Accelerate Your Virtual Retailing with Higher Web Traffic

We all like when our hard work gets proper recognition, but when it comes to your website, recognition isn’t exactly what you’re going for. As nice as it is to get noticed, the main goal will always be bigger than that—you want to pull in new customers.

The more people that see your site, the more potential customers you will have (or maybe the more brand loyalty you will build with existing customers). Either way—the number of visitors to your website has a direct tie to the number of opportunities your business has at giving an impression, generating qualified leads, sharing your brand, and building those long-lasting relationships.

We don’t want your dealership missing out on exposure or virtual retailing opportunities. Luckily for you, there are several ways to drive effective website traffic, and connecting with your customers (and prospects) is the first step!

Connect with Customers

If you want people to see your dealership and your o­ffers, your first step should be going to where people spend their time. Here’s a stat for you: The average person spends 2 hours and 27 minutes on social media each day. Not only are your customers already on social media networks, but these platforms are also a great starting place when it comes to developing a simple marketing strategy that increases your brand’s exposure.

On social media platforms, your dealership can:

• Promote content: One of the best things you can do on social media is increase the exposure of your content. More views mean reaching more of your target audience (and educating them about what your dealership has to offer).
• Reach new prospects: Social media networks are a great place to meet potential customers. Promoting your content to prospects with a high likelihood of converting can increase your website traffic immensely. After all, these are customers already in the market for a new car—advertising what you have to offer just makes it easier for them to find exactly what they’re looking for.
• Connect with existing customers: Social media networks are great platforms you can utilize to build relationships with people who have already done business with your dealership. You can answer their questions and also engage with them on a regular basis to continuously promote brand loyalty (sounds like a win-win to me).

Quick Tip: Move inventory even faster with inventory specific social advertisements within custom ad formats like videos, slideshows, carousels, and more through your favorite social media platforms.

Utilize Email Marketing

Since we’re on the topic of staying connected… email marketing is one of the most effective digital marketing strategies for dealerships to build relationships with customers. It allows you to stay in touch with your customers, keep them up-to-date on your latest deals and promotions, and convert more leads into sales.

If your dealership is looking to squeeze every drop of value out of your email efforts, consider these tips to improve your email strategy:

• Tip #1: Collect emails at every opportunity. Yes, we mean every opportunity. With things like loyalty programs, service counter forms, promotional events, or even test drive paperwork, your dealership has so many chances to gather email addresses, both in person and online. Make it a habit to seize every opportunity you can to collect an email address and open those lines of communication with your customers.
• Tip #2: Address your audience personally. Personalized emails have higher response rates than the ones that aren’t. It’s the same with personalized headlines. Address your audience directly and by their name. (You’d be surprised how much this helps contribute to your email’s success.)
• Tip #3: Make it easy for your audience to share emails. Odds are, if your subscribers like what you’re promoting, they’ll want to share it with friends. Add your social media handles to your eNewsletter, making it easy for customers to deep dive into your content and share it with families and friends.

Optimize Your Online Ads

Online advertising allows you to find, reach, and engage with people without spending money on an overly broad audience. Online advertising offers granular audience information, so you can focus your efforts (and budget) on the places where it matters most. While there are a lot of advertising options, paid display advertising and Facebook Automotive Inventory Ads (AIA) are two great places to start as you explore what works best for your dealership.

Display advertisements are often used to generate interest, promote products and services, and keep your dealership at the top of consumers’ minds. They can reach more than 90% of the internet, which ensures that you’re able to place inventory in front of the customer, with the right message, and at the right time to make them take action.

Facebook AIA supports retargeting for both new and used inventory. This kind of ad allows you to focus your targeting efforts on people who are already shopping for vehicles, meaning you’re more likely to have your ads shown to those with a high likelihood of conversion. Automotive Inventory Ads also work through a direct data connection to your website’s vehicle catalogue. Essentially, your entire catalogue of vehicle inventory is pulled directly into Facebook, along with relevant details such as make, model and year. Since these ads operate using a data feed, they automatically update as new cars are bought or sold (cool right?).

Quick Tip: Create customized audiences for your online advertising. Your dealership can use these audiences to send targeted messaging to groups of buyers, showing them all the vehicles that could fulfill their particular needs at that time.

Bottom line—the more people that see your site (either through social media, email, or online ads) the more potential customers you will have. The number of visitors to your website ultimately becomes the number of opportunities your business has at giving that lasting impression. Don’t know where to start (or simply want to get a better idea of where your dealership is currently at)? Let the experts help.

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