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There is a ton of confusion out there when it comes to digital and traditional marketing. Despite the rise of the "savvy dealer" over the last few years, it is still clear that many of the offerings companies are putting out there focus on intangible results.

Don't get me wrong. I know that there are things that have value from a marketing perspective that are challenging to measure, but to say that something is delivering results without giving an ounce of data to support it is silly. Exposure is great, but at what point does exposure truly translate into sales.

I have no doubt that there are services out there that dealers have used and found to be completely lacking from a reporting perspective. Even worse are the vendors that are putting out reports that seem to be designed to verify that they're doing something rather than reporting on successes or failures.

As I dig deeper into the digital and traditional marketing worlds of the automotive industry, I'm learning that two things are very true and verifiable:

1. If it's bringing value, that value can be measured in some way
2. If it's not bringing value, companies will try to demonstrate value with confusing metrics or complex reports

Tangible, measurable value should be the cornerstone of any marketing company's reporting. If so much emphasis is placed on the intangible, can dealers really trust the alleged results? I'm not going to name any companies in particular. I just want to point out that it should be measurable or you should question whether or not it's bringing any value at all. If not, move your budget elsewhere.