Edifice Automotive | Dealer Marketing Blog

What Can GeoTargeting Do For Your Dealership?

Written by Skip Soucie | September 6, 2019

Marketing is all about "Delivering the right message to the right person at the right time", and paid ads have revolutionized this old adage. However, in order to get the most out of paid ads, a little creativity is needed.

Paid ads generate around 66% of all calls to dealerships and link clicks to schedule an appointment, and with buyers typically visiting 2 dealerships on average, it's vital to run quality ads that convert.

The name of the game with ads is producing the most leads with the least resources, so when aiming to get the right message to the right person at the right time, you should focus on their location first.

That's where GeoTargeting comes into play.

What Is GeoTargeting?

Essentially, GeoTargeting is a marketing tactic that consists of delivering content to users based on their geographic location. Everything that you want to run a paid ad on (service coupons, sales specials, blog posts, etc...) can benefit from this method.

By targeting potential buyers in specific cities, zip codes, and even GPS locations, dealerships are much more likely to produce high quality leads and convert at a higher rate. This way you get the most out of your ad spend and maximize ROI.

Furthermore, GeoTargeting even allows you to target users on their mobile devices, which is huge since most people carry their smart phones around with them at all times.

For all these reasons, we want to talk about 3 effective ways your car dealership can use GeoTargeting to drive both service and sales revenue.

3 Ways Your Dealership Can Use GeoTargeting To Market Smarter

1. Target Your Competitors Customers

One effective GeoTargeting strategy is to target your competitors customers. When we say customers, we don't necessarily mean competing dealerships with the same OEM. That may be a great strategy for your market, but it could mean targeting service-related keywords for independent shops and parts stores. It could mean targeting other OEM dealers for similar vehicle styles (i.e. SUV's, sedans, trucks, etc...).

When running ads, compile a list of competitors for your target focus and run ads for pertinent keywords that they rank for. For example, if you want to increase your conquest service RO's for A/C repair you could compile a list of A/C repair shops in the area and run ads for a 10% discount for first time A/C diagnostics and repair customers.

It's important to know your market, though. A detailed overview of your market and the buyers in it will develop the best marketing plan that get's you the most profit on your ads.

Click the button below for a FREE market study!

2. Use Holidays To Target Hotspots

A clever way to use GeoTargeting is by targeting popular areas and hotspots during the holidays.

For instance, with all the incentives and discounts, Black Friday is one of the most popular times in the year to shop for cars. It's also the busiest time of the year for malls and shopping centers.

You could set up a GeoTargeting campaign based off the GPS location of the major malls in your area and optimize it for mobile views. With this, all the shoppers, many of which are in the market for a car, would be exposed to your expert ads featuring your amazing specials.

In those ads, make it effortless to see your specials, click through to your website, find what they're looking for, and schedule an appointment online.

3. Know Your Market & Follow It With Precision

Over time, business may shift to different areas and regions around you. Whatever your primary content strategy is, your delivery should be flexible to adapt to the changing buyer landscape.

By conducting consistent market studies of your area, you're able to shift to match the demands of consumers with a hyper-focus on the people you target.

Depending on your target audience, GeoTargeting allows you to hone in on smaller sections of cities where your customers are more prominent. As well, when they move or your target audience changes, you're able to shift to those focused areas instead of using a broader spray-and-pray approach.

We hope these tips stir some creativity in your marketing strategy. GeoTargeting could be monumental in making the rest of 2019 your most profitable year yet.

Want to learn more about your market, where to focus, and how to get the most out of your marketing budget? Sign up for a simple, FREE market study of your area.

You'll learn valuable buyer habits, buying trends, and focus areas, you'll also receive a FREE marketing consultation with one of our specialists. Sign up for yours and keep an eye out for more Edifice Insights!