Smart Dealer Decisions

An effective online strategy requires a consistent presence, with vehicles priced to market, and detailed descriptions to build trust among potential customers. You don’t have to be an expert to be effective online. You need to be consistent, and put yourself in your customers’ shoes and understand the information they need to be comfortable in making an online purchase.

I’m often surprised that dealerships do not put more effort into trying different things online. Recognizing that some things will work, and others won’t, the beauty of the Internet is that it greatly lowers the risk of failure. And even if you try something that doesn’t work, the Internet also lowers the cost of any failure. And the flip side is, there are many success stories regarding Internet marketing for dealerships.

Besides having a dealer website, having easy access to a national or international market, allows dealerships to do things on the Internet which would not be successful locally. There are dealerships who have eBay auctions down to an art and leverage other online vehicle listing sites, providing detailed information to buyers so they are comfortable completing the transaction even if they are thousands of miles away. The Internet breaks the boundaries of a traditional dealership being defined by geography. Ignoring this reality can result in your efforts being marginalized locally.