Online Branding for Auto Dealers
Odds are you and your dealership are familiar with the term 'branding.' But do you know what it really means, why it is important, and how the Web has changed it? 'Branding' can be defined as a collection of perceptions in the mind of the consumer about your dealership.
This definition makes it absolutely clear that a brand is very different from a product or service; a brand is intangible and exists in the mind of your customer. This definition also makes it clear how to build a brand. A brand is built not only through effective communications or appealing logos; a brand is built through the total experience that your dealership offers. This encompasses everything: the customer's experience with your website, your salespeople, your service department, and even the condition of your showroom.
The fact that more and more consumers are using the Internet to research and purchase everything from cars to groceries means that how you brand your dealership on the web can have a huge effect on your sales. Unlike television, the internet is not a broadcast medium but a service medium in which people interact and exchange information with you. Your brand needs to appeal to individuals and be able to react to many different responses and needs. Following are some tips to enhance your website and Internet marketing to ensure that your brand is thought of positively by your customers, and to keep them coming back to your dealership.
Historically, a brand has been a promise that says, "If you buy this product or buy from my company, you can rely on me because of the attributes attached to the brand." Now we are seeing a new kind of branding emerge, a much more customer-centric branding where the promise is, "I know you as an individual customer better than anyone else, and you can trust me to assemble the right products or services to meet your individual needs."
Your goal should be to become not a product dealership, but a customer relationship business. How do you do this? Develop profiles of the customers using your site. For example, you can offer a special product discount or giveaway to those customers who answer a few questions about themselves. You can also keep detailed records of what individuals have bought in the past, and what they may need in the future. This builds a deeper customer-focused brand because you are dealing with individuals on a one-to-one basis.
When developing and fine-tuning your brand you want to make sure that your message is consistent across the board, from your website to your sales literature to your showroom. Because your website may be a customer's first interaction with your dealership, it is especially important to be sure that it reflects your core messages. So how do you do this? Ask yourself what kind of an image you are portraying. Do you want to be known as a classy dealership that markets to the upper-classes? Are you a fun dealership that caters to the younger, first-time car buyer market? Your website content and style should reflect that. For example, if your core market is customers who want a luxury car, evoke luxury with your branding. Be more formal in your language, use 'classic' colors and have soft, classical music playing. If your core message is that you sell fun, flashy cars for the younger buyer you should probably style your website with bright, hip colors, more flash features and alternative music.
Finally, to build your brand you need to be consistent, and this applies to design as well. Colors and fonts should be the same in all marketing materials and in the showroom. This builds a consistent visual feeling for your brand, and helps define you in the mind of the customer. When customers receive a consistent message it not only makes you stand out in the marketplace, it fosters trust in your products and services.
Having access to cutting edge dealer web tools can make a big difference in many areas of a dealership's brand-building effort, from your graphic look to tracking customer information to enabling you to customize customer online experience. And while the website is a key part of branding, overall it is the step of taking a holistic and integrated approach to branding that will help you win and retain customers over the long term.
