Brand Awareness in 3 Steps

Finding new and unique ways to stand out from the competition can seem irrelevant in times of high demand, but it’s essential for ensuring profitability in the long run for your dealership.

Building awareness is the first step in showing potential customers what you have to offer and creating a loyal, profitable relationship with them. After all, customers can’t choose you when they don’t know you exist.

If you’re looking for a few fun ways to work on building (or maintaining) your brand awareness this summer, here are a few ideas to consider:

Think Local

You have an advantage when it comes to acquiring customers within your community, but your location won’t be enough on its own to show people you’re the place to go. A simple online search can show customers a list of every dealership in their area, and many are willing to go a little further if they know doing so will provide them with a better experience.

To prove that you’re the best in the area, you need to show customers that you care about their experiences even when they’re not in the market. 68% of people are more likely to buy from the companies that are an active part of their community, so building relationships with people and businesses in the area is key to positioning your dealership for success.

There are a lot of interesting ways to contribute to your community while also getting your name out there. For example, you could:

• sponsor a little league baseball or softball team.
• attend or sponsor local events, like concerts, street fairs, or festivals.
• fundraise or donate to a local cause.
• host an event, such as a community barbeque or 5k run.

Interact Online

Social media is a great tool to utilize when building up your brand awareness, both within and outside of your immediate area. By regularly posting and interacting on social media, your dealership can easily expand its digital reach, allowing the right customers to find you when they need to.

When creating new content for social media, work to incorporate any relevant or helpful hashtags to help boost impressions. It’s also important to always keep customer interactions in mind, as content that encourages people to actively engage with your dealership is a great way to increase your visibility. Contests are one of the best ways to do this, as they typically have high levels of interaction. Over 54% of participants in business related contests share the contest to their own pages—which can, in turn, help you expand your audience and grow brand awareness.

Creating content isn’t the only way in which your dealership should be interacting online however—it’s equally important to react to content from others. Make sure that your dealership is working to build connections by liking and commenting on posts where you’re mentioned and sharing content that would be relevant to your own following.

Try Something New

It’s often easier said than done, but trying something that no other dealership in your area has done is another great way to boost your brand awareness while differentiating yourself from the competition. When it comes to innovation, no idea is too small either—maybe your dealership is interested in a service campaign that encourages customers to come in before heading out on a vacation or road trip. Maybe you’re interested in sending out a newsletter or you want to build your presence within a whole new outlet, such as a podcast.

Big or small, anything unique to your dealership will help you establish brand awareness and stand out from your competitors. And when you find something that gets great results, you can implement the idea into your ongoing marketing strategy. Just be sure to gather thorough reporting before making any drastic changes.

Overall, establishing and maintaining your dealership’s brand awareness, both within your surrounding area and online, is crucial to long term success. The profitability of many dealerships is high right now, but putting in the work to build up relationships with those interacting with you now can do a great deal to ensure that you have a reliable pool of customers who choose you even after demand slows.

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