In the used truck industry, marketing has always been about getting your trucks seen. Making sure they are visible where buyers are. For a long time, that was done through listing periodicals and websites. And while those resources remain vital to any used truck marketing strategy, they’re no longer a dealer’s only option.
The internet has dramatically expanded the reach and visibility of used equipment dealers and their inventories, enabling proactive dealers to display their trucks to prospects in ways they previously could have only imagined.
During a roundtable discussion Thursday at the Used Truck Association (UTA) Convention, marketing experts shared how used truck dealers today can leverage groundbreaking digital technology to extend their marketing reach, maximize their spend and drive quality leads to their sales teams. As the panel made clear, the days of waiting for the phone to ring are over.
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“You should be actively engaged with your audience all the time,” said SOARR’s Ethan Nadolsen.
On Thursday, Fusable’s Ramon Yslas said he believes that is best done through a digital ecosystem, with investments into listing sites, social media, search engine marketing and more. Yslas said far too often dealers will invest in one resource for marketing and expect that tool to drive their sales. But putting all your eggs in one basket overlooks all the other ones out there. He said there’s even value in trying solutions that are new or unknown so dealers “not only have an understanding of where people are, but also where they aren’t.”
He used the example of one customer who loves social media and another who prefers a search engine. Investing in one platform will miss the customer on the other.
Charles Bowles with Commercial Truck Trader agreed. Bowles said as market demand wanes, “successful sellers have to reach a wider audience to capture demand.”
On that note, Scott Lubischer with Truck Paper noted marketing departments should get leadership involved if that’s what it takes to drive smart investment. Lubischer said engaged leaders are far more likely to support a wider, more varied outreach plan.
Other panelists agreed, and shared how Facebook, YouTube, Google, Linkedin and other platforms all have specialty tools that enable dealers to connect with direct customers and prospects in a consistent, low-cost manner. Bowles noted how those tools allow dealers to decide exactly how and where they route leads, while Yslas mentioned digital leads can provide insight into customer habits to better inform sales outreach.
The panelists agreed there’s no perfect dealer solution — “the best marketing plan is the one you can manage,” Nadolsen said — but encouraged the audience to not shy away from newer, digital solutions just because they’re unknown.
Thursday’s panelists also didn’t overlook the importance of a great listing and the ‘digital transparency’ one can create.
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The panelists said a good used truck listing in 2024 must be comprehensive, properly indexed and provide as much essential information as possible, both so the listing is optimized by search engines and so a prospective buyer, when they find the truck, can take action.
The foursome added information on a listing should include, but not be limited to, vehicle specifications, usage and service reports, vehicle history reports and, of course, high-quality images. On the latter, Lubischer said he recommends dealers include at least a dozen images, and order them consistently on all listings so customers can experience a virtual walkaround of the vehicle. If a video is possible, he said that’s even better.
For those other listing features, Yslas said it’s also important to remember that customer expectations have fundamentally changed since the pandemic. Everyone buys everything online today. Expecting a customer to undergo a buyer’s journey that does not mirror their purchasing habits in other areas of their life is unrealistic.
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“I would ask, ‘Would I buy this truck the way the listing looks?’” he said. “Did I miss something that would provide sentiment action” for a prospective customer.
Bowles agreed. He said Commercial Truck Trader research indicates 8 of 10 prospective buyers determine the truck and dealer they want to contact based on what they find on a listing site. He said that percentage can’t be overlooked. “If they don’t get that information from you, they’ll go to someone else,” he said.
