By: Earl Brown, Autofusion (2022)
In Part 1 of this article, we covered some of the compliance aspects of review marketing. Here in part 2, we want to discuss some of the practical ways that your dealership can obtain and use customer reviews and testimonials to grow your brand and sell more vehicles.
A lot of dealers simply don’t ask for reviews, and others are more or less afraid to know the reviewer’s real opinion. You may want to consider approaching reviews from an “any news is good news” perspective. If it’s not a perfect review, then it should be viewed as a chance to try to fix something in order to keep a customer happy. If obtaining reviews generally is the issue, here are some ideas to help your dealership get a better quality (and quantity) of reviews and endorsements:
• Don’t be passive. Invite your customers to share their feedback actively (and honestly) through website review tools. Around 77% of consumers say they would be willing to leave a review – it’s as simple as asking, and you’ll find most customers want to help.
• Respond to negative reviews. A bad review can do a lot of damage to your dealership’s good reputation. Responding to these bad reviews in a proactive way can not only win back customers, but also leave a good impression on new potential buyers.
• Train the dealership staff to qualify each customer for a potential review, the same way you might condition them to expect a CSI survey from the OEM. An in-house satisfaction survey with simple questions about things like friendliness, selection, fairness, etc. can help you better understand your customers, and solve problems before they snowball.
Some of the best ways to utilize these dealership reviews, and to help them reach your shoppers are to promote them as part of your SEO, SEM, and PPC marketing plans. It’s important that you disclose to your customer’s that you may use their testimonials in such materials, but again, you’ll find most customers are happy to help. Here are some common ways to promote such reviews:
• Post your reviews on social media. While your competitors are just doing boiler-plate posts about this model or that payment special, your dealership will be diversified using third party validation to project the “why” of doing business with you. Focus on selling that peace of mind and trust as opposed to just selling a vehicle.
• Add reviews anywhere your buyers spend time. For example, you could add a customer review landing page right to your website, as a subsection on the VDP’s, embedded in slider specials, etc. Including your best reviews in autoresponders (or trigger emails) would be another good customer-facing way to make sure that they are seeing positive feedback about your store up front.
• Review marketing. It’s simple, make the review the message; or at least part of the message. SEO, Email, PPC, TV/OTT, Radio/Streaming, and all types of print/direct advertising. Whether it’s a one-liner from a loyal customer, a simple star rating type review, or a full-throated video testimonial from a die-hard fan.
Reviews can add organic depth to your SEO marketing, it diversifies content for the search engines to consider, and helps customers perceive you as more than just a faceless department store for Automobiles. The power of third-party validation, positive reinforcement, and inclusivity- cannot be overstated. If you’d like to learn more about how Autofusion can use reviews in your dealership’s organic marketing campaigns, click here to schedule a demo or email sales@autofusion.com
