Ever see the magic word “SALE” come across your email from your favorite clothing or sporting goods store? As an experienced shopper, I will never buy anything full price. I will usually always wait until I receive that email or see on their website a sale is going on. You could even define me as a “low funnel” shopper almost 100% of the time.

That being said, that word entices me to shop (even though I know I don’t need any more clothes!). So, why can’t car dealerships use the same marketing tactic? A new influx of people who are shopping for a car filter in every 60 days or so. In order to entice those higher funnel shoppers, (or even the lower funnel people who are just waiting for the right deal like myself), your dealership should be advertising a sales event.

Over more recent years, manufacturers have begun to instill Sales Events in their advertising efforts. These campaigns are usually seasonal – like Happy Honda Days, the Subaru True Love Event or the Jeep Celebration Event. While not all manufacturers require dealerships to advertise these campaigns, it is still beneficial for your dealership to follow suite. During the months where you aren’t advertising say Presidents’ Day, Memorial Day, or any other holiday, your dealership should still be advertising its own event to help increase website and foot traffic for those slower months. We compiled the top benefits and reasons of why your dealership should take advantage of advertising with headlines/and or campaigns.

1. Consistency with Tier 1/Tier 2 Ads

In the case where the manufacturer has a sales event: manufacturers want your dealership to maintain consistent with their brand. This also ensures you aren’t straying from what they want their brand to be represented as. From a consumer’s opinion, if they saw a local dealership advertising the same sales campaign that they already saw in a Tier 1 commercial, they would be more inclined to shop at that dealership. That Tier 1 commercial would act as a free advertisement for you since the customer will make that connection once they see your ad. Cohesiveness between Tier 1 and 3 ads enhances the influence to make consumers shop at your dealership.

2. Consistency Across the Board on Your Campaigns

If you advertise a specific headline, it makes it even easier for your campaigns to be consistent and gives a face to your creative as well as differentiates you from your competitors. Hypothetically speaking, if a consumer visits your website, they will see your homepage banners with your sales event/headline. Then, they leave your site, get retargeted by an ad – again, with the same creative and offer. Next, they receive an email blast. They see that headline again and instantly make that connection. And so on. Even if they are a high funnel shopper and won’t come in right away, the consumer still knows maybe you’ll be running a different or similar sale when they are ready to buy. After all, it usually takes about 5-7 touch points to close a sale. Consistent headlines can help guide that. Consistency is our #1 rule in automotive digital marketing.

3. Creates a Sense of Urgency

Like I mentioned before, I usually won’t buy anything full price. So, when I see a sales event going on, I know it isn’t going to last forever and I better get on it. This is where your sales event becomes particularly important for the low funnel shoppers. Luckily, sales events usually last the entire month. You are giving the consumer time to complete their research and ask questions. Then they’re not rushed into making a decision. But at the same token, they still only have a few weekends to take advantage of the savings you’re offering for that month which will light a fire under some people.

4. Customers Ultimately Want to Save Money

Aside from your dealership’s reputation, one of the most important things to a car buyer is price. Once a consumer sees the words “Sales Event”, “Savings Event”, or something similar, they will automatically think they are going to get a great deal or a discount on their purchase (which maybe they will). The headline itself is meant to get the customer into your dealership, or to call for more information. But at the end of the day, it is still up to your sales team to offer the customer the price they will accept and close the sale.

All these points have a common end goal: that sales events entice shoppers to come into your store because who doesn’t want to save money? We always recommend advertising a sales event to make your pricing a little more attractive and urgent to help draw customers into your dealership. During the months the manufacturer doesn’t have any required campaigns, your advertising agency should have headlines already pre-selected for you. No holidays going on that month? You could go the route of a seasonal headline such as Summer Sales Event, Fall Savings Event and so on. Go the extra mile and promote all assets of your dealership: new car sales, used car sales and service. Use a sales event to your advantage as a tactic to get people into your dealership and use this across the board in all your campaigns. If you have an automotive advertising agency, they should be strategizing these sales and campaigns with you every month.

For more information or help on how to effectively advertise and execute a full campaign each month for all your departments, give us a call today at 877-958-4524 or contact us today!