How A Car Dealership Can Increase Foot Traffic – and Website Traffic Too

Whether you have one location or multiple, generating traffic to your car dealership is just as important as increasing traffic to your website. Yes, we know that it can sound like two very different goals, but they don’t have to be in all honesty. Here are some of the tools and tactics we recommend including in your marketing strategy to ensure that you increase your car dealership’s visibility.

Geofencing Targets Your Ideal Clients

Geofencing puts a virtual fence around a specific location – for example, a competitive car dealership – and serves ads to the smartphones of people who enter the fence perimeter, presumably, your ideal customers. The ads then let those people know about a sale you’re having, new inventory, or anything else that would encourage them to visit your dealership.

Geofencing helps drive foot traffic to your dealership, but it also helps with brand awareness and recognition, since people see your ad. It can also help drive traffic to your website, as the display ad is clickable on a smartphone. 

Use Google Ads To Generate Valuable Leads

Google Ads uses keywords to show an ad to your ideal clients. To rank, or show up, on the first page of search results differs in cost depending on the keywords used, but it’s a great way to guarantee brand awareness (because people will see your ad), and you only pay if someone clicks on it and visits your website.

Google Ads can be used to drive three main actions: visit your dealership, call your dealership, or visit your website. You can even kill two birds with one stone by sending people to your website to book an appointment at your physical location. 

Social Media Marketing Increases Awareness Of Your Business

Social media for business has come a long way in the past couple of years. It’s no longer just about posting pictures or updates. Platforms like Instagram give you tools to help your dealership get found, drive more people to your website or find your physical location. Hashtags, location tags (that open in Google Maps), a call button, an email button, a link to your website, and searchable name and username fields – these are all features that are built into the platform to help your business grow.

Social media accounts also appear in search results, so having optimized social media platforms can help your business visibility off of those platforms, too. You can also enable paid advertising strategies on these networks to get more out of your social media presence, often with the same goals as Google Ads. 

Content Marketing Is The Engine That Generates Trust

Content Marketing is when you create content (in the form of blogs, YouTube videos, infographics – whichever type you choose!) to share valuable information with your ideal clients to build trust with them and encourage them to take profitable actions. 

Content marketing helps in two ways: 

  • By adding new content to your website (with a minimum of 300 words), you signal to Google to come back and crawl your site, helping with your SEO (search engine optimization) rankings.
  • The more valuable information you share freely with your audience, without selling to them directly, the more you build trust with them and the more likely they are to come to you instead of a competitor when they are ready to buy.

An example of relevant content might be a blog post titled, “3 Reasons Why it Might be Time to Invest in Winter Tires”. Then, to expose your content to a broader audience, use social media to distribute your content to an even wider audience.

Local Listings Management Cost Little For Big Returns

Several online business directories help dealerships become more visible and send people to your website. These include Google My Business, Facebook, Apple Maps, FourSquare, N49, Hotfrog, ShowMeLocal, Uber, TomTom, and many, many more.

These online profiles include essential information about your business, like a website link, physical address, hours, and phone numbers. When you have active listings on these directories, it helps potential customers call, get directions, click through to your website, or share details about your dealership with others.

Consistency across several business directories helps validate your business for each one, which impacts your overall SEO rankings, making your locations more findable.

Listings Management is part of a suite of marketing services 10|20 Marketing can help your car dealership with, whether the end goal is to increase foot traffic, website visitors, or both.

If you’re interested in learning more about some or all of these marketing solutions, or ones we didn’t list here, contact us or give us a call Toll Free: 1-888-388-1020. We look forward to hearing from you! 

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT GOOGLE MY BUSINESS

We’re often asked about Google My Business and why it’s so important to claim — or own — your local business listing on Google. In this post, we’re going to answer some of the fundamental questions about Google My Business, its importance for local search and break down the what, why and how of this vital business building tool. 

What is Google My Business
(also known as GMB)?

Google My Business is one of Google’s most powerful tools for business owners looking to get found online. It’s free to claim your listing (or profile), which will give you control over how your business is presented across Google’s platform, including Google Search and Google Maps. Whether you’re just getting started with your local business or have been around for decades, claiming your listing should be at the top of your to-do list if you care at all about local search optimization (for the uninitiated: if you have a local business, you care about local search optimization!).

In the last year, Google has introduced new features that allow business owners to post content to their listing. As a result, you can now think of your Google My Business listing as part directory, part social network. 

The directory aspect allows you to publish your most basic business information, such as your name, address and phone number – also known as your NAP. In addition, you can also include business hours, a business description, links to your other online properties and more. As a quasi-social network, Google My Business gives you the ability to post content, such as product posts, social updates, and photos. Together, the combination of the directory and social networking features allows you to attract more views of your Google My Business listing, which leads to more phone calls, website visits and map clicks.

What is the fundamental benefit of being listed on Google My Business?

The key benefit of being listed on Google is to build awareness of your business on the world’s most powerful local search engine. The more information you feed directly into Google about your business, the more times your business will be discovered because Google will present it to search users in organic search results and within Google Maps.

What do you have to do ensure that your business is properly represented on Google My Business?

You need to claim your listing, which means you’ll own it. If your location goes unclaimed, Google may take it upon themselves to create a listing for your business by piecing together information about your location that they find on other websites, directories and social networks. If they don’t do that, then your business simply will not exist within Google’s search and map ecosystems. Given the benefits of being listed – and the power of Google – this could be the biggest missed opportunity your business can experience. 

What happens after you claim your listing?

After claiming your location on Google My Business, your business will need to be verified. This means that Google will want to know that your business is at the location where you say it is. They’ll (snail) mail you a postcard that contains a unique PIN. Once received, you’ll need to login to Google My Business and enter the PIN. Once you do, your business will be verified. 

How To Assess And Optimize Your Google My Business Listing

If your business is listed on Google, you’ve claimed your listing and can see it in search results and on Google Maps, how do you know if it’s working for you? How do you know if you’ve provided Google with the best information? What more can you do to optimize your Google My Business listing?

In this section, we’ll explore some ideas to help you assess and optimize your Google My Business listing. To start, search for the name of your business and bring up your listing within Google’s search engine. Have a good look at it. Have you gone beyond providing Google with the basics, such as your NAP (name, address, phone) information? It’s important to provide Google with a deeper bank of information to help your business become indexed and turn up in more search results.

Here are some questions you can ask yourself and some easy ideas to help you get the most out of your Google My Business directory listing. 

Are you posting social media content to your Google My Business listing?

At the beginning of this article, we explained how GMB is part directory, part social network. A big feature within the social networking component is the ability to add social content to your profile. Posting through Google My Business lets you publish your events, products and services directly to Google Search and Maps. Posts allow you to place timely content in front of customers when they find your business listing on Google. Add pictures, videos, coupons, events or any update you think of. You have 1,500 characters to work with, so make sure you’re as descriptive as possible when creating this content so Google has more terms to index. In addition, make sure to add the call-to-action button. You have several options here, but the important thing is that you drive people to visit or call with the goal of generating business.   

Have you provided Google with a full business description?

Google allows you to upload a description of up to 750 characters. Use every last one to provide a detailed description of your business. Describe your services, products you carry and emphasize brands if you can. Think about what people are searching for and be sure to include it in your business description if it applies to your business. 

Is your logo up to date?

Login to the backend of your Google My Business portal and go to the photos section on the left-hand side. You’ll then want to click on “By owner”. In this section, you’ll see a place to upload a logo and cover photo, much like you can on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook. It will look like this:

Simply hit the edit icon (the pencil) and upload the latest versions of your company images to update your profile. Try to name your images with the name of your business and the content of your image. For example, name your logo business-name-logo. 

Do you have a good number of reviews associated to your listing?

Having a good number of authentic customer reviews is a very important element of your Google My Business listing. Google loves it when your customers leave reviews. The content of those reviews helps you index for keywords searchers are looking for, while the ratings help your listing rank higher on the search engine results page (hint: you want to be as high up as possible!). Ask your best customers for reviews and have them trickle in steadily. Having a steady flow of reviews signals to Google that people show continued interest in your business. This interest translates into more views of your listing. Reviews also offer your business credibility, as people appreciate and value the opinions of others. So don’t be afraid to ask your best customers to leave a review for you. 

Are you taking advantage of the Questions and Answers feature on Google My Business?

Google loves content and likes it when customers or potential customers provide it for you. Encourage the use of the Q&A feature on GMB. Monitor it for questions left for you to answer and then make sure that you answer them with detailed information. If nobody is leaving questions for you, ask yourself some questions. There is no restriction on planting questions and answering them yourself. Think of this section as a FAQ, just like on so many websites you’ve viewed. Ask questions, answer them. Google is always looking for fresh content, especially within its directory. 

Have you updated your listing with photos of the inside and outside of your location?

Photos are an excellent way to attract attention to your listing. Post photos of the outside of your location to provide valuable visual cues for when people want to come by. Photos of the inside of your location can help people feel more comfortable with your business before they visit. Think of it as giving people the chance to connect with the vibe of your location before they ever step foot inside. You can also post pictures of new inventory, your team, and other amenities at your location. 

How Do You Know If Google My Business Is Working For You

After going through all of these optimizations, how do you know if they’ve made a difference? It’s all in the metrics, which Google provides through the admin portal. The metrics you have access to include the number of views of your listing, along with the clicks, calls and website visits generated from your listing, whether on desktop or mobile search. These are just some of the metrics we surface for clients in our monthly dashboards. As you feed fresh content into your listing, it should have an impact on the awareness you can build for your business as Google will be more likely to present your listing in search. Trend these metrics and you can determine a tangible impact and, potentially, an ROI. 

Comb through our case studies and you’ll see how optimizing Google My Business can impact your business too.  

Get our expert opinion

Whether you have claimed your Google My Business listing or not, it’s wise to assess how well you’ve optimized it. If you have any questions for us, we’d be happy to answer them! Get in touch any time.

WAZE, UBER AND NAVMII NOW IN OUR CORE 15 STARTER PACKAGE

10|20 Marketing is proud to now offer three big additions to our Core 15 plan – Waze, Uber and Navmii. While existing clients will be migrated over to our new package, all new clients will benefit from these three tremendous additions to our lineup. With the availability of these three networks, we’re able to help you reach more people with the most important apps and directories. Because we’re committed to ensuring that your business location gets in front of as many people as possible.

With this in mind, let’s take a quick peek at each of these networks.

Why Waze Is So Important For Small Business Owners

Waze is a free turn-by-turn navigation tool that allows its users to contribute traffic reports and report on delays, speed traps, police presence, cams and more. It’s a GPS tool with user-generated input that has 110 million monthly users in 185 different countries. Waze users spend an average of 438 minutes (7.3 hours) per month in the app, turning to it for their commutes, grocery store runs and other daily chores. This is exactly the audience you want to be in front of every day. In addition, Waze is the second most popular navigation app, right after Google Maps. Adding Waze to your web presence is a powerful addition that increases your coverage on important navigation networks.  

Why Uber Is So Important For Small Business Owners

There’s nothing worse than getting a ride and being taken to the wrong destination, particularly if you’re paying for that ride. It’s a problem we’ve helped clients solve over and over again. Being listed with Uber helps solve this problem and gives your customers confidence that they’ll get to you. Why is this service so essential to your business? Consider these numbers: 

  • 93 million people are actively using Uber
  • There are 3.9 active Uber drivers
  • An average of 17 million Uber trips are taken every day
  • Uber service is available in 700 cities in 65 countries
  • The service represents about 70% of all U.S. hailing business. 

Uber is a key addition for our clients that we’re proud to offer. 

What Is Navmii?

Navmii is a few things. For one, it’s a completely free, voice-guided, turn-by-turn offline navigation app. It leverages crowd-sourced data from over 850,000 contributors. It also is a decade-old mapping and navigation service that provides Google with unique data, primarily about location. 

The system uses crowdsourcing and AI technology to build both traditional map data for navigation systems and HD map data for autonomous cars. Their website goes on to explain: 

The focus of the company is the development of data and tools that enable companies to collect and create map data at a fraction of the cost of traditional mapping companies. Navmii is available in 197 countries and its eOSM map data is available in North America, Western Europe and other key countries. Navmii has already collected over 2 billion miles of data via crowdsourcing, which it uses to create its own map data set.

Getting listed with Navmii puts your business in front of more users, period.

How Our Clients Benefit

We’ve always considered our Core 15 package to include a “Big 5”: Google My Business, which puts your listing on Google Search and Google Maps, Facebook, Apple Maps, Bing and FourSquare. Today, with the addition of Waze and Uber, we can now confidently say we offer a Super Seven. Your location will gain more coverage on better directories and become even more findable online. 

To learn more about our service and our Local Listings Management packages, book an appointment to speak with us today!