The backbone of the car business is advertising. Numbers generate potential customers, and by maximizing the quality of contact, car dealerships experience increased customer traffic. For decades, car dealerships have relied on newspaper and television ads to reach out to large numbers of potential car buyers. The fact is that in today’s day and age, many people are moving away from televisions and printed materials and making the shift to tablets and smart phones. Almost every other sales driven industry has made the move to SMS communication, and it has yielded amazing returns.
Numbers, Numbers, Numbers
Higher numbers mean higher sales in the car business. As the demographic is continually making the shift to electronic communication, the best way to reach people is on their cell phone. SMS messages go to the customer, as opposed to being in one place and waiting on the customers to come to them. The cost of sending out a chain text message to a high number of customers is minimal, so the numbers continue to increase and attract more business.
Personalized Sales
The best way to target customers is to customize text messages that capitalize on past interest. Only 25% of people that enter car dealerships end up buying the same day, so the potential to gather cell phone numbers and keep in contact is available. By doing this, it shows customers that car salesman are thinking about them and are really looking for the best deal for them. Even after a sale, a dealership can attract more business by maintaining the lines of communication open for future sales and referrals. This personalized approach will appeal to customers and increase sales potential.
Efficiency
Customers need to opt in to receive text messages from vendors. If a customer opts to receive SMS messages from a dealership or salesman, the interest is already established and will appeal more to a customer. Chain emails from vendors are only opened 40% of the time and most often redirected to spam folders. Text messages, however, boast a 90% open rate. By default, the efficiency of SMS messages is among the highest in electronic communication.
Car dealerships must adapt to meet the marketing needs of a changing demographic. By maximizing efficiency and minimizing cost, dealerships can effectively utilize SMS messages to their continued benefit.
