4 Christmas Marketing Ideas for Car Dealers
The weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas are very important to annual sales in many industries, including auto sales. Potential customers are buying in stronger numbers than the rest of the year, giving auto dealers a larger audience to market to. The holiday shopping crowds are also in “shopping mode,” ready to purchase items not only for friends and family, but for themselves as well. Buyers with extra cash available for the holidays are easier to persuade to treat themselves to a new car than during other times of the year. Whether customers’ new car purchases are a special treat just for them or a perfect gift for the whole family, the holiday shopping season is a great opportunity for car dealers to increase sales.
To capitalize on the holiday shopping season, your car dealer needs to have a solid marketing plan! Thanksgiving and Christmas offer many fun and novel ways to promote vehicles and special offers, so get creative. The more unique your marketing strategies are, the more likely they are to be successful.
These four holiday marketing ideas are great ways to jumpstart your car dealer’s holiday sales season.
1) Get festive! Show your dealership’s holiday spirit by making your show floor and lot bright, inviting and festive. Nothing draws attention like bright Christmas decorations. Purchase a 20-foot Douglas fir, place it in the center of your outdoor lot, and decorate it with bright white lights, tinsel, and decorations. Hang fresh garlands, red ribbons, and lights from the eaves and utility poles of buildings. Serve hot chocolate on the show floor. Unless you already have a talented person on staff who is willing and able to completely spruce up the rest of your dealership’s exterior and interior, hire a decorator to come in and do it. Show potential customers that your dealership is in the holiday spirit and make your show floor irresistible with holiday cheer.
2) Offer a “12 days of Christmas” holiday deal. Everyone loves deals, so why not pack 12 fantastic vehicle deals into one holiday-themed event? Instead of having an unrelated chain of Christmas sales events, run a 12 Days of Christmas sale, with the easy day offering a different type of sale. Start with smaller incentives and older vehicle models and work your way up to the “twelfth day of Christmas” with bigger deals, and finish with a grand finale!
3) Get creative with holiday-themed direct mail. Christmas is not the time to send the same old postcard envelopes. Send your direct mailing list some holiday cheer with authentic-looking Christmas cards or gift-shaped cards, complete with bow. Add some “dealer cash” to send an extra happy message.
4) Run a contest on social media. Offer a contest with a significant percentage discount or an entry prize (if your pool of applicants is large enough for it). Ask people to connect with you in a specific way: ask them to finish the phrase “everything I want for Christmas” in a photo, tweet or video, then ask them to post their response on your dealership’s Facebook wall or have it tweeted to them using a specific hashtag. Regardless of what your contest entails, be sure to create a specific landing page on your website (or Facebook event) that outlines the details of the contest; link to this from your social media accounts.