While it might be that traditional advertising venues are where dealers go to reach consumers, here’s the interesting twist: digital is where consumers are trying to reach dealers.

Hence, the biggest take-away from FordDirect’s latest Consumer Marketing Survey: dealers need to invest in digital.

After all, that’s where the customers are, said FordDirect vice president of communications Kate Bullach.

Auto Remarketing talked with Bullach on Friday afternoon about the findings of the study, many of which underscore the importance of dealers engaging with shoppers, especially in the digital space.

Websites and Selling Digitally

About half of the study’s respondents said they have proactively gone out to find specials or offers on the Web and more than three-fifths (62 percent) say they visit dealer websites during the shopping process.

These statistics underscore points Bullach made about maximizing the dealer website to reel these customers in.

Think about this. If half of shoppers are proactively searching for deals, it makes sense to have something like a used-car specials page on your website, she said. And any time you have a special, make sure it is on your website, Bullach added.

Put yourself in the customer’s shoes and think about what they would be searching for. After all, she said, Google bases its search results on the intent of the searcher. But it’s not just about sales and discounts.

Websites can be maximized for customer attraction by including things like videos, which Bullach said are not only strong from a search-engine optimization standpoint, they help to build engagement.

Other ideas: post or walk-around video of a car in your inventory or one that provides instruction on how to do an oil change.

The search functionality on the site also has to be customer-friendly, Bullach said. In essence, allow customers to search for the specific attributes they actually want in a vehicle.

Sharing the Right Message at Right Time

Detailing some of the company’s primary research that uncover some of the basic consumer shopping behaviors and preferences, FordDirect highlighted that 79 percent of consumers say they would like to receive communication from the dealer.

But the message has to be relevant to the shopper and come at the right time, Bullach said. Consumers don’t want to be spammed with messages that don’t necessarily pertain to them.

She gave the example of a lease customer who happens to have equity the lease. An email to them about deals on new cars at the dealership perhaps would be relevant.

“The key for dealers is to mine the database and communicate to customers with the right message at the right time,” Bullach said.

And in the right format. FordDirect found that most consumers prefer to be contacted by email and mail.

The company also nailed down the topics that customers wanted to be contacted about by the dealer after their purchase.

Most, FordDirect said, would prefer receiving reminders for maintenance or service as well as upcoming service deals.

When looking at all age groups (ages 20 to 35, 36 to 50 and 51 to 65), here’s how that shakes out:

•    56 percent say they would like to receive maintenance reminders
•    53 percent want to receive service reminders
•    47 percent want to be notified of an upcoming service deal
•    25 percent want to receive a survey to review their most recent experience
•    16 percent would like info on extend warranty options
•    10 percent wish to receive upcoming sales deals
•    7 percent are looking for financing offers
•    5 percent wish to receive product/service from third-party organizations, like insurance companies
•    25 percent said none of the above

Point is, fine-tune the message; make it relevant to the customer and personalize it, Bullach says.

“It will feel more like one-on-one instead of mass communication,” she added.

For example, have it come from the salesperson who sold the car. Mention the customer by name and list the vehicle he or she purchased.  

Tell the customer about an upcoming service or community event the dealership is sponsoring or involved with, like a blood drive.

Another way to personalize the message is to engage customers via social media. For instance, include a free oil change for your Facebook fans.  

Building the Relationship

Personalization of messages and social media engagement ties into another important topic FordDirect hammered home: building relationships.

In fact, 39 percent of total respondents cited a “past experience” as a reason for choosing a dealership, according to FordDirect. This was cited more often than any other reason.

One way to foster relationships, Bullach said, is by consistent (and again, relevant) follow-up through the ownership period, whether it’s sending service reminders or birthday wishes.

Engage quickly and be responsive, Bullach added. For example, in chat, the customer expects a response in 10 seconds, she noted.

Additionally, dealers need to be “socially active.”  In order words, think about what you are doing on your Facebook page. Don’t just post vehicle pictures, she said.

Show, for instance, highlights from a recent service project or community event in which the dealership took part.
Community involvement itself, both offline and online, is huge.

“Participate in that and talk about it,” Bullach said.

A big part of building the relationship with the customer is also taking a “consultative approach” to selling, Bullach stressed.

It can be crucial to be responsive to the customer’s needs rather than the dealership’s sales goals. Help the customer find the vehicle he or she needs to buy rather than the one your dealership needs to sell.

Data Collection

Here’s how data was gathered for the study: the target audience was more than 1,300 adults between ages 20 and 60 who purchased a vehicle (Ford, Lincoln and competitors) in the past year, according to FordDirect’s explanation of its methodology. It was to only include the U.S., with the exception of Hawaii and Alaska.

These consumers were based in small, medium and large markets, all of which have at least one Ford/Lincoln dealership.  It involved a 10-minute online survey and was conducted from June 25 to June 28.

Joe Overby can be reached at joverby@autoremarketing.com. Continue the conversation with Auto Remarketing on both LinkedIn and Twitter.