Creating a great specials page can be a time-consuming, pull-your-hair-out undertaking. Frankly, the work may not feel like it’s worth the effort. Some dealers don’t bother, assuming they’re too busy and that it’s too overwhelming a process.
Listen, 40 percent of auto consumers who go to your Website are there to see special offers. If they don’t find them, can’t click on them, find no offers that are relevant to them or have to scroll through your entire inventory to find anything special, they are leaving your site and going to your competitors.
After analyzing hundreds of dealership Websites on a monthly basis and seeing countless specials strategies that hit every branch while falling out of the ugly tree, we’ve found that many share common threads:
- No “Specials” tab on the homepage navigation bar
- Hard-to-find or non–centrally located Specials tab
- Specials tab links to empty specials pages
- Out-of-date or out-of-inventory specials
- No details or pricing on specials detail pages
- No calls to action on specials detail pages
- Forms that require more than three or four required fields
- Too many specials, or a Specials tab that links to entire inventory and requires search functionality
- Coupons or pop-ups that are intrusive and disrupt the shopping experience
- Coupons or specials that have no relevance to the shopper’s wants or needs
Good Website vendors understand that specials maintenance is one of the more annoying aspects of content management for dealers. They dedicate tons of development into streamlining the process with automation and other tools. You should be leveraging your existing inventory tools to merchandise your specials.
Your specials pages take up prime real estate. Don’t fill them with ugly! There are ways to enhance the customer experience and sell more cars.
