A well-crafted marketing strategy is one that considers the target market of the brand’s ideal customer. Sometimes, and without intention, we can miss the mark when it comes to building a marketing strategy that includes the full scale of demographic profiles that fall into our “target audience.”
Enter the buzzword “inclusion.” The Oxford Dictionary defines inclusion as “The action or state of including or of being included within a group or structure.” For our car dealers’ purposes, this means developing a well-rounded strategy that doesn’t leave out any group when advertising inventory and services that the dealership may provide – turning the process of inclusion from a buzzword into an evergreen marketing term.
So, where to start?
Step 1 – Take a look at your location’s full demographic profile.
Typically, this is something that the OEM will provide, but in the odd chance that you can’t get access to your latest demographic information, this can be easily accessed through websites like areavibes.com and citydata.com. CityData has an amazing map feature that lets you search your store location and get a full breakdown of the demographics that surround you – for free!
For the sake of this article, we are going to use Raleigh, North Carolina as our geographical guinea pig, specifically North Raleigh. Below, you will see that from my search there is a dense population of those that speak Spanish at home – over 60% to be exact.
A couple of things can be assumed from this data at my hypothetical dealership in northern Raleigh, North Carolina:
- I should probably have (at the very least) one person on staff that is fluent in Spanish.
- My social media and pay-per-click ads should be running in English and Spanish.
- The median income is a little over $33,000, indicating that this may be a market that would find value in my dealership’s used car inventory.
Step 2 – Create ads that support your demographic findings.
Once you understand the demographics surrounding your dealership, it’s important to have a partnership with a digital marketing agency that has a strong aptitude in building ads and engaging with comments in a language other than English. By having advertisements that are created in the language of a large part of your target audience, you are creating a sense of inclusion for your shopper, empowering them to continue their buying process with your dealership.
It is also important to note that Google pays attention to the native language of their end-user, meaning that users that have their browsers set to a specific language are always going to be served ads in that language first. With the Hispanic population forecasted to grow to 30% of the US population by 2050, this is a target market that dealers cannot ignore.
If you want to take this concept a step further, have your fluent-speaking staff member create a video to be used as part of your advertising strategy. This builds trust with your prospective shopper and shows that there will be someone on-site who will be able to help them when they come to the showroom for a test drive.
Step 3 – Harness the power of user-generated content.
Creating a sense of inclusion also comes from utilizing content and creative that reflects the lifestyle and culture of the target audience. Ra’el Cohen, Chief Creative Officer at eCommerce brand ThirdLove, stated that “Consumers have evolved from wanting to be sold an unrealistic dream, and instead, opt to feel like they’re a part of the dream. They want to see themselves in the brands they support, whether that’s in the products offered or models portrayed in marketing.” What better way to put those words into action than by sharing user-generated content from other happy customers that speak the same language as your target market?
By keeping an attitude of inclusion in the workplace and then carrying that same strategy over to your dealership’s traditional and digital marketing, you will reinforce and highlight the level of customer service that your dealership provides for its customers.