7 Digital Marketing Strategies for Heavy Equipment Sales

Customer searches for heavy equipment for sale in the USA and around the world have greatly increased online over the past decade.  This increase in online searches for certain pieces of machinery benefits equipment dealers, but it also highlights the importance of using digital marketing strategies to distinguish oneself from the competition.  By following these seven digital marketing strategies, you can really differentiate your company from your competitors and better achieve sales success.

First and foremost, you need a well-developed website to market your heavy equipment for sale.  Since a website is a big investment and one that should not be made often, you should perform periodic audits of your site to identify essential elements and assess the need for building on it or developing a new one.  One very important piece of developing a good website is making sure that it is mobile-friendly as over 50% of industry-related searches are now completed on a mobile device.  Google promotes mobile-first indexing as well, so if your site is not mobile-friendly then it stands little chance of ranking.  Therefore, if your site is not mobile-friendly, it is important for your visibility to create a new one.  Another important aspect of the website is an effective inventory management system.  It is vital to customers to be able to browse updated inventory and should be integrated, easy to update, and easily read by search engines.  Customers should have the ability to sort, filter, and search for specific makes, models, and pieces of equipment to ensure a simple equipment buying experience.

Second, to sell your heavy machinery more quickly you should practice effective geotargeting.  Use your sales data in order to better understand who your customers are and where they are located to make your advertising more targeted to the audience.  Creating geotargeting maps will help strengthen your digital marketing strategies and can lead to website improvements as well.  Effective geotargeting will help you better locate customers where demand is strong and can also allow Google to track where you sell.  Your Google rankings can be improved by including geographical information in the technical tags and descriptions on your website.

Third, digital advertising for used heavy equipment for sale is where you will see the highest profits.  To maximize your digital traffic, implement multiple used equipment campaigns in Google Ads and use both brand specific and non-brand specific keywords.  Advertise the inventory that you have in stock, not previously sold inventory, in order to optimize your customer experience.  Keep the inventory updated on your website and CRM so that your advertising remains updated as well.

Fourth, in order to show up in the most organic and paid search results, you need a fully optimized Google My Business profile.  Your GMB profile information will display on the right hand side of Google search results (the Knowledge Graph) as well as in Google Maps, and it provides a quick and easy way for customers to locate your website, address, phone number, and company reviews.  To set up your profile, make sure all company and contact information are correct and accurate and verify your address with Google to validate your account and prove eligibility to appear in search results.

Fifth, search engine optimization is a vital element in heavy equipment sales success.  The company website should be optimized for both users and search engines to achieve higher organic rankings in search engine results.  In order for search engine bots to crawl your website and rank it, you must optimize the technical aspects such as coding, tags, and descriptions.  However, in order to optimize the site for customers, try browsing the site from their viewpoint to determine if it is user-friendly.  Some important items to consider are whether it is easy to locate the inventory being searched and easy to navigate, whether contact info is readily available, and if the website is quick and responsive.  Since Google wants to provide the most relevant results to those searching, the ways that customers use and browse your website will affect those rankings so make sure that it is customer-centric.

Sixth, video content is an essential and effective marketing strategy for promoting your heavy machinery for sale.  Video creation in recent years has become easier than ever as smart phone camera technology is becoming more and more advanced.  Videos can always be used for advertising and marketing purposes across multiple outlets so you can get more bang for your buck.  You may wish to create video walk-arounds of your used construction equipment for sale, how-to videos for service or repairs, or instructional videos on operating the machines.  Once videos are created, you may imbed them on your site or you can distribute them through e-mail marketing or social media ad campaigns to drive traffic to your website.

Seventh, utilize branded digital advertising and paid search as it is one of the most effective ways to generate traffic.  Using paid search and branded campaigns brings the heavy equipment sales leads directly to you.  Besides new and used ads, to implement an effective digital marketing strategy for your business, you should use branded ads both for your own company and for the manufacturers whose products that you sell.  Always pair other keywords with the manufacturer name to avoid those searching for the national brand, or if you want to prioritize your own brand then advertise your own brand name with paid ads.  Traffic from paid search typically accounts for 20-35% of overall site traffic, so it could be advantageous to adjust your strategy if your current marketing plan is not getting results.

In conclusion, since searches for heavy equipment for sale continue to increase each and every day, it is important for heavy equipment dealers to develop and implement effective digital marketing strategies for sales success.  Examine what you are currently doing and make improvements as needed.  Create a well-developed website to market your equipment.  Identify your customers and where they are located.  Implement digital marketing campaigns for your used equipment and keep your inventory updated.  Optimize your Google My Business profile and look to achieve search engine optimization.  Use video content as a low cost and easy way to market your machinery through e-mail, social media, and on your website.  Develop paid search and branded advertisements as necessary to increase traffic.  If you follow these digital marketing strategies, you should begin to see greater heavy equipment sales success and distance yourself from the competition.