Is traditional advertising dead in this modern era? We live in a digital world where everything is available to us at our fingertips. Despite many changes over the past several years with the rise of digital marketing, traditional marketing still holds a place in the automotive industry today with over $7 billion spent on local advertising nationally!
There are a few different ways you can traditionally advertise your dealership. Newspaper, TV, Radio, Direct Mail, Billboards & Telephone are still the most popular ways to get your consumers attention. In traditional marketing, the audience reach can be local, regional, or national, which allows the audience to be broad.
So how can traditional advertising fuel your digital platform? It’s simple, you hear a radio advertisement for a local Kia dealership, and the advertisement highlights the vehicle price you’re looking for. Most people then research the dealership online using their smartphone or tablet. This creates the perfect opportunity for you to utilize your dealerships online presence by optimizing user-friendly platforms to enhance your consumers’ experience.
It is important not to let digital marketing strategies deter you from utilizing traditional marketing. Did you know 50% of your customers were exposed to radio ads before coming into your dealership? Think of radio ads as theater for the mind, giving you top-of-mind awareness. Radio’s ability to provide frequency and target a specific market clientele makes it unique. During the hours your dealership is open, more people will listen to the radio than any other medium!
When you blend both marketing techniques, it allows you to reach your audience at the most opportune places. It allows conversation and sales to happen over the Internet while it spreads through our mobile phones and laptop computers. It encourages engagement on multiple social platforms and allows your automotive dealership to be present and accessible on every level.
Using the web to spread awareness of your dealership efficiently can be low to no cost at all. Staying consistent with social media posting is free advertisement for your dealership! Search Engine Optimization (SEO) will help drive traffic to your content via the major search engines, which are Google, Bing, and Yahoo. This strategy can be done by customizing content that enables the algorithms of the search engine to find your dealership.
Integrating the benefits of traditional marketing and digital marketing helps the consumer identify and feel satisfied with purchasing their next vehicle. Traditional marketing like a radio ad or billboard will send the consumer to your dealership via website leading to a special offer, product information, etc. From there, your consumer might dig a little deeper into your online presence. Checking out other social media pages or even video content to go further into product details and discovery.
It is important to stay relevant with your content keeping social media posts up to date. Social media marketing will create an amplification of the offline message. Therefore, you must ensure for your dealership that your strategy considers all your customers’ needs and expectations when it comes to digital functioning. Your customers range from digital natives who have grown up with smartphones, to digital immigrants who have spent their lives driving non-connected vehicles through an analog world. As customers become more connected, they will demand more personalization, more service, and more buying options.
Just remember, your dealership is the ultimate destination of the consumers’ journey when they are ready to make that next car purchase. Embrace the shift in media consumption as we experience a consumer shift that takes the traditional living room viewing experience and moves it anywhere and everywhere. Now your automotive brand can connect with consumers who are on-the-go by delivering content straight into their hands!
