In the automotive buying journey, the test drive is often the decisive step that can turn a potential buyer into a committed customer. While online research, reviews and comparisons play significant roles, nothing beats the experience of getting behind the wheel. Yet, convincing prospects to take that step poses a tough challenge, especially for long-purchase consideration products like vehicles.
This is where data-driven marketing strategies come into play, enabling dealerships to engage prospects with personalized, cross-channel campaigns that seamlessly guide them toward scheduling a test drive. In this blog, we’ll explore proven strategies for increasing test drive appointments and nurturing leads, and show how the powerful Experiture platform can make it all possible by integrating with your dealership management systems to streamline the entire process.
Use Data-Driven Marketing to Identify High-Intent Prospects
To turn interest into action, it’s essential to connect with the most qualified prospects who are primed for a test drive. According to Deloitte, automotive consumers spend up to 75% of their shopping time online. Data-driven marketing allows dealerships to identify likely buyers by analyzing behaviors like website visits, content engagement and online configurator usage. An online configurator is a tool, typically found on automotive websites, that allows potential buyers to customize and configure vehicles according to their preferences. The more touchpoints a customer has with your brand, the stronger their signal that they may be ready for a test drive.
With the Experiture platform robust segmentation capabilities, marketers can create targeted audiences using real-time behavior, interaction history across touchpoints, and demographic data such as location or age. By combining these insights with behavior patterns like recent service visits or prior purchases, Experiture enables more accurate targeting. Through this targeting, automotive marketers can prioritize prospects who match their ideal customer profile.
Craft Personalized Test Drive Offers
Once you’ve identified the right prospects, the next step is to craft offers that will persuade them to schedule a test drive. Personalization is key. By tailoring messaging and offers to the individual’s preferences, you create a more compelling, relevant experience. For example, providing a special incentive like a gift card, service discount or even complimentary detailing after the test drive can be highly effective.
Experiture simplifies the creation of personalized, omnichannel test drive invitations. Using data collected from previous interactions, Experiture can generate dynamic, personalized emails, SMS messages and more that speak directly to the customer’s desires. Furthermore, Experiture users can prefill landing pages and direct mail with customer information and targeted offers, reducing friction and enable a seamless test drive scheduling.
Amplify Reach Through Omnichannel Campaigns
To optimize the chances that your message is seen, it’s essential to employ an omnichannel approach. Reach out to potential test drivers not just through email but also SMS, direct mail, social media, even personalized landing pages (PURLs). The key is to maintain a consistent message across all these channels while optimizing the timing and content for each one.
Experiture allows marketers to coordinate omnichannel campaigns that keep prospects engaged and connected with your brand, regardless of their preferred communication channels. From sending automated SMS reminders to following up with seasonal emails, Experiture ensures unified message delivery across all touchpoints. This connected approach significantly increases the likelihood of converting intent into action.
Leverage Geofencing for Location-Based Campaigns
Location-based marketing fueled by geofencing can be a game-changer for accelerating test drive interest. By setting up virtual boundaries around the dealership or even competitor dealerships, marketers can trigger real-time notifications to nearby prospects. For instance, a push notification offering a limited-time incentive when a potential customer is near the dealership could be the gentle tap they need to take that next step.
Geofencing has proven effective in other industries; for instance, McKinsey reported that a Whole Foods using geofenced notifications saw roughly 5% of engaged customers visit – three times the industry average for post-click conversion. This demonstrates the untapped potential of location-based marketing to drive foot traffic. With Experiture’s geofencing capabilities, dealerships can set up geo-specific campaigns that deliver timely offers when prospects are near the dealership or a competitor. Integrating this data into omnichannel campaigns further enhances personalization, making follow-up communications more relevant and impactful.
Optimize Landing Pages for Test Drive Conversions
A well-designed landing page is critical to converting leads into scheduled test drives. The landing page should be optimized to provide a hassle-free experience: clear calls-to-action, mobile-friendly forms and embedded scheduling capabilities. The easier it is for prospects to complete the process, the more likely they are to follow through.
With drag-and-drop functionality, Experiture enables dealerships to create personalized, branded landing pages that dynamically adjust based on visitor data. This means that you can pre-fill forms with known customer information, plus relevant offers or incentives prominently displayed. By reducing the number of steps needed to schedule a test drive, Experiture helps automotive marketers optimize conversions.
Automate Follow-Ups to Engage Prospects After a Test Drive
Not every prospect will decide to buy immediately after a test drive. For those who don’t, automated follow-up campaigns can keep your dealership top-of-mind and encourage further consideration. This strategy could include thank-you messages, special offers or information about financing options to guide the customer toward a final decision.
The Experiture platform’s intelligent workflows ensure follow-up communications are perfectly timed to reach customers when they’re most receptive, with content tailored to their needs. For instance, if a prospect completes a test drive but hasn’t purchased, Experiture can trigger a series of personalized messages, including a reminder about an upcoming new model launch event at the dealership.
Real-Time Insights and Reporting for Continuous Optimization
Continuous improvement is essential for campaign success. Having real-time insights into which campaigns and offers are driving the most test drives allows marketers to rapidly optimize their strategies. This could mean adjusting the timing of messages, refining audience segments or changing the creative content based on performance data.
The Experiture platform leverages dynamic content to automatically tailor these elements based on real-time performance data, ensuring that each customer sees the most relevant and engaging content. By continuously adapting to what resonates with different audience segments, marketers can maintain high engagement and drive better results.
With the Experiture platform’s real-time reporting and analytics, dealerships can track the performance of their campaigns across channels, monitor customer interactions and identify trends. These insights enable marketers to quickly adapt strategies to maximize engagement and conversions, ensuring that they can optimize every marketing dollar spend.
Crossing the Finish Line: Experiture Converts Curiosity into Commitment
Getting customers behind the wheel for a test drive takes more than just creating awareness – it’s about curating personalized, data-driven campaigns that inspire action. With Experiture, automotive marketers have the solution they need to identify high-intent prospects, create compelling offers, optimize omnichannel campaigns and even nurture leads who aren’t ready to commit right away.
With Experiture, dealerships can deliver connected, consistent and hyper-personalized marketing experiences that fuel results.
Ready to boost your dealership’s test drive numbers and turn interest into action? Speak with an Experiture product expert today on how we can transform your marketing strategy.
