Marketing your commercial vehicles is just as important as highlighting the deals on your cars – and there’s nowhere better than on the internet
It might not get a second look from car customers, but we all know the commercial vehicle section of a franchised dealership is a vital revenue stream.
Often overlooked when it comes to marketing, van managers usually have to rely on repeat business from a loyal customer base.
There’s good anecdotal evidence that suggests during a house price slump – such as what we are experiencing at the moment – sales of vans rise. Why? Well, it’s because home owners aren’t selling and instead are spending their money on improvements. That in turn means builders and other tradesmen are enjoying boom times and are on the hunt for new wheels.
It’s important to make sure you grab a slice of this new business and that means getting your offers and stock noticed! Just as you’d promote your cars online you need to do the same with your vans, especially considering so many business decision makers research their prospective purchases using the internet.
And its worth noting, it’s just as important to have a major online presence for your commercial vehicle section as it is for you finance and retail business.
‘The key is to identify the best source of highly targeted quality leads,’ explained Really Good Domains chief Dave Timmis.
‘TheVanWebsite.co.uk attracts a massive 200,000 users every month all looking to buy, used or lease vans and light commercials.
‘There are two main sections on the site, one is for leasing, the other for vans for sale. All of the lease or finance offers are fed through from our sister site ContractHireAndLeasing.com and advertising your leasing offers on this site would be seen collectively by 700,000 users a month.
‘The third section of TheVanWebsite.co.uk is a comprehensive directory of more than 5,000 companies offering van-related products and services. If you add reasonable offers to these sites then you will get enquiries. If you add more offers then you’ll get more enquiries – it’s as simple as that,’ Timmis tells Car Dealer magazine.
However, it’s also important to use a site that rates highly in search rankings. How often do you click on a site on the second page of Google? Exactly. And that’s just how your customers use the search engine too. Using a site that’s already at the top to help promote your business makes sense.
‘TheVanWebsite.co.uk is positioned at the top of search engines for almost any phrase of any relevance,’ explained Timmis. ‘ For example, Google.co.uk (pages from the UK) we have the top results for all key search phrases such as vans for sale, Renault vans, Vauxhall Astravan, and many more similar terms.
‘What’s more, TheVanWebsite.co.uk has an obvious memorable name, enjoys loyal visitors, and is heavily marketed on our other very busy motoring websites like FleetDirectory.co.uk, VanLeasingSpecialOffers.co.uk, and ContractHireAndLeasing.com.’
But don’t just take Dave’s word for it – he’s got a lot of very happy customers too! We’ll leave you with one final thought – from someone, like you, looking to promote their commercial stock online. ‘Global Van Solutions has been advertising on TheVanWebsite.co.uk since June 2005 and I can comprehensively say it has been the single best advertising method we have come across,’ said a spokesperson for the firm. And praise doesn’t get much higher than that.
View the original article, Car Dealer magazine, Issue 5, page 33.
Visit www.TheVanWebsite.co.uk
