May 5, 2023
Just like vehicles have dangerous blind spots that make lane changes tricky, your dealership’s digital strategy can suffer from a marketing blind spot—areas of missed opportunity or wasted investment that go unnoticed until it’s too late.
Even the most successful dealerships can fall victim to blind spots—overspending on ineffective platforms, underinvesting in high-performing channels, or ignoring customer behavior shifts. Recognizing and fixing these issues is essential to long-term marketing success.
Let’s explore what a marketing blind spot is, how to identify it, and what you can do to steer your dealership toward greater visibility and performance.
A marketing blind spot occurs when parts of your digital marketing strategy go unchecked, outdated, or misaligned with your audience’s needs. This might include neglecting performance data, ignoring social media engagement, or failing to adapt to new marketing tools.
Just like checking your mirrors before merging, marketers must constantly review their campaigns, metrics, and audience data to ensure they aren’t missing hidden risks or opportunities.
To uncover your blind spots, you need the same vigilance you use while driving: double-check, gather feedback, and adjust as needed. Here are three common areas where dealerships often lose focus.
One of the most common marketing blind spots is overly generic or automated messaging. With today’s marketing tools, it’s easy to rely on pre-set templates and auto-generated content—but this can make your brand feel impersonal.
Quick Fix:
Your customers want to engage with real people, not robots. A personalized approach eliminates this blind spot and strengthens connection.
Another major marketing blind spot occurs when campaigns target everyone instead of focusing on your ideal audience. Broad, unfocused campaigns often waste ad spend and deliver weak results.
Pro Tip:
Use precise targeting based on customer data, demographics, and past interactions. Personalized messaging—via email, direct mail, or social ads—can dramatically boost engagement and conversion rates.
Avoiding this marketing blind spot means your message reaches the right people, in the right place, at the right time.
“We’ve always done it this way” is one of the most dangerous phrases in dealership marketing. Clinging to outdated strategies—like legacy ad placements or unchecked campaigns—creates a marketing blind spot that stifles innovation.
Simple Solution:
Regularly review campaign performance and be open to change. If something isn’t trackable or producing measurable ROI, it’s time to update your approach. Video marketing, for example, captures 95% of a viewer’s message compared to just 10% from text.
Staying current prevents your dealership from getting trapped in the rearview mirror of its own marketing habits.
An often-overlooked marketing blind spot is the gap between digital and offline marketing. Many dealerships focus entirely online and forget that traditional methods—like direct mail or event sponsorships—still build valuable customer relationships.
Action Tip:
Combine digital and offline strategies for a unified brand experience. Clean and updated customer databases ensure better targeting and tracking, while personalized mailers can boost trust and loyalty.
In fact, 57% of consumers say receiving direct mail makes them feel more valued—a simple way to turn a blind spot into an opportunity.
A marketing blind spot isn’t always easy to see—but ignoring it can cost your dealership leads, loyalty, and long-term growth. Regularly assess your marketing strategy, review your data, and collaborate with professionals who can provide an objective perspective.
By proactively identifying these blind spots, your dealership can optimize spending, improve targeting, and deliver campaigns that truly drive results.
