How Car Dealers Can Communicate Their Community Involvement

Your car showroom is a beacon for your community and not just because of its well-lit displays. In smaller cities and towns, they may be the area’s largest employer and tax revenue generator. In fact, according to NADA, each of the 18,000 local dealerships in the U.S. employs an average of 67 individuals, most of whom live within driving distance to the dealership.

Forbes called car dealerships one of the “last true ‘Main Street businesses’” because they’re so heavily integrated into smaller communities. Yet, with the top 10 dealership groups owning an all-time high of 9.3% of the country’s dealerships, the industry risks losing its relationship with communities.

Whether through charity, altruism or general awareness, here’s how to keep your communities informed of all the great things your dealership is doing to support it.

Create a Framework: Leverage the Four P’s

Brands have followed the golden rule of the Four P’s of advertising since the 1950s:

• Product: What’s being sold, such as a physical good, service or consulting
• Price: How much is being charged and how it impacts the brand's image
• Place: Where the product or service is promoted and where ideal customers find information
• Promotion: How to communicate the benefits of the product or service to increase sales

When applied to building public awareness around your dealership’s good deeds, we can slightly augment the Four P’s to:

• Product: What you’re doing to help the community whether it’s restoring baseball diamonds at a nearby field or sponsoring a Thanksgiving turkey giveaway in the dealership’s neighborhood.
• Price: This doesn’t have to be a monetary donation but could include how many people took part, how many hours were spent and how many were impacted by your good works.
• Place: Not only think of where these activities take place specifically but why the location is important to the greater good of your community.
• Promotion: Use your marketing channels to promote not only your own charitable activities but nearby community activities such as annual festivals or school fundraisers as well.

You can adapt the Four P's framework to highlight your dealership's community involvement. If you create a structured approach to effectively communicate your local impact, you’ll reinforce your position as an integral part of the community.

Identify In-Dealership Opportunities

When it comes to reinforcing your civic activism, your dealership is your greatest promotional asset. From vehicles to showroom spaces and waiting areas, survey your dealership and use existing assets to reveal opportunities to support the community and showcase your involvement. Just be sure to maximize your resources efficiently.

For example, record vignettes announcing your dealership's latest philanthropic efforts and incorporate those into your customer lounge, TVs, service monitors and showroom monitors to build awareness. Similarly, photos from past activities should be displayed throughout the dealership to bolster a sense of pride among employees and customers.

Leverage Online Awareness 

Beyond the digital marketing investments you may currently have in lead generation, there are additional ways online marketing can boost awareness around your community efforts. Build a community page to help with local search engine optimization (SEO) and provide an archive of previous efforts where your store helped the community. This allows the leaders within your organization to share, in their own words, the value they want to extend to those they serve through their dealership and beyond.

Also consider working closely with your digital Marketing team to ensure your dealership’s social media calendar includes posts covering your community investments.

Work With Local Media Leaders

It may sound like an old-school approach but get to know your local newspaper, news website, TV channel, or radio reporters too. Reporters are hungry for worthwhile news stories, especially those that highlight positivity in the community. Feel-good stories like a dealership investing in local infrastructure by funding a new playground or providing the fire department with a new chief’s truck will make headlines.

A dealership principal or manager can create a list of local media and then reach out individually and invite them to a ceremony or event. All it may take is a single email or phone call. A key message that includes quotes from dealership leaders — or even better, interviews — will help move a story from consideration to publication. 

Whatever path you choose, there are multiple ways to publicize your community investments. Ultimately, every community appreciates authenticity. Word-of-mouth from satisfied customers and grateful community me