2018: 5 Marketing Trends that will transform your dealership

Buying decisions now happen outside of your dealership

From 7-8 dealer visits before buying a vehicle a few years back, prospective customers now visit dealerships just twice,on average. Basically these visits are to negotiate, sign, and drive the vehicle home, after they have decided on the vehicle to buy, the dealership to buy it from, and the price-point.

Dealers now have to find, engage, and influence prospects before they even step into the dealership. Google has identified 5 micro movements when prospective customers search for answers online to 5 key questions, outside of your dealership.

"Which car is best?”

"Is it right for me?”

"Can I afford It?”

"Where should I buy it?”

"Am I getting a Deal?”

To influence the answers to these questions, dealers need to create an online identity that can reach out and touch local prospects when they go online. This identity consists of your car dealer website, social media including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and Pinterest, search ads, blogs, and more, with the entire effort anchored on your auto dealer website, which, for all effective purposes, is the new showroom where sales persuasion actually happens.

Video Rules

Need user attention? Use videos throughout your customer touch-points. YouTube alone has 180 million viewers in the U S, and 69% of those who watch a video during their buying cycle is influenced by it.

Videos lift your brand recall more than anything else– 80% of those who has seen your video is likely to recall your dealership when they are in the purchase cycle.

Dealerships can make engaging videos with just a good cellphone. Target video reviews from obviously happy customers, events like hot new model arrivals, and more.

Big Data Analytics

Big Data Analytics is now making deep inroads into automotive retailing, and like Google, it is a game-changer.

As with any other new trend, the early adopters will walk away with the biggest chunks of the cake, so it may be worthwhile to take a look now.

ChatBots

AI has matured to a point where ChatBots can hold their own in intelligent FAQs level chat messaging with prospects. This trend is likely to gain further traction in 2018.

Offsite Demo and Sales

Time and sophistication has not changed the prospects' perception of dealerships as a pressure cooker environment. Why not cut the Gordian knot and take the sales process to where your prospects are?

OEMs and dealers are already moving in this direction, and obviously, the successful first movers are the ones who are going to walk away with the largest slice of the cake in 2018.

For more winning tips for 2018, Click Here.