A Guide To Text Message Marketing For Car Dealerships

Introduction

Imagine transforming the way your car dealership communicates with potential buyers and service clients, all with a simple text message.

In the changing times, communication has seen rapid development. It has become much easier to stay in touch than before, considering the various communication channels available out there. One of the most preferred channels of communication is text messaging. Text messaging has an open rate of 98% which is very high as compared to phone calls and emails. 

In car dealerships, communication plays an important role to keep the customers well informed. It also helps in grabbing the attention of the customers and finding more opportunities for the business. We are sure you must be wondering how to implement text message marketing in your business. In this blog, we will be talking about text messaging, use cases, best practices and more, to help you understand how SMS Marketing is simple, easy and effective for your business.

What Is Text Message Marketing?

Text message marketing, or SMS marketing, is a powerful tool for businesses, especially car dealerships. It is majorly used for sharing special deals, appointment reminders, and important updates with customers. People usually read texts right away, making it highly effective. Car dealerships can use it to keep in touch with customers easily. This helps boost your sales and improve customer satisfaction.

Why Should Car Dealers Consider Text Message Marketing?

Text Message Marketing for car dealerships is the best course forward if you wish to reach out to your customers in an accessible yet non-intrusive manner. Here are some benefits of text marketing for car dealerships –  

Instant Reach And High Open Rates

Text messages are typically read within minutes of being received, boasting an open rate of around 98%. This immediate interaction of the users ensures that promotional offers, appointment reminders, and important updates reach customers quickly, increasing the likelihood of prompt responses and actions.

Improved Customer Engagement

By sending personalized messages directly to customers’ phones, car dealerships can create more engaging and meaningful interactions. This can include follow-ups after a test drive, service reminders, or birthday greetings, all of which help build a stronger relationship with the customer.

Increased Sales and Promotions Effectiveness 

Special deals, discounts, and limited-time offers sent via text message can increase footfall to the dealership showrooms. Customers are more likely to act on a text message they see instantly compared to an email or social media post that might get lost in the clutter.

Cost-Effective Marketing Solution

Compared to traditional advertising methods, text message marketing is relatively inexpensive. It allows dealerships to reach a large number of customers without spending too much on the marketing campaigns, making it a cost-effective way to boost sales and customer engagement.

Convenient and Efficient Communication

Text messaging is a convenient way for customers to communicate with the dealership. Whether scheduling a service appointment, inquiring about a vehicle, or confirming a purchase, customers appreciate the ease and speed of texting, which can enhance their overall experience with the dealership.

Use Cases of Text Message Marketing For Car Dealers

Car dealerships primarily need Text Message Marketing to engage with the customers, streamline their operations, and improve customer experience. To know how to implement text messaging in day-to-day activities, let us deep dive into the use cases – 

Generate Leads And Follow-Ups

Car dealerships can send text message campaigns to the potential customers who have shown interest in your inventory through website enquiries, test drive requests, or filled-up forms at launch events. The texting campaigns can be set based on the channel from where the customers approached the dealership. This customization can help in sending out specific messages increasing the chances of conversion.

Sales representatives can further follow up with the leads who did not make a purchase yet, by providing additional information like special offers or discounts to encourage a sale.

Scheduling Appointment And Reminders

Dealerships can encourage the customers to schedule an appointment for a showroom visit, test drive, or maintenance appointment, repair services and more through texts. Sending out text messages helps in getting better responses and saving operations time. 

Dealerships can also send out reminders to make sure that the customers are well aware of the upcoming appointment and do not miss out on their appointments. 

Sending Promotions/Special Offers

Dealerships often require to send out targeted offers like holiday promotions or clearance sales, special discounts to encourage customers to visit the showroom. Sales teams can also send out time-sensitive promotional offers that require immediate actions from the potential buyers.

Sending Service And Maintenance Notifications

Customers appreciate timely notifications for servicing and maintenance of vehicles, notification when a vehicle is ready to pick-up after servicing, or if there are any delays or additional work that needs to be done on the vehicle. 

Dealerships can send notifications for routine maintenance. For example, oil change, tire change, tire rotations, wheel balancing, and more. Sending timely notifications keeps customers engaged and their vehicles in good condition. 

Provide Customer Support

Customers can send out quick texts if they have any queries or concerns to the dealership, receiving prompt responses without the need for phone calls. Dealerships can also send post-service or post-purchase surveys through text message campaigns to gather customer feedback and improve the service.

Send Inventory Updates

Sales teams can send out notifications about new vehicle arrivals or specific models that customers have expressed interest in during their buying journey. Sales teams can also send alerts for price drop on specific vehicle models and prompt customers waiting for a better deal.  

Event Invitations

Dealerships can send invitations to special sales events, open houses, or model launches to a targeted customer list. You can also send invites for sponsored community events or special events to the customers.

Templates For Car Dealers Text Messaging

Appointment Reminder

Hi {Customer Name}, this is a reminder for your service appointment at [Dealership Name] on [Date] at [Time]. Please reply ‘YES’ to confirm or call click here to reschedule. Thank you!

Special Offer/Promotion

Hi {Customer Name}, enjoy exclusive savings at [Dealership Name]! Get $1,000 off any new [Car Brand] model until [End Date]. Visit us today or call [Phone Number] for more details. Don’t miss out!

Service Follow-Up

Hi {Customer Name}, we hope your recent visit to [Dealership Name] went smoothly. How did we do? Please click here to share your feedback. Thanks for choosing us!

New Inventory Alert

Hi {Customer Name}, great news! We have new [Car Brand/Model] models in stock at [Dealership Name]. Come take a test drive today and find your perfect match. Click here to schedule!

Event Invitation

Hi {Customer Name}, you’re invited to our [Event Name] at [Dealership Name] on [Date] from [Time]. Join us for exclusive offers, food, and fun! RSVP by replying ‘YES’ or call [Phone Number] for more info.

Explore more such text templates for your car dealership here.

Best Practices For Car Dealer Text Marketing

Obtain Consent

Ensure you have explicit permission from customers before sending them text messages. This not only complies with regulations like the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) but also ensures that your messages are welcomed and not considered spam.

Keep Messages Short and Relevant

Text messages should be concise and focused on delivering relevant information such as special offers, appointment reminders, or important updates. Avoid lengthy messages to keep the content easily readable.

Personalize Your Messages

Personalize your texts by including the customer’s name and tailoring the content to their interests and past interactions with your dealership. Personalization enhances engagement and makes customers feel valued.

Include A Clear Call to Action

Every text message should have a clear call to action (CTA). Whether it’s confirming an appointment, visiting the dealership, or calling for more information, ensure the next step is obvious and easy for the customer to follow.

Ensure Compliance and Timing 

Stick to text marketing regulations, including opt-out options and respecting do-not-call lists. Also, send messages at appropriate times to ensure they are read and acted upon, avoiding early mornings or late nights.

Top 5 Text Message Marketing Softwares For Car Dealers

Choosing the right text message marketing software can significantly improve a car dealer’s ability to engage with customers and drive sales. With a variety of softwares available, each offering unique features tailored to different needs, finding the perfect fit for your dealership’s marketing strategy is important. Here are the top five text message marketing software solutions specifically designed for car dealers, each offering robust features to streamline communication, improve customer engagement, and boost your dealership’s marketing efforts.

1. Emitrr
2. Textline
3. SimpleTexting
4. Avochato
5. Text Magic

Emitrr

Emitrr is an excellent choice for our car dealership when it comes to text message marketing. It allows us to easily communicate with customers and launch targeted marketing campaigns. The platform is user-friendly, with no binding contracts or hidden fees. Whether we’re sending individual messages, group texts, or running comprehensive campaigns, Emitrr helps to reach marketing goals effectively.

Emitrr Features

• Send thousands of text messages at once 
• Import contacts in a single click 
• Create segmented lists for multi-touch text messaging campaigns
• Sync data automatically from your existing tools 
• Send personalized messages to customers at scale 
• Follow up with customers through drip campaigns 
• Track the performance of your retail marketing campaigns
• Track metrics like delivery rate and response rate 
• Send automated text messages 
• Send surveys to customers via text 
• Use text keywords to drive engagement for your retail store 
• Get your existing landline number ported for texting

Textline

Textline is a text message marketing platform that facilitates communication between car dealers and their customers. It provides tools for automating responses, managing campaigns, and tracking performance. This platform helps dealerships send appointment reminders, promotional offers, and service updates. Textline is designed to streamline customer interactions and support effective marketing strategies.

Textline Features

• Send Bulk Text Messages: Reach out to a large group of customers simultaneously with personalized bulk texts for promotions, updates, and announcements.

• Automate Text Messaging: Set up automated text responses and scheduling to efficiently manage follow-ups, reminders, and routine communications.

• Distribute Surveys via SMS: Easily gather customer feedback and insights by sending surveys directly to their mobile phones.

• Engage in One-on-One Communication: Foster personalized relationships with customers through individual text conversations, addressing their specific needs and inquiries.

• Leverage Text Keywords to Expand Your Contact List: Use text keywords and shortcodes to encourage customers to opt-in and join your contact list, enhancing your outreach efforts.

SimpleTexting

SimpleTexting is a versatile text message marketing platform that helps car dealerships enhance customer communication. It features an intuitive interface for sending bulk promotions, automating responses, and gathering feedback. The platform supports both individual and group text messaging, making it easy to engage with customers effectively. SimpleTexting provides a comprehensive solution for managing and optimizing your dealership’s text message marketing efforts.

SimpleTexting Features

• Send Mass Text Messages: Efficiently reach your entire customer base with targeted mass texts for promotions, updates, and important announcements.

• Use Autoresponders for Streamlined Communication: Automate responses and follow-ups with autoresponders to ensure timely and consistent customer interactions.

• Address Customer Queries via Text: Quickly resolve customer questions and issues through direct text communication, providing prompt and effective support.

• Expand Your Contact List with Text Keywords**: Encourage customers to opt-in and join your contact list by leveraging text keywords and shortcodes for easy sign-ups.

• Manage All Communications from a Centralized Dashboard: Keep track of all your text message interactions and campaigns in one unified dashboard for better organization and efficiency.

Avochato

Avochato is a comprehensive text message marketing platform designed to enhance customer engagement for businesses. It offers an intuitive interface for managing both individual and bulk text communications, automating responses, and tracking interactions. Avochato’s features streamline customer support and marketing efforts by integrating messaging with your existing systems. With its focus on efficiency and ease of use, Avochato helps businesses maintain meaningful connections with their customers.

Avochato Features

• Two-Way Messaging: Avochato supports real-time, two-way text communication, allowing businesses to engage in meaningful conversations with customers and respond promptly to inquiries.

• Automated Responses: The platform offers automation tools for setting up autoresponders and drip campaigns, streamlining communication and ensuring timely follow-ups.

• Text Campaign Management: Avochato allows users to create, manage, and track bulk text message campaigns, making it easy to send promotions, updates, and announcements to large groups.

• Message Integration: Avochato integrates with CRM systems and other business tools, ensuring that all text communications are synchronized with your existing workflows and customer data.

• Keyword and Shortcode Support: The platform enables businesses to use text keywords and shortcodes to facilitate customer opt-ins, gather feedback, and grow their contact lists effectively.

Text Magic

Text Magic is a robust text message marketing platform that simplifies communication for businesses. It provides features for sending bulk texts, automating responses, and managing customer interactions with ease. The platform’s user-friendly design makes it straightforward to reach customers with promotions, reminders, and updates. Text Magic also integrates with various business tools, offering a comprehensive solution for effective text-based marketing.

Text Magic Features

• Bulk SMS Sending: Allows businesses to send large volumes of text messages to multiple recipients simultaneously, perfect for promotions, updates, and announcements.

• Automated SMS Responses: Enables the creation of automated replies and workflows to efficiently manage customer interactions and ensure timely responses.

• Two-Way Messaging: Supports real-time, two-way text communication, allowing businesses to engage in direct conversations and address customer inquiries effectively.

• SMS Campaign Management: Provides tools for designing, executing, and tracking text message campaigns, helping businesses measure their effectiveness and optimize their outreach.

• Keyword and Shortcode Functionality: Utilizes keywords and shortcodes to facilitate customer opt-ins, gather feedback, and enhance engagement through interactive messaging.

How To Send Text Messages Using Emitrr? 

If you’re ready to boost your car dealership’s marketing efforts with SMS, now is the perfect time to start. Text message marketing is not only cost-effective and time-efficient but also highly rewarding. Emitrr can simplify the process of launching SMS campaigns for your dealership. Just follow these steps to get started and watch as your customer engagement and sales grow.

Step-1: Sign up with Emitrr. You can also opt for a free trial 

Step-2: Create your marketing campaign  

Go to Campaigns > Text Campaigns > Create Campaign 

Add a name to your campaign and decide whether you wish to send it immediately or schedule it for later. 

Step-3: Compose your message 

Type your message or choose from a range of available templates based on your use case. 

You can also choose it you want to include a confirmation text message or an opt out message. If you also want to stop follow up messages once the customer responds, then make sure to check the box. 

Step-4: Now upload your contacts or select an existing list in the Emitrr database. 

You can also assign replies to a particular team member if required. 

Step-5: Schedule your campaign

Once you have successfully uploaded your contacts, click on ‘Next’ and then click on ‘Confirm & Schedule’ 

That’s it! Your retail text message marketing campaign is ready to launch! If you face any difficulty while creating your campaign, you can always connect with the support team in real time for the same. 

FAQs

Conclusion

If you’re looking to boost your sales, attract more customers to your dealership, streamline your workflows, and enhance customer engagement, text message marketing is the key. Interested in seeing how Emitrr can help you reach these goals? Book a demo now to learn more and get started!