
How to Choose the Best Dealership Marketing Agency in the US?
Did you know there are 17,600 new car dealerships in the US this year? And we are only halfway through 2024!
What does this mean for your car dealership business?
The first thing that comes to mind is increased competition! New businesses entering the industry mean you must compete with more players and improve your marketing game. The more people you reach, the better it is for your company!
You may find an ideal car dealership marketing agency to help you promote your brand and generate high-value leads.
But another question arises-
Which marketing channels work best for car dealerships?
Email? Probably!
Direct mail? Good choice!
Let us dig into it and discuss leveraging different channels and expanding your outreach to increase sales. Also, we have enlisted the best dealership marketing agencies to help you shortlist some and plan your promotional campaigns!
Why Does Your Business Require the Services of a Dealership Marketing Agency?
You may have a broad customer base with repeat clients. Also, you may get new leads occasionally, helping your business survive!
But gone are the days when a company’s survival was simple! It would be best to replace the word “survive” with “strive” to reach new heights and beat the competition.
You must put your best foot forward and plan effective lead acquisition and customer retention campaigns! Fortunately, dealership marketing companies have the expertise to assist you in analyzing strategies that best fit your needs and conducting successful campaigns!
Here are more reasons you should consider using their services:
- Generating Brand Awareness: Many potential customers may need to know your business, location, and services. Hiring a dealership marketing agency can enable you to boost brand recognition and let your targeted audience learn about the range of vehicles you have and how to reach you!
- Creating reliable connections: Promoting yourselves establishes trust and credibility among your prospects. You can convey your commitment, expertise, and dedication toward serving customers and offering the best quality services.
- Increasing sales: An auto dealership marketing agency can assist you in driving sales by advertising your vehicle features, unique selling propositions, and benefits. It helps you curate effective strategies to reach people and tell them how you differ from your competitors.
- Maintain a reputable brand image: We have all considered how brands like Toyota, Hyundai, and Volkswagen have maintained a distinguished brand image! To answer in short, we have two words—extensive marketing. People remember the company’s logo, tagline, and vehicle features by heart. You can achieve the same for your car dealership by conducting personalized and thoughtful marketing campaigns.
- Target your intended audiences: You can connect with your targeted customer segments via marketing! Whether you want to focus on young couples looking to buy their first car together or eco-conscious buyers, advertising lets you tailor your offers and messages and drive leads.
- Nurture existing relationships: Employ a car dealership marketing agency that helps you strengthen your client connections. Stay connected with everyone who bought from you or used your services with timely promotions, new model information, upcoming event invitations, and more.
Analyzing the Top Marketing Channels for Car Dealerships.
You have many marketing forms to spread the word about your brand and produce leads and sales. But only a few are effective and can justify your budget. Hence, careful consideration is crucial, ensuring you only invest in the most profitable channels.
Most dealership marketing companies suggest you use two or more channels for the best outcomes. Hence, below, we have enlisted a few options, allowing you to create a unique marketing mix for your business:
Direct Mail Marketing
This traditional channel produces a response rate of 4.4%, which is higher than other marketing forms. You can leverage direct mail to connect with decision-makers 1:1 at their homes or offices! Hence, you don’t rely on them opening apps or websites to see display ads or pray your email doesn’t land in their spam folders.
Communicate your plan to use direct mail with your auto dealership marketing agencies to let them plan accordingly. Or use PostGrid’s direct mail API to automate your mailing campaigns at a low cost, save time, and get better results.
If you want ideas on the best ways to use direct mail for your car dealership, we have you covered!
Promote New Car Models
You can mail your existing customer base whenever a new vehicle model is about to launch. Offer them an exclusive preview with high-quality postcards and letters with images.
Also, you can invite them to a test drive event. This step creates intrigue and excitement for the new model by creating exclusivity. People feel special when they get invites to members-only or exclusive parties. Why not use this strategy to give customers a sneak peek and encourage them to pre-order?
Send Time-Specific Mailers
Consider what time of the year you want to send direct mail to clients and prospects. This question lets your dealership marketing agency select themes for you and create higher campaign engagement.
For example, you may send postcards titled “Are you ready for winter because we are?” It can emphasize the significance of well-equipped and reliable vehicles in places where heavy snowfall is likely. Showcase your car models with features like heated seats, all-wheel drive, winter tire packages, and discounted snow tire installations.
You can use this method to advertise special promotions during the holiday season. Or send other time and location-specific mailers to create a buzz among your audience.
PostGrid’s automated direct mail solutions allow you to compile segmented mailing lists, helping you target any audience and location you want! Set a goal and let PostGrid handle the legwork.
Remind Customers When Their Car Servicing is Due.
Ask your dealership marketing agency about ways to conduct repeated and automated marketing.
One example is sending automated reminders. Notify customers whenever their vehicle service or routine maintenance is due. The mailers can include tips and tricks for car owners to maintain a long shelf life and emphasize the significance of regular maintenance.
You can use direct mail automation solutions to launch your direct mail programs online via a unified platform. One such example is PostGrid!
Our direct mail API lets you create, print, and ship marketing collateral from your system. You can integrate our API into your CRM to fetch customer data and auto-fill mailers. It is time-saving, effective, and data-driven, enabling you to ensure high responses and conversions.
A dealership marketing agency can also use our automated mailing solutions to offer direct mail marketing to its clients. Contact us to discuss more!
What Makes PostGrid a Must-Have Tool for Car Dealership Marketing?
PostGrid helps you leverage a top-performing channel like direct mail without manually doing anything! Many businesses believe mailing isn’t for them because they don’t have the necessary resources or time to launch a campaign in-house.
If you are among them, don’t worry!
Our all-inclusive solutions can handle everything on your behalf, from printing high-quality items to shipping them to the correct delivery addresses.
Personalized Messaging
Always discuss your personalization needs with your car dealership marketing agency once you answer questions like
- Do I want to add the prospects’ names to the promotional materials?
- Are the CTAs customizable for every client?
- How do I track responses?
PostGrid’s direct mail service come with in-built personalization options. You can add as many variables as possible, like the recipient’s name, location, preference, age, gender, and profession.
For example, imagine your mailing list looks like this:
| Name | Delivery Address |
| Jacob Smith | 25 NE 1st ST Arlington, Texas 76001 |
| Angela Robertson | #5 Broadway Avenue, Pasadena |
| K L Cooper | 1251A Carat Driveaway Ogden 84401 |
| Ned Lewis | 108 Bailey Road, Newark, New Jersey 07101 |
| Chris J | H Street Washington DC, Washington |
Some dealership marketing companies send generic mail because they don’t employ personalization. PostGrid allows you to add variable fields, like
| Name | Delivery Address | Current Car Model | Last Buying Date |
| Jacob Smith | 25 NE 1st ST Arlington, Texas 76001 | Chevy Silverado pickup | May 15, 2021. |
| Angela Robertson | #5 Broadway Avenue, Pasadena | Honda CR-V | October 8, 2019. |
| K L Cooper | 1251A Carat Driveaway Ogden 84401 | GMC Sierra | June 2, 2021. |
| Ned Lewis | 108 Bailey Road, Newark, New Jersey 07101 | Toyota RAV4 | January 19, 2018. |
| Chris J | H Street Washington DC, Washington | Toyota Corolla | November 7, 2020. |
Hence, you can draft a message like this-
We have missed you, Ned! Your last buy was on January 18, 2018. Since then, we have introduced many new models at our dealership stores.
Upgrade your Toyota RAV4 to the latest Sequoia SUV at a flat 10% discount. We have many more exciting offers in store for you! Visit us now or call us at XXXX XXXX.
See the magic?
Customers are likelier to pay attention to your messages and respond to your offers with personalized mail items. And PostGrid makes it happen—hassle-free and painless!
Automate Your Workflows With API Integrations
You can set up and automate your marketing activities with PostGrid’s direct mail API integrations. Such features are hard to find in a traditional car dealership marketing agency, so you must inquire about everything beforehand.
PostGrid lets you automate your workflows in many ways, including.
- Set triggers: Send promotional mailers to clients at the correct time, like when their car lease expires or whenever they visit your website. It helps you provide relevant solutions when they most need them, producing a high ROI for your business.
- Zapier integration: Your dealership marketing agency may not help you connect with 1,600+ apps, but we do! Yes. Our Zapier integration lets you link platforms and expand your database to reach more people and spread visibility.
- Scheduled campaigns: You may set up your mailing campaigns to ship items to the recipients whenever needed. For example, you can create and set up a print and mail order today for two weeks later, ensuring your items arrive on your dealership’s anniversary! It helps you improve efficiency and not remember dates.
Cross-Check Your Database Quality
Did you notice the mistakes in the delivery addresses in our last example?
Take this one, for instance: H Street Washington DC, Washington.
- Missing apartment number and ZIP code.
- Incorrect capitalization.
- No street and state abbreviations.
These mistakes can delay your deliveries and lead to return mail. If you hire a car dealership marketing agency, check whether they offer address verification.
Luckily, PostGrid cross-checks all mailing lists before your direct mail campaign for quality and deliverability. You can ensure your mailers arrive at the correct destinations without delays or other issues.
Avail Yourself of Scalability and Flexibility
PostGrid’s direct mail automation solutions let you send on-demand and bulk mailers with the same efficiency.
For example, imagine a customer calling to request you send a list of the latest models with prices. You can use our platform to prepare and ship this item to their delivery address within two business days. Also, you can select your preferred USPS delivery option, like First Class, Certified, Registered, or Priority (or Express) Mail.
Now, imagine you want to conduct a large-scale promotional campaign to generate new leads in your sales pipeline. You plan to ship 3k to 4k postcards! PostGrid can help you handle this bulk mailing campaign without any problems.
The best part is you don’t need to do anything in-house, unlike some dealership marketing companies that might require you too! We help you launch small-scale and large-scale campaigns at the click of a few buttons.
One of our clients used our direct mail dashboard to initiate a campaign to reach thousands of prospects and customers. Their goal was to invite everyone to an event where they would host test drives, giveaways, and new model launches.
They had hired a marketing agency for car dealership businesses to handle the event decorations! But they needed to launch a direct mail campaign three weeks before, ensuring they got enough foot traffic.
The company received a high response rate, with nearly half of the recipients RSVPing yes within a few days. It made the campaign a hit!
PostGrid’s automated direct mail features enabled the client to send invites, get responses, and make their event successful—without investing a fortune!
Email Marketing
It is a quick and convenient marketing and communication channel for many car dealerships. Also, email marketing allows you to send timely reminders, promotions, and more to your targeted audience.
Your car dealership marketing agency can help you schedule email marketing campaigns to connect with thousands of prospects simultaneously.
But there are some challenges.
You may need help with issues like bounced emails and low open and click-through rates. Recipients might use an email blocker, sending your messages straight to their spam folders. Or they might never read them, wasting your time, effort, and money.
Hence, ensure your email marketing campaigns only target people interested in your brand.
For example, you can ask people to enter their email addresses on your website to sign up for marketing emails and newsletters. Or schedule campaigns to focus on leads that have contacted you and inquired about your services or vehicle range. It raises your chances of getting replies and spreading brand publicity.
Ask your dealership marketing companies whether they help you conduct multi-channel campaigns. You may integrate PostGrid into your current marketing mix to reach more people and reinstate your messages.
If recipients don’t read your emails, a personalized direct mailer may change their minds!
Here are more tips to help you send emails and get responses successfully.
- Schedule your campaigns on the same day your direct mail items arrive at the prospects’ doorsteps.
- Personalize your subject lines. Using the same headings as your mailers and social media captions is best.
- Clean your email lists by getting help from your dealership marketing agency.
Many companies can help you launch email marketing campaigns targeting your intended audience. You can discuss your needs and check if their services match them!
Automotive Marketing Gurus
Based in Marietta, Georgia, this digital marketing agency for dealerships assists businesses in conducting email marketing campaigns.
It also allows you to conduct an online competitor analysis, providing adequate resources to improve your products and services.
Automotive Marketing Gurus enables you to automate email marketing to save time and effort. The company also provides video editing and social media management services to help you boost your online presence!
Why should you select Automotive Marketing Gurus?
This car dealership marketing agency allows you to conduct data-driven email marketing campaigns with in-depth and custom reporting. You can employ its services to connect with your audience and remind them how you are better than your competitors.
The best part about the company is its helpful staff. They assist you in planning and conducting email marketing campaigns in very little time. You can also contact them if you face issues after the program or when your responses are low. They can suggest changes or ways to boost performance, like combining offline and online channels.
Adpearance
Some dealership marketing agencies, like Adpearance, offer a 360-degree email marketing solution. They can help you spread brand awareness and get leads online by letting you create customized emails and send them to a cleansed list.
Adpearance lets you combine automotive marketing with technology to track your campaigns and provide you access to customized analytics.
Are there more features to make your email marketing campaigns successful?
Yes! Adpearance also provides web design and development. Hence, you can modify your website according to your email marketing messages and offers under the same roof.
Why should you select Adpearance?
Adpearance is among the best dealership marketing companies in the email advertising segment. It helps you learn about this channel from A to Z, making the most of it! Also, its team can guide you on how to get more qualified leads.
As discussed above, email produces a lower response rate than direct mail. But appearance allows you to give your best shot and expect better results.
You can combine email with direct mail, social media marketing, and online ads via your marketing CRM. PostGrid integrates with Hubspot, Salesforce, ActiveCampaign, Magento, and many other platforms, making cross-channel marketing a breeze.
Dealer Teamwork
Dealer Teamwork’s email marketing campaigns help you add custom links that redirect recipients to your website. It offers a landing page builder, allowing you to create custom links and web pages to entice your audience.
It is among the best dealership marketing agencies that offer email advertising. Founded in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, it has risen to be one of a kind with a broad customer base.
Why should you select Dealer Teamwork?
This company allows you to leverage online customer data to improve your campaign’s results. Also, it lets you add pURLs to your emails (just like PostGrid helps you add them to your direct mailers.)
This feature is beneficial for two reasons,
- You can personalize your emails and redirect recipients to your website.
- You can track individual responses and measure your performance accurately. Also, using this data to follow up with respondents is possible.
Dealer Teamwork simplifies email marketing and opens new communication lines for your dealership.
Social Media Marketing
It is the age of social media!
Over 240 million Americans use social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Hence, many dealership marketing companies advise businesses to have active pages on these channels.
You can benefit from social media in many ways! Post regular content with appealing images, helpful tips, and short videos to grab your audience’s attention. Also, you can run contests, giveaways, and other offers to get more people to complete your CTAs.
Combining direct mail with social media is a no-brainer! You can add user-generated content from your pages to your mailers, improving your dealership’s authenticity. And you can ask your mail recipients to share pictures with a campaign-specific and catchy hashtag. It increases engagement rates and motivates more people to participate in your marketing programs.
Here are the best dealership marketing companies you can use for social media management and promotions:
Green Line Automotive
This dealership marketing agency is one of the best choices for your business because it serves only automotive clients. Its online advertising services aim to keep you ahead of competitors and drive more sales.
You can hire Green Line Automotive to manage your social media accounts and run paid ads. It also offers display advertising, video streaming, and SEO services at different rates.
Consult the company’s creative team to discuss your unique needs and draft relevant strategies. You may start small, like posting a few times a week! Then, scale your marketing efforts by hosting contests, asking your followers to share your pages, and running sponsored ads.
There are no shortcuts in social media marketing. You need to be consistent and post high-value content for your audience. Green Line Automotive’s car dealership marketing agency can help you throughout the process so you can shift your workload and save time.
Why should you select Green Line Automotive?
One of the primary reasons to work with this company is its free website audit service. Some clients also get free websites when they hire them for social media marketing and other digital solutions.
Green Line Automotive is one of the most strategic dealership marketing companies with expertise in the online space. You can select it to improve your social media game and create a network of loyal followers (or prospects).
Force Marketing
Force Marketing is a leading dealership advertising agency that allows you to run the best social media campaigns. You can also hire its services to identify lost sales opportunities and increase acquisition via online channels like SEO, PPC ads, and more.
It is one of the most reputed dealership marketing companies, with many high-paying automotive clients.
Why should you select Force Marketing?
Force Marketing enables you to increase lead generation and customer retention. It helps you conduct targeted campaigns with creative messages to make your existing clients feel appreciated and motivate them to buy from you again.
This dealership marketing agency creates a unique omnichannel marketing mix for your business to expand your outreach. It also uses many other digital tools to identify your buyer persona and assist you in reaching relevant prospects likely to visit you.
Companies like Force Marketing conduct a brand analysis to let you learn what works best for your company. They also enable you to spot challenges and ways to deal with them.
Though digital marketing prices are costly, they can offer excellent packages with different services to help you manage your budget.
Or you can invest minimally in digital marketing and allocate your budget to direct mail automation. It is more affordable and can ensure higher results than online channels! Since you mail people personally and create personal connections, offline marketing campaigns have a better chance of getting you sales.
PureCars
It is the best dealership marketing agency for companies that want to grow their business using online channels.
PureCars provides almost all digital marketing solutions, including social media marketing, programmatic advertising, and paid search.
This company understands the automotive industry well and can help you catch up with the latest trends. It enables many worldwide brands to excel in digital marketing and surpass their competitors in only a few weeks.
Why should you select PureCars?
PureCards is a dedicated automotive and dealership marketing agency, which means it has expertise in the ins and outs of the industry.
You can drive brand awareness and attract high-ticket buyers online by hiring PureCars as your digital marketing partner. Please remember the key to success for dealerships is creating the ideal advertising plan with online and offline channels that give your brand a unique voice and spark interest among your target audience.
Other Marketing Forms
You can leverage other marketing channels for your car dealership agency, like content marketing. It showcases your knowledge and expertise, helping prospects see you as a reliable information resource.
Here are some ideas for you:
Create Weekly or Monthly Newsletters
A newsletter lets you discuss industry-specific topics and guide readers to helpful solutions. You can add your opinions and unique points of view that make people think about these subjects differently.
It creates trust and confidence among buyers and leaves an everlasting impact. So the next time they want to buy something, your name pops up in their minds before your competitors.
You can look for dealership marketing companies that allow you to create and send newsletters without extra effort. Most agencies write the scripts and send them to you for approval.
Or you can use content marketing tools to create and schedule the newsletter emails.
Also, you can print and mail your newsletters to subscribers and customers via PostGrid’s API. It ensures they read your content without getting distracted by online ads and pop-ups.
Post Regular Blogs
Choose an auto dealership marketing agency that assists you in creating and publishing blogs on your website. It gives your audience something to learn about your brand, educate themselves on the subject, and make buying decisions.
You can choose from unlimited blog topics, including
- Why buy from car dealerships?
- How to locate the dealerships in your neighborhood?
- When is the best time of the year to buy a vehicle?
- Can I get discounts if I walk into a dealership and pre-order a car?
Ask your dealership marketing agencies whether they can help you write and schedule blogs. If yes, you can easily maintain a consistent and valuable website for your targeted audience without dedicating too much time.
Create a Content Editorial Calendar
Content marketing is a vast topic, including social media posts, blogs, videos, direct mail messages, and more. Anything you write and publish for your prospects and customers comes under this category.
Hence, draft a quarterly content editorial calendar to ensure you post everything on time and keep tabs on your performance.
Too much to do, right?
Here are the dealership marketing companies that allow you to conduct online content marketing:
Go Fish Digital
It is apt for content marketing because it has worked with many automotive businesses and guided them on how to succeed!
It focuses on many digital marketing services, like SEO, web design, reputation management, and paid ads. But its content marketing solutions are also phenomenal, helping you produce and post regular, result-bearing blogs and other resources.
This car dealership marketing agency always enables you to fit into the digital landscape and reach as many customers as possible.
Why should you select Go Fish Digital?
It strives to conduct data-driven and targeted campaigns online to help your company get adequate publicity. Also, its customer service team is fantastic, keeping you updated and educating your staff throughout the process.
Bigwing
Bigwing’s dealership marketing agency lets you impress your prospects and motivate them to visit you! Its digital marketing packages allow you to reach your business goals via content marketing, paid search, targeted display, and other channels.
Why should you select Bigwing?
The agency takes the burden of planning and running digital campaigns off your shoulders. Hence, you can better focus on other things and save manual effort.
Bigwing lets you create a helpful content calendar, schedule posts, track campaigns, and get analytics. You can always stay in the loop and modify programs for higher results.
Factors to Consider When Choosing the Best Dealership Marketing Agency
Consider whether a car dealership marketing agency suits your needs and budget. It helps you make informed decisions, get better outcomes, and align your tasks.
Here are some factors to help you:
List Your Goals Beforehand
Set a marketing budget and list your objectives before searching for agencies. It lets you better communicate your needs and discuss options, ensuring you only spend on the most profitable advertising channels. Also, note your expected results and how to achieve them to draft effective strategies and prepare backup plans.
Research Well
Your car dealership marketing agency must be reputable and reliable. Shortlist companies that guide you on how to get started and which channel can help you reach your goals faster.
Also, check the company’s client reviews, expertise, features, and benefits to make the correct choice.
Ask Questions and Get a Demo
Choose companies that are willing to answer your questions and clear your doubts. It gives you transparency to learn about how they work.
Ask for a free trial period to see if their team is helpful and responds on time. It allows you to get real-life experience before you make an investment decision.
For example, PostGrid’s direct mail API lets you get a demo before you pay anything! You can have hands-on experience using our advanced features and scheduling your print and mail campaigns.
Conclusion
A car dealership marketing agency makes a broad difference for your business. It can offer top-performing services that let you maintain a positive brand image and stay connected with your audience!
Choosing the ideal company can be daunting, but you can complete this task after careful consideration of your needs and the agency’s profile.
Also, consider the marketing channels you want to use before diving into anything! It clarifies your goals and expected outcomes, simplifying the process for your business.
PostGrid’s direct mail automation solutions let you send printed marketing materials online. You can laser-focus your efforts on your targeted audience by compiling custom mailing lists with us. Also, we offer pre-built templates to enable you to create and customize your design.
Click here for more details on how direct mail can change the game for you and your selected car dealership marketing agency!

