Dealerships have many options available to them as they seek to grow their online presence. In fact, they might almost have too many options; certainly, it can be difficult to determine which channels offer the best return on investment.

Take, for example, the long-running debate over content marketing vs. PPC. Both disciplines offer some pros and some cons, but which one makes the most sense for your dealership?

Here’s a brief rundown of what dealers can expect from each.

Content Marketing

When we talk about content marketing, we’re basically talking about building trust and cultivating relationships with your clients. Content marketing employs blogs, videos, and social media posts to distribute helpful, value-adding information—establishing your dealership as a thought leader and an information hub and earning the good faith of your target audience.

Content marketing comes with some advantages and disadvantages alike—for instance:

• A PRO is that it helps earn qualified, well-educated leads.
• A CON is that it tends to take a long time; content marketing does not offer overnight results.
• A PRO is that content marketing is cost-effective.
• A CON is that content creation takes insight and talent, and your dealership may not have the resources available to accomplish this.

PPC

On the flipside, there’s PPC—or pay-per-click marketing. You probably know PPC best through Google AdWords, though there are other PPC platforms available, too. PPC is paid online ads, which you can use to target consumers at various stages of their consumer journey.

Again, there are both pros and cons worth mentioning—among them:

• A PRO is that a smart PPC campaign can win you prime online real estate, even placement at the top of the Google search engine results page.
• A CON is that PPC is fairly costly—and, again, it tends to take time before you see results.

An Integrative Approach

It’s worth noting, of course, that you don’t actually have to choose between content marketing and PPC—and indeed, most marketers would argue that these two approaches work best when they are used in tandem.

A holistic approach that encompasses both content marketing and PPC ads will allow you to target buyers with precision, and to truly have an online presence that spans the entire buyer journey—but of course, you’ll need an overarching plan to keep these two approaches aligned with one another.

Get a Plan for Marketing Your Dealership

That’s where Get My Auto comes in. As a marketing company, we work solely with used car dealerships, and we offer a range of services—including not only content marketing and PPC, but Craigslist, Facebook advertising, website development, and beyond. We can provide your dealership with the integrative approach it needs.

Learn more about online marketing via Get My Auto. Reach out to us today, and ask which approaches make the most sense for your dealership’s needs. Call Get My Auto now!

Craigslist can be a powerful lead generation tool for your used car dealership. In fact, it can be a robust sales hub, but only when you use it correctly. A big part of this is writing good vehicle descriptions to accompany each listing. You might think that pictures alone are sufficient, but they only tell part of the story. A written description is critical for enticing buyers, and helping them to feel confident buying the vehicle in question.

In this post, we’re going to outline a few of the cardinal rules of writing Craigslist descriptions—but remember: You can always use our Craigslist Wizard app, where the Smart Listing Technology feature will make this entire process easy and intuitive!

How to Write Effective Craigslist Descriptions

– The first and more important rule? Always include a description with each listing, period. This may seem like a no-brainer, but you would be amazed by how many dealerships don’t include written descriptions. Even if you think your pictures tell the full story, always include at least a few sentences of description.
– Second, always use the proper spelling and punctuation. Before anyone buys a car from you, they must develop trust in your professionalism—and a typo-laden description will only undermine that. Hire a professional proofreading service if need be, but make sure your written descriptions are correct.
– We would also recommend being judicious in your descriptions of options and features. You don’t have to list every little thing, and in fact doing so can make your ad seem bloated. If you’re writing about a 2015 Jaguar, it goes without saying that power windows are included. But you can certainly list some of the most appealing options that the car includes—a handful of the main selling points.
– Something else to remember: You should talk about your dealership, not just the car in question. Tell the story of your brand; even if a buyer doesn’t want the car in question, encourage them to call you about additional options. Make mention of your dealership’s primary distinctives, and list customer service accolades, in particular.
– Finally, tell the story of the car. Does it have a clean CarFax report? Is it certified as having just one owner? Those are the important things to list in your description, as they can be significant selling points for any car or truck.

Make Craigslist Descriptions Easy

Again, this is a really important part of Craigslist marketing, so it’s never a bad idea to ask for some additional help. You can get access to our expertise either by calling Get My Auto directly, or by downloading our Craigslist Wizard app and making use of its Smart Listing Technology. To learn more about our marketing services or our app, we invite you to visit Orange County based​​​​​​​ Get My Auto on the Web today.

Used car dealerships can benefit greatly from a robust social media presence—yet with so many social platforms to choose from, many dealership managers feel overwhelmed, or else spread too thin. We believe that there are some platforms that are more crucial than others. Facebook tops our list, and we’d also recommend selling vehicles on Craigslist—an oft overlooked tool for used car dealerships. With that said, Instagram would round out our top three. When used properly, Instagram can be a powerful way to build your dealership’s branded presence. In this post, we’ll lay out our three essential tips for Instagram success.

Post Consistently, and from Multiple Sources

First and foremost, you need to post content to Instagram on a regular basis—we’d say once a day at the minimum. Inconsistent updates will make it less likely anyone will follow or engage with your brand. In addition to posting often, though, also make sure you post from different sources. What we mean by this is, post some candid shots from your own lot. Post stock images from the manufacturers you carry. You might even ask individual sales reps to submit photos they take throughout the day. Be varied in your approach to Instagram content.

Don’t Forget About Video

Second, remember that Instagram isn’t just a platform for still photos. You can also submit videos, and you should. There are a lot of different ways for you to use video on your dealership’s behalf. One way is to take videos to showcase the different features and amenities of your cars. You can also take behind-the-scenes tours of your dealership, helping humanize your brand. Even quick “talking heads” segments, where you explain key points about vehicle financing or care, can be helpful for your buyers. None of your videos need to be super fancy, either; simply filming on an iPhone is perfectly acceptable.

Be Social

Finally, remember that Instagram is indeed a social network. What this means is that you don’t have to drive home the hard sales pitch all the time. You will benefit from being more casual and authentic in your approach. Behind-the-scenes photos of your team, or videos made to inform rather than persuade, can gain trust and build loyalty. Also be sure you take time to respond to any questions you receive from your Instagram followers. Engage, interact, and build an online community around your brand.

Get Help from the Pros

To summarize, we’ll reiterate that we think Instagram is valuable—but only when it’s used strategically. We can help you with that. Get My Auto is a seasoned marketing firm, and we only work with used car dealerships. We’d love to help transform your Instagram approach. Reach out to Get My Auto today to start a conversation about all we can do for you.

Instagram is a lot of fun—but can it also be a useful tool for used car dealerships, looking to actually move inventory?

You’d better believe it can.

The first step to making that happen is to be clear about your goal: Yes, Instagram can be a sales tool, but only if you treat it as such. This means having a strategy in place, investing some time and money, and tracking your results.

So, what does a good, results-driven Instagram strategy look like? Allow us to offer a few tips and suggestions.

Things Your Dealership Should Do on Instagram

Promote Sales Events

First, if you’re running any sales events, specials, or giveaways, make sure you let your Instagram audience know. In fact, you might run some Instagram-only promotions, creating real value for those who choose to follow you on this platform. Obviously, you’ll want to post photos and videos of the vehicles you’re promoting, and also make sure you use hashtags that include your city—allowing you to potentially pick up more interest from the surrounding community.

Post at Strategic Times

Instagram isn’t just about what you post. It’ds also about when you post. Try to think of times when your audience will most likely be checking Instagram. For a lot of working folks, that’s first thing in the morning, on lunch break, in the late afternoon and early evening. Experiment with a few different times, and pay attention to which hours of the day seem to work best.

Generally speaking, we’d say the best times to try are in the morning between 7 and 9; midday, between 11 and 2; then in the evening between 5 and 7.

Build Trust

In order to sell cars, you’re going to have to get consumers to trust you. Instagram can actually be very helpful here. Definitely promote inventory and sales events, but also provide actionable insights and advice. Post graphics or videos that shed light on the used car buying process. Advise buyers on financing, vehicle upkeep, warranty matters, and more. Show that you’re here to help, not just to sell. Establish yourself as a used car authority.

Don’t Forget About Instagram Ads

As nice as it would be if you could be really successful through organic reach, paid ads are increasingly crucial to the social media marketing experience. Gain some insight into Instagram Ads by working with our team at Get My Auto, or start experimenting with low-dollar bids and feel your way through the platform. When done right, Instagram advertising can be an invaluable way to nurture ads.

Get Help with Your Instagram Marketing

Whether you know a bit about Instagram marketing or are a total novice, Get My Autocan help. We love working with used car dealerships zealous to step up their online marketing game. To learn more about the results we can deliver, don’t hesitate to contact the Get My Auto team right away.

When buyers want information about a particular car or a certain dealership, the first place they turn is to Google. As such, your dealership’s success is largely dependent on your Google visibility. Search engine optimization (SEO) is the field devoted to getting better Google rankings, yet for many dealers, SEO can seem incredibly complex, even impenetrable.

With that said, there is some rhyme and reason to how the Google algorithms work. The placement of any website comes down to a number of ranking factors, some of which are more important than others. And Google is actually pretty forthcoming about what those ranking factors are.

So what are the critical SEO components your dealership should focus on in 2018? Here are some of our top recommendations, based on Google’s stated SEO standards.

Key SEO Ranking Factors for Your Dealership Website

Quality Content

There’s an old saying in SEO circles—content is king. That’s as true today as it’s ever been. Ultimately, Google rewards sites that provide the end user with real, substantive information—and that means filling your website with well-written content that answers your buyers’ questions. Always make content the cornerstone of your SEO efforts.

Mobile-friendliness

These days, most online searches happen from mobile devices, as opposed to laptops or desktops. As such, Google actively rewards sites that have a strong mobile presentation, while penalizing sites that are not optimized for these devices. If your dealership website doesn’t have a mobile version, now’s the time to change that.

Security

Search engine users want websites they can visit securely, without any risk of data theft or other cybercrimes. Google, of course, wants to accommodate those wishes. As such, it’s worth noting that the majority of page-one-ranked sites have HTTPS security coding—something to consider for your own dealership page.

User Experience

When Web designers talk about user experience, or UX, they’re talking about the ease with which your website users can access the page and find the information they’re looking for. A clear layout and intuitive navigation are two components to consider for your dealership website.

Site Speed

Nobody wants to wait very long for a website to load. In fact, most users are unwilling to wait more than two or three seconds. Google penalizes sites that take longer than that to load, so it’s worth taking the time to check your site on different browsers and devices to be sure it’s loading the way it’s supposed to.

Develop a Website That’s Made to Rank

A good website is an invaluable marketing asset for your dealership—and Get My Auto can help you get your site totally up to speed. Contact us to learn more about how we help dealerships design websites that rank well. Reach out to Get My Auto today!

These days, very few consumers will visit a dealership without doing some online research first. In fact, studies suggest that the average buyer will spend several hours reading about cars online before ever setting foot on the showroom floor. This presents your dealership with a prime opportunity: If you can make your online vehicle descriptions compelling enough—more compelling than the competition’s—then you can be the one to get that foot traffic in your used car dealership.

The question is, what can used car dealers do in order to make their descriptions more impactful? Here are a few guidelines.

Tell a Story

Many dealers take the everything-and-the-kitchen-sink approach to their vehicle descriptions, essentially mentioning all the data and specs they can but not really telling a story. Yet, that story is important: The most appealing descriptions are the ones that create a narrative, and help the buyer to see how he or she fits within that narrative. By all means, include some data and specs in your descriptions—but also some rich language to connect it all and show the big picture. Tell the story of each vehicle.

Focus on High-Value Options

In keeping with that last point, you can’t always fit every last detail into your description, and certain features may not get mentioned at all. So how do you decide which features to mention, and which to omit? We recommend picking two or three really high-value features and making them the focal point of each description. To do this, go back to your buyer personas, and determine the features that will make the biggest impact on your targeted buyers.

Build Trust

It’s not enough for the buyer to like the car you’re showing them; he or she also needs to feel confidence buying that car from you. There are a number of ways to build consumer confidence through your vehicle descriptions, including third-party validations such as vehicle history information, scoring reports, accolades and awards, crash test ratings, consumer reviews, and more.

Sell Your Dealership

Remember, as you write your descriptions, that you’re not just selling a car; you’re also selling your dealership. Conveying warmth and professionalism are key. It’s also wise to make a note or two about the values unique to your dealership—whether that’s exemplary customer service, one-on-one attention, a reliable service department, or something else altogether. Make sure that, even if the buyer doesn’t like this particular car, he or she wants to learn more about you and your business.

Write Vehicle Descriptions That Get Results

Good online vehicle descriptions can earn buyer trust—and ultimately generate foot traffic in your showroom. Learn more about the most effective ways to market your inventory by reaching out to the experts at Get My Auto today!

These days, very few consumers will visit a dealership without doing some online research first. In fact, studies suggest that the average buyer will spend several hours reading about cars online before ever setting foot on the showroom floor. This presents your dealership with a prime opportunity: If you can make your online vehicle descriptions compelling enough—more compelling than the competition’s—then you can be the one to get that foot traffic in your used car dealership.

The question is, what can used car dealers do in order to make their descriptions more impactful? Here are a few guidelines.

Tell a Story

Many dealers take the everything-and-the-kitchen-sink approach to their vehicle descriptions, essentially mentioning all the data and specs they can but not really telling a story. Yet, that story is important: The most appealing descriptions are the ones that create a narrative, and help the buyer to see how he or she fits within that narrative. By all means, include some data and specs in your descriptions—but also some rich language to connect it all and show the big picture. Tell the story of each vehicle.

Focus on High-Value Options

In keeping with that last point, you can’t always fit every last detail into your description, and certain features may not get mentioned at all. So how do you decide which features to mention, and which to omit? We recommend picking two or three really high-value features and making them the focal point of each description. To do this, go back to your buyer personas, and determine the features that will make the biggest impact on your targeted buyers.

Build Trust

It’s not enough for the buyer to like the car you’re showing them; he or she also needs to feel confidence buying that car from you. There are a number of ways to build consumer confidence through your vehicle descriptions, including third-party validations such as vehicle history information, scoring reports, accolades and awards, crash test ratings, consumer reviews, and more.

Sell Your Dealership

Remember, as you write your descriptions, that you’re not just selling a car; you’re also selling your dealership. Conveying warmth and professionalism are key. It’s also wise to make a note or two about the values unique to your dealership—whether that’s exemplary customer service, one-on-one attention, a reliable service department, or something else altogether. Make sure that, even if the buyer doesn’t like this particular car, he or she wants to learn more about you and your business.

Write Vehicle Descriptions That Get Results

Good online vehicle descriptions can earn buyer trust—and ultimately generate foot traffic in your showroom. Learn more about the most effective ways to market your inventory by reaching out to the experts at Get My Auto today!

Most auto dealers are aware of the critical importance of video marketing. They’ve seen the statistics. They know fully well that the presence of video within the Facebooknewsfeed has grown by 360 percent in the past couple of years. They know, too, that videos posted to social media sites get 135 percent more organic reach than photos or text. Even knowing these things, however, dealers are hesitant to create video content for their own social media accounts.

And there’s a simple reason for it: They don’t know where to start.

But if it’s ideas you need, we can provide them. Here are five video marketing concepts that have proven effective in auto sales. Try implementing some of these strategies in your own video marketing content!

Kickstart Your Dealership’s Video Marketing

Sneak Peaks

People like to feel like they’re among the first people to know something—so let them feel like they’re part of a secret. Provide quick video tours of the latest and greatest vehicles, and build anticipation for new inventory you’re getting in. Allow your social media followers to get the first glimpse of cool new cars and trucks.

Testimonials

Every dealership can post sales copy about how great and wonderful it is, but it’s far more meaningful to potential buyers to hear it from other buyers. Ask some of your satisfied customers if you can take a video of them offering their feedback, and post the ringing endorsements to social media.

How-tos

Show off your knowledge, and provide actionable insights to your buyers! Create videos that center on practical guidance about vehicle maintenance, vehicle cleaning, etc. Empower your buyers to be better vehicle owners—and instill real trust in your dealership, to boot!

Walkarounds

Film one of your sales reps simply walking through the showroom and talking off the cuff about some of the great cars you currently have in stock. Just offer a few words about each one. Show off the diversity of your inventory, and generate some interest in visiting the lot.

Behind the Scenes Footage

Roll back the curtain and let buyers see what life’s like at your dealership day-to-day! Interview sales reps, show off the company break room—in a word, humanize your dealership. Video is a great format for this.

Video Done Right

When done right, video marketing can be tremendously beneficial to your dealership. Use these ideas as launching points, but also brainstorm some content ideas of your own—and if you need an assist, don’t hesitate to call the digital marketing experts at Get My Autotoday ! We’re professionals in the automotive marketing sphere, and we know what it takes for dealerships to move inventory. Contact our team right away to begin the process.

As you’re no doubt aware, Google is the biggest search engine in the world—but do you know which search engine ranks as #2? This may shock you, but the answer is YouTube. And, as online consumers increasingly favor video over other forms of content, YouTube’s market share is likely to expand further and further.

Video is a Natural Fit for Used Car Dealerships

This alone makes it a platform your used car dealership should consider. In addition, video content is a natural fit for the used car industry. Just think of the compelling ways in which you might use video:

• Providing a tour of your showroom and highlighting current inventory
• Showing some basics of vehicle maintenance or repair
• Explaining some of the available options for financing

The bottom line: Video can humanize your dealership, earn buyer trust, and showcase your products in a way that’s fun and easily digestible.

Producing and Optimizing Your Videos

Creating videos to post on YouTube doesn’t require you to book a Hollywood movie studio; in fact, there’s plenty you can do with a simple iPhone and the most basic video editing software. (YouTube even offers its own, online video editing platform, if you want to start at square one.)

A key part of this process is optimizing your videos. Remember: YouTube isn’t just a content platform, but a search engine! Your videos won’t do you much good if they can’t be found by search engine users.

Some basic guidelines for YouTube SEO:

1. Make sure you include keywords in the titles of your videos. Place your keywords toward the beginning of your title; for whatever reason, YouTube favors this form of keyword placement.
2. Write a good video description, telling YouTube’s algorithms what your video content is about. Judicious keyword placement is a must! Also, summarize your video content without totally giving away all your key points.
3. Include a call to action at the end of your video. Make it as specific as possible. Rather than asking viewers to leave a comment, give them a specific question or topic to comment on.
4. Try to make your videos longer, whenever possible. YouTube wants to hold viewers’ attention for as long as possible, so the 8-15 minute range is the sweet spot!

One final tip: Remember that you’re not just selling cars. You’re selling your brand. Make sure your videos speak to the professionalism and trustworthiness of your dealership.

Get Started with YouTube Marketing

YouTube provides a number of opportunities for your dealership—but to take advantage of those opportunities, you may wish to work with marketing professionals.

Get My Auto partners exclusively with used car dealerships, and we can help you develop a plan to build a strong online presence—using YouTube along with other key platforms. Give us a call today, and let’s start the discussion about your dealership’s marketing plan!

Facebook has been in the hot seat for months now. The trouble all started during the 2016 election cycle, when the once-unstoppable social network was beset with criticisms regarding its role in the spread of “fake news.” Since then, Facebook has announced a series of actions to change its newsfeed algorithms and beef up quality control—all of which carries big implications for Facebook advertisers.

Does your used car dealership spend any ad bucks on Facebook? If so, then we invite you to read up on three of the most significant changes to the Facebook Ads landscape.

To Run Ads on Facebook, You Have to Be Connected to a Page

It used to be that just about anyone could run ads on Facebook, so long as they were willing to pony up the money. Today, that’s no longer the case. If you want to run Facebook ads now, your account needs to be connected to an actual Facebook page.

That’s not much of a hurdle—setting up a page is easy, and your dealership should have one anyway—but it’s something to be aware of, moving forward.

Quality Control is More Rigorous Than Ever

Facebook is also working harder to police the content that advertisers promote—cracking down on “like bait,” in particular.

You’ve probably seen these posts before—a company running an ad, saying “LIKE our page if you love chocolate,” even though their business has nothing at all to do with chocolate.

This is essentially spam, and it’s no longer allowable at Facebook. Henceforth, all ad content needs to be directly relevant to your dealership and its core product and service offerings.

Organic Reach Just Isn’t Enough

Finally, Facebook has once again downgraded the role of organic posts from businesses and brands—meaning that, if your dealership has coasted on likes, comments, and shares, you may find your newsfeed penetration dwindling.

In order to better police the content that consumers see, Facebook really wants businesses and brands to make a go of Facebook Ads—paying to play and adhering to all of the increasingly-stringent rules.

The bottom line for your dealership: The days of doing well on Facebook, without paying for ad placement, are probably over.

Where Does This Leave Your Dealership?

For used car dealerships, there remain huge opportunities to generate highly targeted traffic through Facebook. It requires you to develop compelling ad content, and to pay for placement within the Facebook Ads platform—but really, that’s the way it’s been for a long time now.

If you’re ready to get to work on an effective Facebook Ads strategy, we can help you. Get My Auto provides marketing services exclusively for auto dealerships. Reach out to us today to schedule a consultation!