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.

Do I Have the Licensing Rights for Using TV in My Waiting Room?

This question is becoming much more common these days as motion picture companies, television studios and others are sending threatening letters to business owners. It doesn’t matter what industry you are in– if you operate a medical office, restaurant, retail establishment or car dealership, you can be held liable for showing television content that you don’t have adequate permission to display.

And it doesn’t matter how you are playing this content, whether it’s on a DVD, or through a popular streaming provider like Netflix, Hulu, Disney+ or YouTube. Showing that content inside a business is likely against copyright terms, and could put you in legal jeopardy. Hulu’s Terms & Conditions for instance clearly state that their service is NOT for commercial use. Therefore, you cannot use it in a public or business setting- even in a waiting room.

Did you receive a threatening letter from a licensing company?

While there may be many valid points in a letter you’ve received in the mail from a content licensing organization, you should read it carefully, and realize that there is not one licensing body for all content. In a lot of cases these letters are designed to scare you into using a service that they are selling. Many of these services will offer a solution that shows a limited library of uninteresting content, looped on your TV day in and day out. You don’t need to trade away interesting television for “safe” TV when there are options out there that are both safe and interesting.

Just know, you are not obligated to use any specific licensing service in your business or waiting room. You just need to be sure that whatever service you are using has secured commercial playback rights for the content you are showing.

There are TV Providers that Include Business Display Licensing as Part of the Service

While Hulu, Netflix, Sling, Pluto and other streamers do NOT provide commercial licensing at the time of this article, there are other providers who do. And that’s what you want to utilize in order to keep your in the copyright-clear. It’s Relevant TV is one service provider that was built with integrated commercial licensing from day one. It’s cost-effective, easy-to-use, and features a growing library of over half-a-million videos. In addition to being the best streaming option for businesses, it’s also the best cable replacement on the market.

DIY TV – Customize The TV In Your Business

As technology grows and becomes more innovative, more and more business owners are turning to DIY solutions and beginning to explore new ways of doing things. We live in an age where reaching out and connecting with people is as easy as pressing a button – though just as easily, someone is capable of finding you and following you online or on social media – which when it comes to businesses, can be a potential client or customer’s first impression of your brand.

It’s Never Been More Important to Reach Your Visitors

A business wouldn’t be a business without people coming in and giving you their time and money. That’s why any respectable business will always invest in the comfort and consideration of the people who come to frequent their establishment. The most common means of catering to the comfort of visitors is the Television. TVs hang in the lobbies of medical offices, hospitals have TVs in their waiting areas, and bars and restaurants have them so people can watch as they eat.

Medical Waiting Room TV - Doctors Express Television — Medical Waiting Room TV

With customer comfort being the priority it is, it only makes sense for business owners to invest in ways to make waiting areas more inviting. Those who run something other than basic cable tend to settle on one of a few do-it-yourself alternatives. People try things ranging from stiff looping slideshows, digital signs, and streaming sticks, to playing DVDs. While these options have no regular monetary cost, they provide no real value to your business. Certain solutions may be illegal depending upon what you are showing. (See the article: Using Netflix & DVDs in Your Business).

So what’s the solution?

When homegrown DIY alternatives fall short of providing an ideal the answer is a custom TV network for your business. A network that brings the TV programs in legally and lets you message to your customers at the same time.

With It’s Relevant TV, it’s just easy. It’s Relevant gives you access to a living network, which features short-form family-friendly content designed with business settings in mind. The service allows you to customize your TV, giving you control over which categories play and what visitors see. It’s Relevant can also be used to display posts from social media accounts in real-time. This helps you to further positively promote your brand and get people to follow you online.