Transactional and Relational Advertising … You Need Both

Do you know the difference between Transactional Advertising and Relational Advertising? While everything an auto dealer does from an advertising and marketing standpoint is done with the ultimate goal of gaining customers and increasing the bottom line, the way one achieves that goal can vary greatly from dealership to dealership. In case you don’t know the difference between the two, we give you the definition of both terms.

 

Transactional Advertising focuses solely on making a sale as quickly as possible. There must be some kind of short-term benefit in the ad to cause the consumer to buy. In the case of a car dealer, that might be a great sale, a tremendous credit hook, a low down payment, or some other incentive. In short, anything that would bring forth an immediate sale.

 

Meanwhile, Relational Advertising has a completely different goal. Its focus is to create a relationship between dealer and customer, thereby developing brand loyalty. When done effectively, a customer won’t think of going anywhere else but your dealership to purchase their vehicles.

 

So … with that in mind, which of the two is most important? Trick question! You need both to be a highly successful automotive dealership. You want to make as many sales as possible today, but you also need to remember it costs about 10 times as much to get a new customer as it does to retain an old one!

Role Reversal

 

Put yourself in the shoes of a consumer, and it’s very likely you’ll realize you do a great deal of both Transactional and Relational shopping yourself! For some things, you will spend hours looking for a great deal; and when shopping for other items, you’ll immediately head to the one place where you know you’ll be making the purchase. Shopping for a car, though it’s a much more big-ticket item than most, is no different. Some people will shop around for sales or service and buy where they can find the best deal; while others will go directly to “their” dealership (hopefully yours).

 

Let JKR Automotive Advertising help you find the perfect mix of Transactional and Relational Advertising. Give Eric Tigner a call today at (321) 397-0777. For your efforts, you’ll receive a FREE Advertising Review. We’ll take a close look at your media market and your competition, and provide you with a report that will be of great value to you whether or not you ever become a JKR client (but we think you will).

 

JKR Automotive Advertising: We Move Cars