Content marketing can be a powerful tool for your used car dealership. By distributing information about the car buying, financing, or upkeep processes, you can earn trust, establish thought leadership, and turn your dealership website into a resource hub.
Not all content marketing efforts are created equal, however—and if you’re embarking on a content marketing campaign, it’s important that you have the right strategy.
Sometimes, the best way to establish that strategy is by spelling out what not to do—which is what we’ll do in this post.
Common Content Marketing Errors to Avoid
- Assuming that all content marketing is about blogging. While a blog is an invaluable asset for your dealership website, there’s more to content marketing than just blogging. Look into email marketing, YouTube marketing, social media, and press releases as well—all of which have their merits.
- Being too salesy . Content marketing is often called “selling without selling.” The point isn’t to hit people over the head with a pitch, but rather to earn their trust by giving them legitimately helpful information. Not every blog post or tweet should be a direct advertisement for your dealership.
- Choosing quantity over quality. It’s always better to have one really great blog post than a handful of mediocre ones. Don’t push too hard to hit a quota; instead, make sure each piece of content you create is really value-adding on its own.
- Providing thin content. While there’s no magic word count your blog posts need to hit, remember that you’re trying to provide substantive answers to your buyers’ questions—and a 100-word blog post probably won’t be all that valuable.
- Forgetting your goals and metrics. Before embarking on any kind of content marketing campaign, you should have a good sense of what you’re trying to accomplish—and how you’ll measure your progress.
- Neglecting to promote your content. Once you publish a piece of content, that doesn’t mean your work is done. You still need to attract some eyeballs. One of the best ways to do that? Promote your content on social media. Your email list can also come in handy here.
- Failing to include calls to action. Each piece of content should end with a strong, clear call to action—ideally with your dealership’s content information included.
- Overlooking your buyer personas. Who are you developing content for? What are their pain points? What are their needs? Always tailor your content to your audience, starting with buyer personas as your guide.
There are a number of ways in which content marketing can go off the rails—yet with the right approach, content marketing can propel your dealership to new levels of online visibility and customer engagement.
We’d love to talk with you more about effective marketing solutions for your dealership. Contact Get My Auto today and let’s chat!