total budgets to digital. Simply increasing your spend in the same areas you are spending now, will not drive results proportionally . Unlike traditional media, such as television, radio and print, more advertising isn’t always better advertising.
A good example of this fact is with PPC; there comes a point where spending more doesn’t necessarily translate into more leads or sales. Finding the right strategy, approach, tools and balance is essential for utilizing digital marketing with optimal success.
In our multi-screen world, the stimulus is no longer television, radio and print, but it is instead digital as exemplified by video, reviews, search, social and more. It is thus vital to realize that digital is more than just your website, Pay Per Click Ads and Automotive Marketplaces; and this is something that today’s progressive dealers understand.
An effective utilization of digital marketing is an ongoing process. There is not just one company that can supply the entire Business-to-Customer (B2C) marketing stack. To thrive today, a dealer cannot just choose one vendor and expect great results. Diversification and developing a dealer’s own marketing stack of technologies and channels is the key.
When developing your own marketing stack, dealers should be consistent with delivering their Brand Message along with wide-spectrum Calls-toAction (CTA). What appeals to one customer may not appeal to another, so the use of many will create opportunities to engage with the most amount of potential customers as possible.
- Get Your Trade Value
- Low Payments / Lease Specials
- Interest Rate Specials -Financing for Everyone
- Test Drive Offers
- Cash Incentives, Discounts & Rebates
- Low Down Payments
- Limited Time Offers
Embracing these ideas by developing your own marketing stack that builds and delivers your brand’s message, with multiple calls to action along the path to purchase will allow your dealership to engage more shoppers, convert more leads, schedule more appointments, boost showroom traffic and SELL MORE CARS.
