How To Use Your Dealership’s
Customizable Smart Phone App
Smartly
For the past few decades auto dealers employed traditional, passive marketing channels like the local, Friday newspaper auto supplement, the yellow pages, billboards and other expensive means of getting out the word about the deals and services they deliver daily.
These outlets are slow, cumbersome, unfocused and, again, pricey. And, the dealer has no control over who sees these ads – cold, window shoppers or warm leads in the market to make a purchase NOW!
These traditional outlets are passive. The dealer hopes his roadside billboard is seen by buyers in the market but a lot of drivers just bought a car last year. Unfortunately, dealers pay to have their ads seen by everyone, hoping to hit the 2-3% of readers (and drivers) who are actually looking for a car, aka pre-qualified leads.
Cellular marketing is totally ballistic. It’s fast, highly-focused and directed at prospects who initiated the first contact – buyers in the market who want to stay connected to your dealership for the latest news, information on sales and promos and the latest addition to your “previously-owned” inventory.
Your fully-customizable, smart phone app is downloaded to every smart phone of every buyer, prospect or individual who’s simply shown interest in your dealership’s offerings. This app employs smart tags – tags you design to perform any of four basic functions.
- Download information to a smart phone when the cell owner snaps a picture of a smart tag.
- Dial a telephone number automatically with the snap of a smart phone camera.
- Access your web site without a computer. Each year, web access through the use of cell phones increases by double digits. Estimates range from 20-60% of all web access is now done using a smart phone.
- Push information to the smart phone owner. Dealers no longer have to hope their marketing dollars are hitting the sweet spot. They KNOW it because all those who receive information from you have asked to receive that information, and that’s a highly-qualified lead who’s already expressed interest in your dealership.
Four basic functions of your customizable smart phone app that’s used to make you money and save you money.
Another key benefit? Your dealership name and logo appear on the screen of the smart phone so every time a ‘Droid, iPhone, Blackberry or other PDA owner opens his or her communications device, your dealership is front and center, keeping your business name in front of long-term prospects every single day.
So, how do you use this smart phone app to get the most out of it? First, let’s start with the “how-to” part of the program.
How do I upload and download my dealership name and logo on my smart phone application?
- Log on to your Dealer Sales Acceleration account page.
- Upload a 60×60 pixel, high-resolution image of your logo along with your company name. All instructions are on screen (but we’ve made it really easy.)
- Once your properly-formatted upload has been received and accepted, simply click . Your app will be downloaded in a format that can then be downloaded to smart phones directly from your computer or dealership network.
- Enter the smart phone telephone number into the box that appears on screen. This enables you to contact cell phone owners who download information from you – everything from the telephone number of the service department to the name and number of the salesperson with whom they’re working.
- Build a database of smart phone telephone numbers and keep in touch.
How do I create smart tags?
You produce a smart tag by telling it what you want it to do – dial a telephone number, download a link to your web site – whatever function you want.
- Log in to your DSA account page.
- Click on the link that says . This takes you to a screen that provides options for what you want the tag to do.
- Create a file folder for the smart tags you create with sub-folders for the function assigned to each smart tag.
- Download smart tags directly to your computer in digital format. Tags can be printed, added to print advertising, business cards, service invoices – any paper associated with your dealership’s marketing, sales, F&I, service or parts profit centers.
Once you’ve created a smart tag, each time smart phone users snap a picture of that tag, the smart phone performs the function that you’ve directed it to perform.
No programming involved. Simply fill out a form, press and download the completed tag to your computer.
Cellular Marketing For Car Guys
Cellular marketing is pro-active marketing, limited only by your imagination.
Let’s look at the four categories of functions available with your app and how to use smart tags smartly.
Download Information
- Create a smart tag for all your sales force, service team, management and others who carry dealership business cards.
Create a smart tag for each employee. Remember to label each tag with the employee’s name so you know which tag belongs to which team member.
Print these tags on your dealership business cards. Then all smart phone users have to do is snap a picture of the tag and the name, title and telephone number are loaded automatically into the smart phone owner’s address book.
- Create a smart tag for print advertising in the newspaper. Direct it to download your dealership contact information into the smart phone owner’s address book so you’re always a screen tap away.
- Create a smart tag for each auto that appears in your print advertising. When smart phone users snap a picture of a tag, all information about that auto is downloaded to that user’s smart phone – from product number to a complete description of the car that user is interested in.
- Create tags for the service department. Print this tag on all invoices and have smart phone owners snap a picture of this tag to download contact information for the service department, simplifying the appointment process.
- Customize smart tags for service invoices. Direct the smart tag to add the next service appointment to the smart phone owner’s calendar function. Each service customer leaves already booked for their next service appointment. That’s pro-active marketing.
You can also program that same smart tag to provide notifications a week ahead of the scheduled maintenance.
- Create smart tags for signage. At the local business fair or auto show, create a tag for display on your booth’s table. As attendees walk past your booth they snap a picture of the tag to download all of your dealership’s contact information without having to wait for the “next available representative.”
- Add a smart tag to your web site. When site visitors stop by to see your latest offerings they snap a picture of that smart tag to download all contact information to their address books.
- Add smart tags to key fobs, thumb drives and other promo give-aways. Program the smart tag to download all contact information to previous buyers and pre-qualified leads.
Create a smart tag for each car on the lot. As browsers walk by they snap a picture of the tag to download a picture and all information about the vehicle without having to speak to an otherwise busy salesperson.
Auto-Dial a Telephone Number
- Add a smart tag to all print advertising – newspaper ads, adverts in periodicals, direct mail pieces and other print advertising. Add a headline that reads “Talk to our sales team now” to encourage auto-dialing.
- Create a smart tag that auto-dials the service department. Print this tag on key chain fobs, invoices and other things buyers carry in their cars. When they run into a problem they simply snap a picture of their key fob to auto-dial your dealership for roadside assistance.
- Add an auto-dial smart tag to all parts invoices. These invoices are received by repair shops and service garages. When owners of these businesses need a part they snap a smart tag printed on their last invoice to reach your parts department to place another order.
Access Your Web Site
- Create a smart tag to appear in all print advertising. Direct that smart tag to access your web site from any smart phone. This does a couple of things for you.
- Leads and customers can access the world wide web without being in a hot spot with Wi-Fi. If they have cell coverage, they can access the latest postings and promotions for download to their cell phones.
- Add a log-on tag to direct mail pieces. This allows you to shorten the direct mailer, saving you money, while encouraging recipients to visit your web site with a couple of taps on their iPhone screens.
- Create a tag for daily insertion in the newspaper classifieds. This cuts the cost of print advertising because you purchase fewer column inches while telling the complete story of your dealership with easy access to your web site.
So, instead of paying for a half-page ad in the daily press, cut your print advertising costs in half by displaying a log-on tag in a quarter-page ad and drive traffic to your web site. Smart tags save you money on advertising across the board.
Push Information
- Using smart tags moves you from a passive advertiser who keeps her fingers crossed to a pro-active marketer of services, promos and money-saving coupons downloaded regularly to buyers who have your dealership app loaded onto their smart phones.
- If a prospect is looking for a particular make or model, notify that prospect when the right car is available.
- Provide useful information to build goodwill. Short emails are sent regularly with tips and suggestions to improve car performance and repeat sales.
Not every message sent to a cell phone owner should be sales copy. Give your customers good, informational content.
How you use your DSA dealership app is up to you. It’s fully customizable, it’s real easy to use, tag creation is a breeze and this one app changes your business model from the traditional “one transaction to the next” to a loyal, connected client base that’s in constant touch with you and your on-going offerings that save time, money and build goodwill.