8:14 am, January 19, 2009
DEALERS who are worried about a lack of buyers should panic less and improve their advertising.
Justgoodcars.com says that rather than cutting back on adverts, dealers need to actually spread their net further and wider.
This is because car buyers are expanding their search, by using the internet to hunt though multiple sources, says the free ad website.
But the effort will be worthwhile – the site says ‘hits’ have been increasing month by month for several months now. Proving there are lots of buyers out there.
‘However, gone are the days when buyers would simply go online, use one website, find the car they want and go and buy it – they are now using the internet to search many dealer, manufacturer and classified websites to get the best car they can, at the lowest price possible,’ said commercial director Colin Mathieson.
‘As such, dealers need to do whatever they can to give their vehicles the best possible chance of being found, looked at and then considered.
‘There are still far too many vehicles advertised online with lazy descriptions and poor quality or inadequate photos – some still have no photos at all which is simply a waste of advertising space.’
So what’s his advice to dealers advertising online? ‘Buyers want as much clear information as they can possibly get. If a dealer only uses one line and a bunch of acronyms to describe his stock, I guarantee he will get the response his effort deserves.’
But although justgoodcars offers free advertising and 9 free images, Mathieson concedes ‘we are not the only website offering dealers the opportunity for some absolutely free of charge advertising.’
His advice? Go for it. ‘Take as much as you can possibly get. If the offers are out there, what have dealers got to lose by adding their stock, other than additional exposure and the valuable leads other dealers are already picking up?’
