YES!!
That’s it. That’s the blog. (Just kidding.)
Having an in-house marketing team and an agency may feel complicated and / or repetitive, but it’s a combination that can work to your advantage. Let’s explore some of the scenarios we’ve encountered here at CBC.
“I have a Marketing Director and a full marketing team.”
The first question to ask yourself in this situation is: Why am I looking for an agency? Chances are if you have a Marketing Director and a full marketing team, there is something missing from the collective skill-set of your employees. Generally, the missing ingredient is automotive experience. If this is the case, working with an automotive-focused agency, like CBC, can help fine tune your marketing approach. As an agency that has been automotive-only for 37 years, we know and understand the automotive business inside and out. We can quickly and precisely optimize your go-to-market strategy to support your dealerships. In other words, we’ll do the heavy lifting to build out and maintain your marketing strategy, including digital and broadcast marketing channels. This frees up your marketing team’s time to focus on brand building measures, like grassroots campaigns (local Facebook posts, blogs, dealership events, strategically engaging with your online community, etc.). This also leaves room for your marketing team to focus on local changes in the market and communicating these changes to your agency.
For the relationship to truly succeed, communication is essential, as well as creating designated lanes for each person both at the agency and at the dealership / group. It’s important for everyone to know and understand their roles. Ideally, the process of communication would have one person on the client-side approving creative and strategic direction suggested by the agency. This way there is limited overlap in duties, no toes stepped on, and all in all, a harmonious ascent to success.
“I have a Marketing Manager and a limited marketing team.”
Truthfully, this is where things may feel a bit fuzzy. Your marketing team may be doing a good job, but you may be feeling like you want to take your success a bit further. We totally get it. If you have a team you love and trust but want to take your marketing to the next level, hiring an agency is often a smart business decision. Hiring a full-service agency like CBC will give you access to layers of experts within every aspect of automotive advertising. Again, it’s all about creating lanes and making sure everyone has a role. Your in-house Marketing Manager and agency Account Manager should be able to map out the entire strategy together and delegate which marketing efforts happen where.
As we mentioned, having an agency on your side with a wide knowledge of best practices in the automotive world goes a long way. Combining this with a dealership-level team who focuses on the grassroots side of marketing (building up your brand in the community, reaching out to local business for cooperative ventures, and other community focused projects) will take your dealership far.
“I have a Marketing Consultant.”
Again, we’re going to hit you with a question: Is this person in-house? If so, that’s great! They’re going to have the inside knowledge of your brand, how you operate and your dealership / group strengths. This also provides your agency a “go-to” person when they have creative and overall strategy suggestions they’d like to make or completed assets to approve. Additionally, it frees up your GM and GSM to focus on selling cars.
If this is just an outside consultant role, hiring an agency is ideal. With an automotive agency like CBC at your back, you have a whole team of experts in every aspect of marketing, working to optimize your strategy. We’ll work with you to develop creative messaging and a strategy that supports your goals and budgets.
“I don’t have any marketing staff.”
It’s time to contact CBC then, don’t you think?
Every dealership is at a different point in their growth and has a different approach with different needs. We’re here to help you figure out your next steps. So, let’s have a conversation!