Car Buyers are Turning to Mobile – and They Want Car Dealerships to Text Them!

In a blog just last week I shared an example of how a car dealership generated sales quickly using SMS messaging. It turns out they were ahead of the game if a recent survey is true.

Car dealerships are always looking to find new ways to market their inventory. Online marketing has become standard and some use social media. A recent study in the US wanted to see if car buyers were actually using social media in the buying process or not. The results from Autotrader.com show US buyers don’t care much about social when it comes to researching or buying their cars. Only 1% of respondents said they consider social results in their search.

But the report did confirm that people use the Internet to research, and in particular they found a 9% increase in the use of mobile devices for researching. Unsurprisingly, 50% of millennials (generally late teens to mid-30s) say they use a mobile device.

It makes sense of course, why people use mobiles. A car is a major purchase and they want to compare dealership prices and available models.

One particular fact from the US study that ties into last week’s blog is that 37% of prospective buyers wanted dealerships to text them. Notice that’s prospective buyers. They like to receive special offers for new purchases when they are looking to buy a car.

And after they’ve made the purchase a larger number, 46%, wanted the dealership to continue to text them. They wanted service reminders, recall notices, or other relevant information on their car or account.

This is great news for car dealerships. SMS has a very low cost of entry and is easy to integrate into scheduling or contact management software. And as last week’s blog showed, it can be very effective and quick in generating sales in the UK.

If you want some more ideas on how you can use SMS messaging for your dealership, chat, email or call us. We’d be happy to help you get started and answer all of your questions.