Is your automotive company struggling with sales? Whether you own a car dealership, a used car lot, or a custom shop, attracting new customers can be challenging.
The automotive industry has pivoted radically since the COVID-19 pandemic, but many changes began well before then. Shifts toward online shopping have stopped many customers from visiting in-person car dealers, and the types of cars people look for have also changed.
While the automotive market may feel volatile, your business doesn’t have to. The right automotive digital marketing strategies can help you continue reaching new customers, tailor your promotions to their wants and needs, and stay competitive in a crowded market.
Below, learn the essential strategies to optimize your digital marketing strategy, then explore the top automotive marketing agencies to partner with.
The Automotive Market Is Changing — And Your Marketing Strategy Needs To Change With It
If you’ve been in the automotive space for a while, you have witnessed firsthand the many changes the automotive market has undergone over the past five to 10 years. Attempting to market your business the same way you did a decade ago won’t only prove futile; it may even harm your revenue and profitability.
Several important trends should shape how you approach marketing in this digital, post-COVID age.
- More and more consumers feel comfortable making big-ticket purchases online. COVID streamlined the shift to online-focused shopping for many consumers. Consumers who once avoided making major purchases online — like cars — have gained significant buying confidence in this regard since the pandemic.
- Consumers want to explore their options digitally before visiting a dealer in person. Potential car buyers spend 59% of their time online researching, according to a study from Autotrader. By the time a buyer enters a dealership or used car shop, they already have an idea of what vehicle they want. Less “selling” happens in person than ever before.
- Online car retailers are attracting more young buyers. Only 26% of car buyers between the ages of 25 and 40 purchase from a dealership, while the other 74% largely purchase vehicles online.
- Consumers enjoy the convenience of buying vehicles online. Online car buying allows consumers to review options at their leisure rather than feeling pressured by an in-person dealer. Prospective customers would much rather peruse their options online at their own pace. Now that they have the opportunity to do so 24/7, this opens them up to discovering more car dealers in your area who may better meet their needs.
- Consumers look to trends to determine which vehicles to buy. Potential car buyers, especially those of younger generations, are more likely to look to trends on TikTok and other online platforms to inform their car purchase decisions. First-time car buyers may be less enticed by specific vehicle features than by a vehicle’s brand or reputation.
- More consumers rely on auto loans to fund new car purchases. As many as 80% of consumers who purchased a new vehicle in 2024 chose to finance it.
With the right digital strategy, you'll overcome these challenges and even learn to use them to your business’s advantage.
Essential Digital Marketing Strategies for the Automotive Industry
Digital marketing strategies seek to boost your online presence within the auto industry, helping you stand out from competitors, engage potential clients, and build a positive reputation. These are the automotive digital marketing strategies you need to focus on to stay relevant in the digital age and experience continual business growth.
Maintain a Strong Online Presence
Potential buyers are increasingly looking online to find vehicles to purchase, and your automotive business needs to be there. Maintaining a strong online presence involves fleshing out profiles and listings across a range of sources. It also requires you to create a high-quality website with information about your vehicles and other professional content.
Take time to improve your online presence through the following online platforms.
- Google Business Profile: Claim your Google Business Profile listing and update it with accurate information about your auto dealership. Include photos of your business and information about all of your services. This helps boost your automotive SEO (search engine optimization) and make your business more visible to auto shoppers.
- Website: Your website should be a digital marketing tool. Fill it with professional content about your vehicles and services. Guide potential customers through the buyer’s journey with frequent calls to action (CTAs), accessible inquiry forms, and visible contact information.
- Social media platforms: To engage your target market, maintain a presence on all the major social media platforms. This will help your business stay top of mind for past and potential customers and give you a direct outlet to inform them about your services.
Keep your name, address, and phone number (NAP) data consistent across all online platforms to enhance your search engine rankings. Maintaining updated, accurate content across these digital platforms can show potential customers that your business is modern and available to help them purchase their next vehicle.
You should also optimize your online presence, especially your website, for mobile users. A significant portion of your target audience will use their smartphones or tablets to conduct vehicle research rather than sitting down at a computer.
Websites aren’t inherently mobile friendly. You need to make adjustments to ensure your site reads well and is easy to navigate on a mobile phone.
Engage Your Audience With Organic Marketing
Effective digital marketing doesn’t have to be expensive. Use organic strategies to engage your target audience online without appearing overly pushy.
- Search engine optimization: Your business website won’t stand out in search results unless you prioritize search engine optimization (SEO). A local SEO strategy can help potential customers in your area land on your website when they search keywords like “car dealership near me.” It involves customizing several aspects of your website, such as the structure, keywords, loading speed, content, and more.
- Content marketing: Writing compelling content for your website can subtly take potential customers through the buying process while showing them why they should trust your business. Good content marketing can also boost your search engine rankings and allow you to create excellent material to use on other digital channels.
- Video marketing: You can use video to engage potential customers who aren’t inclined to read written content. Film videos showing off your new vehicles, taking viewers through a tour of your shop, or answering commonly asked questions.
- Link building: Encouraging other websites to include links to your website is an important search engine marketing tactic that can skyrocket your online visibility.
Although none of these automotive digital marketing strategies require payment to implement, they will help you increase organic website traffic and enhance customer engagement.
Boost Brand Awareness With Paid Marketing
While organic marketing strategies should make up the bulk of your digital marketing efforts, paid campaigns also have their place. Leverage pay-per-click (PPC) advertising to target consumers in your area who are in the market for a new car.
Google Ads is one of the most popular advertising platforms out there — and with good reason. Google Ads makes it easy to tailor ads for search engine results, websites, YouTube videos, and more.
Google’s artificial intelligence features allow you to create highly targeted ads that appear in the exact right positions to engage your target customers. You can also optimize your ad spend so that you only show ads to people who may be interested in them, minimizing accidental clicks that don’t yield results.
Creating paid ads that showcase your vehicles available for purchase is a fast and effective way to increase revenue. PPC ads will begin appearing online within a few hours of launching your campaign, whereas organic strategies like SEO typically take a few weeks to achieve marketing success.
Instill Trust in Potential Customers With Review Management
Auto buyers read countless reviews before choosing a vehicle to purchase, but they also read reviews of the auto dealers in their area. Review management helps you leverage customer reviews within your internet marketing strategy while lowering the impact of negative reviews.
You will find a range of digital tools to help with review management. Some tools send you notifications every time someone leaves you a review on Google, Facebook, Yelp, or similar platforms, allowing you to respond promptly.
The following are some best practices to make the most of online reviews:
- Send automated emails to customers after they make a purchase, inviting them to leave a review (or send negative feedback to you privately.
- Respond to all positive and negative reviews to show your business cares about the customer experience.
- Carefully craft your response to negative reviews to mitigate their impact. Address the reviewer’s concern, apologize for their negative experience, and offer a way to make it up to them.
- Leverage customer testimonials within your marketing services. Positive reviews can promote word-of-mouth marketing, which plays a major role in driving customer decisions.
Review management should play into a larger reputation management strategy. Keep track of what people are saying about your business online and take steps to shape a positive consumer opinion.
Track Your Marketing Data Frequently
Implementing advertising campaigns is only the first step in your marketing process. You also need to review them frequently and make adjustments to achieve better results.
Monitoring your marketing data allows you to make data-driven decisions about your automotive digital marketing strategy. Pay close attention to what advertising campaigns are performing well and which ones you should approach from a different angle.
Google Analytics is a free and simple tool that lets you track marketing data and view key performance indicators (KPIs) about your website and Google ads, such as:
- Website traffic
- Click-through rates
- Bounce rates
- Conversion rates
- Average session duration
You can also track data for specific marketing pushes, such as social media posts or email campaigns. Use marketing data to form valuable insights that can help you optimize your future marketing efforts.
Stay on Top of the Latest Trends in the Automotive Industry
The automotive sector has experienced significant changes in recent years, and keeping up with industry trends is the only way to stay afloat in this competitive market. This includes both marketing trends and product trends.
For example, many younger car buyers look to platforms like TikTok and Instagram to inform their purchase decisions. Electric vehicles and hybrid cars are becoming increasingly popular among consumers. Automotive brands like Toyota, Subaru, and Honda are trending among consumers, though Tesla has also seen an increased presence across the market.
Understand automotive trends and purchase the vehicles your target audience wants to buy. Then, use your digital marketing strategy to show that your business is modern and relevant.
Keep Track of What Your Direct Competitors Are Doing
You don’t have to be the best car dealer in the country; you just need to stand out in your local market. Let your direct competitors’ marketing strategies inform your own strategies. See what your competitors are doing well and learn how to improve upon their efforts.
Review all of the following for your top three competitors, at a minimum:
- Website
- Social media profiles
- Google Business Profile
- Reviews and ratings
Then, ask yourself questions like:
- How much social media engagement do they receive compared to my business?
- How are their Google ratings overall?
- Do customers have any specific complaints or praises about them?
- How does their website look?
While you shouldn’t copy any competitors’ strategies, you should understand their strategies as a baseline for your own marketing efforts. Gain an idea of your competitors’ search engine rankings and online presence as a whole, then take steps to outperform them.
Level Up Your Digital Marketing Strategies Today
If you feel overwhelmed by all the automotive marketing strategies you’ll need to implement, rest assured that you don’t have to go it alone. Work with an automotive digital marketing agency to master these tactics and more.
At Top Marketing Agencies, we make it easy to find a marketing partner who specializes in your niche. Review our list of the top automotive digital marketing agencies today to narrow your search and get started.
