For used car dealerships, micro-moments should be a part of your marketing strategy. The majority of car buyers go through a minimum of five micro-moments during their journey to find the perfect car. In this article, we are going to take a look at each of those micro-moments and look at how you can build a marketing strategy that sells more cars. Thanks to research completed by Luth Research, we know that the typical car buyer goes through about 900 digital interactions before purchasing a vehicle.
- Which Car is Best?
- Is it Right for Me?
- Can I Afford It?
- Where Should I Buy It?
- Am I Getting a Good Deal?
Did you know that six out of 10 car shoppers start their car buying journey unsure of what they want to buy? This is the beginning of their journey, and they spend a reasonable amount of time researching vehicles. This research can be based on a number of factors including family friendliness, safety, performance, eco-friendliness, luxury, and more. Consumers typically research between 10 and 15 manufacturer brands during this micro-moment. It’s essential for used car dealerships to have a wide variety of makes and models available on the lot to appeal to consumers at this stage of the buying process. For someone searching for a family-friendly vehicle, Google searches may include “best minivan,” ” vehicles with lots of room,” or “best car for families with pets.”
Once consumers have narrowed their search down to a few favorable makes and models, they start to focus on their list of features they want. This can include how many seats a car has, how many airbags, power seats, forward collision warning, automatic braking, backup cameras, Bluetooth capability, WiFi, and more. Used car dealerships typically list these features on their VDP pages, but this content is not necessarily optimized for search engines. This means that dealerships are losing out on car sales since the vehicles in their inventory may have these features, but they are not showing up in search engine results.
As consumers start to narrow down their search, cost becomes a factor. Consumers typically have an idea of the total price they want to pay for a vehicle and the amount they can comfortably afford monthly. This is also the moment where they start researching purchasing options including; new car purchase prices, leasing options, and used car purchase prices. Trade-in value also becomes a factor, and many consumers are visiting Black Book and Kelly Blue Book to get an idea of what their current vehicle is worth. One of the significant concerns that used car dealerships face is the difference between what these services claim the trade is worth and what it is actually worth.
For many used car dealerships, this is where incentives and rewards programs come into play. Incentives are great, but typically only apply to qualified buyers. The median credit score for consumers in the United States is 687 according to Experian which is considered a fair rating. This will typically qualify for financing but may not be eligible for top incentives. Consumers that are in the car buying process are often intrigued by incentives that may be out of their reach which can again cause bad feelings upon arrival to the dealership. It’s important for used car dealerships to offer a range of incentives and rewards that benefit all credit scores. Offering consumers a way to pre-qualify for financing online will also cut down the time required to complete the sale and will also empower the buyer when they arrive to close the deal.
For used car dealerships, this is a crucial step to being the final destinationfor the purchase of the selected car. One of the best ways to accomplish this to utilize location-based marketing services, commonly referred to as geo-fencing. A geo-fence is a digital perimeter that is created based on GPS coordinates. This will help consumers within your area become aware that your used car dealership is within their proximity. Geo-fencing along with robust Ad Word campaigns will help to bring buyers to your dealership. Let’s assume you have a Chevrolet dealership, common search terms may include; “Buy Chevrolet cars,” “Buy Chevy cars,” “Chevrolet dealer,” “Authorized dealer for Chevrolet,” “Chevy authorized dealers,” “New Chevrolet cars,” and “Chevrolet showroom.” A typical consumer may complete upwards of 20 searches to find the dealership that meets their criteria. You want to make sure that your used car dealership is the one they see.
Consumers are more prepared than ever to purchase cars on their terms. This includes doing research on the MSRP of a vehicle, spending some time on websites like Tru-Car, and crowdsourcing information on what other consumers paid for similar cars. Consumers often come to dealerships knowing precisely what they expect to pay for the car they have chosen. With the availability of services like Tru-Car and the Best Price Program, consumers now have easy access to information that was once held by dealership sales reps. Dealerships can combat this by offering special incentives, packaging popular add-ons into the price of the car instead of adding them on during the buying process, and in providing loyalty and rewards programs. One of our favorite rewards program companies is Nu-Car Consulting, a leader in used car dealership reward programs.
As a used car dealership, it’s up to you to meet consumers at each of this pivotal points in the buyer’s journey to a new or like-new vehicle purchase. Some things to consider:
1. Is your brand there at each of these micro-moments?
2. Is your brand useful? Do you offer more than just cars and buying incentives? If not, consider content marketing to increase buyer participation in the process.
3. Do you make it easy to compare different makes and models?
4. Do you offer online financing options?
5. Do you offer long-term reward programs to let your customers know that you still care even when the purchase is complete?
If you need help with any of these micro-moment connections, contact IDM for a FREE analysis. We can show you how your used car dealership is perceived online. Remember 75% of research completed when buying a car is done online. Let’s work together to make sure that your customers are finding you!
