Car Shows and Marketing Opportunities for Dealerships

It is Summer, finally, which means it’s car show season. Last Monday I attended the Thornhill Cruisers Car Club’s weekly Monday night meet. I was very impressed with the turnout of both classic 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s cars as well as some 80’s and 90’s vehicles from my era,. Although these cars are mostly “drivers” they are still cool to look at to see how car styling and car sizes have changed over the years. I was very happy to see that a local car dealer had sponsored the event. I thought to myself, what a great marketing opportunity for the dealer.

This particular dealer is getting exposure every week, with very little effort on their part. Car shows are a great marketing tool to attract car enthusiasts into your dealership to see all the new models that you have to offer. They are also a great opportunity to give back to the community by raising money for charity. In today’s increasingly competitive environment, stretching marketing dollars and increasing your dealership’s reach is vital.

The birth and acceptance of the internet has changed business forever. Consumers are more knowledgeable and are able to compare competing brands as well as competing dealers among the same brand, at the click of a mouse. Competition between different brands is natural; however competition among dealers of the same brand is not. How does a dealer differentiate itself from a competing dealer of the same brand? Dealers must analyze what their competition is doing and determine how they can do it better. Exceeding customer expectations is a great way to get customers to talk about your dealership and the incredible experience they had with you. This increases word of mouth advertising and promotes positive feelings for your existing customers (securing future revenue) and increases the likelihood of referrals which will generate new business for your dealership.

Managing your online reputation is increasingly important as more customers flock to the internet to research everything from their doctor to their dealership. Is your dealership monitoring online comments and conducting regular searches to make sure any issues or complaints in online reviews are addressed? As of yesterday, there were 24 results when I searched for Toronto dealerships reviewed on yelp.com, including a review that opens with “Recommendation: Do not buy a car here!” Many customers will go to a less convenient dealership to purchase and service their car based on negative reviews.

In addition to focusing on customer service, community presence is also very important, by way of sponsoring community events. The goal of both of these initiatives is to create positive buzz about your dealership that will generate referrals. In addition to marketing via events and exceeding customer expectations, individual dealerships need to have online presence through social networking tools such as Facebook and Twitter and through active involvement in brand specific online car communities, or forums such as RX8club.com and the 8thcivic.com. These sites provide a great marketing opportunity to a captive audience who is enthusiastic about your brand.

Having your existing customers “Like” your dealership’s Facebook page will allow you to easily communicate with your customers by updating your corporate page as your updates will appear in the newsfeed for anyone who “Likes” your page. In addition, your page will be on your customer’s profile as a page they “Like” and all their contacts and friends will be able to see that they like you. This invites discussion and the “Like” begins to function as a recommendation of your dealership. Twitter functions in much the same way with your customers being able to follow you and gain access to your dealership updates. You may want to let customers know when new models come in, if there is a promotion on service or vehicles, if you are holding an event or anything else.

When marketing your dealership against dealerships of the same brand you need to think outside the box.

-- Bryan Redinger