Selling cars is not easy, but the fun part is that you get to use a lot of creativity. You need to know what to tell people when they're on a test drive and bargain when they're in your office. Most important, perhaps, you have to be able to get people on your lot in the first place. With successful marketing, you'll have a lot full of prospective customers and you will also set the tone that puts people in the mood to purchase automobiles.
Build a Social Media Presence
Make connections with customers and prospective customers by encouraging them to become your contact on social networking resources such as Facebook. For the time being, this method of communication has the benefit of novelty; people may be more likely to respond to your personal communication over the Internet rather than your phone call. Jason Lancaster, writing for Dealer Marketing Magazine, emphasizes that building this kind of base takes time, so you should understand you need to consider it a long-term project.
Challenge the Stereotype
Try techniques that demonstrate to your customer that you are not the typical car dealership. Some dealerships close on Sundays, allowing customers to examine the cars on their lot without the fear of being confronted by a salesperson. To show people you are different, you could market this "day off" extensively and point out the fact that people don't need to be afraid as they roam the lot. To get attention and smiles, you could lock a particularly eager sales manager in a pretend cage and have him pretend to escape when a customer passes by.
Synergy
Instead of operating as a lonely island, connect your business to complementary ones in the community. For example, tow truck operators come across a lot of people who are going to need new cars. The same goes for mechanics. Consider a mutual arrangement between your businesses. When people ask you where they should have custom painting done, give them the phone number of the other business, just as they will do for you.
Make it Personal
Put a human face on your dealership. Instead of calling a big, rich company, your customer should feel as though they are calling a friend. Marketing speaker and author David Meerman Scott makes this point for the car companies themselves, but it also applies to dealers. Put your mechanics and salesmen in your TV and radio commercials and favor personality over cool, impersonal flash.
Provide Opportunities to Students
Tap the energy in your community by establishing a contest in which marketing students at local colleges would work with you to develop your advertising campaign. According to Kent State University, Don Joseph Toyota held a similar contest, offering a summer internship as a prize.
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