Competition between dealerships selling used cars online is very high. On Internet there is a lot of crowding, but with a perfect marketing strategy you can stand out and get noticed, thus reaching users who are already at an advanced stage of buying at a competitor or who are only interested, but still do not know which car to buy.
Large specialized online car sales portals are very effective, but limiting yourself to these channels doesn’t allow your dealership to stand out. The best way is to diversify and use other sales and communication channels such as a website, social media and presence on Google Maps.
Selling cars online and at dealerships
Thinking of online and offline car sales as two separate entities is wrong. It is always the same dealership and the two channels are closely linked.
Online you can acquire new customers who less and less decide to go to the dealership to watch live the vehicles for sale. Increasingly, the user searches online, finds a product or receives impulses from advertising, calls and goes to the dealership to see the car. Here he can also consider alternatives between the proposed cars.
Being able to build a consistent customer journey that starts with online discovery and ends with buying at the dealership is the key to success.
Ad and online car sales websites
Almost all car dealerships are registered on the large specialized car sales portals: for example in Italy we have Autoscout24, We buy cars, Automobile.it, Quattroruote, Showcase Motors, BrumBrum, MotorK. That’s the right thing. These large portals are well indexed on Google, are authoritative and manage to reach a large audience thanks to advertising. They require the payment of subscriptions or commissions but allow you to make many sales.
Other channels are ad sites like eBay, Subito.it, Bakeka for Italy. These portals are less vertical than those mentioned above and the dealership’s ads are served together with those of private individuals. The advantage is that many users also search here.
The weakness of car sales only through these channels is that you are still in other people’s homes and you do not have full control of your communication. Now let’s see how you can integrate your online marketing strategy to increase sales.
How to find your dealership on Google
“Ok Google, find a car dealership nearby.” Try doing this voice search and check what result comes out. I’m sure Google Maps will appear in evidence with three featured dealerships. Being present here allows you to get a lot more contacts.
To appear here, you need to optimize the MyBusiness tab by applying a marketing strategy for local businesses. You need to set it up, look after reviews and connect the car dealership’s website that feeds the card on Google Maps with the information. A plus is the ability to post for free photos and ads of cars for sale.
Morover there are also the organic results on Google, other spaces that allow you to get web traffic and therefore greater visibility of the cars on sale.
The car dealership’s website
The car dealership website is the online space you own that is completely under your control and does not depend on the choices of external portals or platform algorithms. Basically it should contain information about the company and a catalog of cars for sale similar to an e-commerce but that instead of the cart has a form that allows you to request a quote.
Another aspect that should be taken care of is the editorial part. By producing online content that describes cars, or side topic guides and recommendations that answer your audience’s frequently asked questions, you can find new customers online and snatch them from your competitors.
Advertising on Google and Facebook
To quickly increase online sales of used cars,the solution is to add advertising that goes to hit very specific users in the region that interreses you. Advertising on Google AdWords allows you to respond to those who do a specific search on Google, the one on Facebook allows you to focus on interests. An effective strategy involves integrating the two advertising channels using the concept of remarketing that allows you to chase users who have arrived on your site by expressing a strong interest in the cars for sale.
To improve the performance of these complex advertising campaigns, to build an effective website and to optimize your listing on Google Maps, you should turn to a digital marketing professional. Write to me if you want more information.
