You may have noticed that automotive sales leads are down. Dealers find themselves in the discouraging situation of trying to meet sales goals with less. If you invest more money to get more leads, your return on investment drops. You end up spending more to get the same results. 

There has to be a better way. The answer is actually pretty simple, instead of focusing on the number of leads, consider how to convert more customers. Auto dealers can do more with the traffic that’s already coming to their sites. Here’s how.

Why Automotive Sales Leads are Down

Between January 2022 and December 2023, overall lead volume was down 7%. That’s not because people are buying fewer cars. In fact, overall automotive sales volume for 2023 was up more than 12% over 2022.

More online shopping options and third-party sites mean it’s easier for shoppers to find what they’re looking for. As a result, they’re spending less time shopping around and they visit fewer dealer sites. Rising inventory availability also helps, although rising vehicle pricing and interest rates may make customers more discriminating.

All of this sounds like bad news for automotive dealers, but there is a ray of hope. Dealer leads close at a much higher rate than referral leads from brand or third-party sources. In fact, third-party leads convert at about one-fourth the rate of dealer leads. So the automotive sales leads that do come to your site are high-value. These customers are ready to be converted. All they need is a little push from you.

The even better news is that there are actions you can take that can help convert dealer website leads. 

Transform More Automotive Sales Leads Into Customers

The number-one thing you can do to boost website lead conversion rates is to respond quickly and with value. Both of those factors are essential, so let’s break them down. 

Responding quickly means answering customer queries within 30 minutes or so. Any longer than that, and your likelihood of conversion drops. Customers may have already moved on to another site or gotten a response from another dealer.

Responding with value means providing targeted, useful information when you contact a potential customer. A boilerplate “Thanks for your interest, here are our featured deals” just won’t cut it. Your response needs to answer the questions customers actually have. 

To do this, you need to know your customer. Many dealer sites gather information by asking the visitor to fill out a form. This approach works in theory, but nobody enjoys entering information into little boxes.

Make the form too long, and visitors might choose not to fill it out. That’s a lost lead. 

Make it too short, and you won’t have the insight you need to provide value during follow-up. It’s a delicate balance that has the potential to frustrate a potential automotive sales lead and hamstring your sales team.

So why not skip the forms entirely? 

Use Launch Labs To Do More With Your Data

Ignite by Launch Labs leverages first-party data to drive sales. Here’s how it works. 

1. A potential customer uses their favorite search engine to discover your dealer website. From the moment they hit your homepage, Ignite collects their information and tracks their progress. It starts with a simple prompt to share their location.
   
   
2. As they move through your site, you can see if they looked at sedans or pick-up trucks. Did they visit your financing page or check their trade-in value? Each of these actions becomes a datapoint you can use to connect with your customer.
   
   
3. Better yet, ignite can instantly engage your automotive sales lead with personalized messaging that encourages them to take action. Text-based AI chat conversations move customers toward conversion without any added labor from your sales team.
   
   
4. Then, visitor profiles are seamlessly converted into leads and sent to your CRM. From there, your sales team can reach out, equipped with detailed behavior information about each customer. 

You’ll never miss another automotive sales lead due to form fatigue. The time you don’t have to spend sifting through bad data can be put to better use responding to clients. And you’ll have all the details you need to make a warm, useful contact.

Elevate Sales Opportunities with Engagement Nurtures

Don’t let the spark of interest burn out just because a visitor leaves your page. Use the data you’ve collected to stay in front of potential customers through: 

1. Off-site display ads on search engines and social media
2. Email and direct mail messages
3. SMS messaging 

Because you have complete ownership of your first-party marketing data, you have everything you need to build targeted nurturing campaigns. This puts you miles ahead of the 75% of marketers who rely on data from third-party cookies to shape their campaigns and advertising. Third-party cookies are on their way out, but your first-party data will always be yours to use. 

You can even use your existing buyer data as a template to attract more site visitors like them. In short, Ignite by Launch Labs helps you engage, nurture, and attract website leads so you can close more sales.

Ignite Turns Automotive Leads Into Customers

Respond to automotive sales leads quickly and with meaningful information. Use Ignite to collect more from your visitors without forcing them to fill out a form. It streamlines the process by leveraging first-party data to provide deep insights into your visitors’ website journeys. 

Automotive customers have a world of options at their fingertips. If you don’t respond quickly and with value, someone else will. So start doing more with your automotive leads.

Book a demo with us today and see how Ignite from Launch Labs can skyrocket the revenue potential of your automotive website visitors.