The Dealer Impact Blog

Recession-Proof Advertising

The weak economy has dealerships making difficult decisions about spending. While it may sound sensible to cut the marketing budget, advertising is actually more crucial when times are tough.

Down-market advertising is useful in generating new business. Equally important, however, is its affect on public perception. Not advertising during a recession can signal to consumers that your business is struggling, according to a recent Ad-ology Research study. If they don’t trust you’ll be in business a year from now, they’re less likely to buy.

Marketing your business is also the only way to stand apart from the competition. People are willing to drive up to an hour to find a car, which greatly expands the marketplace. And even if you are the only car lot for hours, consumers now have plenty of choices thanks to the Internet.

Before slashing your advertising dollars, discover how Dealer Impact can help you stand out from the crowd with our range of affordable advertising options. Learn more by calling a sales rep at 877-334-9638.

Become a Fan of Facebook

Although Facebook started as college networking site, it has become an important business tool with the potential to reach a gigantic audience. Just how big is Facebook’s reach? According to new statistics, the social media site has 325 million users—and that number is growing at a staggering rate.

Facebook is gaining nearly 25 million users each month. That’s like adding the entire population of New Orleans every single day. With such market saturation, there is no doubt your current and potential clients are already using Facebook. And you should be too. A business fan page allows for free advertising, generates buzz when fans promote your business to their friends, and provides a forum for customer feedback.

If your dealership isn’t yet on Facebook, now is the time to get started. Dealer Impact can do the work for you with The Factor x10, a social network marketing program that’s available as a stand-alone application for any web site. With The Factor x10, you can:

• Display inventory using photo slideshows and embedded videos

• Deliver content via plug-in RSS feeds

• Boost your website’s search engine optimization

• Capture leads that you can turn into sales

Learn more about The Factor x10 on our web site or by calling a sales representative at 877-334-9638.

Less is More

When it comes to cars, buyers want all the bells and whistles. When it comes to websites, however, less is more. Unfortunately, many dealerships pack their pages with too much stuff and too little substance.

The most effective dealer sites focus on the two elements customers say are most important—inventory and specials. Sites that add too much more can look cluttered, causing viewers to lose concentration and go elsewhere.

Ready to see if your site makes the grade? Try this challenge: Look at it from a customer’s point of view. What is the first thing you see? Is it easy to navigate from one page to the next? Can you quickly locate inventory and specials? Are there places for your eye to rest? If you find it difficult to evaluate your site objectively, ask a focus group of actual customers to answer these questions for you.

Use yourself or customer evaluation to clean up your site with an eye toward simplification. Then, stop tinkering. After all, your job isn’t web design; your job is converting web traffic into real sales.