At 2023’s Automotive Management Live show, Amber Andrews, digital marketing manager at Jardine Motors Group, revealed the small changes dealerships can make to enhance their online presence to result in more enquiries and leads.
Whether it’s improving online listings and the accuracy of profiles online or responding to customer feedback on social media or reviews – Jardine does them all and has the data to prove that it has worked for the group.
Through partnering with online reputation management platform, Reputation, Jardine can manage the customer journey from acquisition through to loyalty.
The dealer group said it began looking at its online listings as a more prominent customer support platform and uses business listings on search engines such as Google, Bing and Apple Maps to provide answers to questions before they are asked by potential customers in a question-and-answer format.
Andrews said: “We started to make sure that our information online was accurate and that it supported customers, giving them the answers before they asked the questions.
“Once we saw the volume within Reputation’s software, we saw the opportunities in terms of search engine optimisation (SEO). Giving your local listings online a bit of love and attention will bring you a good bottom line and it’s a relatively easy return on investment.”
Andrews said it adds rich content to listings to further enhance the customer experience and be more user-friendly by providing additional information about its services.
Reputation’s software allows the group to keep information consistent and accurate across all platforms including business listings, review platforms and social media channels, said Andrews.
Using AI to respond to customer reviews
Responding to customer reviews was previously a manual job for Jardine, however, the group is utilising artificial intelligence (AI) and automation to respond to customer reviews at scale and as a result, has increased its positive response rate from 73% to 99% and 75% negative response rate to 97%.
Andrews added: “Although we have automation to help us respond to reviews, we add that personal touch to customers by greeting them by first name. We want to show them that we have read and understood what they said in their review. AI drafts us a response and we add our personal touch.”
While 90% of Jardine’s reviews sit within Google, Andrews emphasized the importance of giving the same attention to other review platforms for SEO and attracting new talent to the business by maintaining a positive presence online.
As a result of its customer-centred digital storefronts, Jardine has improved its listing accuracy from 48% to 96% since October 2022.
Jardine has also increased its local SEO rankings and 92% of the group’s listings were in position 1-3 on Google Maps and its local businesses feature in August and October.
Andrews added: “We are proud of our rankings – 92% of our listings rank first which means we have greater visibility. Our listing impressions have increased on average by 15% month on month – we are much more prominent in the market, and we can get more website clicks off the back of it. We’ve also seen an increase in leads since adopting the changes.”
Andrews said the group’s focus for 2024 is to offer more personalisation to customers, ensuring it speaks “brand language” to each visitor.
She added: “Persevere with building your online presence as may not see results immediately. The little things add to the experience that you extend online, so it’s not just bricks. Make sure your bricks are visible in clicks.”
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