How SMS Marketing Can Help Automotive Companies

The news just came in from the main office: The fleet of vehicles your dealership expected to arrive today will not come in until next week. With little time to alert your dealers and loyal customers about the delay, you begin working the phones in an attempt to tell them about the temporary setback. But from going straight to voicemail to being mistaken for spam, it’s obvious that phone calls are not the quickly or most efficient way to communicate. How do you get the word out about the delay without wasting valuable time trying to reach employees and customers?

The answer lies in a rapidly growing method of communication called text marketing for automotive companies.

Although in this example you’re not marketing an automotive product or service, the medium text marketing uses— SMS messaging, also called text messaging— also serves as a great mass communication channel in general. Letting your loyal customers know about new sales during the holidays is just as easy as letting them know to reschedule their appointment to check out the new line of vehicles.

Because of text message marketing for automotive dealerships, what was once bad news has turned into a productive day that has increased loyalty among your regular customers and credibility for your company.

Overview of SMS Marketing for Automotive Businesses

Automotive texting platforms have taken over as the primary way dealerships and other types of car-related businesses market their products and services to customers. What has been viewed as a communication tool for social conversations is now a powerful communication tool for small and large businesses alike across the industry spectrum. With the automotive industry highly vulnerable to rapid changes, having the capability to reach out to your customers in real time should be an important part of your operating model.

SMS stands for short message service. As the name indicates, it’s a text messaging service often used for mass communication and marketing. Messages are limited to 160 characters, so short and concise messages are most effective at building your customer base and subscriber list. You can communicate with customers, employees, suppliers, and more. No other communication tool delivers real time results and reporting like SMS.

How Text Message Marketing for Automotive Companies Works

SMS broadcasting software handles every one of your texting needs. The key is to work with a provider that has a software that meets your marketing needs and superior customer service to support you while you build your brand. Different SMS companies offer different services, so make sure to choose the one that best fits your needs. Global reach, affordable pricing, and scalability are three common considerations.

Select the Right Keyword

Like making your cars shine, you want your texting keyword to shine as well. A keyword is the word your customers type in their phone to respond to one of your automotive company’s text messages. Pick a keyword that is unique, yet memorable. Shorter keywords are often easier to remember and type, such as SEDAN for a limited time sales offer on new sedans.

Auto Respond to New Subscribers

As with email marketing, you need to gain the permission of your customers to send text messages. After you get permission, the first message is the most important message of all. To ensure it arrives in a timely manner, set up an auto responder reply that welcomes every new subscriber. Include a one-time-only offer that rewards a customer for subscribing to your SMS list to build loyalty and increase customer satisfaction.

Speaking of Offers...

Signs and emails simply don’t cut it anymore. To reach your customers in real time about a promotional offer and increase engagement, you should turn to a texting platform to get the job done right. The fluid nature of the automotive industry makes it imperative that car dealers and other types of automotive industry professionals have access to a texting platform that is equally flexible, so that they can send incredible promotional offers that are timely and effective.

SMS Messaging Uses for Automotive Companies

How do you send offers to your subscribers? With one click of a button. Send SMS promotions, coupons, and scannable codes so that customers can immediately take advantage of your offer. These offers can be embedded in the SMS message itself or attached as media using an MMS service. Virtual discounts for new vehicles or a popular maintenance service allow you to reach more people, more quickly, at a cheaper rate than using print or TV promotions.

Here are a few other uses for SMS marketing:

Customer Surveys and Feedback

We mentioned that text messages must be 160 characters or less, but that doesn’t have to limit you. SMS is useful for a variety of reasons, including requesting customer feedback. Businesses can embed links in SMS messages themselves or send links as attachments. Customer feedback and surveys help you adjust your business model to best serve your community. Including incentives, such as further discounts or entries into a prize drawing, help increase customer engagement. Such feedback is important to help you stay ahead of the curb when it comes to anticipating customer needs and requests.

Reminders and Updates

Time is money in every industry, and automotive businesses are no different. They often rely heavily on profit from limited-time sales and other promotions for the rest of the year. Similarly, juggling time between engaging new customers and taking care of existing customers can be tricky. SMS messaging is a great tool to use to send out reminders about sales that will end soon and reminders about upcoming vehicle maintenance or repair appointments. Similarly, customers also appreciate updates about in-progress purchases or services and financing opportunities.

Dash Notify Can Help Grow Your Automotive Business

The highly competitive automotive industry requires out-of-the-box thinking to push ahead of the competition. SMS marketing for automotive businesses can help your business reach more potential customers in the community and build loyalty among your current customers. But deciding to use a text marketing platform is just half the battle— for text marketing to be effective, you need to choose a company that offers the most comprehensive SMS marketing software.

Dash Notify is the ideal fit for automotive companies that want to develop a powerful texting platform. The simplicity of our user-friendly text messaging dashboard means you can focus on what matters most: your business. Our platform reaches over 200 countries worldwide, is affordable for companies of all sizes, and is scalable to meet your specific needs. Contact us today to learn more about how we provide success as a service.

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