In the year 2019, it is no secret that a business’s overall success is directly correlated to how good their digital marketing is. Having a strong digital marketing presence has been proven to help a business, whereas having a weak digital marketing presence has been proven to hurt it. According to a study, 53% of people are more likely to shop with a business that they can message directly, and 56% of people would rather message a business than call their customer service phone line.

It is clear from these numbers that having a strong digital marketing team and a strong online presence are no longer luxuries but are now necessities. However, digital marketing is a double-edged sword. If you know how to do it correctly, digital marketing can be extremely beneficial for your business. If you don’t know how to do it correctly, it could be really detrimental to your business. In this article, I will be discussing the four biggest influences that digital marketing has on businesses in the automotive industry.

Online Reputation Impacts Sales

Believe it or not, your online reputation, whether true or false, can greatly impact your sales. If your products or business as a whole has bad online reviews consumers will begin to question your businesses legitimacy. According to a study conducted by BrightLocal, 86% of people read online reviews and take them very seriously. According to the same study, people on an average need to read ten positive reviews about a local business before they can fully trust them.

Making sure that your business and products have good online reviews is important for all businesses, but when specifically dealing with the automotive industry, it becomes even more important. This is because most people do not know a lot about cars, and therefore are more susceptible to believe in something that they read online about them. For example, most people do not know what to look for in a used car, so if they are shopping for one on your website, they aren’t going to actually look at the features that a given car offers. Instead, they are going to look at reviews written about that car, and will most likely trust whatever they read. Due to the fact that so many people tend to trust what they see online, making sure that your online reputation is a positive one is crucial in today’s world if you want to stay in business.

Opportunity for New Business

Just like standard marketing, digital marketing is a very important component in bringing in new business. In the automotive industry especially, new business is crucial for success because most businesses in the automotive field make a majority of their money on new business. For example, if you are selling cars, you should do research, and market to people who are in the market for a car. It would be a waste of money and time to market a car to people who are not in the market for one. If you don’t know how to market your product online correctly, you are truly missing out on the opportunity for new business.

Social Media

Making sure that your digital marketing strategy includes social media is more important now than ever before. According to a study conducted by the New York Times in 2016, 89 percent of adults in the United States use Facebook. These numbers are expected to increase every year, and that is just one social media website. There are many other social media websites such as Instagram and Twitter that provide free advertising for businesses and are increasing in popularity amongst people in the United States. If you do not establish a strong social media presence, you run the risk of missing out on a lot of potential business.

When specifically discussing the automotive industry, social media provides not only a platform to engage with potential or current customers, you can also use it to promote the new release of a car, deliver the latest news about your company, or promote a sale that you may have on a car. A majority of social media websites are free, and almost everybody in the United States is on at least one form of them, so, therefore, it would be foolish to not use it to your advantage, and include it in your digital marketing strategy.

Mobile Marketing

Just like social media, mobile marketing is becoming increasingly important, and it is here to stay for the long haul. When devising an effective digital marketing plan, one of the first things you should do is put a heavy emphasis on your mobile marketing strategy. According to a 2017 car buyer journey study, 18% of people looking to purchase a vehicle only use mobile devices to search for what they are looking for. Therefore, including a mobile marketing strategy is no longer something that is optional unless you want to lose out on 18 percent potential customers.

 

In summary, digital marketing is something that is very important for a business’s success, and should not be overlooked. Every single aspect of digital marketing influences a business’ success, and the automotive industry is no exception. Digital marketing impacts every aspect of your business from your revenue to your reputation, and from your loyal customers to potential new customers. Making sure your digital marketing strategy is a good one could be the difference between staying in business and going out of business, so do not overlook it!