Leads today are more informed than ever, often conducting extensive research before engaging with a dealership sales team. According to a recent study by Urban Science, providing them with the right content at the right time can significantly influence their decision-making process. The bottom line? The right content helps buyers and, ultimately, the dealership that wins those buyers.
By offering relevant content aligned with their buying journey, you empower your leads to make informed decisions, ultimately driving them closer to a purchase.
What do the car buyers look for in lead follow-up emails? Key Findings from the Urban Science Study
The Urban Science study highlights several crucial findings that every dealership should consider when refining their lead management strategies.
This refining stage can be thought of as clarifying what we want to say in the messages in the shopper’s inbox. Remember, what we want to say should align with what buyers want to hear or learn. Let’s start with the high-level concerns of shoppers first, as highlighted in the Urban Science study.
Affordability issues: Affordability is a primary concern for a significant majority of auto buyers (68%).
Cost of ownership concerns: Consumers are increasingly worried about the costs of service (48%) and insurance (48%).
Why should I buy from the dealership? Price (65%), dealership reputation (48%), and trade-in value (47%) are the three strongest attributes buyers seek when looking for dealerships. Customers shop and, on average, consider 2.5 dealerships.
Buyers look for options: In addition to budget-friendly vehicle options, shoppers are interested in exploring alternative financing and leasing options, finding lower interest rates, and considering new technologies such as EVs.
Buyers are taking longer to buy but not stopping altogether: While more than half (55%) of potential auto buyers surveyed agree that economic factors will alter their buying plans, only 15% are very likely to do so. In fact, auto shopper activity remains at the same rate as a year ago.
Content is the core of a strong follow-up strategy
Leads, especially those at the top of the funnel, need guidance, information, and reassurance before making a purchase decision. This is where content steps in as a powerful tool that performs this helping function.
Well-crafted content answers car shoppers' questions, educates them, builds trust, and keeps your dealership brand top-of-mind as leads progress through their buyer's journey.
Build and maintain a strong dealer value
The study underscores that customers are likelier to engage with dealerships with a strong dealer value. Dealerships should invest in building and maintaining a strong dealer value and start by asking why the customer should buy from my dealership versus your OEM competitor 15 miles away. Don't rely on the website provider to create that content; otherwise, the same templated content is presented across different dealership sites and needs to be differentiated. The dealer value, once identified, needs to be presented through the website, and the relevant pieces need to be included in the relevant message.
Highlight the brand value and bring in influencer content
Brands spend hundreds of millions of dollars to build their brand trust and offer peace of mind through factory warranty, complimentary maintenance, certified programs, etc. Dealerships also invest in a rigorous certification and refurbishment process, maybe offering lifetime warranty or free services. Influencers like Car and Driver and MotorTrend frequently do new vehicle reviews and test drives. When included appropriately in your follow-up strategy, they help the buyers in their buying journey and go a long way in addressing the concerns about the cost of ownership and giving them peace of mind with their purchase.
Provide options for budget and alternate vehicles
The best way to address affordability challenges is to get buyers a car they can afford. In follow-up communications, be sure to offer a range of alternate vehicles similar to the one the customer desired that cater to different budgets aligned with the customer's needs. By presenting affordable options or alternative models, you can engage a wider audience and potentially convert leads who may not have initially considered your dealership.
Provide relevant and timely incentives
Survey results indicate that even a tiny $35 incentive would entice most respondents (83%) to take a test drive. While this is a simple example, incentives tailored to the individual's needs and delivered at the right moment in their buying journey can nudge them to the next steps.
Explain financing options
Flexible and attractive financing options are often the tipping point for many buyers. Ensure that you highlight the value of financing from the dealership. Highlight these options in your follow-ups, especially for leads who may be concerned about affordability. Providing clear, accessible information about financing can help alleviate concerns and move the customer closer to a purchase decision.
State the benefits of trading in at your dealership
Trade-in has become commoditized. Websites usually have a section to sell or trade your car, putting in a tool like KBB, Tradepending, Carfax, etc., but very little about the benefits of trading in at that dealership. Trade-ins can help address the affordability challenge for the customer as they reduce the cost of new purchases and reduce taxes that the customer has to pay. OEMs frequently have a trade-in incentive that further helps. Make trade-in values a key part of your follow-up strategy, and include the trade-in message with other information that helps move the buyer along their buying journey, not send it as a blast mailer.
Content-Driven Nurturing Strategy with myautoIQ
Urban Science's study clarifies that nurturing leads requires more than occasional follow-ups. It demands a well thought out content strategy that educates, engages, and guides leads through the buying process. In essence, the content the buyers receive should be helpful to them.
myautoIQ’s automated content engine, customer data platform, and intelligent automation delivers high-quality content tailored to your leads' needs, increasing your chances of conversion and fostering long-term loyalty and differentiation.
For businesses looking to get more for their marketing investments to generate leads, the message is clear: prioritize content. It's not just about generating leads—it's about holding leads' interest, nurturing them with the right content to help them with their car-buying decisions, and turning them into satisfied, loyal customers.
How do your dealership lead follow-ups look to car buyers?
Do you know how your lead follow-up message content looks from a car buyer’s perspective?
After analyzing lead follow-ups for more than 10,000 dealers, myautoIQ knows what goes wrong in most dealerships' lead follow-ups and why dealership CRMs become graveyards for dead leads.
Are you interested in seeing what we found for your dealership?
Get in touch, and we will walk you through our long-term lead follow-up analysis for your dealership.
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