The Ultimate Marketing Guide for Motorcycle Dealers

What is Online Marketing?

Online marketing is the strategic use of online platforms (search engines, marketplaces, social media networks, etc.) to generate leads with the intent to convert those leads into customers.

How Can Online Marketing Grow My Business?

Long gone are the days of door-to-door sales. The internet has made it possible, cost-effective and fairly easy for businesses to instantly reach customers all over the world.

Research shows that most consumers conduct online research before making a purchase. According to Pew Research, approximately 72% of American adults use at least one social media platform, 92% of adults online use email and 82% of households have an internet service provider.

Thus, online marketing helps you reach customers, where they are, on the internet. It is also a cost-effective way to improve brand visibility, target specific audiences, engage with those audiences and measure your results.

Online marketing also gives you the power to initiate the consumer decision-making process and ultimately guide potential customers towards purchase.

Access to online marketing has leveled the playing field for businesses, by allowing businesses of all sizes to advertise their products and services without breaking the bank. Oftentimes, the more niche and narrow the target audience, the better the results are. This was not (and still is not) the case with most offline marketing channels.

Elements of Online Marketing

There are seven core elements of online marketing. Continue reading below to learn more about the benefits, best practices and realistic expectations for each.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

The goal of SEO is to get your website to rank high on the search engine results page (SERP). This differs from paid advertising because SEO is done organically. Therefore, SEO is virtually free.

This is done by optimizing your content so that Google shows it towards the top of the search results page. SEO helps make your website more visible to and discoverable by potential customers on the internet.

Benefits

  • It boosts perceived credibility.
    • Appearing on the first search results page signals to customers that your business is credible.
  • Most consumers also believe that the information located at the top of the search results page is the most reliable.
    • Especially if the customer is looking for answers to a question involving the purchase process, you'll want to make sure that they perceive you as an authority on that topic and in your industry.
  • It's free.
    • If done yourself, SEO is virtually cost-free. The only thing it will cost is your time. Unlike PPC (Pay-Per-Click) advertising, SEO has no direct costs. If you decide to hire an SEO professional, the only cost would be their service fees.
  • It gives your business a competitive advantage.
    • According to the Pew Research Center, 95% of all clicks occur on the first search results page of Google. To have an advantage over your competitors, you'll need to rank above them.
  • It helps you rank better in local searches.
    • According to a study conducted by Neustar, 78% of local mobile searches result in a purchase. (Therefore, it is important for dealers to have an online presence and a mobile-friendly site. We'll discuss this further in the web design section.)

Best Practices

  • Make sure your website is showing in Google Search.
    • Provide basic/essential information about your business on your website. (i.e. inventory, pricing, location, hours, etc.)
    • Use short, meaningful page titles.
    • Create page headings that clearly convey the content.
    • Describe inventory on your website using keywords. (i.e. manufacturers, brands, colors, descriptors, etc.)
    • Use alt text tags for images and videos.
    • Do not use "black hat SEO methods."
  • Decide if you want/need to hire an SEO expert.
  • Only post valuable, high-quality content.
  • Claim your business on Google.
  • Secure your site with HTTPS.
  • Keep track of results using Google Console.
  • Make sure your site is mobile-friendly.

Realistic Results

SEO is a long-term strategy. It takes a minimum of five months to see results. The good news is that if done correctly and consistently, the results will be long-lasting.

Also, depending on your level of experience, you may be able to do your own SEO. However, if you are a beginner, it will be more time and cost-effective to hire an expert.

Pay-Per-Click Advertising (PPC)

For PPC advertising, a company pays a search engine, website owner or network each time their ad is clicked on.

Benefits

  • The results are immediate.
    • Unlike long-term strategies (i.e. SEO and content marketing), PPC produces immediate results.
  • It gives you the ability to target potential customers at specific times and places.
    • With PPC you can schedule your campaigns. You can also make changes to your campaign as needed.
  • You can measure the results.

Best Practices

Want to find out exactly how to create the most effective PPC campaigns? Check out these recommendations from Google below.

  • "Add as many unique, relevant headlines and descriptions as you can."
  • "Implement all ad extensions that make sense for your business, trying for at least four."
  • "Use keyword insertion and ad customizers if you have a lot of ads to maintain."
  • "Pair responsive search ads with Smart Bidding and broad match keywords."

Realistic Results

You can expect to see results in approximately three months or so. You can also expect these results to be short-term.

However, keep in mind that it's important to have a mix of both short and long-term elements in your online marketing strategy for best results.

Web Design

Web design is the process of planning, creating, building and maintaining a website. This involves the layout, typography, aesthetics and user experience.

  • Good web design improves SEO.
    • User experience is important when it comes to ranking on Google. Google stated that it will continue to rate websites primarily by the quality of their content/information.
    • However, when comparing pages of similar relevance, the page with better web design (and, therefore, a better user experience), will be ranked higher on the SERP. This will be key for outranking competitors.
  • Good web design improves conversion rates.
    • A Google study concluded that a 0.1-second improvement in load time can positively influence the entire consumer purchase process and, therefore, increase conversion rates.
    • A professionally designed website can lead to higher conversion rates/an increase in sales.
  • Good web design reduces bounce rates.
    • Google defines a bounce as a single-page session on your website. According to Forbes, "38% of users will stop interacting with a website if the layout is unattractive," and "39% will stop engaging if the images don't load" or "if the site itself takes too long to load."

Best Practices

  • Optimize your website for mobile devices.
  • Create simple navigation.
  • Stick to your brand's color palette.
  • Keep the interface consistent. (i.e. color scheme, typography, navigation, etc.)
  • Use the F or Z reading pattern.
  • Make sure that your website meets the current accessibility standard.

Realistic Results

It takes time to build a website. The first version of your website will not be your last. We recommended that you work on your website in stages. This means you will have incremental launches over time.

Your website must have a foundation that can withstand changes and updates over time. This way you don't run into trouble with the back-end development along the way.

Since building a website takes time, the results will not be immediate. However, the longevity of the results will have a great positive impact on your dealership's online success.

Make sure that the website provider you use offers all the features your dealership needs. For example, we often hear from dealers whose website provider doesn't offer the option to provide inventory feeds for third-party websites. In this case, the dealer has to manually list their motorcycles on each third-party marketplace they wish to use.

Content Marketing

Content Marketing uses a pull strategy, opposite to the traditional push strategy.

Content marketing is simply when a business provides information or content that they believe their target audience will find valuable, inspiring or even entertaining. This information draws potential customers to your website.

A good example of content marketing is a blog or vlog, which offers important information specific to the organization's industry. The goal is to provide thorough answers to your target audience's questions. In turn, search engines are more likely to display your content whenever someone searches the type of content your blog or vlog features.

Benefits

  • It produces long-term results.
    • Unlike PPC, content marketing is a long-term marketing strategy and, therefore, has long-term results.
  • It's cost-effective.
    • Content marketing only costs time.
  • It helps drive traffic to your website.
    • Content that demonstrates a company's expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness are likely to rank higher in Google's search results.
    • Creating content on your target audience's interests or frequently asked questions (FAQs) are great ways to rank high on the SERP and funnel those potential customers to your website.
  • It leads to higher conversion rates.
    • According to Search Engine Journal, "quality content marketing campaigns tend to convert at a higher rate than most other marketing techniques."
    • People are more likely to purchase from a brand that they trust. This is why helpful, informative and authoritative content creates (loyal) customers.

Best Practices

  • Provide value.
  • Avoid hard-selling.
  • Use captivating titles.
  • Write on current and relevant topics.
  • Avoid keyword cannibalization.
  • Create content that answers your industries and dealership's FAQs.
  • Use high-quality graphics for blog/guide banners and images throughout your content to break up any lengthy text.
  • Use Google Search Console to track results.

Types of Content Marketing:

Continue reading below to learn about the different types of content marketing and discover which formats work best for your business.

Blogs

Blogs are a medium through which you can share information with customers and potential customers. Blogging also allows you to assert your dealership's authority on motorcycle-related topics and in the motorcycle industry as a whole.

This is important because consumers are more likely to make purchases from companies that they perceive to be experts and industry leaders.

Blog Ideas

  • Five Fees to Expect When Buying a Motorcycle at a Dealership
  • How to Choose the Best Harley For Me

Infographics/Checklists

People love visuals. Infographics are the perfect way to share information in an easily digestible format. This type of content is also easily shareable.

Infographic ideas

  • 10 Steps to Cleaning and Lubing a Motorcycle Chain
  • How to Get Your Motorcycle License

Guides

Guides allow you to further express yourself as an authority figure in your industry. Guides provide detailed steps on how to complete a task or process. It provides the reader with clear advice, tips and expert opinions.

Guides provide value to the reader. Because guides provide more detailed information, they are typically longer than the average blog post.

Also, it's important to provide detailed information, but do not make your guides too lengthy. A guide that is too long (15 pages or more) is discouraging to the average reader.

Break up the sections so that it is digestible. You should provide links to separate blog posts for more detailed information when necessary.

Guide Ideas

  • Steps to Buying a Motorcycle from a Dealership
  • How to Trade in Your Motorcycle at a Dealership

Realistic Results

Content marketing is a long-term strategy. It typically takes a minimum of six months to see results.

The important part is to consistently make quality content. This will produce long-term, sustainable results.

Remember content marketing is all about providing information that adds value and builds trust between your company and consumers.

Email Marketing

Email marketing is the process of promoting products and services via email to current and potential customers.

You can also choose a more soft-sell approach by using emails as a means to provide valuable information, communicate and build relationships with your audience. (i.e. welcome letters, newsletters, blogs, guides, etc.)

Benefits

  • The results are measurable.
  • It's permission-based. (Consumers request to receive emails and can unsubscribe at any time.)
  • It increases ROI. (return on investment).
    • According to Litmus "for every $1 marketers spend on email marketing, they receive $36 in return.",
  • It's easy to reach consumers.
    • According to Statista, in 2020 there were four billion email users globally, and that number is set to grow to 4.6 billion users in 2025.
  • It's easy to start.
    • It is relatively easy to start an email marketing campaign. It will take time to grow your audience, however, there are plenty of user-friendly tools, like Mailchimp, you can use to get started.

Best Practices

  • Experiment with CTAs. (Call to Action).
  • Use short subject lines. (Less than 60 characters)
  • Experiment with different delivery times.
  • Greet the recipient by name.
  • Use a sending address that customers will recognize. (i.e. your company's name.) Or, to make it more personal, you can use a dealer rep's name. (i.e."James from Best Harley Dealer 1.")
  • Don't send too many emails. Experiment with frequency.
  • Compare your results to industry averages.
  • Try segmenting your emails before removing email recipients with low open and click-through rates.
  • Do not add people to your email list who have not opted in to receive email messages from you, this includes buying an email list from a third-party company.

Realistic Results

It can take time to build your audience. It's important to have a clear CTA on your website that encourages users to sign up to receive emails.

It will take time to discover what types of content subscribers want to receive and at what times they would like to receive it. Be patient and experiment with different types of content, times and subject lines.

Overall, it can take six to 12 months to see results from email marketing. However, similar to other long-term strategies mentioned above, email marketing has long-term results, which makes it well worth the wait.

Third-Party Marketplaces

A third-party marketplace is an online platform that connects companies to customers by allowing them to advertise their products and services on their website.

Benefits

  • The third party does all the work.
  • No tech skills are needed and no maintenance is required.
  • Your company will reap the benefits of the third-party marketplace's existing customer base and brand visibility.
  • You may have the option to have a custom, branded landing page that displays all of the motorcycles currently available at your dealership.
  • Depending on the company, you may have the option to have your inventory updated in real-time.
  • Some third-party marketplaces provide you with an online account with access to your performance stats.
  • You'll have access to targeted online shoppers who are in the market for a motorcycle.
  • You can boost your online presence and separate yourself from your competitors.

Things to Look for When Choosing a Third-Party Marketplace

  • CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software integration
  • Real-time feed updates
  • Access to performance stats
  • Trustworthiness
  • Good reputation/Positive reviews
  • Significant social media presence
  • High daily average of unique visitors to their website

Realistic Results

If you follow the best practices above when it comes down to choosing a third-party marketplace, you can expect to see results relatively quickly.

Which package you choose will also affect your results. For example, ChopperExchange offers a variety of services, including marketplace advertising, CX Online Ads and native advertising.

Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing is the use of social media platforms to create, grow and engage with your audience with the intent to convert them to (loyal) customers.

Benefits

  • Helps funnel leads to your website.
  • Can help you convert leads into sales.
  • Helps you establish your brand voice.
  • Gives you the ability to receive direct feedback from customers.
  • Gives you the ability to quickly and easily communicate, connect and engage with your audience.
  • Increases brand visibility.
  • Helps humanize your brand.

Best Practices

  • Each platform has its own best practices which are dictated by that platform's algorithm. In general, the goal of social media is to inspire, relate, entertain and inform.
  • Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are the three major platforms we recommend for dealers.
  • Additional platforms we recommend are Reddit, Pinterest and TikTok.
  • Use high-quality photos and videos.
  • Use new post types when they are released because they are typically favored by the algorithm. (i.e. Facebook stories, Instagram reels, Pinterest idea pins)
  • Use the correct aspect ratios for each post type on each platform. (Use a tool like Canva that has built-in layouts for each post type.)

Realistic Results

Growing communities and building engagement on social media platforms take time, but it's well worth the effort.

It can take approximately six to nine months to see results. For step-by-step tips and detailed advice, check out our comprehensive social media guide for dealers.

How to Get Started

Continue reading below for actionable steps on how to get your online marketing campaign started.

Set Goals

It's important to set goals. Writing down specific goals allows you to organize, plan and prioritize. When you have a clear vision of what you want to accomplish, you're more likely to achieve your goals.

It's useful to use the acronym S.M.A.R.T, which stands for specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, relevant and timely, when creating your goals.

Generic goal example: Generate sales leads from Facebook each month. SMART goal example: Generate 10 sales leads from Facebook each month.

Identify Best Options

Once you have written, organized goals, the next step is to choose which online marketing options are right for you.

For example, if you're just getting started, you should consider starting by building a presence on social media, especially if you don't have a website or if it's under construction.

This way, customers can have access to your dealership's contact info, hours of operation and inventory. Also, it's never too early to start content marketing. Actually, the earlier the better because it's a long-term strategy and it's virtually free to start.

If you have already begun your online marketing journey, you should consider fine-tuning your website or consider hiring a third-party marketplace to boost brand awareness and increase sales.

Calculate a Budget

Approximately 10% of revenue is spent on marketing in the automotive industry, according to Automotive News. Automotive ad spending plummeted during the pandemic, but as things begin to shift back to normalcy, it's important to recommit to online marketing strategies.

Many experts agree that digital ad spending will increase by 50% in the next four to five years. Therefore, it's important to maintain your online presence to remain competitive.

One popular strategy to help you allocate your marketing budget is to follow the 70-20-10 rule. Using this method, you would spend 70% of the marketing budget on safe, proven strategies, 20% on new strategies and 10% on untried, innovative strategies.

Set Campaign Themes and CTAs

To create the most engaging campaign themes, you should use a combination of creativity and knowledge of consumer behavior.

Note that there are four factors that influence consumer behavior: psychological, social, cultural and personal factors.

Think about what message will be compelling to potential buyers based on the factors above. It's also important to consider your target audience's demographics.

Also, a strong campaign needs a strong CTA to help guide potential customers through the buying process. Having clear and effective CTAs will help convert leads into customers. Check out Hootsuite's advice for creating the most effective CTAs below.

  • Create urgency
  • Make the benefit clear
  • Stay true to your brand voice
  • Choose to be clear over being clever
  • Guide your audience exactly where you want them to go
  • Make your CTA "button" stand out
  • Sound conversational
  • Experiment

Do It Yourself

If you have the necessary experience, it's possible to start your online marketing journey on your own.

If you don't have much experience, it's still possible to get a good start on your own. This guide can serve as a great tool for that.

However, over time you may find that your results become stagnant. This may indicate that you should consider hiring an online marketing professional to realize your dealership's true growth potential.

Hire a Marketing Agency

Marketing a business, its products and services is a full-time job. As a business owner, you already have day-to-day operations on your hands. Plus, it takes time to become an online marketing expert, and time is money.

The time you would spend learning how to execute the strategies above could be allocated to doing other important things at the dealership.

Therefore, you should consider hiring an online marketing expert/team. In many cases, this is the most cost-effective option.

You can even outsource certain elements of your marketing strategy that you find too difficult or time-consuming to do yourself instead of outsourcing it all.

SEO, web design and PPC are the most common areas of online marketing that many businesses outsource to an outside agency.

Track Results

It's important to track your results. Most online marketing tools have a built-in performance dashboard. (i.e.Google Search Console and Google Analytics, Hootsuite, Meta (Facebook and Instagram) Business Suite/Performance Insights)

You might also find it helpful to keep an excel spreadsheet for certain campaigns, especially for making side-by-side comparisons.

For example, when you are trying to optimize your CTAs, it may be helpful to create an excel document to compare the results of each.

You may also find it helpful to conduct A/B testing. Many online marketing platforms provide business accounts with an A/B testing tool within their performance dashboards.

Also, before you start a campaign, it's important to decide what will define success for you. This is where KPIs (Key Importance Indicators) come into play. Check out this list of important KPIs recommended by Hubspot.

Review Results

It's important not only to set time frames for different campaigns, but also to check in on their performance along the way. This way you can make sure your campaign is on its way to success. You can save time and resources by consistently reviewing your results.

For short-term strategies like PPC, you can pop in on the results daily or even weekly. For long-term strategies like content marketing, you can check your results weekly and monthly.

We would also recommend reviewing and/ or optimizing your overall strategies at least quarterly.

Make Regular Adjustments

It's also important to make adjustments to your campaigns when necessary. If you notice that your campaign is underperforming, it may be time to reevaluate your strategy.

Make sure you're not making changes and changing direction too early. It's important to have enough performance data to make an informed decision about your marketing efforts.

Making changes too frequently may impede the progress and performance of your campaign. PPC can be an exception to this rule, but it's still important not to overdo it.

Also, keep in mind that there are outside factors that can affect your campaign's results, such as:

  • Seasonality
  • Holidays
  • Economic Conditions
  • Supply chain issues
  • Manufacturing changes
  • Your location
  • How much money your competition is spending on online marketing

In Conclusion

This guide is a great first step to planning or tweaking online marketing efforts. It's the perfect aid to plan, organize and strategize your next move.

Keep in mind that consistency is key to see the results you desire, and don't hesitate to outsource things that are outside the scope of your team's expertise.

For any inquiries on what ChopperExchange can offer your business, feel free to contact us at sales@chopperexchange.com or (800) 523-7274.