Over the years, there have been so many debates about whether or not car dealers should use landing pages or send visitors directly into inventory listings through their various advertising venues. It’s the type of debate that could go on indefinitely since very few companies have the amount of data required to offer a definitive answer and they’re not talking about it. Well, most of them are not.
LotVantage, a digital marketing firm that specializes in posting inventory to sites like Craigslist and eBay Motors, has both the data and a willingness to offer an opinion. The intriguing part is that their answer is likely not the one you would expect.
They like vehicle specific landing pages. This is surprising since their services help car dealers and other industries post inventory. Why would they prefer to use a destination that technically goes against their core products? The answer to that question is in the way they position inventory to consumers. It’s within this positioning that we can find the universal answer to the question and put the debate to rest once and for all.
When consumers visit inventory pages on a website or classified site, they have two choices if they’re interested in a vehicle. They can either make contact based upon the information on the inventory page or they can seek further information. This is where the landing pages come into play. Contacting a dealership about a particular vehicle is easy from the inventory page, but it’s rare that the page will have enough information to make the uncommitted consumer pull the trigger. Giving them the ability to go to a landing page from social media, Backpage, Craigslist, or any other sources means that they can have their questions answered without having to explore a different site (often a competitor).
The best part about landing pages from this perspective is that they can compel action in ways that an inventory page cannot. It keeps the consumer from getting stuck or lost on a vehicle details page while they’re still searching for reasons to commit to making contact or buying the vehicle. In a way, it’s like having the best of both worlds. With inventory pages, they can either contact the dealership or not based strictly on the merits of the vehicle. With a landing page, the inventory is still present and available for exploration. The advantage comes in the form of additional messaging that can push the consumer over the edge to make the necessary commitment.
Exposing inventory to more local buyers is imperative, but it shouldn’t stop there. Properly crafted and positioned landing pages can bring consumers further down in the buying funnel in ways that inventory pages simply cannot.
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