Do you have what you thought was a great advertising strategy and company website, but consistently find that your current methods aren’t actually getting you any leads?

Are you tired of losing out on sales to your competitors, and are starting to get concerned about how you’re going to sell all the cars on your lot?

If so, it sounds like you’re in need of an update when it comes to how to market your car dealership. This article will tell you how to take your marketing strategy to the next level and better build your brand in the new year

Find Your Niche

No matter what industry you’re in, we know that your first business instinct is exactly the same as everyone else’s: you want to be a big fish in a big pond.

You dream of being the number one Google search result for every search term relating to cars. You want to be able to serve every type of customer, from those seeking luxury Italian vehicles to the 15-year-old who needs a car to learn on.

Unfortunately, the reality is (far) in the other direction.

If you end up over-estimating your influence, your inventory, and your chances of successfully converting customers, all you’ll end up doing is wasting valuable time and money. You’ll also likely find your dealership out of business very soon.

This is why finding your target market, or your “niche” — and then knowing exactly how to market your car dealership to that niche — is so important.

Though you’ll be working with a much more narrow market, you’ll also increase your ability to actually sell something.

So, how do you find this coveted niche?

First, think about the type of cars you love the most. Maybe you’re obsessed with vintage cars, or perhaps you love the challenge of a good fixer-upper. Also, consider your professional training. When you worked at your old dealership, did you specialize in a specific make or model? Which brand of cars are you the most familiar with?

All of this will help you decide where you want to focus your efforts, energy, and of course, money. Once you’ve found your niche, it’s time to…

Get Blogging

Of course, nobody will have any clue about the kinds of cars you offer, what you specialize in, or even that you exist at all if you don’t put yourself out there.

And while sandwich boards, funny messages on chalkboards, or even wild sign spinners are occasionally effective, they’re nothing compared to the wide world of the Internet.

In fact, having that blog will give you a 434% better shot at ending up on the first page of search engine results.

Blogging is a crucial way to market your car dealership because you’ll also have more chances to include keywords, or popular search terms, on your website. This means you’ll have a higher chance of connecting with local leads that are the most likely to buy from you.

Plus, blogging also tells Google that you update your site often, which means you’ll climb higher in the search engine rankings. Finally, it’s just a great way to position yourself as an educated and experienced authority in your industry.

Proving your expertise is what makes people decide to buy from you as opposed to your competitors.

What To Write About

So, now that you know why blogging is a key way to market your car dealership, what are you going to write about?

Sure, you can write about the cars you offer — and you should.

But also, be sure to think outside of the box and to always provide useful information to readers. Write posts on how often they should have their cars serviced, create a tutorial on how to change a tire, make car repairs, or even make a more lighthearted post about celebrities and their cars.

You could even get on the legal side of things, by writing about accident settlements and awards. However, if you go this route, make sure you have the facts by visiting the Craig Swapp car accident settlement page first.

Of course, whatever you choose to write about, keep it engaging, keep it informative, and of course, be sure to keep it original.

Never Underestimate The Power Of Social Media

It’s not exactly a secret that we live in an image-obsessed society. While it might now be great for your wallet or your self-confidence, it’s amazing news when it comes to how you market your car dealership.

Social media allows you to show off the vehicles you have on your lot, find out when your followers are the most likely to make a purchase (think just after a divorce or an upcoming sixteenth birthday.)

It will even allow you to re-market to those customers who have looked at your vehicles online but haven’t yet called to make an appointment for a test drive.

In short, take the time to make profiles on several different platforms, and update them as frequently as you can. Always ensure that your contact information, tone of voice, and the cars you advertise are consistent across all these platforms.

We know you’ll be a trending topic in no time.

Make Reputation Management A Part Of How You Market Your Car Dealership

Of course, if you have a blog, a niche market, and a strong social media presence, you know you open yourself up to a lot of opinions.

You might even put your own foot in your mouth a few times, or you might forget just how many people see social media as a part of customer service.

Don’t make a careless mistake that will cost you your business or leave customers unsatisfied.

Instead, work with us to understand what people are saying about your business and how to manage your car dealership’s reputation online. Understand what your visitors and potential customers want to see, increase your conversions, and get way more out of your current marketing strategy.

Ready to get started?

So are we. Reach out to us to make it happen, and to get your free reputation audit today.

The post How to Market Your Car Dealership appeared first on ReputationResults.

If it’s been awhile since you’ve paid attention, there could be something lurking that’s damaging your business’ reputation.

Pew Research has reported that 40% of adults in the U.S. have shared their experiences about products and services. If you think online reviews don’t matter, think again. Customers, potential customers, and search engines all pay attention to online reviews.

Keep reading to learn why online reviews matter and what you can do about them.

Online Reviews Impact SEO

The first reason why online reviews matter for your auto shop is because online reviews impact your search rankings.

As an auto shop, you’re considered a local business. With local SEO, you can generate many leads by improving your place in search results.

Think of SEO from the search engine’s perspective. They have one job–to provide the most relevant information to users. The faster search engines can give users the information they need to make a decision, the more likely users will that search engine again.

How does Google determine what’s relevant? There’s a complex algorithm that’s always changing to determine search results. Even though no one knows 100% for sure what that algorithm is, there are several variables that go into search results.

These include:

• Relevancy to a search term
• Number of backlinks you have from other sites
• How well your website is optimized
• How close your shop is to the user
• Customer reviews

The important takeaway here is that it’s not enough to have reviews on Yelp and other review websites. Your best bet is to have customers review your business on Google.

Customers Look at Reviews Before Deciding to Call

The most important reason why online customer reviews matter to your business is that they influence purchases. Put yourself in a customer’s shoes for a minute.

Let’s say you’re looking for a BMW repair shop. You look online and see a map with several options. You don’t know the difference between the shops listed, but you see that they have reviews.

One shop has 60 reviews with an average of four stars. The second has 3 reviews for an average of five stars. The third shop has 10 reviews with an average of three stars.

You look deeper. With the shop that has 60 reviews, they’re mostly positive, with a note from the auto shop after every single review. You see they also handle negative reviews well.

With the other reviews, there’s no interaction and very little details behind the reviews. You decide to call the shop with 60 reviews and take your car there.

In this situation, there are two important lessons:

1. Customers are ready to buy when they look up your services.
2. They are influenced by the number of reviews, the number of positive reviews, and the number of interactions between reviewers and the shop.

Reviews are incredibly influential for online buyers. Almost 90% of buyers trust online reviews as much as a referral from a friend. Plus, 88% of customers use reviews to decide if they’re going to buy or not.

What to Do About Negative Online Reviews

If you put your auto shop out there, chances are you’ll come across at least one negative review.

Your first reaction might be to get angry and upset that someone dared to leave a negative review about your business. You might be tempted to contact Google or Yelp and have them take the review down.

A negative review can provide an opportunity for you to learn and to do something better. It’s also an opportunity to listen to your customers.

When you get a negative review, engage with the person who left the review. The worst thing you can do is lay the blame on the customer for why that situation occurred.

Instead, use a template similar to this:

“Thanks so much for your feedback. We’re sorry you had a bad customer service experience. Here’s what we’re doing to make sure it doesn’t happen again. You can call us at xxx-xxx-xxxx to talk more about this situation so we can make it right.”

That’s how you show you’re listening and that a first-class customer experience is important to you.

How Your Auto Shop Can Get Positive Reviews

It is possible for your business to get positive online reviews. The easiest way is to ask your customers.

You do need to be careful, though, when it comes to asking for reviews. Some sites like Yelp have terms and conditions that strictly forbid asking for reviews.

That’s because they want to preserve the integrity of their online reviews. Businesses could have financial rewards for customers to post reviews, which could skew the perception of the business.

Other review sites aren’t as strict. Google’s policies state that you can ask for reviews, but you can’t give incentives to people to provide the reviews.

There are a few ways your auto shop can encourage customer reviews. If you have an email system to follow up with customers after you service their cars, you can ask them to rate their experience on Yelp or Google. Provide them with links to your shop’s listings.

Inside your shop, have a sign that says rate us on Google or find us on Yelp! And if you’re active on social media, you can periodically ask for reviews there as well.

Have a Reputation Management Partner

As an auto shop owner, it can be challenging to handle reputation management on top of everything else you do for your business.

The thing is, you can’t afford to let customer reviews fall by the wayside.

We work with small businesses to get more reviews. Our system handles asking your customers for reviews, and we filter out the good and the bad reviews for you.

If you’d like more information about this system, please contact us today.

The post How Auto Shop Reviews Can Impact Your Business appeared first on ReputationResults.