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Ideas to generate leads for truck dealership

by jtr8178
6 replies
So I work at a truck dealership, and I want to use the Internet to generate leads for our sales people, mainly used trucks. These are the big commercial trucks, like the over-the-road ones you see.

For new trucks, we are only allowed to sell to customers in our territory.

For used trucks, we can sell anywhere in the USA, or even the world (We are close to a port city and have done this before).

My main focus is try and get more exposure on our used trucks for USA buyers. There are a couple niche websites that customers go to, but not a single one of these provide any kind of analytics or anything I can track, so it is very frustrating.

My secondary focus is our rental trucks. We have locations in 1 US state and around 150 rental trucks, so only customers in that state would be marketed to... and we only rent to other business entities -- we don't rent to individuals.

I'm open to any thing at this point -- paying per lead, per visitor, per phone call generated, etc... We just want to sell & rent more trucks. Where should I start looking?

Our website gets around 2,000 unique visitors a month, and I get maybe 4-5 customers filling out online applications for credit or emailing us for more info. We have a Facebook page with around 500 Likes on it, and I post content every other day or so.

So if anyone has any ideas/comments/suggestions, I'm all ears!
#dealership #generate #ideas #leads #truck
  • Profile picture of the author calidream217
    I think craigslist is a great way to start. Alot of people look to purchase vehicles on craigslist. So I believe you should get alot of responses. I would also look into using craigslist ad tracker for your ads. This way you can monitor the traffic to your ads and click thru rate to your website from craigslist referrals. There is a small fee to use craigslist ads tracker but its very helpfull.

    You also mentioned you have a facebook page with 500 likes. but you are only posting status updates 1 time a day and thats pretty low you should be doing at least 3 and post should be engaging, helpful, entertaining, great content closely related to your niche which is car sales. People also love give aways and promotions ect. Honestly, since your niche is sooo specific I wouldnt expect your page to go viral unless you try to implement contests, giveaways, ect to drive people to your business
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    • Profile picture of the author jtr8178
      Originally Posted by calidream217 View Post

      I think craigslist is a great way to start. Alot of people look to purchase vehicles on craigslist. So I believe you should get alot of responses. I would also look into using craigslist ad tracker for your ads. This way you can monitor the traffic to your ads and click thru rate to your website from craigslist referrals. There is a small fee to use craigslist ads tracker but its very helpfull.

      You also mentioned you have a facebook page with 500 likes. but you are only posting status updates 1 time a day and thats pretty low you should be doing at least 3 and post should be engaging, helpful, entertaining, great content closely related to your niche which is car sales. People also love give aways and promotions ect. Honestly, since your niche is sooo specific I wouldnt expect your page to go viral unless you try to implement contests, giveaways, ect to drive people to your business
      I completely forgot about Cragislist ... I'm going to get that going ASAP. Thanks for pointing that out!

      I agree with the FB thing ... I struggle enough coming up with relevant and entertaining content to post on there as it is... Are there people out there that I can outsource that to, even though my industry is so unique?
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  • Profile picture of the author Randall Magwood
    1) Google Places with website link in profile

    2) PPC

    3) Chamber of Commerce

    4) Free ebook on taking care of big commercial trucks

    5) Facebook of course

    6) Referral marketing
    Signature
    ==>> Free book reveals make money with affiliate marketing
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    • Profile picture of the author jtr8178
      Originally Posted by Randall Magwood View Post

      1) Google Places with website link in profile

      2) PPC

      3) Chamber of Commerce

      4) Free ebook on taking care of big commercial trucks

      5) Facebook of course

      6) Referral marketing
      For the PPC, what is the best way to find someone to do that?
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  • Profile picture of the author Victor Edson
    Start by defining "who is your target market?"

    Is it the guy starting a new construction business, buying his first long haul rig, delivery companies, supermarket chains or someone else?

    Create a little profile for 'who they are'. Preferably, create several to test out.

    Then ask, where is the guy who's buying his first semi looking online? Is he on the trucker forums, which facebook groups is he a part of, and most importantly of all... how can YOU help him in a way no one else will?

    Can you show him how to buy a used rig and not get a lemon?

    Do you offer a warranty that you can throw in for free if he drives 1,000 miles to buy from you?

    What's ur hook?

    Then go where you think that ONE customer is at... and connect with people there and point them towards a lead generation page. Give away that free report to help them out, or offer them a chance to get a free credit check or whatever your hook is... put it out there to that one individual.

    Buy ads on pages you think he's visiting.

    Pay Facebook pages to promote your company.

    Get in there and SEE if it's profitable for you. Some will be and some won't be.

    Then move along with your other lead profiles and target them. Where does the guy who needs a box truck for hauling paper hang out? The guy who hauls metal, and all the others... think about where your customers are ONLINE.

    And then advertise and make a presence there.

    Facebook, LinkedIn and Adwords are all great PPC platforms.

    If you want someone else do the work, there are plenty of people who will run a ppc, social media, or local search campaign for you guys. Or you could hire someone in house and get more out of it, if you know what you're wanting them to do.

    On an offline front, I would pursue the European and Asian markets by looking for importers there and sending them an email for EVERY used vehicle you get in. You could create an email database of interested commercial vehicle sellers and send out emails for each truck, weekly, daily or whatever works best for your particular company.
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  • Profile picture of the author mahnoormalik
    if you ask me then i will recommend for you the article of Sheraz Saeedy.
    Putting yourself out there and gaining a foothold in the market isn’t easy. You have to find your place among the market giants and seasoned niche holders and you have to do it fast because being a small business, you can only spend so much capital and time with reaping the rewards.
    via
    Small business struggle for lead generation | BizClout
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