The online car selling world seems overcrowded at the minute with the likes of Cinch and Cazoo competing for everyone’s attention. You can’t even switch on the TV without seeing the Cinch logo plastered all over adverts and sponsoring sporting events.
So, how exactly does the smaller used car seller fight back? You don’t need a massive marketing budget to compete; you just need to use what you have access to more wisely.
Unless you’re a genuine multi-millionaire, we can’t promise you’ll reach the same heights as Cinch and Cazoo. What can do is provide the tools needed to ensure you still get a decent piece of the pie.
Follow Strawberry Forge’s advice below to stay on the radar.
Focus on Your Own Company
It’s always a good idea to keep an eye on what the competition is doing, but don’t let another company’s marketing plan dictate your own. What works for them isn’t necessarily going to work for you — and trust us when we say the adverts with annoying minor celebrities aren’t for everyone. We’re not buying a new motor just because someone who lost ‘The X Factor’ tells me to.
Be open to new ideas though, as some routes to success aren’t necessarily going to be the ones you’ve thought of.
Web Design
Revamping your website is a good place to start. It needs to represent your brand while being easy for your audience to use and navigate. Getting the blend between form and function right will do a lot to inspire confidence in your offerings.
Have a look around the Strawberry Forge website as a good example. We focused on signposting, making it simple for our intended audience to find everything they need within a couple of clicks.
You’ll also notice how our company is branded to showcase our core values with every element designed in-house by our team including:
- Logos
- Typographies
- Colour palettes
- Bespoke images and icons
- And so much more
Say what you will about Cinch, but their branding is very good, from the colour scheme down to their ‘absolutely cinched it’ catchphrase. If you need an expert to oversee your branding, we can definitely help, so make sure to let us know.
Showcase Your Knowledge
You know cars. You know them inside and out. But how much of this knowledge have you actually shared with your potential customers? Blogs are an excellent way of divulging your expertise with those who genuinely want to learn more before they make a purchase.
With SEO software such as SEMRush, you can discover what topics are of interest to your target audience. Do they want to know the key differences between petrol and diesel motors? Maybe they’re curious as to how used cars are assessed for safety. You never know till you have a good search through.
Naturally, you want to spend more time selling cars rather than writing blogs, but that’s where Strawberry Forge’s content marketing service comes into play. We’ll research the topics and write the blogs. All you have to do is share a little insider knowledge and review what we come up with.
Cinch doesn’t have a blog, and Cazoo’s is all about internal business stuff nobody cares about, so you’re already going to have an advantage just by getting yours off the starting grid.
Explore Social Media
Don’t sleep on social media because you don’t already have company accounts set up. Yes, it takes time to build a decent following, but everyone has to start somewhere and consistency is the key.
TikTok could be a great platform for showing off the features over your latest cars, and Instagram is perfect for posting images of your highly polished motors. You’ve also got Twitter, Facebook and even LinkedIn to consider.
What you don’t want to do though is sign up to every site. Not only does it get tough to manage every account, you’ll also struggle with content if that platform doesn’t turn out to be right for the motor trade.
Don’t worry about coming up with ideas to start; Strawberry Forge is full of them! Plus, we create leveraging posts for every blog we write, so there will always be something to talk about with your growing audience.
Paid Ads
TV isn’t the only place to get your name out there. Google Ads can put your website right at the top of a results page. There’s a lot of balancing needed to get it perfect, but it’s not an impossible task by any means.
Working with one of our trusted external partners, we can find the best keywords to target through Google’s Ads. This is based on location, price and search volume.
You don’t want to become reliant on paying for results, as they disappear as soon as the money stops flowing. They’re great for instant visibility, but not long-term success. This is why the best marketing strategies also include blogging and social media among other techniques (collectively known as organic marketing).
Going Toe-to-Toe with the Big Boys
The key message we want you to take away from this blog is that going blow for blow against a bigger opponent won’t end well; use your smarts to level the playing field.
We can help with many aspects of your digital marketing, putting you back in the driving seat. To learn more, book a free workshop session and discover what we have in store.
