Are you passionate about cars? Most people are – including myself!
Previously, I wrote a post about how I would market a personal trainer using online marketing.
Today, the car industry is in focus.
So if you’re a car dealer – or know someone who is – now is the time to pay attention.
Let’s dive in.
“Micky has helped us at Allan Hansen Automobiler and Allan Hansen Leasing to raise the bar while ensuring that we take the necessary steps to get more traffic and hopefully more sales. Micky is great at objectively assessing situations to help the customer in the best possible way. We highly recommend Micky – big kudos from us.”
Martin Hansen – Partner, Allan Hansen Automobiler A/S
Dashboard and data analysis
If you’ve followed me for a while, you know I’m a “data nerd”, and I often emphasize how important it is to have control over your data – BUT is it too much of a hassle when you’re a car dealer?
Definitely not!
Data can give you valuable insights, but what would a car dealer actually be interested in knowing?
- How many visitors does our website get?
- Where do our visitors come from?
- Where do those who contact us come from?
- How many people do we reach on Facebook?
- Who is our target audience?
- Which emails perform best?
These are just a few examples of data you can extract and use in your marketing.
That’s why we start by implementing Google Analytics tracking on the website – and then set up a dashboard called CYFE.
Example of a CYFE dashboard
Cyfe is dashboard software that can pull data from various sources and present only what’s relevant to your business – otherwise, the volume of data can quickly become overwhelming.
Tracking form submissions
Even though I’m not a car dealer, I imagine that trust is key. That’s why potential customers probably want to connect with the people behind the company – so they fill out a form.
The smart thing about such forms is that you can set up what’s called “event tracking” – this means you can track where the user came from. Every time the form is submitted, it’s counted as a conversion – essentially a “sale.”
Was it Facebook, Google, or email that led to the sale?
Once you know this, you can adjust your marketing channels and generate more inquiries.
A new website
You may even need to go beyond data tracking and create a new website.
But my advice is: don’t start coding something from scratch or pay an absurd amount of money.
Use someone like me or hire an internal marketer to help you set it up.
There are many great templates for car-related websites.
Template example
Price: approx. 200 DKK
Facebook marketing
Facebook is clearly the most obvious platform to use – at least in Denmark.
In 2016, there were 3,476,000 monthly Facebook users in Denmark
It’s not just about having a presence – you gain nothing by just creating a page. Instead, it’s about engaging with your audience and building a community.
So, what kind of content should you create?
Facebook content ideas:
- Video: (What’s the best thing about cars?)
- Competitions: Win a ride in a Lamborghini, win a car for a month, win 5,000 DKK towards your next car
- Blog posts: Help your users through content marketing (more on that below)
Always think about how you can help your users achieve what they want.
In the car industry, there are plenty of relevant questions from potential customers – and you can absolutely answer them through quality content.
Advertising
Facebook’s ad platform has something special – it allows you to reach a lot of people without spending a fortune.
For example, we built up Peter Bendtsen’s Facebook page to 30,000 followers in just 3 years. He’s now one of Denmark’s most recognized personal trainers and reaches over 1,000,000 people monthly.
Once you’ve created great content, it’s time to go live!
Let’s say you’ve made a new post about selling the new AUDI A5 models.
You can then create specific audiences targeting that segment – likely to be a more discerning group of consumers.
Target groups:
- People who’ve looked at premium car brands on the website
- Local residents who follow major car brands on Facebook, have senior positions, and are aged 30+
- People who’ve previously inquired via uploaded email addresses
I would create different audiences for each car category – it could be per brand or price range, depending on the size of your catalog.
Also, a broader target group works well if you’re building brand identity. Not many 18–25-year-olds can afford a Lamborghini, but I promise they’ll share your video if it’s good – and maybe someone in their network, like a dad, can actually afford it.
I’d recommend a solid Facebook budget of around 5,000 DKK per month – that allows you to reach a large audience. You can start as low as 1,000 DKK and still get results – assuming your data setup is on point, as discussed earlier.
Instagram marketing
Instagram is booming in Denmark, and what makes it stand out is the direct interaction, especially through stories – which many Danes now use regularly.
There are 868,000 monthly Instagram users in Denmark.
As a car dealer, it’s about showing up – what’s happening today?
You can use many of the same strategies as on Facebook. When new cars arrive, create exciting stories showing the cars being tested or what’s happening behind the scenes.
You could also create a guide on how to care for your car in winter – maybe an interview with a mechanic. People love free, helpful info – and when it’s time for a new car, maybe your dealership is top of mind.
Because Instagram and Facebook are owned by the same company, their ad systems work the same – and you can use the same target audiences. Smart!
Content marketing
Content marketing is one of the newer “marketing disciplines” – and it’s here to stay. If done right, it can put you ahead of the competition without a massive budget. What’s not to like?
A must-have on your website is a blog.
You might think: “Isn’t a blog just for young girls?” Absolutely not!
A blog gives you a platform to communicate with your users – and provide them with the information they’re looking for.
Content marketing for car dealers:
- Video guides: Create videos about topics like oil changes, windshield washer fluid, or tire changes – anything that adds value to readers and potential customers.
- Blog posts: Create guides on how to choose a car – what to consider, and which cars are good for families, couples, etc.
- Driving guides: Create tips on parking or trailer reversing – and use your own cars to demonstrate. This indirectly showcases your inventory.
SEO – Google optimization
SEO is about reaching the top of Google’s results without paying for it (that would be Google Ads – paid placement).
It might seem expensive to compete in the car space, especially with giants like Bilbasen, but there are many local searches where you can win top positions.
These are what I call “long-tail searches.” Today, users are more specific in their searches. Instead of “car dealer,” they might search “Audi dealer in Esbjerg.”
There are thousands of car-related searches every month.
It doesn’t take many sales for it to be worth your while.
SEO consists of 3 parts:
- Technical: Is your site fast? Mobile-optimized? Are technical SEO basics covered?
- On-page: Is your content solid? Is your site easy to navigate?
- Off-page: Are you getting backlinks? Public relations? Buzz around your brand?
Ideally, in that order.
We won’t cover all aspects of SEO today – and not all are equally important depending on the scale of your business. But I do recommend learning more about SEO.
E-mail marketing
Email is still the best tool for personal sales – especially when used smartly.
It can help improve your relationship with potential customers.
Let me explain.
Your website gets a lot of traffic – but typically, only 1–3% of visitors buy something.
Studies show that a user may visit a site up to 7 times before making a purchase.
You can shorten this process by placing them into what I call an email flow.
The perfect e-mail flow
- Zapier automatically transfers the Facebooks lead’s email to your email system ex. MailChimp.
- The first email is a welcome email that greets the recipient personally.
- The second email is a soft email highlighting your company’s values.
- The third email can be a link to a blog post that demonstrates your expertise.
You can add more emails to the flow, depending on whether you want to sell or educate your potential customers.
Get more subscribers by using Facebook Lead Ads
You can also use a tool like SumoMe to show a pop-up when users enter your site.
Through this pop-up, they can sign up for your newsletter and enter your email flow – clever, right?
I’ve collected 5,000 email sign-ups through my blog by offering free, valuable content. As long as you provide quality, people won’t mind receiving your emails.
Tools I use for email marketing
There are many platforms out there – it’s hard to say which one is “the best,” but I always recommend:
- MailChimp (great for startups)
- Zapier
- Facebook Lead Ads
- SumoMe
Want to go further?
Then try Facebook Lead Ads – this type of ad helps you collect emails directly from Facebook, and they’re automatically pushed into your CRM system.
Feeling overwhelmed?
It may all sound like a lot. But if you implement just 20% of what I’ve outlined here, I’m convinced you’ll sell more cars – every month.
Plus, it strengthens your position in the market against the next generation of car dealers, who will surely have a better grasp of digital marketing – because they grew up with it.
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