As we all know by now, the Information Superhighway has become a dominant means of communication during this past decade, and our paradigms have shifted in many respects with how we acquire and transmit information. The internet has also provided an efficient means of marketing and advertising for your products and services. The internet provides the customer your company’s information which is accessible at their convenience. The consumers are researching and shopping on a horizontal and vertical basis, meaning they have access to a variety of company’s products and services. This enables the consumer to study, compare, access, and choose accordingly. 

 

All of these consumer shopping patterns provide you with plenty of information to effectively market to your perspective customers. It is imperative you incorporate all the necessary selling features, benefits and incentives into your website along with plenty of reasons the consumer should continue to revisit your site. Establishing marketing goals is essential to good website development. If you don’t know what you are trying to achieve, you cannot measure your success.

 

Very few RV dealers have the pertinent information that consumers are seeking that will cause them to convert from visitor to customer. The site can look beautiful, have streaming video, beautiful colors and all current inventory listed, but if it doesn’t say why they should buy from you; If it doesn’t carry a strong message explaining the benefits and incentives available to them; If it doesn’t call them to action – to visit, to call, to inquire – the site is just another spot on the web that looks like all the rest. Your dealership’s personality should stand out from the cookie cutter sites that are prominent on the internet today.

 

Once you have created a very efficient web site, it is extremely important that potential customers are able to find you when they are searching through various search engines for RV related products and services. 

 

Let’s take a trip and together and evaluate what the superhighway might look like in the real world. The internet or Superhighway compares quite well with the Interstate Highway System we travel. Imagine when traveling on the interstate as an RV consumer, you see the same RV Dealership, let’s call that dealership “I-Am-Smart RV”, with satellite locations at nearly every exit. I-Am-Smart RV has billboards posted at every mile marker. As you drive along the landscape you see a museum with history about IASRV, and when stopping at a roadside rest and checking the map, the nearest IASRV dealership location is highlighted right there for you, complete with hours, reviews, products offered and more. You can even print coupons for that same dealership’s parts and accessories department there. We see a fellow by the car handing out flyers and newsletters with tips and offers to help us have a better RVing experience, and he is from I-AM-SMART RV too! Further down the road, we stop at an RV resort, and find there are signs with directions to the closest location of I-AM-SMART RV. And, the campers are talking about what a great deal, and what great service they got at I-AM-SMART RV. We continue on our travels, and occasionally see another RV dealership in the mix, but I-AM-SMART RV seems to be everywhere, is obviously the authority on RV products and RV Service, surely has the best customer service, credibility and prices, so we decide to visit.

 

The internet term for creating this type of presence for your dealership on the internet is called Search Engine Optimization or (SEO).

 

You could have a company develop and create the best website ever, but if nobody can find it, or it is extremely difficult to find, it obviously is not serving its purpose, or you might be underestimating the value of your website’s true potential.  In other words, it is the service of the SEO professional that has the potential to place your dealership at every exit, and create that billboard at every mile marker as the above analogy portrays. From posting Wikipedia articles, and coupons on Google Maps, to social media networking and opt-in email newsletters, there are many valuable internet marketing services that could benefit your dealership. Banner advertising in RV forums, RV listing sites, and more, are the billboards of the internet. Testimonials and back-links to RV forums along with video posting, webinars, blogging is viral or word of mouth advertising. Working on your website pages to make sure every ‘I’ is dotted and ‘T’ is crossed when it comes to developing pages that are searchable, indexed and found is absolutely key.  I could list the benefits of all these services, but this would turn into a book vs. a short blog entry.

 

Traditional advertising on the other hand is still a very viable means to market and advertise your products and services and should not be discarded or underestimated. Since the surge of the internet, many businesses believe Newspaper, Television, Radio and Direct Mail are not as effective as internet marketing. They both have their place, and if executed properly, will work very effectively. The best and most effective form of marketing is the right combination of both internet and traditional advertising.

 

Radio advertising, for example, reaches those who commute and those who travel more than any other demographic. With the average time of a commute to work increasing, radio is another very viable option for advertising. When targeting those close to home, radio has a huge impact, as the potential buyer is familiar with your region and understands exactly where you are located.

 

Newspaper advertising is a good value. As we know, newspaper subscriptions have been diminishing, and the circulation with most papers have been reduced throughout the past few years. As a result, most businesses feel this medium is a dying breed, and do not feel this is a cost efficient means to advertise.  Nothing could be farther from the truth for RV Dealers.  Because the newspaper demographic is a little higher age than average, it is a great fit and matches the RV consumer prospect perfectly. In addition, statistics show that 70% of those with internet access search for products and services online. Where do the 30% that don’t research look? Newspapers. What about those without internet access? That is 25% of the population. You can’t afford to look away from a group that large.

 

The other positive aspect of newspaper advertising, is the buying opportunities there are available right now.  Newspapers have offers and specials of up to 75% off rate card. The newspaper efficiencies are outstanding for media savvy buyers. 

 

You must remember that the good rate is only half of the equation. The other half is the content that makes up the ad, and how the ad is designed. In my prior blog entries, I have stressed the importance of incorporating the proven, key, fundamental elements that need to be incorporated into your advertising in order to deliver maximum results. Above all, no matter which medium you choose to deliver your advertising message, the message has to clearly outline the benefits of doing business with you. To create an ad without the right tonality, benefit rich message, a sense of urgency and prompting the reader to act, is a waste of dollars. If you can’t create the right message, or feel it isn’t strong enough, hire a professional to do it for you.  It will pay for itself many times over. And, make sure the individual or company you hire understands your business, your industry, your target market as well as the basic formulas of direct response marketing.

 

And, be certain they understand that the best advertising plan would be a combination of internet coupled with the traditional advertising we have been utilizing for decades.