As a car dealership, marketing is an essential part of promoting your business and attracting new customers. However, with the ever-increasing cost of advertising, it can be difficult to keep your marketing expenses in check.
Contrary to belief Marketing doesn’t have to be expensive! There are ways your dealership can market on a small budget and still receive a large number of leads.
EasyCars has put together 5 cheap ways your dealership can market to receive leads in 2023.
Let’s get into it.
1. Use Social Media to Your Advantage
Don’t realise the power Social Media has in Australia? Studies show that 1 in 3 Australians have a registered social media account! Over the last few years, social media has become an integral marketing tool for car dealerships to connect with potential customers and promote their inventory.
Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and recently TikTok offer Car Dealerships free or low-cost marketing options that can help you reach a large audience. The key to driving leads through social media is growing a following and creating engaging content.
By creating engaging content that appeals to your target demographic in this case Car Buyers, your dealership can build awareness and attract new potential buyers. For dealerships with a larger budget, Social Media platforms do offer paid advertisements like Facebook Automotive Inventory Ads that engage and generate local leads almost instantly!
2. Optimise Your Dealership Website
95% of Australian Car Buyers use Google to find their next car dealership! Your dealership's website is not just an online destination it’s a massive marketing tool for your dealership. A mistake that so many dealerships make is publishing a website and letting it sit there. To generate cheap, high quality leads you need to optimise your dealership website to rank high on Online Search Engines.
By implementing different SEO (search engine optimisation) strategies your dealership can increase your websites visibility in search engine results. Studies show that the first 5 results online generate almost 50% of all traffic, gaining one of the top positions in your area will result in greater organic traffic and cheaper lead acquisitions.
3. Use Email Marketing
One of the cheapest and most effective ways to market is Email Marketing. Many dealerships decide not to use Email Marketing, unaware of the impact they can have on lead generation. Studies have shown that 33% of email marketing recipients open email pieces within 5 minutes of arrival!
The benefit of using Email Marketing to promote your vehicles for sale is you will be sure to connect with your prospect pool almost instantly. Think about it if you are running a quickfire sale, you will be able to get the word out almost instantly!
Above all else, email marketing is inexpensive. Email marketing packages can be as cheap as $60 per month for unlimited sends!
4. SMS Marketing
Another great and inexpensive Marketing strategy that can increase your dealerships leads is SMS Marketing. Similar to email marketing, SMS marketing will put your dealership in contact with your prospect pool faster and cheaper than any other type of marketing tool.
For example, if you want to notify a potential customer about a discount in price etc. you can send a quick SMS marketing campaign direct to their phone of choice. The biggest benefit of SMS marketing is its price, you can send SMS for as cheap as 2c per send!
5. Focus on Customer Referrals
Word-of-mouth marketing is still one of the most effective forms of advertising for Car Dealerships. The reason why Customer Referrals and Word of Mouth Marketing is so beneficial for Dealerships is it costs you nothing to acquire.
To generate more customer referrals, it is essential that you provide customers with exceptional service and good quality vehicles. You need to encourage your satisfied customers to refer their friends and family to your dealership in the future. Think about offering incentives, such as discounts, cash rewards etc. Focusing on customer referrals will generate new leads for your dealership without you needing to spending money on advertising.
Final Word,
With costs rising, reducing your marketing spend is essential for your dealership to maintain a healthy bottom line. It may be hard to believe but there are still ways your dealership can market on a small budget and still receive good results. The 5 strategies presented are a few proven ways your dealership can market on a budget in 2023.
We hope you enjoyed reading this article. To read more articles like this, please visit the EasyCars latest news page here.
About EasyCars,
EasyCars by Jeal is an Australian, web-based, dealer management system that automates the buying and selling of motor vehicles. Using the latest technologies, EasyCars removes frustrations experienced at the dealership and opens your doors for greater growth.
EasyCars features include Simple Stock Management, Automated Advertising, Integrated Accounting, Government Compliance, Business Reporting, Facebook Automotive Inventory Ads, Reviews Management, Dealership Websites and more.
To learn more about EasyCars Dealer Management System or to arrange a no-obligation free demo, contact us today on 1300 473 744 or submit the form below.