...Over the past 25 years as an automotive advertising specialist, I have had the great pleasure of ‘learning at the feet’ of the masters…some of the most successful, most admired (and most profitable) car dealers in the history of the retail automobile business...What I’ve learned from these ‘masters of metal marketing’ could fill ten books…but for now I’ll share the top ten advertising tips of highly successful automotive retailers. A combination of ‘bedrock’ beliefs and current concepts of leading-edge marketers.
Tip 1: Have a game-plan. Rarely do the most successful dealers shoot from the hip on a week-to-week basis. Advertising not only has a respectable budget, it commands the attention of any serious investment it’s size. Budgets are usually formulated a year in advance with projections affected by historic levels, inventory availability and market conditions. Budgets, media plans and promotions are fine-tuned on a quarterly, and monthly basis. Generally these dealers budget between 15% and 20% of projected vehicle gross toward advertising expenses.
Tip 2: Do research. The most successful dealerships understand the importance of research and constantly evaluate data on their customers’ media habits, on market shifts, and on the competition.
Tip 3: Build a ‘trusted’ memorable brand. Regardless of the makes sold, the best dealers believe it is critical to build positive recall of their own brand. They understand the importance of ‘telling a story’...creating and sustaining a unique marketing perception for their brand.
Tip 4: Be consistent. The most successful dealers have a consistent, identifiable presence in the marketplace. Even though promotions and offers may vary, there is always a thread of continuity in their messaging regardless of the medium. These dealers also strongly believe in the theory of ‘recency’.. i.e. being in the marketplace consistently...at the greatest opportunity of influence.* (Dealer Magazine July ’04 ‘Receny or Frequency’).
Tip 5: Have integrity. The most successful dealers are insistent on the highest standards of integrity in all of their advertising. They demand that ads not only meet the letter of the law, but also reflect the same honesty and values expected in every aspect of their business.
Tip 6: Advertise reality. The best dealers understand the importance of fulfilling expectations created by advertising. As one dealer once told me: “When a customer hears or sees an advertisement and visits the dealership we have two choices..confirm their good judgment, or reinforce negative suspicion.”
Tip 7: Electronic dominance. The most successful dealers are budgeting at least 50% of their ad dollars in television and radio. Some as much as 80%. Many of the top dealers choose to dominate one medium in their marketplace. In the case of television, budgets have shifted somewhat from broadcast television to cable networks over the past several years.
Tip 8: Advertise to the team. Most great dealerships understand the concept and value of marketing to their own team. “Sell the salespeople…and they’ll sell your customer!” Top performing dealerships use newsletters, bulletins, emails and dealership ‘Intranets’ to apprise team members of advertising plans and promotions. Many of these dealerships have ‘employee referral programs’ that recognize and reward non-sales team members for recommendations.
Tip 9: Invest in digital technology. While many feel the return on investment in the Internet and email communications to date has been minimal, the most successful dealerships recognize this technology represents the future. With almost 70% of the buying public using the Internet in some fashion during their automobile shopping/purchasing process, these dealers are budgeting between 4% and 10% of their total advertising budget on digital communications/advertising.
Tip: 10: Constantly innovate to lead. Understand that change is inevitable and nowhere is change more dramatic than in the world of advertising. In 1960 the average home had fewer than six TV channels. Today it’s almost 100. In 1960 there were 4,400 hundred radio stations. Today there are over 13,500! (plus XM and Sirius and over 25,000 Internet broadcast stations.) In 1960 we didn’t know what the ‘Internet’ was. Today you can surf over 4.4 BILLION web pages on Google. (Google…you know...that little company that just bought up another little Internet upstart for a measly 1.65 BILLION dollars!) In 1960 you got a handful of letters each week at your mailbox. Today the average consumer receives 360 emails a week!
If you would like a copy of the article ‘Recency or Frequency’ from the July 2004 issue of Dealer Magazine (referenced in TIP 4), please e-mail me. And if you have a TIP on advertising that you would like to pass along, I’d love to share it with our readers in a future issue!
Do you have questions or comments about this or past AdTalk articles? Feel free to email them to CBC.
This issue of AdTalk is brought to you by Research Partners. Serving dealers for nearly 20 years to help reduce advertising cost: Research Partners
