Sustainability is one of the subjects that is increasingly present in the automotive industry. Factors such as hybrid and electric cars, autonomous driving or online sales are changing the consumption habits of the population.
The new buyer no longer travels to the dealerships to assess the different offers, but consults all his doubts online and only goes to the place at the end of the process, when he wants to find out specific details about the operation of the chosen car, test it or close the operation.
This is known as the ROPO (research online-purchase offline) effect, where the consumer searches for a product or service on the Internet, but completes the purchase in a physical establishment. As a general rule, the price is what determines the final decision, but a good purchase expectation also has a great influence.
Faced with these changes in consumer behavior, We have identified seven specific strategies for the sector, adapted to this new car buyer profile.
Omnipresence online
If a dealer is not listed on the aggregate websites or search engines that the individual is searching, it is likely that person is unaware of the dealership’s existence. With digital strategies, you can increase your reach and detect new potential customers.
Skilled F&I Manager
Every dealership needs to have skilled F&I manager to close more deal. Technology getting change over the time so you need to improve your F&I department performance by providing F&I training to your dealership staff.
Positive feedback
When a customer selects a dealer, he/she wants to know what kind of experience he/she can expect, so he/she will look at that dealer’s reviews and ratings, because no one walks into a store inundated with constant negative reviews. Therefore, it is important to collect and share positive feedback on a regular basis so that the dealership is recognized for good service. Additionally, this strategy should be managed by responding to negative reviews and correcting errors, to show that the dealership is proactive and truly cares about customer satisfaction.
A website optimized for mobile devices
It is estimated that about 80% of searches for information to buy a new car start from the smartphone. In addition, Google penalizes “non-responsive” websites, so the Internet presence of dealers must be designed taking into account, above all, mobile devices.
Facilitate ecommerce
The online shopping experience should be easy and intuitive, and information should be easy to find. An important aspect to keep in mind is that the dealer’s website should allow you to open multiple tabs for comparison purposes, which will improve the customer experience and increase the chances that consumers will end up buying from that dealer.
Create quality content regularly
Once the web is optimized, you have to add quality content regularly. Multiple blogs on vehicle safety, maintenance tips and/or the latest market news can be easily written. In addition, it is important to consider the formats: 57% of people who buy cars watch online videos about vehicles, and 81% carry out an action after viewing them, from visiting the dealer’s website, to booking a test drive .
Optimize acquisition channels to maximize your leads
Not to forget about short-term actions, dealers can design very effective campaigns aimed at a specific consumer target, selected based on user measurement and tracking through web analytics and multi-touch attribution models, which allow optimization of the value of each touchpoint in a more equitable way.
Use smart digital advertising
When using smart digital advertising processes, such as programmatic buying, data is essential to identify users who are searching through data signals in their browsing behavior.
