Car Shoppers Visit Dealerships for One Reason

Have you ever considered why so many dealers only advertise on the last two weeks of the month? 

Now before you take your monthly budget and spread it out over four weeks, remember each week is competitive. But don’t dilute market impact.

Instead, spend appropriately and weekly to compete. The goal is pull buyers to your store first and get an early look at their trade-ins. 

It’s a common perception, and not entirely wrong, that consumers are conditioned to buy late when dealers are trying to make the month's sales goals.

But to only advertise two weeks of a month ignores two things.

One is “be-backs” from the prior month who still are circling and deciding. Many dealers tell me the first few days of the month are actually good sales days, but they never thought about why.  

Second, consumers will buy sooner if they have a reason to do so. Sales promotions that drive high traffic counts take market share. Yet many dealers simply don’t market promotionally. Instead of promoting short-term buyer waves, they misguidedly are branding the dealership. Are you kidding? Do people really think about a car dealership unless they are buying a car in the first place? (Wards Industry Voices contributor Adam Armbruster, left)

Leave branding for products such as Campbell’s soup. Drive sales with sales promotions. For example, run TV ad messages that promise a higher trade-in allowance or better financing terms. Doing that can motivate buyers to visit your dealership first and even sooner than they originally planned. 

Make sure the dealership has the right message at the right time to the right buyer.

Adam Armbruster is a senior partner in the business growth firm Eckstein, Summers, Armbruster & Company located in Red Bank, NJ. He can be reached at 941-928-7192