Are you guys thinking about retention strategy for digital?

[CarsonWhite]

No mystery Dealer's are spending tens of thousands on performance marketing.

CDG put out an awesome post on that spend only increasing over time. Beating your competitor on ad spend is essentially an inverted race to the bottom.

Is anyone thinking about how they are retaining the traffic they pay for? What works? What doesn't?

 

[levin233]

Most dealers are terrible at retention. They'll spend 10k on ads to drive traffic then let those people leave after one visit and never come back. It's crazy.
What works for us is email follow-ups that aren't just "come back and buy." Service reminders, vehicle tips, local events. Stuff that keeps the brand in their inbox without screaming for a sale.
Also retargeting ads that don't suck. Show them the exact car they looked at with a small price drop or a "still interested?" message. Low effort, high return.
What doesn't work is assuming they'll remember you. They won't. You have to stay in their face after the click. Otherwise you're just renting traffic instead of building an audience.