They’re there so market to them there. For less than the cost of a Starbucks visit you can market to a specific customer 150 times online and have them conditioned to prefer your dealership before they even think about getting their next car or service! More on that in a bit…

You spend a lot of time talking about the fact that your customers are online yet very few dealers are marketing to them there. At least not effectively and efficiently. Most dealerships have marketing strategies with advertising tactics designed to attract and engage customers once the customer is already in the buying cycle. While that’s important it certainly doesn’t give you and your dealership its maximum competitive advantage.

Let’s remember where customers are.. they’re either on their pc, mobile, or tablet. Mary Meeker of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers recently put out her 20th Annual Internet Trends report. Among many interesting trends she reported that US customers spent 48% of their time combined on internet and mobile. That’s more than TV at 37% and it’s nearly 5 times more than print!

Because of easy access through the internet and mobile, today shoppers get into the sales funnel at every different stage of the funnel. It’s no longer the linear traditional sales funnel. They might start on a 3rd party site because a friend sent them a link on a car they might be interested in. They might do a google search on your brand in your city. They might click a display ad they saw on ESPN. The point is they have a lot of access and many ways to get into the funnel. Anything at anytime can be the stimulus for them to get into the funnel, to make that “first click.” To be competitive today, you need to have them conditioned to your brand and your dealership before they start looking, before that first click. With today’s technology, the internet and mobile has made that possible, effective, and very affordable for you.

For example, as I opened this post: did you know that you could unobtrusively market to (condition) a specific customer with 150 credible messages in a year for about $3 total. THREE DOLLARS, 150 times a year!! A message that they see and consume whether they like it or not. Think about that. Your brand, your message, to a specific person 150 times in a year. Do you think that your dealership and brand would get the strongest attention when that person ultimately jumped into the sales funnel? Of course.

Contrast that for a moment with direct mail. The average direct mail piece today is $0.70 per piece. In a year that’s about 8 messages where most of them are tossed in the trash. 8 messages versus 150 messages… and the 150 online messages can’t get tossed in the trash. Nearly 20 times more message frequency at about a 3rd of the cost. Now that’s effective AND efficient. Your customers are online – you’re absolutely right. That’s where they are so market to them there – it’s an incredibly efficient medium. One that gives you a strong opportunity to have a stronger competitive advantage to sell more cars, drive more service business, and retain more market share.

Your customers and opportunities are in fact online and they’re not just online when they’re in the market for a new vehicle. They’re online now! They were this morning, they are now, and they will be tonight. Smart dealerships market to people before they begin shopping, and you can too.

If this article makes sense to you and you want to have a real world discussion about how your dealership can gain an unfair competitive advantage BEFORE the sales funnel shoot us an email or give us a call and we’ll walk you through it. You can reach me directly at ronmorrison@pureinfluencer.net or give me a call directly at (408) 218-6407. You can also visit us and learn more at www.pureinfluencer.com