As an automotive dealer, you struggle to get your message in front of the people who are ready to buy is endless. You purchase advertising in the local newspapers, buy commercial space on TV and ad spots on the radio. These actions have always driven sales.
But, during the last 10 years, the marketing landscape for auto dealers has shifted. Today, selling cars is often about online branding. Navigating the choppy waters of online branding includes harnessing the power of blogs, RSS feeds, article syndication, web 2.0 platforms and several other disciplines.
Everything begins with gaining exposure.
Exposure Is Critical
Gaining exposure online is critical to building your brand – but it shouldn’t be done haphazardly. Branding your name means getting in front of your target market and presenting yourself in a way that implies authority and trust while imparting goodwill.
It’s the channel through which you gain awareness in your market’s mind.
There are several effective ways to build your brand online. Each plays an important role in helping your dealership gain the exposure that yields the highest return for your advertising dollar.
Possible avenues of exposure include search engine optimization, pay-per-click marketing, link building from authoritative websites, social media optimization and landing pages.
Gaining a Foothold
Unleashing an online brand marketing campaign that implements these tactics can help your dealership establish a foothold in your market. It can provide the means to reach those who are most likely to make a buying decision.
The exposure you gain from a planned execution of complementary online branding tactics releases you from chasing the sale of the day. Instead, it paves the road toward owning a place in your prospective customer’s mind for the moment he or she is ready to purchase.
Delivering the Right Message
Unfortunately, exposure is only one piece of the puzzle. Gaining exposure without delivering the proper message is merely noise. It adds no value. Online branding requires that you deliver the right content to your target market.
For example, if someone finds your dealership by typing a query into Google, it’s likely that person is searching for something specific. You must deliver whatever that person is searching for. Otherwise, your brief moment of exposure will be wasted.
Similarly, if you’re maintaining a blog on your website, your readers will continue to read only if you’re delivering the message that’s important to them.
Hub and Spokes
Effective online brand marketing should be thought of like a wheel. The hub is your dealership. The spokes are the tactics you use online to build your brand and drive your target audience to you.
With the right tactics employed to deliver the message that your market needs to hear, you can gradually build a brand that dominates your market.
