Thinking Beyond the Radius: Strategically Expand Your Reach to Achieve Growth

By Matthew Freitas, Affinitiv Advertising Sales Specialist

There is no one-size-fits-all solution for auto dealers trying to navigate the current market. Adding to problems at the dealership, today’s auto consumers are well aware of the industry challenges, as they’re facing historically high prices on used vehicles and scarce availability of new vehicles.

Uncovered in our most recent Industry Trends Guide, auto shoppers are now driving nearly 2 miles further to find the vehicles they’re looking for. That said, it’s going to take more than just casting a wider net. It’s going to take a pinpointed approach that ensures your ad dollars are truly going the distance.

Win the Numbers Game

With a volatile market comes an influx of marketing noise for both the dealer and the consumer. Before embarking on any new tactics, thoroughly consider your strategy—not only do you not want to add to the noise which could negatively impact the consumer’s perspective of your business, you could be wasting ad dollars that need to work harder and smarter than ever.

Start with the right research. Without understanding your dealership or dealer group’s market share, your strategy and tactics may not be positioned to capture and attract today’s consumers. Using real-time data, Affinitiv Advertising helps our clients map out the best areas to target, expand upon, and go beyond the usual territories. Combining that with proper research to identify the dealer’s unique selling proposition (USP) allows us to create very customized solution sets.

Expand Your Radius and Range to Find More Clients

Once these areas of opportunity are closely identified, it’s important to adjust tactics to be sure your ground is not only covered but that you are also delivering targeted messages through the most impactful channels. Your messages need to captivate and resonate with consumers right now, or they will just get lost in the shuffle. Finding the right balance here is key, and it can be achieved through implementing effective ways to both extend your reach and thoroughly examine the results.

First, concentrate on digital solutions that enhance the visitor experience. You know your customers are on their devices—are your messages moving them to visit your digital storefront? With the ever-increasing use of digital media compared to traditional media, only escalating more rapidly due to the pandemic, you can’t afford to have this blind spot in your media mix. Over-the-Top (OTT) and Connected TV (CTV) deliver your messages as targeted consumers watch their favorite shows. Affinitiv Advertising buys OTT & CTV ad space directly, so we know exactly what’s being delivered and ensure delivery to real IP addresses.

While those same consumers are watching CTV, they’re also using their mobile phones, tablets, and more. Using multiple devices at once, also known as screen-stacking, is becoming more commonplace in our multi-tasking society. But that doesn’t mean you need to try to be active on every app or channel. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is not just a mainstay of auto dealer marketing, but a vital piece of the digital puzzle that organically allows consumers to find you during their search. Affinitiv Advertising provides deep dive site audits to ensure your site is highly searchable, and our rotating SEO strategy ensures your website is always highly ranked, making it easy for the consumer to find and choose you.

Take this one step further to get in front of clients indirectly searching for your business. Paid Search, previously known as Pay-Per-Click (PPC), is one of the most effective methods for car dealers, as you have more control to move key traffic back to websites or unique landing pages. Through Smart Bidding, Affinitiv Advertising uses data from the prior analysis to target the top intenders, ensuring a holistic approach is applied to your overall media mix.

Capture and Convert More Traffic

Typically, dealers only capture about 2% of their website traffic and convert them into leads. That’s a lot of money and effort spent on traffic drivers only to lose them upon arrival. Anonymous Shopper helps increase that total to 35% or more with a unique, three-pronged approach that pairs the best of both digital and traditional marketing. This media mix has helped dealers see an incredible 8x return on their ad spend.

Taking it one step further, Anonymous Shopper helps to dramatically build the dealer’s data set of verified leads who are also high-intent shoppers. Leads are only added to the dealer’s database upon meeting specific criteria, ensuring you only pay for data that meets your expectations.

There is no one-size-fits-all method for dealers to lean on. Each dealership or dealer group will need to discover their individual approaches that help break through the noise and motivate consumers to take action with their business. Don’t be afraid to test new mediums, creative, messaging, and more. Right now, the risky may very well be worth the reward.

While this may move you to start taking immediate action, remember, inventory sourcing, call management, shop capacity management, and more should be at the forefront of ensuring you’re delivering the best experience possible to your clients. Lean on the right advertising partner with the right methodologies in order to thoughtfully expand your reach, pinpoint the best targets, and drive growth through these difficult times.