Data-Driven Marketing & Your Dealership: Here’s How
When consumers think of auto dealership marketing, they might imagine tacky TV commercials and pushy salesmen, but it is not the 1970’s anymore. Auto dealerships, like most industries, are focusing more on data and customer experiences to drive their marketing. Many auto dealerships want to create a lifelong bond with their customers that keep them coming back and inspire them to recommend the business to their car shopping friends. After all, positive word-of-mouth is the best marketing you can get.
However, cultivating loyal customers means keeping in contact with them, which can be especially difficult to do as people move and their contact data becomes outdated. Sixteen percent of people move annually – that adds up to 43 million a year relocating. When dealerships allow their data to become stale, these movers fall through the cracks and get lost.
The Cost of Bad Data
Sending out flyers and sales information using an out-of-date contact list costs you more than just sales. The United States Postal Service is now charging for that bad data, so your mail expense is growing. In addition, there are the operational costs to consider. The company is paying for flyers that reach no one and for labels that will hold inaccurate information.
Business data degrades by as much as six percent a month – that means you could be losing money through ineffectual marketing and missing out on opportunities to build new customer relationships, all because the database is stale. At that rate, by the end of the year, one-third of a business’ list of prospects and customers could be useless due to the inaccuracy.
Marketing is not the only concern when information becomes inaccurate. Dealerships need to be able to contact vehicle owners to notify them of recalls and to manage warranties and repairs. Also, bad data can cost auto dealerships customers and revenue. According to a study by Software AG, bad data can cost businesses a 10 to 25 percent loss in revenue each year.
Quality Automotive Data Provides an Edge
Keeping accurate data is crucial for any auto dealership. Having good data hygiene can give auto dealerships a competitive edge, especially when it comes to acquiring new customers and retaining them. Statistics show that when people move to a new home, they tend to latch on to whatever brand initially reaches out to them and grabs their attention. In fact, they are five times more likely to build a long-term relationship with the company that reaches them first. If you are an auto dealership looking to retain valued customers or build new ones, this should be you.
Dealerships cannot effectively keep track of customers manually. Every time someone moves, which, according to the statistics happens frequently, the database loses value. Luckily, as technology and services like data appending, enhancement and hygiene evolve, keeping accurate records is a more realistic goal.
Better Data Hygiene Through Automation
People will move when their lives demand it. In response, businesses must find ways to keep their data accurate to maintain relationships. That is a full time job for dealerships or other automotive marketers that maintain a large database on their own. So, how does a car dealership maintain good data practices?
Automation is the key to dealerships maintaining accurate contact information. For example, Relevate’s Follow the Car service tracks the ownership of vehicles and maintains accurate records. This is crucial not just for customer relationships, but for recall notices. Relevate utilizes a PCOA database empowered by 370 million names and tied to over 1.7 billion addresses with historical linkage to revitalize auto dealership data.
Keeping accurate customer data is important no matter what business you are in, but in the auto industry, it is critical because those long-term relationships are your bread and butter. With a data appending service, dealerships can set up regular schedules to review and update their databases. With a little automation, you get up-to-date contact records for current customers and increase your chances of acquiring new ones. For those in the automotive sales industry, leveraging the best data tools at your disposal can help your business prosper and grow.
To learn the accuracy of your database, take our free dealer insights analysis.