“Millennials love small business,” said Chloe Banholzer, ARI Network Services director of marketing. “They want to choose you over the big box brands.” At a GIE+EXPO Dealer Resource Workshop held in Louisville, Kentucky, in October, she noted that over half of them will even pay more to support a small business. But they are getting their information online, so it’s important to have strong marketing tactics that will reach them.
Stock your website. “Think of your website as your online store,” she said. There are key terms you need to be using on your website. She suggested asking the customers in your dealership how they’re finding your business online.
“You want to make sure when they're clicking through to your website that they're seeing what you carry, they're seeing the services that you offer and that they get that information right away,” Banholzer said.
Make sure you include forms that are easy to fill out online in order to capture information form potential customers. “If they see a service or a product they like, get their name and phone number,” she said. But, make sure you’re responding to them in a timely manner.
It’s also important to list the services you provide up front. “If the customer knows ahead of time, it doesn’t waste your time and doesn’t waste their time,” she said.
Email marketing. Utilizing email campaigns can help you track your potential customers. “Stay out of the spam folder,” she said. “Keep your emails personalized and
The risk with email marketing comes in when someone unsubscribes from your email campaigns. “Only send them relevant important information because once they unsubscribe, there’s no going back from that,” she said.
Promote upcoming sales and get the word out ahead of time. Keeping up to date with
SMART ads. Banholzer said there are many different avenues to get paid advertisements out to your potential customers. She said the anagram “SMART” can help dealers narrow down how to utilize digital advertising and better allocate their resources.
S: Specifics. What specifically will you achieve? Have a goal that narrows down goals you are striving for.
M: Measurable. Do you have the resources to track the efforts you’re putting forth?
A: Achievable. Can you achieve this goal now?
R: Relevant. Is this goal relevant to your larger overall goals?
T: Time-frame. How long you will give yourself to achieve this goal.