Low-Cost Marketing Strategies Every Car Dealership Should Be Using

In today’s ultra-competitive automotive marketplace, car dealerships are always on the lookout for effective, budget-friendly marketing strategies that drive foot traffic, improve customer retention, and increase sales.

While flashy TV commercials and massive billboard campaigns may seem appealing, they’re often out of reach for many dealerships looking to stay lean and maximize ROI.

The good news? You don’t need a massive budget to market effectively. In fact, some of the most impactful tools are affordable — and often overlooked. Here’s a breakdown of the most successful low-cost marketing best practices every dealership should be using:

1. Local SEO & Google Business Profile Optimization

The majority of car buyers begin their search online, and showing up in local results is critical. Make sure your Google Business Profile is fully filled out — complete with photos, inventory links, service info, and reviews. Regularly update your profile with fresh posts, promos, and Q&A content. It’s free and can dramatically improve your local visibility.

2. Referral and Loyalty Programs

Your happiest customers are often your best marketers. Incentivize referrals by offering service discounts, gift cards, or perks for every new customer a current one brings in. Loyalty programs also encourage repeat business for service visits, tire replacements, oil changes, and more. The cost is low, and the return can be high.

3. Email and Text Marketing

Collect emails and phone numbers during every customer interaction. Then, use these channels to send appointment reminders, seasonal promotions, or new model announcements. Platforms like Mailchimp or Twilio offer inexpensive plans and let you keep your dealership top-of-mind without breaking the bank.

4. On-Site TVs, and Digital Signage

Your dealership’s physical space is a marketing channel — don’t let it go to waste. Effective point-of-sale materials, well-placed signs, and digital displays can promote new specials, lease offers, service deals, or financing options.

The Secret Weapon: It’s Relevant TV

While many dealerships focus their marketing efforts outward, the real missed opportunity is what’s happening inside the showroom and service center. Traditional cable TV or generic loops of promotional videos do little to engage customers — and in many cases, they actually promote competitor ads or distract from your brand message.

It’s Relevant TV is a custom television platform used by dealerships across the U.S. It is built specifically for car dealerships– Instead of running traditional TV content that includes ads for other brands, it delivers a mix of family-friendly short-form content from a library of over one-million TV programs — while seamlessly integrating your dealership’s promotions, service offers, branding, and even local sponsor ads.

Here’s why it’s a game-changer:

No Ads from Competitors: You’ll never have to worry about your customers seeing a commercial for another local dealership or insurance brand.
Custom Messaging: Easily showcase lease deals, upcoming trade-in events, staff spotlights, or service specials in between engaging content.
Customer Retention & Upselling: Whether it’s in the waiting area or the showroom, the content is designed to hold attention while delivering gentle, effective marketing.
Huge Additional Revenue Potential: Dealerships can even sell local sponsorships and keep 100% of the revenue, making the system more than pay for itself.
Set It and Forget It: The AI-driven platform curates fresh content all throughout the day, keeping your screens updated without requiring constant management.

For less than the cost of a daily coffee for yourself, you can transform your waiting room for all of your visitors. It’s Relevant TV turns your in-location TVs into a dynamic marketing engine that informs, entertains, and influences buyer behavior.

5. Social Media Highlights and Local Partnerships

Creating local buzz doesn’t have to cost anything. Share behind-the-scenes videos of detailing, new inventory arrivals, happy customer deliveries, or community events. Tag local businesses and form partnerships with nearby restaurants, schools, or non-profits for cross-promotional exposure. These posts can also be shared on your TV.

6. Google Reviews and Customer Feedback

Encourage satisfied customers to leave reviews — and respond to them all. A high volume of positive reviews builds trust and improves your search rankings. While you may have places a simple sign at the front desk or a text link after service asking for a quick review, you can also put these encouragements on your TV. Add a QR code on the display and get feedback while people are in your dealership, while their impressions are fresh.

Smart Marketing Doesn’t Have to Be Expensive

Car dealerships that thrive in today’s market are the ones that blend smart digital strategy with in-store marketing that reinforces their brand. While many tactics compete for attention and budget, It’s Relevant TV stands out as a unique and cost-effective tool that maximizes the value of the customer experience while subtly marketing your dealership throughout the day.

If you haven’t considered upgrading your showroom and service TVs — now is the time. It’s Relevant TV is more than just TV; it’s a smart marketing partner already trusted by dealerships across the country.

Why Atmosphere TV May Not Have Your Business’s Best Interests at Heart

As a business owner, creating a pleasant and engaging environment for your customers is paramount. Enter Atmosphere TV, a company that offers curated TV content designed to enhance customer experience in various settings like bars, restaurants, gyms, and waiting rooms. However, despite its appealing facade, Atmosphere TV’s business model reveals some underlying concerns that may not align with the best interests of hosting businesses.

The Business Model: “Free” TV

Atmosphere TV operates on a model that relies on advertising revenue. The service offers businesses free access to its content in exchange for displaying ads to their customers. Here’s a closer look at how this model works:

1. Free Content for Businesses

Atmosphere TV provides its service to businesses at no cost. This includes limited channels with content ranging from sports highlights to viral videos and lifestyle shows, all curated to keep viewers entertained.

2. Ad-Supported Revenue

The catch, however, is that the content is interspersed with advertisements. These ads are not random; they are specifically targeted based on the type of business and its customer demographics.

3. Advertisers Foot the Bill

The primary source of revenue for Atmosphere TV comes from these advertisers. Companies pay Atmosphere TV to place their ads in front of the viewers in these business establishments.

While this model ensures that businesses receive engaging content for free, it raises several concerns about whether Atmosphere TV prioritizes the interests of these businesses.

Concerns About Atmosphere TV

1. Customer Experience vs. Advertising Intrusion: The primary goal for most businesses using TV services is to enhance the customer experience. However, frequent interruptions by ads can disrupt the viewing experience. The ads inserted by Atmosphere TV might annoy customers, leading to a negative perception of the business using their service.

2. Lack of Control Over Content: Businesses have limited control over the ads shown to their customers. This lack of control means that the advertisements may not always align with the values or branding of the business. For example, a family-friendly restaurant may not appreciate ads for products or services that don’t align with their image or mention a competing brand.

3. Hidden Costs: While the service itself is free, the cost that ranges from missed marketing opportunities to the potential customer dissatisfaction. Businesses must weigh the trade-off between saving money on TV content and possibly alienating customers with unwanted content and advertisements.

4. Ad Revenue Prioritization: Because Atmosphere TV’s primary revenue source is advertising, there is a strong incentive for the company to prioritize the interests of advertisers over the businesses hosting their service. This can lead to a gradual increase in ad frequency and ad types that pay them more money, further detracting from the hosting business’ customer experience.

5. Limited Content Options: Because Atmosphere TV is footing the bill for the content they provide to businesses, they are likely to prioritize playback of content that will cost them less to display. They are also less likely to purchase new content if they can get away with playing older, less relevant, content at a lesser cost. This can leave businesses with looping video playlists that repeat often and end up being a bother to customers and staff.

Top Alternatives to Atmosphere TV

Business owners looking to provide quality entertainment without compromising customer satisfaction should consider alternative non-cable solutions:

1. Custom TV Services: Services from leaders in custom TV like It’s Relevant TV, offer a customizable experience tailored specifically for businesses. It’s Relevant TV provides a mix of content and advertising options that align with the business’s branding and customer demographics. This service also ensures compliance with public performance licensing requirements, eliminating legal concerns associated with using personal streaming services like Netflix.

2. In-House Content Curation: Some businesses may benefit from creating their own content loops. This could include a mix of branded content, customer highlights, and non-commercial entertainment, ensuring full control over what is displayed. If you don’t have hours of your own content you can combine what you have with network tv content by using services like RELE.TV.

3. Digital Signage Solutions: Businesses can also explore digital signage solutions that allow for custom content curation. This includes promotional materials, local news, weather updates, and more, without the intrusion of third-party advertisements. This option does tend to lack in engaging TV content people typically enjoy watching, so sticking with a custom tv service might be a better option.

“You Get What You Pay For”

While Atmosphere TV offers an enticing free service, its ad-supported business model may not always align with the best interests of the hosting businesses. Just remember, if you aren’t paying anything, you may not be getting much– or worse, you might actually be losing something. The potential for customer dissatisfaction, lack of content control, and lost opportunities to promote your own business the way you want, are significant drawbacks. Business owners must critically evaluate whether the minor savings justify the possible major impact on their customer experience and brand image.

Exploring alternative entertainment solutions that comply with licensing requirements, solely exist to support your brand, and offer customizable content may ultimately better serve the interests of both your business and your customers.

The Best Digital Signage App For Your Business | It’s Relevant TV

Looking for a dynamic way of communicating with your visitors? Look no further than your TV! The market is FULL of digital signage apps, promising so many things that it can get a bit overwhelming! Most often for “FREE” — don’t fall for it! This article is about pushing all of those options aside and presenting you with the best digital signage software on the market. The solution that’s the best is the best because it’s not just digital signage. It’s called It’s Relevant TV, and we’re going to delve into why it’s the best business TV service.

What makes the Best Digital Signage App the “Best?”

The features. The measure of a good signage app is what it brings to the table; specifically what it does for your visitors, and what it does for your business as a whole. It’s Relevant TV is the best because of how closely it resembles cable TV, and how it doubles as an effective marketing tool.

In short? It’s TV designed specifically for businesses.

It comes with none of the things you hate about cable. Viewers feels like they’re watching real-live television when they watch It’s Relevant TV. Pairing your messaging with entertaining content ensures that your message is not only noticed, but it has a higher chance of being well-received.

Content is key. A digital “sign” or “message board” isn’t enough if you’re really going for results; which is all that a lot of these “free digital signage apps” are offering.

FACT: People are more receptive towards marketing messages when they’re in a good mood.

Nothing puts people in a good mood quite like entertaining videos. It’s Relevant TV’s media library contains over half-a-million videos, which are organized into about 50 categories you can pick and choose from; you won’t find a business TV service with more diverse, and entertaining content.

How does a Digital Signage App Improve your Business Itself?

The most basic way is by empowering you to deliver important messaging to your visitors via the TV. That’s where most of these free digital signage apps stop — but it’s like you just read; that messaging just isn’t effective unless it’s paired with something that gets your audience to look at the TV in the first place. In the case of It’s Relevant, the service comes with features designed to do more than just communicate with your visitors.

It’s has features designed to encourage engagement, and help move your business forward.

Features like real-time social media integration, allows you to display your most recent Facebook Twitter, or Instagram posts directly on the TV by connecting your accounts to the system. The technology is 100% safe, with visitors only seeing posts made by you or your staff. When it comes to generating more followers on social media, you couldn’t ask for a better marketing tool from a business TV service.

TV services should offer more, not just the bare minimum.

Finding the Best Digital Signage App for your Business

There is no all-around “best” TV software for businesses; there’s only your business, and your business’ specific needs. If you’re serious about finding the signage app that’s right for you, it’s important to do your research. Too many business owners get locked into long contracts before realizing the TV software they chose isn’t what they thought it was, or that it came with a catch.

Schedule a demo, request a call, or chat with representatives before making a decision.

The mark of a good service provider is one who’s happy to accommodate all of the above. You want to pick a provider that is there to work with you. You want someone who is available to chat with, answer questions, and set up meetings to show you the technology firsthand. Digital signage apps can really help grow your business if you partner with the right provider.