In marketing for auto dealers around the country, we spend time analyzing their competition to see how they’re doing with everything from social media marketing to website lead management. In order to beat your competition out in sales, your dealership needs to take the time to look at what competitors are doing. Here are a few quick tips to analyze other dealerships:

• Look at their website. Is it a customized site, or are they using a generic auto dealer website provider like Dealer.com? What are they doing to drive conversions?
• Pretend to be a car shopper and fill out some forms. How soon do you get a response? Do they email, call, or both? Are all the emails automated, or do any of them look personally written?
• Search in Google for brands and models that they sell. How well do their listings rank? Are they running or posting press releases or online videos?
• Find their dealership’s Facebook business page, if they have one. What kind of content are they posting, and how often? Are they just blasting out sales and inventory or starting conversations and personal interaction?

Take some time to analyze your competition. You can see the areas in which you are strong and also what you need to improve.