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There are four pillars that we focus on here at Powersports Marketing. If you’ve read any number of the monthly Ultra Marketing Machine Newsletters, you’ve heard about our 4 Pillars of Marketing.  They are a filter/test that tells us whether or not the marketing/advertising that’s being done is going to be successful or not. 

The 4 pillars are: 

1. Right Audience

2. Right Media

3. Right Message

4. Right Time

The filter is this; you have to put a checkmark beside each of these pillars for ANY & ALL marketing that you ever do. Period. If you miss even one of the ‘pillars’ your marketing will fail. Therefore,

it’s crucial you understand each one, so I’ll give a high level summary of each below. I’ll also hone in on the original question of why events are so important.

Right Audience - The right audience is actually different for every industry. For the Powersports industry, it’s pretty straight-forward… you have to target people who ride. I know you want new customers, but targeting non-riders with your marketing is not the way to do it. 

Non-riders don’t respond to marketing, and they never will in any number. The number 1 reason someone starts riding is because a friend or family member influenced them to. It’s never marketing. On the events note, encourage your customers to ‘influence’ their friends and family by inviting them to your events.

Right Media – Which media will best reach the Right Audience? It’s not mass media like radio, TV, newspaper and billboards. These medias target everyone, but only 3% to 6% of the population in your state are riders. Plus, people are utilizing DVRs, satellite radio, changing the station when commercials come on, driving past your billboard and not noticing it, etc.  The number one person most likely to notice a dealership’s mass media is someone who works at the dealership. 

Instead of 1-to-many, you should utilize 1-to-1 media like direct mail, email, phone calls, online ads, and more. Any media that can specifically target a person who rides, and that helps build a relationship is where you should focus your marketing efforts. For a more complete list call me at 1-877-242-4472.

Right Message – The message is all about your design and ad copy (what you say). Do NOT try to build your brand or get your name out there. The opposite of branding-style advertising is Direct Response advertising. Direct Response advertising always has a call-to-action, which means it tells the person receiving the media exactly how you want them to respond. It’s also quantifiable so you can measure response. 

Be sure your message isn’t focused solely on trying to generate unit sales. Studies have shown that only 1% of your list is in ‘purchase mode’.  Therefore, when your message is focused mainly on why your audience should buy a new or pre-owned unit you are alienating 99% of your list. So, if your audience for a campaign is 4,000 people, you’re training 3,960 to ignore your marketing.

When your message is an invitation to an event, it relates to everyone. Who doesn’t like to be invited to a party? 

Event marketing not only gets the attention of the 1% who are in ‘purchase mode’ (and gives them a bigger reason to respond), it also gives the 99% a reason to come by the dealership. The more enthusiasts you have in the dealership, the more leads you generate, and the more sales you’ll have in all departments. Sales is a game of numbers. The more at-bats you get, the more hits you get and the more runs you’ll score. 

Why try to get a few sales leads when you can increase sales in P&A, Service, Apparel AND New & Pre-Owned Units?

Right Time – When you drip out multiple media over the timing of a 10-day period, and it’s all integrated into a single campaign, it really increases response rates. This is what our Sharp Shooter program does.

Timing also pertains to consistency. Once you identify the Right Audience, you have to market to and stay in front of them consistently. We recommend at least 52 to 104 touches per year (with different media). Event marketing gives you a great reason to reach out every month (or more), and even if a customer can’t come to the event, it still builds loyalty, so your touches weren’t a waste. 

You can’t market to your audience once or twice a year and maintain any level of customer loyalty. Consistency, however, puts a fence around your audience and immunizes them from competitors’ offers. When customers buy from you and rarely hear from you again they become apathetic or indifferent. 

Powersports Marketing has dozens of event themes and designs to choose from, or we can create a custom design for you. Our goal is to make your life a little easier and your dealership more profitable. For more information, visit 

www.PowersportsMarketing.com or call 

877-242-4472.   

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