Blog

If there's one thing that gets me riled up when talking to dealers, it's finding out that there are two completely different strategies being applied to their traditional and digital marketing. It made sense a decade ago when the digital age was first coming into existence in automotive marketing. It made a little sense a few years ago when the digital spend was much smaller than the traditional spend at most dealerships. Today's modern marketing strategies combine rather than separate the messages that are put out on the different channels.

In fact, the only real difference between digital and traditional marketing is the difference in venue. Otherwise, a holistic approach is the right way to go.

This isn't a blanket statement that I'm making without understanding. I've seen the differences. Dealerships that have one message going out through television or direct mail and a completely different message on their website or through email campaigns are not seeing the level of results that are possible for dealers who are viewing marketing as a singular practice across channels.

I'm not saying that you don't have to position the messages differently. The type of messages are still venue-specific. However, that means that you don't want a "click here for more information" link on a direct mail piece. It means that you don't want to use print-ready stunning graphics and images on your email campaigns. It does not mean that you need the messages to be completely different and it definitely does not mean that you want two different departments at the dealership (or two different companies partnering with you) to develop messages that are not synced up.

There is a flip-side to this. A warning. There is a trend for traditional ad agencies to get into digital out of necessity and there's a similar trend for digital companies to start diving into traditional marketing. I only know a handful of companies doing it right out of the dozens of companies giving it a shot. Those dozens do not even included the local shops trying to get into the mix and stay relevant.

This isn't easy stuff, but it's not so hard that dealers can't tell the difference between good and bad. It really comes down to data and intent. You can see the difference. If they're using weak data, run away. If they're getting involved in their digital or traditional counterpart to stop the bleeding of business that they've been using over the years, run away even faster. Some people know what they're doing and others are just trying to keep their own business running by offering these other services.

If your instincts tell you that something doesn't jive, run away as fast as you can.

A few months ago I wrote a post titled, "How Important Is Price Really?" in which I discuss how there is too much emphasis on price when it comes to vehicle/dealership advertising. If you haven't already done so, I would suggest you take a minute to read through that post as this one will really be a continuation of the topic.

This article will touch on a simple marketing strategy that you can start implementing today in order to drive more qualified traffic to your business and start selling more vehicles, service and F&I. It's one of the most vital and fundamental marketing practices that, from my observation, is grossly overlooked. 

Take a look at this dealership ad that I pulled from an AutoTrader style magazine. Look familiar?

What about this one from the newspaper? Is it similar to what you're current advertising looks like?

If so, are you able to identify what's wrong with these ads? If you guessed that they haven't identified a specific demographic, you win the prize. Picture/price, picture/price, picture/price does not drive qualified traffic. In fact, when all of your advertising revolves around price, you are only speaking to between 2-5% percent of in-market consumers which is just not large enough of a power base to grow your profits the way you'd like to see them grow. If you and every dealership in your area are advertising with nothing but picture and price, you are waging an intense battle in an effort to conquer a very small percentage of people. 

So what can you start doing today that will increase your dealership show rate through advertising?

A friend of mine once said (in speaking of firearms), "Nobody ever sees where you aim, they only see what you hit!" To take that a step further, if you don't even set your targets, how will you know where to you can improve your shooting?

Step 1: Set Your Targets

Take a moment to look back over your previous customer list in order to identify a common theme among them. It could be age, gender, most common vehicle purchased etc. This data can play a vital role in setting your targets because it can tell you about the demographics that you cater your products and services to.

Step 2: Use the trash can

If you're in the process of assembling an ad to hand to your local newspaper or niche magazine and it's going to be another one of those picture and price ads, crumple it up and throw it in the recycling! You're better off to do that now before what you actually throw in the garbage are your advertising dollars.

Step 3: Speak to your Target Demographic

Based on the data that you have acquired from looking at your past customer portfolio, take a moment to determine what the common interests and concerns are (generally speaking) for that demographic. Once you have that figured out, start assembling your ad with special offers, promotions and vehicles that they would be interested in.

For example, if you find that the majority of your sales over the passed few months (or year) have been to retired couples, start promoting seniors discounts or military vet discounts. 

In the other hand, if you identify that majority of your customers are young families or single mothers, start advertising vehicles that have excellent safety ratings, low finance rates and promotions that reward people that have children. 

The point is that you must get creative with your advertising, and you must start a dialogue between you and your target customers through your advertising.

Food for thought

Take a moment to think about all of the various promotions that your dealership offers. Do you have any for Veterans, Seniors, Students or other groups of people? If so, pat yourself on the back - lay off the picture/price and start advertising your promotions to those people.

If you don't have any of those promotions or special programs, start putting them together. Determine what you will offer to the various groups of people so that you can start having "dialed-in" conversations with the market.

In this way, you will drive more qualified traffic to your dealership without have to participate in the in-effective picture/price battle with which you are currently engaged.

What do you think? Kindly leave your comments, questions, or feedback below.

Having looked back over nearly two decades of automotive advertising from newspapers to niche auto and RV magazines, I find it interesting that nothing has changed. The methodology and strategy has had no improvements which begs to ask: are the results getting any better or are they continuing to diminish?

One of the reasons I believe the strategy used for traditional advertising isn't performing as well as it used to is because, for the most part, ads haven't changed or evolved to meet modern consumer demands and expectations. Consumer expectations are continually evolving and it's vital for any dealership to take some time to figure out with laser accuracy what group of people each ad is meant to target and work to unveil their emotional needs.

An example would be to say that week one's ad will focus on attracting single mothers with small children or young families. In this instance, plastering a hundred different vehicles on a page doesn't really speak to these groups of people. Running an ad, however, that focuses on a common vehicle that these consumers would purchase (a mini-van or compact SUV), as well as the safety features of that vehicle pulls on the heart strings of the consumer and attracts them into coming up with reasons to purchase.

Picture, price, picture, price, picture, price just doesn't work any more - and let's face it, when it did; those ads were only targeting a measly 2 - 5% of in-market consumers. 

By focusing on consumer expectations, determining what target market you will try and reach with each ad, and determining the best way to uncover the consumers emotional needs, you'll pump some life back into your traditional marketing efforts and start tracking a positive return on your advertising investment.

What say you?