Promoting a car finance brokerage catering to bad credit customers (see the Carvine website for a great example of this in action), requires a strategic approach across key digital and offline channels. This article outlines techniques to attract customers, communicate USPs and convert more clients.
Website Optimisation
Your website will likely be the main channel driving new customer enquiries. Optimise it to focus on bad credit customer needs:
- Clear messaging – Use empathetic language and outline how you understand and can assist those with poor credit histories to get driving.
- Relevant content – Blog articles and guides addressing issues like improving credit scores and sourcing guarantors help establish authority.
- Strong calls-to-action – Include clear phone numbers, enquiry forms and booking tools to enable swift action. Reduce friction in contacting you.
- Mobile responsiveness – With over 50% of searches now on phones, ensure a seamless experience on every device.
- Fast load speeds – Optimise page sizes and hosting to deliver the site rapidly. Slow loads mean high bounce rates.
- Easy navigation – Menus, links and journey paths should make it instinctive to delve deeper or reach contact points.
- Promote testimonials – Displaying video and written customer reviews builds trust and credibility.
Your website is the hub underpinning marketing activities driving leads. Maximise conversion rates through ongoing optimisation.
SEO Visibility
Ranking prominently on Google for relevant bad credit searches will attract ready-to-convert prospects. Tactics include:
- Insightful content – Published guides answering key questions act as bait to pull in searchers.
- Keyword targeting – Research terms people use when seeking bad credit finance and focus content around these.
- Link building – Get reputable external sites to link back to your content, lending it authority.
- Local targeting – Optimise pages for terms like “Manchester bad credit car finance” to attract geographical searches.
- Page speed – Fast loading optimized pages gain better rankings, so performance tune your site.
- Mobile optimization – With mobile usage dominating, a seamless mobile site experience is mandatory.
- Schema markup – Enhance snippets in results with schema highlighting your USPs like “95% acceptance”.
Work on getting your site into the top listings for searches like “bad credit car leasing” and “poor credit car finance”.
PPC Advertising
Pay-per-click ads put you directly in front of people as they search for relevant phrases. You only pay when they click your ad. Use PPC to:
- Target key terms – Match your ads to priority searches like “car finance poor credit history”. Show your message when it is most relevant.
- Optimise ads – A/B test elements like headlines, descriptions and landing pages to achieve higher click-through and conversion rates.
- Set geotargeting – Location targeting ensures you show for local searches like “Liverpool bad credit car finance”.
- Remarket – Continue engaging those who left your site by showing ads as they visit other sites. Bring them back.
- Test platforms – Evaluate search engines (Google, Bing) along with social media and display ads to see which generate the most cost-efficient leads.
PPC combines targeting of motivated searchers with optimisation to increase interest and conversions.
Social Media Presence
Maintaining an active social media presence puts you in front of those seeking bad credit finance:
- Share content – Post regular blog summaries, infographics and news to build an audience and direct traffic to your site.
- Engage followers – Respond promptly to comments, queries and feedback to provide helpful customer service in the open.
- Advertise selectively – Use precise targeting capabilities to show ads only to the most relevant demographics.
- Remarket – Upload email lists to create lookalike audiences for displaying ads cost-efficiently.
- Encourage sharing – Interesting content that followers want to share expands your reach organically to their networks.
- Monitor reviews – Reply professionally to any negative reviews to resolve issues transparently.
An active social media presence supports SEO while making you discoverable and approachable. Integrate platforms into lead generation activities.
Offline Channels
Though much marketing is now digital, offline channels remain important for visibility:
- Print adverts – Placing adverts in regional newspapers and magazines targets local customers reading printed publications.
- Leaflet distribution – Letterbox leaflet drops in specific areas informs households in need of finance about your services.
- Radio adverts – Radio commercials build local awareness and can drive phone enquiries.
- Vehicle livery – Branded vehicles moving around your region provide FREE advertising.
- Networking events – Attending local business and networking events creates opportunities through face-to-face contact.
- Dealer partnerships – Co-marketing arrangements with local vehicle dealerships expand reach.
Offline techniques complement digital campaigns to reach target segments through traditional channels they still rely on.
Building Credibility
A critical marketing goal is establishing credibility and trustworthiness in the eyes of your audience:
- Satisfaction guarantees – Explicit service promises like “We get you driving or your deposit back” convey confidence.
- Case studies – Profile real customer stories showing how you solved their situations. Bring testimonials alive.
- Awards and accreditations – Gain and actively promote any awards, ratings or standards that verify your reputation.
- Transparent fees – Clearly convey costs and charges so customers know exactly what to expect. No hidden surprises.
- Responsiveness – Reply speedily to all enquiries and objections to demonstrate you have nothing to hide.
- Expert content – Position yourself as an authority on bad credit finance by sharing quality educational materials.
Credibility is hugely influential in converting customers. Integrate trust-building into all communications.
By taking an integrated approach optimising both digital and offline channels, bad credit finance brokers can attract customers, establish authority and expand through positive word of mouth. Adjust marketing activities in response to measured results.