After reading that headline, you may be asking yourself, “Get More What?” The answer is more of everything: more traffic, more sales, more response, more gross, more net profit, more respect, more fun and the list goes on.
But here’s the thing…what you are about to learn doesn’t stop at the end of this article. Once you start digging into this concept you will end up head-over-heels, face down looking down a rabbit hole that goes VERY deep. You have to decide whether to take the leap of faith or stand on the outside while your competition jumps in with both feet and reaps the rewards that come from being on the cutting edge.
Wait – did we say, “cutting edge?” Oh, this must be another article about the Internet strategies right?
Wrong!
This is not about the Internet at all. It’s about what the Internet has caused and why the traditional approach of merchandising vehicles and price-based advertising no longer works effectively.
The Internet has caused a massive change in the dynamic of our customers. They think differently today than they did ten, five or even one year ago—for better or for worse. They are more educated and their first inclination is to jump on the computer and Google EVERYTHING. When they are Googling they are looking for three things… information, answers and SOLUTIONS.
Because of this newly formed habit, they demand and respond differently to advertising and marketing and are looking for something most dealers don’t deliver. This is because dealers fail to deliver the information and type of advertising these customers seek, which creates frustration and causes the Googling consumer to disconnect. This disconnection causes our credibility and response rates to plummet.
The first thing you have to realize is that the Internet is just a tool, just another medium like newspaper, radio or TV. And it’s the one where price is king and the gross is lowest unless you really know how to use it.
When we advertise in any media using a price and product based message, we are not delivering what today’s consumer is looking for. This is a big problem because, given no information, answers or solutions, the only thing a prospect can use to make comparisons and choices between dealerships are features and prices. That’s a losing proposition for all dealers.
How To Attract The Google-Savvy Car Buyer
Author and expert copywriter Robert Bly remarks that, “Traditional marketing approaches, don’t work well on the Internet (or in traditional media) or with consumers in the information/Internet age. To get readership and response, marketers have to create marketing messages that look, feel, and sound like objective, unbiased, useful information.”
The game changer in marketing toady for dealers is to create information that answers questions and solves problems. So, why does this education-based marketing approach work radically better than traditional price-based marketing?
Because traditional automotive marketing is all about the vehicles, the features and the prices and that information is already readily available all over the Internet and it doesn’t deliver answers or solutions.
Education-based marketing is all about solutions. Solutions to the problems your customers face right now that they want to alleviate. A well-planned and executed education-based marketing strategy delivers a much-needed cure to the pain your prospect is suffering.
If you can give your prospects the information they need to eliminate their problems and ultimately provide them with a clearly defined set of steps they can take to get the car they want, you will win their business. You will become the expert in their eyes, and they will flock to you. Suddenly, price concerns will be secondary to the solution they seek, making your grosses and profits soar.
But there is one caveat…
You must give your prospects a way to get this information easily and without obligation. You must believe in the concept we call giving value first. We’ve all heard of added value or value after the sale. But that’s easy. That’s for wimps! In today’s competitive marketplace you MUST deliver value upfront and your marketing (if done properly) should be the entry point into your value-based funnel where you should start delivering the education, answers and solutions your customers seek.
The value first concept is nothing new. It’s age-old and timeless. It’s based in the law of reciprocity that states that others will reciprocate in-kind based upon the way you treat them. The world gives you what you give the world. Ultimately, you are rewarded for the value which you bring to the marketplace.
Robert B. Cialdini, author of The Psychology of Persuasion explains, “One of the most potent weapons of influence around us is the rule for reciprocation. The rule says that we should try to repay, in-kind, what another person has provided us.”
When you couple education-based marketing with a personal brand that creates likability and delivers trust you have a powerful marketing formula that’s irresistible to today’s tech-savvy car buyer. We’ve spent years creating and perfecting such a marketing formula and today we teach it to our dealer members all over the US and Canada. We call it Gravitational Marketing® because it pulls customers to you in a very powerful and natural way. They seek you out for the solutions you provide and they gladly pay more for you to help them get the car they want and need.
But it’s not all fun and games. It’s not that easy. There are lots of pitfalls and trip wires that can derail your success and keep you from reaching the goal – more ups, better quality ups, increased sales and profits but it’s a worthy goal and the only thing that will allow you get more without spending more.
If you would like to learn more about how we use this approach to help dealers across the country attract more customers and sell more cars, click here to download our free eBook Top Ten Ways To Double Traffic, Leads And Sales.