Brief
There are 18,250 franchised automotive dealers in the U.S. The number of businesses actively dealing in used cars is close to 140,000. All of them advertise is some form or fashion.
Situation
Recent research by Google shows that people spend up to 90 days in the new vehicle/dealer research process. Limbaugh Toyota (LBT) in Birmingham, Alabama shows how consistency and dedication create success year after year. When you’re trying to build consistent traffic, one of the most important things to consider is the tone of voice and frequency you want to maintain. Building and maintaining traffic is all about bringing consistency to your customers. Messaging must remain the same across all your channels and assets, while also keeping up a reliable stream of content. When you allow multiple people to control your messaging, you leave room for flaws in your content. The more uniform, consistent, and steady your messaging and flow of content, the easier customers and potential customers will be able to recognize you without excessive spending.
Findings
Giving prospects a reliable experience, in addition to making sure your voice and tone are consistent will help to bring new and returning customers to your business. Consumers prefer a dependable marketing strategy that incorporates all aspects of your business, from your social platforms, to your logo, to your print media. The key to a successful marketing strategy is making sure your messaging is consistent and memorable.
Solution
Name Recognition – Have you ever heard an advertisement on TV, or seen a digital display ad and automatically knew what company it was for? Major advertisers keep the same consistency in their marketing that is necessary to be easily recognized, both through the frequency of their content and the quality. Dealers with distinct images and marketing consistency are able to benefit from being easily recognized, which can help save money, build awareness and trust and increase traffic.
Build Name Awareness – An important reason to create consistent imaging and marketing is building awareness. Customers are significantly more likely to purchase from a name they recognize. Your digital and visual content should be uniform so that your audience knows what to look for, and should be posted at similar times so they know when to look. Your visual content should stick to the same color theme, photo quality, and logo placement, and your digital materials should be consistent with that. Marketing consistency helps to build awareness that allows the customer to easily and immediately remember your name.
Create Trust – Customers are more likely to purchase from a brand or company that they trust. A majority of consumers reported that they would prefer to purchase from a familiar, trusted brand overall; 66% of people surveyed would rather stick with their brand of choice than a competitor that is more innovative or technologically advanced, while 75% said they would value trust more than trendiness. Posting your content on a regular basis at similar times, utilizing the same platforms for specific purposes, and keeping messaging consistent will help to build trust.
Become Memorable – The power of repetition is seen everywhere, from the movies to the classroom. It’s the reason why flashcards, lists, and pneumonic devices are so effective—the more often people see, hear, or experience something, the more likely they are to remember it. We can all recall jingles we’ve seen on TV a thousand times and printed logos that appear in digital and print media simply because of the sheer number of times we’ve been exposed to it. If you want your advertising to be memorable, make your messaging consistent and frequent. The more often your customers and potential customers see your advertisements, the more memorable your dealership will appear.
Results
STRONG’s consistency and dedication to marketing have allowed Limbaugh Toyota to exceed sales objectives for 32 months in a row!