The Master Branding Strategy Part VII: COMPETITIVE AWARENESS
Chances are, you’re probably aware of who your strongest local competitors are. If you’re in the same business, and going after the same potential customers, consider taking a close look at what you see of their branding strategy. This final blog post in our Your Branding Strategy series will focus on how to examine and develop your own competitive awareness as a dealership. As vehicle buying trends continue to shift and evolve, taking a good look at your competition’s online presence would be wise as well. How do they interact with their current or prospective customers? Do they interact at all? What are people saying about them? How can you simultaneously use their tactics to better your own, while also differentiating yourself from their brand? After all, thought you may sell similar (if not the same) inventory, your dealership brand is unique!
You may have noticed by now that all of our branding strategy tips are interrelated. We discussed in Part Four of this series, how we have a current dealership client with a fantastic community presence--and part of this presence was developed by considering how to differentiate themselves from the competition. How are you doing this? In your local community, consider what makes sense, given your dealership’s expressed values and purpose. Would it make sense to do more in your community? We’ve seen dealerships set up summer movie nights after hours on their physical site. We’ve also seen dealerships open their spaces up for local charities and nonprofits in need of a space for an event or meeting.
These are examples of how a dealership can separate themselves from their competition, while sowing into the long-game strategy of strengthening their community presence. Pull marketing (getting customers to come to you, instead of pushing them into buying from you) is all about building your dealership’s credibility, expertise in the automotive industry, and ability to provide value to your customers. Therefore, it’s matters that you spend time building and strengthening your reputation locally in a sustainable way. Similarly, as you gain an understanding of your competition’s online presence, consider how you can strengthen your own. In the era of video marketing, there are a million ways to set yourself apart from the competition by building a sense of community online. Have you considered leveraging this tool? We’ve seen exactly how this, as well as top-notch photos can contribute to selling more, establishing loyalty with current customers, and reaching new customers, because it’s what we do!
What about you? Do you agree or disagree? What have you found that helps your set your dealership apart from the competition? Let us know in the comments below!