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I spoke to a dealer this morning and, once again, the conversation turned to brand advertising. This happens a lot. So many dealers say, “We’re doing everything through the OEM. We’ve got our marketing covered.” Or, “We do radio and TV; our name is getting out there to everyone.” 

Brand advertising does have its place. If you’re Nike, Coca-Cola, Apple, then branding works well. If you’re in a niche industry, Powersports for instance, and only a tiny percentage of folks are likely to spend money with you, then brand advertising isn’t going to get you the results you truly want. 

In order to really benefit from your marketing, and see growth each and every month, you must put a pro-active, direct response strategy in place. Forget everything you’ve been told about simply blasting your dealership’s name across every airwave, billboard, and television screen you can, and focus on a call to action that drives traffic through your doors and generates leads. 

This particular guy was feeling the frustration of five inches of freshly fallen snow that came in overnight on the heels of some pretty incredible, early spring temperatures. He shared with me that the dealership had taken on an air of disappointment and the hope they had been feeling about a great first quarter had disappeared with the arrival of this blanket of doom on the ground. He had spent hard earned money on traditional mass media and the results he thought he had gotten from it were really just a byproduct of the good weather they had been having. 

I told him of one client we have in Wisconsin and how they had just experienced the two best months they have had in six and seven years, respectively. January and February in Wisconsin isn’t exactly prime riding season, yet, they had over a thousand proven riders respond - that’s right, I said respond - to the marketing. This resulted in 181 people who were interested in a new or pre-owned motorcycle giving their contact information directly to this dealer. When is the last time any of your current marketing did that for you? 

His response, initially, was to bet that this dealership was going to be slow this week, too, along with his, due to the weather change. I agreed with him that their door swings might be a little lower, but that no one would be sitting around playing on their smartphones, because they had over five hundred total sales opportunities to follow up on all week long from their February Sharp Shooter campaign. He didn’t have an argument for me on that point. Frankly, there isn’t one. 

Stop wasting your hard-earned marketing dollars on methods that you can’t truly quantify, are dependent on the weather, and whatever happens on the one day of your event is what you get. Stop it. 

Use that budget to target the right audience, which is going to be riders who will spend money with you. Then, give them multiple opportunities to respond to a compelling call to action, with a sense of urgency. Send out the right message, ensuring that you aren’t alienating anyone. Lastly, do it at the right time, so you are guaranteed the best possible response. 

That’s what our Sharp Shooter system does, time and time, again. We grow the number of active customers you have doing business with you, then we increase the number of times they come into the dealership each year. It’s a simple formula that yields major results. 

Call me today and let’s chat about how to put more control in your hands and truly grow your business. 

Marisa Tils 877-242-4472  ext 131