Articles

 If I walked into your office today with a box full of the names, email addresses, and phone numbers of every proven rider within a thirty mile radius of your dealership, would you let me walk out without a fight? What if that list also told you exactly what each of those riders is in the market for right now, whether it’s service, accessories, gear, or a new ride? I’m pretty sure I’d be taken hostage. 

I recently followed up with a dealer who, after a brief conversation, told me he is a numbers guy and to send him some proof that what we do works and then we could talk some more. No problem, Mr. Dealer. We’ve executed literally thousands of direct response marketing campaigns and I can send data for days. So, I sent him over a few campaign wrap up reports, and here is a breakdown of what those looked like: 

1. 483 responses, including 162 riders interested in a new/used unit purchase

2. 195 responses, including 53 riders interested in a new/used unit purchase

3. 410 responses, including 95 riders interested in a new/used unit purchase

That last dealer I listed saw a 156% increase in traffic with their first campaign. They sold more motorcycles in January than in any other January since 2010, and more in February since 2011.

I included that information in the email, as well, feeling that bubbling of excitement that I always get when I think about teaming up with a new dealer and growing the business in a way that, very literally, changes lives. The impact that successful, proactive, and targeted marketing has on a dealership is very profound. It’s what we call a win/win. 

When you sell a motorcycle to someone, you’re not just making a sale and putting one more tally mark on the month. You’re enriching a life. You didn’t just make a sale and (hopefully) a tidy gross profit. You provided wind therapy, freedom from whatever stress may be in that person’s life, weekends spent with friends and family who share the same passion, escape. The flip side of that is you gained a new customer, increased your revenue, and with the right marketing, you now have the opportunity to earn all of that customer’s future business. 

So, why wouldn’t you want to do that for every enthusiast living in your backyard? Why wouldn’t you want to do that for yourself?  If you could get the names and contact info for nearly every person in your backyard who wants to buy a bike from you this month, would you do it? 

If you answered no, then I need you to do something for me. Reach into your pocket, take out your keys, go lock up, and find your happiness elsewhere. If hundreds of sales opportunities across all departments doesn’t get you excited, then you’re in the wrong business. If you can look at those figures above and not want to have the same for your dealership, then perhaps you’ve lost your passion. 

However, if you got excited about the results I shared with you, and the idea of having increased traffic and leads has you dreaming about a different life, then the simplest thing you can do is call me. Let’s discuss a plan for predictable growth with quantifiable results that will change your life. 

Marisa Tils

877-242-4472  ext 131

With any website related subject I like to start by asking, “What is the main purpose of your website?”

Most think the purpose of their website is to be an online brochure, or to be a glorified phone book where folks can find your phone number, address, and basic information about your dealership. Others would say it’s a virtual storefront where customers and prospects go to research the products they’re interested in. While all of the above mentioned may transpire on your website, none are its primary objective. 

The main purpose of your website must be to identify website visitors and generate leads.  All other functions are secondary. 

There are 3 primary ways you can identify more visitors and get more leads to follow-up with: 

1. Increase traffic to your website. The more traffic/visitors coming into the top of the funnel, the more opportunity it creates at the bottom.  The following are some ways to boost website traffic:

- SEM/PPC: Pay Per Click (i.e. Google AdWords) is a great way to attract folks who are searching for the products you sell. For instance, when someone who lives close to your dealership does a Google search for a “2017 Honda Recon” or for a “Harley Street Glide”… if you sell the product being searched for, you want to be as close to the top of the first page of the search results as possible. If you’re not doing PPC at some level, you’re missing a lot of opportunity. 

- Facebook Website Clicks Campaign: In the past, I’ve not been impressed with the thought of Facebook advertising. Unlike SEM/PPC where folks are actively searching for a want/need, a person is on Facebook to waste time and snoop into other people’s lives. However, the results our Digital Marketing Department is achieving are impressive to say the least. We’re getting more clicks/traffic and more conversions for less ad spend, ultimately driving more traffic to websites and creating a compelling ROI for our clients.

- Firestorm Email: The purpose of email has long been perceived as another way to create TOMA (Top of Mind Awareness) and build loyalty with customers. While it is good for those things, Powersports Marketing is revolutionizing the way dealers think about email. We’ve built the Firestorm Email System to not only make it easy to send a custom-built email full of incredible done-for-you graphics, but also to make ‘increasing website traffic’ the primary purpose of sending an email.  Every email theme gives users the ability to quickly add links to get more folks to your website. While that sounds rudimentary, once you’ve seen our Firestorm Email System you’ll get it. 

Tia, who writes an article on page 5, recently showed me some research she did for one of our clients. They had 6,151 website sessions in March, and 12.43% of their website traffic came from the Firestorm Email System.  Want a 12% increase in your traffic (or more)?  Call 877-242-4472 for a demo of our Firestorm Email System. 

2. Increase conversion ratios. The average dealership gets around 4,000 website visitors with a 1%-3% conversion rate, meaning between 40 to 120 visitors on any given month will fill out a form and identify who they are. We recommend a conversion point to be on every page of your website. While I don’t think you should utilize all of these because it’s overwhelming and feels gimmicky, here are some common conversion points: Quote Request, Schedule a Demo Ride, Parts Request, Service Request, Finance Pre-Approval, Trade Evaluation, Internet Value Package, Free Premium (T-shirt, etc.), Free Report, Join Email Newsletter, etc. 

Improving your conversion rate will make a big difference, but still 90% or more of your website visitors will be anonymous (unidentified), which leads us to number 3.

3. Utilize Firestorm Onboarding: Onboarding is a new technology that identifies some of the customers who are looking at new and used inventory, but who don’t fill out a web form.  

Imagine knowing that your customer, “Joe Smith,” has been on your website 5 different times over the past 2 weeks and that he’s looking at different variations of the same make and model, and yesterday he viewed 3 bikes that are in your inventory right now. If you had that data, it could make a big difference, couldn’t it?  

That’s what Onboarding does.  Every morning we send select members of your team an email that notifies you of who was looking at new and used inventory on your website yesterday, so your sales staff can see what they were looking at and follow up with them via email and/or phone call. 

Onboarding has helped our clients begin to sell additional units every month that they wouldn’t have otherwise even known about. 

To start fulfilling the main purpose of your website, or for more information on any of the topics above, give us a call at 1-877-242-4472.

- Tory

It’s very common and if it hasn’t already happened to your dealership, be prepared, it likely will. Unethical competitors trying to make you look bad by leaving a completely fabricated review on Google. A disgruntled ex-employee who was terminated for a just cause seeks revenge by spreading false claims about your dealership on your own Facebook page (the latter of which has happened to us here at PSM). And, good luck appealing these with Google and Facebook and having them removed. 

In the past, I let this stuff really bother me, but nowadays I’ve accepted that it’s just part of the game of business. Ironically, if you are a high transaction and/or fast-paced, leading-edge business, attempting to perform at the highest levels possible, you are probably more vulnerable to this type of nonsense.Those are the two criteria that lead to more haters.  

The good news is, once you learn to play by the rules and install a solid game plan (a system), getting new reviews can actually be pretty fun and your star-rating can be higher than your competitors’ rating, regardless of those cheating players. 

The first step in getting good at this game is to understand and accept that reviews and search engine rankings are very important to your dealership. Wouldn’t you agree that if your dealership ranked #1 on the Google results page and the local 3-pack map results that you would get more site visits, phone calls, and ultimately more appointments and sales?

Google’s goal is to be the best search engine, and to do this they must serve up the most relevant search results to their users. This is great news for local businesses like yours.  If a prospect is searching for the products you sell, or a dealership with the brands you carry, Google really wants to provide your dealership in the search results (of course, I’m over simplifying as Google has over 200 components that go into their proprietary algorithm which they keep confidential so the system isn’t able to be exploited).

Nevertheless, one of those 200 components that is clearly weighted heavily for local businesses is reviews.  If you get more 5-star reviews you will rank higher in the local Google map results. It is that simple. 

But it’s not just about ranking high, it’s also about serving up relevant results for the user. Put yourself in the customer’s shoes. When you are searching for a dealership to buy your next new vehicle from, if the map displays a dealership with loads of 5-star reviews, and then one with little or no reviews and a low rating, what is more relevant (and compelling) to you? 

There are two really good reasons to take reviews seriously: 1. Google loves them. 2. Your prospects and customers love them. Now let me give you a 3rd reason. Remember those pesky fake reviews that were left by an ex-employee and a low life competitor? The easiest way to fix those is to bury them with dozens and dozens of positive 4 and 5 star reviews. The late Ed Lemco used to say that 5% of customers are lunatics, and the Google users researching products and reading reviews know this deep down as well. If you have 150 reviews and 3 or 4 are bad, it only adds credibility to the good reviews because it substantiates they are real. Anybody who’s ever worked in retail or customer service knows that you can’t make everyone happy. And whoever came up with “the customer is always right” line needs to go back to fantasy land.

Part of the flaw in Google’s emphasis on reviews is that happy customers tend to go away quiet and happy. Flaming-hot, pissed off customers tend to seek revenge, and reviews are a perfect outlet for them to blow off some steam. This is why it’s so important for dealers to get in the game and understand the rules and play hard (but fair), otherwise you lose.

Many business owners’ system for getting reviews is to simply ask for them. And that’s just fine, but it’s not a very scalable nor reliable system. Here at PSM we’ve developed a technology-based system that not only garners positive reviews, but it filters out unhappy customers by identifying them prior to them leaving a negative review and provides you with the opportunity to save them. 

Our system has generated over 100,000 authentic customer reviews, which are featured on our national consumer site: www.powersportsdealerlocator.com. It’s the largest review platform in the entire industry for a reason, it works.

In fact, it has worked so well for our clients we decided to use it ourselves, even though we’re not a dealer. 

In addition to an automated review acquisition system, our solution includes creating your own personalized review site like this: 

powersportsmarketingreviews.com, 

and an employee ranking page like this: 

powersportsmarketingreviews.com/reviews/employeereviews. Both of which have too many benefits for dealers, customers, and employees for me to list them all in this article.

Every Friday in our staff meeting, we take a look at our company reviews and employee reviews together, and usually have multiple rounds of applause for team members who’ve gotten reviews that week. It really makes playing the game fun, and eliminates the stress of potentially getting a couple bad reviews that aren’t legit. 

For more information on how we can help you bury negative reviews and rank the highest in your market, contact us at 877-242-4472.

Last month, we talked about the recipe for showing up in the Local Pack (map section in the middle of the page) in Google search results. Those aren’t the only results though, so let’s talk a little about what it takes to show up in the other organic results on the page.

Using Search Engine Land’s 2017 Local Search Ranking Factors study that was published last month as a guide, we can get a pretty good look at what makes up the top secret Google algorithm.

Link Signals play a big part in ranking, coming in first this year at 29% of your ranking factor. Think of link signals as Google looking at who else on the internet thinks your page is important enough to link to, or reference. The more important the site or sites that link to you, the higher quality/value Google interprets your site to be. 

For example, let’s say Google is looking at two sites and is determining which one likely has better content and should be ranked higher. One site has several inbound links from a blog that has almost no followers, with sporadic posts. The other site is linked to by a national industry specific review site with over 100 thousand legitimate customer reviews. The second one is going to rank higher – as it should.

The second big ranking factor is On-Page Signals at 24%. This is most commonly referred to as on-page SEO. Is your NAP (name, address, phone #) info present and correct, do you have keywords in titles, URLs, etc.? This is all the stuff your web site provider should be working closely with you to make sure your site properly reflects what you do. 

The third big ranking factor, coming in at 11% are Behavioral Signals. These reflect what people do when they see your site on search results. Things like click-through rates are important here. When they see you, are they compelled to take action by clicking? Another component here is click-to-calls. This is part of why mobile friendly sites are so important. When they see you on mobile do they click to call? That is a huge signal to Google that what you offer is relevant and compelling to searchers, and that is what Google is all about. Check-ins fall under this category as well, further emphasizing just how important a solid mobile site/presence is.

Personalization weighs in at 9%. Think of this as some level of uniqueness of content. While dealerships all sell the same makes and models on the whole, there can still be uniqueness of content on pages on your site. The home page, about us page, service page, as well as map and hours can all have unique content to set your dealership apart and provide clues to Google about why it is important that they show your site in their results.

Citation Signals are still a factor at 8%. This can be thought of as Google being able to match your info to info found in other places around the web. Your on-page NAP info is compared to NAP info around the web on various data aggregators and listing sites for consistency. A consistent, uniform presence around the web gives Google confidence that you are a reliable result.

Review signals round out the ranking factors we’ll be discussing, coming in at 7%. Reviews are hugely important in that consumers use them nowadays as a benchmark of whether or not they’ll even consider you as an option for a purchase. If you’ve got more bad reviews than good, or a low star rating, you often won’t even get an opportunity to speak with a prospect, much less sell them something. Google considers how many reviews you have, as well as how frequently you get them, in their ranking. The only thing worse than having no reviews or bad reviews is having old reviews. Reviews are considered expired (for lack of a better way to say it) after 90 days in the minds of consumers according to Google. You need to have a system in place to continuously, and automatically harvest authentic reviews – and that’s not easy.

As I said last month, the marketing world has changed, and is still constantly changing. It can be difficult to stay current and still pay attention to the main objective of a dealership, which is to move metal. In today’s marketing environment, which is truly turning into a hybrid of digital and offline methods, it makes good sense to partner with someone who can handle marketing and allow you as a dealer to do what you do best – sell. 

Yes, this is somewhat of a shameless plug, but having seen what our Local Web Dominator product has done for dealers of all OEMs all over the country, I am sold on how effective it is and know it can be a game changer for so many more dealers. If you want to find out how you can automate the 88% of ranking factors I’ve just explained above, give us a call.

Talk Soon,

Brad

OBJECTIVE 

Located in a southwest suburb of Sacramento, California, Iron Steed Harley-Davidson® is a top-performing, customer-focused dealership that prides themselves on having a huge selection of bikes, with a small town, family atmosphere.  General Manager, Aubree Cradduck, and her team at Iron Steed Harley treat their customers like family.  And she wants to make sure that she keeps her Harley family in-the-know with all the local events, rides, promotions, and anything else going on around the dealership.  As a savvy marketer, Aubree knows that anything she’s going to put her resources (both money and time) towards needs to generate a positive R.O.I.  So, while keeping her customers in the loop is great for building relationships, she needs to make sure that the avenues spent communicating with current & prospective customers is quantifiable and generates a positive return

SOLUTION

Aubree’s keen eye for programs with a strong R.O.I is one of the reasons she puts such an emphasis on an ongoing email marketing strategy.  With the help of I.T./ Marketing Manager, Dave Allen, Aubree makes sure that she helps her customers “feel the love.”  They use the powerful Firestorm email system available in the Local Web Dominator program to email their ‘family’ of local Harley riders, customers and enthusiasts with engaging emails at least once a week.  Firestorm lets David (who does most of the email wrenching behind the scenes) select from a themed template, or build out a totally custom email using a blank template.  Dave takes advantage of that flexibility and uses a variety of styles in the emails each week to split test the effectiveness of different styles and layouts.  He’s also careful to ensure that each of his emails are loaded with engaging content and, most importantly, links back to the Iron Steed H-D website.  

RESULTS

Regardless of which theme Dave selects from the Firestorm email system, the results he and Aubree are generating from their email marketing campaigns are amazing.  Last month, Iron Steed Harley-Davidson sent out five unique newsletters to their entire email list.  The newsletters had an average open rate 17% with an average click-through-rate of 10%.  But, that’s not the best part…  

The five Firestorm emails sent out increased their website traffic by more than 11% for the entire month!  In fact, Firestorm email traffic was the 3rd highest source of traffic to www.IronSteedHD.com in total, just below organic traffic and direct traffic (people who typed in their website directly), even outranking the traffic generated by Facebook referrals and Google AdWords paid advertising traffic.  Talk about a quantifiable R.O.I. for email marketing.   

If you want to increase your website traffic while using the easiest, most powerful email program in the industry, give us a call at 877-242-4472 and we’ll walk you through the Firestorm Email program.

 Dealership: 

Lifestyles Honda is a Honda, Can-Am, Ski-Doo, Sea-Doo, Triumph and Honda Power Equipment dealership in Mount Vernon, Washington. If you asked them how they managed to stay small and sell big, they’d give you a simple answer: years of experience. Their mission is to offer their customers the latest in parts and products at the best prices, and with unparalleled service. They pledge to use their best efforts to make the customer experience both beneficial and enjoyable. Once customers give them a try, they’re sure they’ll be back for more!

Solution: 

Ron VanWaveren, owner of Lifestyles Honda, knew the Sharp Shooter Program would deliver a great turnout for his annual Spring Open House. The short term goal of the program is to drive a lot of traffic to an event at the dealership and deliver a pipeline of leads that turns that weekend event into a month-long sales process. Long-term with consistency, we can create a SYSTEM for Predictable Growth by increasing the number of customers spending money with the dealership annually and the average amount of money they spend.

Ron wanted to target a mix of both past customers and conquest prospects (people who ride what he sells, lives in his immediate backyard, but haven’t bought from him). We selected 1,300 past customers and 1,300 conquest customers for this event. 

Once we identified the target audience, we went after them with up to 12 direct marketing strategies. By giving customers and prospects more opportunities to respond to the marketing, we increase the number of leads being generated (customers who tell us who they are and what they want to buy from the dealership), and the number of customers who walk through the door on event day.

Ron wanted to put a spin on his Spring Open House this year by advertising the chance to win a 2014 Honda Motorcycle. Here’s how it works: The dealership purchases an insurance agreement covering the cost of the unit, giving customers the chance to win a bike for free. We then either print a number on the postcard or have customers come in and guess a random 6-digit number. The insurance company plays the odds that the customer with the winning number won’t show up or that no one will guess the correct number. This is an excellent way to add some traffic to your next event!

Other than the bike giveaway, the message focused on the party he was throwing at his dealership including food, drinks, door prizes and more! Focusing on what the customer wants (the party) and not the sale, ultimately leads to more leads, traffic and sales in each department. The specific timing sequence of when all the marketing hit homes, went off without a hitch.

Results:

Executing on all four pillars of the Sharp Shooter Program - Right Audience, Right Media, Right Message & Right Timing, really paid off. For their Spring Open House & Lucky Lock Party, the program generated 101 completed surveys including 68 sales opportunities in Clothing, P&A and Service, PLUS 21 responses for a new or used unit! 

After the event, Ron told his Account Executive, Bill Gallagher, that over 350 people showed up and the event was, ‘awesome!’ There was so much traffic the biggest problem was parking and the sales guys thought ‘there were going to be accidents.’ Check out the review Ron left us after his event:

What's next?

May means the perfect time to ride and the perfect time to do an event. Between Cinco de Mayo, Armed Forces Day and Memorial Day, your biggest question won’t be should I do an event, but what event should I go big for! Check out the sample campaign postcard for a killer campaign option for May and for more information on how the Sharp Shooter Program can help you achieve your marketing goals in 2017, call me on my direct line 877-242-4472 ext: 112. Happy selling.

As most know, we got our start on the dealer’s side of the fence. Rod, CEO of Powersports Marketing, owned a 4-store dealer group in the Atlanta metro area, and most of our leadership team (myself included) was involved in the operations of those stores. 

I’ll never forget a valuable lesson I learned from Rod around the year 2000 after Dealer Expo in Indy. Rod required all of our dealership staff who attended any dealer meetings to attend the seminars that were being offered, and he practiced what he preached. This particular year, the late John Wyckoff, author of Mind Your Own Business, was one of the instructors and Rod attended his seminar. 

John Wyckoff had asked a room full of dealers to raise their hand if they had held an event at their dealership during the spring or summer of the previous year. Most dealers raised their hand. Then, he asked how many of those events were successful, leading to an increase of traffic and sales. Again, most dealers raised their hand. He then asked the room who had held more than one event in that calendar year. Only a few dealers raised their hand. 

John Wyckoff was on to something. Most dealers in our industry know that events are one of the best ways (if not the very best way) to drive floor traffic, but most will only do 1 or 2 each year.  In the before-mentioned seminar, John Wyckoff asked why the dealers didn’t do more than one event. The reason?  Because having an event at the dealership is a lot work, and it’s especially tough on the Dealer Principal and/or GM.

This is a bit of a ‘Catch 22’ though. When a dealer only holds 1 - 2 events per year there’s no routine. No routine means a lack of systems and processes. When there’s no system in place, chaos ensues. That chaos equals a bunch of hard work and headaches for the Dealer Principal who then decides he doesn’t want to sign up for his own butt-whooping again. 

Dealers who decide to conduct monthly events, however, develop the appropriate systems, which make their events much easier to conduct. SYSTEM is an acronym for Save Yourself Stress Time Energy & Money. And, while systems are never perfect to begin with, the headaches decrease rapidly as a routine is developed.

Shortly after Rod attended this seminar, our 4 stores started holding an event every single month. One system we developed was an Event Planning Checklist. Yes, a checklist is a system! The GM of each store was responsible for using this checklist to assign tasks to their staff and ensure no details were overlooked. If you’d like a PDF of this Event Planning checklist, call 1-877-242-4472 and ask for me, or tell the PSM team member who answers that you’d like us to email a copy to you.

Events are also a paramount piece of the Predictable Growth System. For those who don’t remember what the Predictable Growth System is, there are 2 parts to it:

1. We Grow Your Active Customers – An active customer is defined as someone who has spent money with your dealership within the last 12 months. 

We grow active customers in two ways. First, we focus on reactivating inactive/lost customers who haven’t spent money with you in the last 12 months. Second, we get new customers through the door by focusing on the people who live in your market area, ride what you sell, buy what you sell, but have never purchased something from you.

Increasing the number of active customers who do business with you each year grows your business.

2. We Increase Your Average Customer Value – This is the amount of money your average customer spends with you each year.  

When enthusiasts visit your dealership, they’re like kids in a candy store. Many of them can’t help themselves but to make a purchase. So, when you increase the amount of times a person visits your dealership each year, they end up buying more parts, more accessories, more gear, they service their unit more often, and they shorten their trade cycle. 

I’ll explain the Predictable Growth System for a dealership that had 2,500 active customers in 2016 and did $5,000,000 in total sales, meaning their average customer is worth $2,000 each. 

1. Grow Active Customers by 10% or 2,500 grows to 2,750.

2. Increase Avg. Customer Value by 10% or $2,000 increases to $2,200.

3. 2,750 customers multiplied by $2,200 avg. value = $6,050,000 in total sales. That’s over $1,000,000 in growth (over 20%).

We CAN grow your dealership predictably through marketing an event each month. We’ll give the enthusiasts in your area (both customers and new prospects) a reason to visit your store every month and grow your active customers. When enthusiasts visit your dealership frequently it increases the amount of money they spend with you each year. 

Sound too good to be true?  It’s not. Call me and I’ll give you all the details: 

877-242-4472

- Tory

I’ve come to accept that I’m kind of an old guy. I have at least as much grey hair as dark, and that takes a while to happen. My youngest child graduates from high school in a month. I still have a rotary phone. Bright red. In a closet. I’m no spring chicken.

When I was a kid, I never could have imagined the technology that would exist today. It’s well beyond the kind of stuff that was in Star Trek  (which was a NEW show then). 

Fast forward from that time to now, and throw the internet, smart phones, and Google in the mix. It’s pretty amazing stuff.

To be successful these days, you have to have a presence on the almighty Google – and it better be a good one. At our marketing boot camps, I always joke about where the best place to hide a body is – page 2 of a Google search. It’s a joke, but pretty true. If you don’t show up prominently in a Google search it has a real impact on your business.

So what determines how you’ll show up in Google search results?

That’s a little bit of a complicated question, because Google does all they can to keep folks from gaming the system, they won’t come out and specifically state how they determine that. That algorithm is like the KFC 11 herbs and spices, but there are some extremely sophisticated SEO groups that work to deconstruct the formula, and do a pretty good job of hitting the high points. Search Engine Land just released the 2017 Local Search Ranking Factors survey results from 40 of the best SEO companies in the business and the results are interesting.

First, looking at the Local Pack/Finder ranking factors (the results that show in the map window on the results page). What you see is that Google is placing a lot of stock in online factors, but are beginning to take offline factors into account now as well. 

For example: the biggest factor is My Business Signals. It’s weighted at 19%, and is made up of not just keywords in the business title, but proximity. In other words, keywords establish that it is a relevant result, but the searchers proximity to you is considered as well. Google knows where you are when your phone has location services turned on. You can also see this when your Google search results show a business’ busy hours. So they know what’s relevant and close. 

Another big factor is Review Signals.  This category is weighted at 13%. Good reviews are critical for a dealership. Studies have shown that dropping from 4 stars to 3 stars on average can impact revenue 10%. Customers can – and do – decide whether or not to do business with you before they ever come through the door. The two main criteria here are review quantity and velocity. 

This means they are looking at how many reviews you have and how frequently you receive them. This is where having an automated system for harvesting real reviews from real customers becomes a no-brainer. Reviews older than 90 days are considered no longer relevant by consumers.So for both credibility with buyers and Google, it only makes sense to have an automated way to keep filling that bucket in place. Plus, having an automated system successfully adds them at a rate that puts a check in the velocity (frequency) box as well.

The third big factor, weighted at 10% is Behavioral signals. This is another category that makes use of on-line and off-line signals. Click through rates are considered, but also mobile click-to-calls as well. A call indicates more interest and relevance than a simple click, it’s more of a buying signal or at least an intent to visit. Check-ins also fall into this category as well.

The last category I want to talk about is Social Signals. While it accounts for less than the others I’ve discussed (it’s weighted at 4%), it’s still important. This category is made up of engagement with Facebook, Twitter, and other social media. While it’s not weighted as high as the other factors, it’s important because those social media channels (Facebook specifically) are great ways to engage with customers/prospects and show the personality of your dealership. This is where people begin to know, like and trust you before they come to the dealership.

The world of marketing is in some ways a lot more complicated, but can be made simpler. To successfully market your dealership, you need just the right recipe of digital and more traditional methods. The weighting factors I’ve talked about here add up to be 46% of Local Pack Ranking Factors for your dealership. If you look at them separately, trying to develop a plan to maintain or improve them can be overwhelming. That’s why it’s important to partner with a company that understands the big picture of what it takes to successfully market a dealership. 

I’m a little shameless in my plug for what we do, because our Local Web Dominator platform combined with Firestorm Email and the Sharp Shooter predictable growth program get a handle on the 46% of ranking factors mentioned above and more.

Automatically. 

If you want to see how, give us a call. Next time, we’ll talk about ranking factors for localized organic ranking (outside the map in the middle of the results).

Talk Soon,

Brad

I’ve got a funny story for you. The other day Tory and I are waiting in line for a sandwich when he says to me, “Do you think you’re more book smart or street smart?” As someone who’s excelled better in the real world as opposed to the academic classroom, I proudly replied “street smart,” to which Tory said, “Okay, let me see your wallet.” I handed him my wallet and as he was putting it in his pocket with a big smile chuckling he says, “Nah, you’re more book smart.” He got me good on that one, and unfortunately this isn’t the first time I’ve failed the street smart versus book smart test. In fact, there’s a tricky balance between the two, one without the other will most often lead to some level of ignorance.

Back in my dealership days, I was originally taught that the purpose of my advertising and marketing was to build my brand, get my name out there, create T.O.M.A. (top of mind awareness) and community and marketplace awareness. This made perfect sense at the time. In fact, the idea of this dates back to a much older time where small towns (like Mayberry on the Andy Griffith show) usually had one drug store, one barber shop, one hardware store, one dentist, etc. So, when they opened up and did a simple ad in the local paper it created quite a buzz.  But, as time has passed, the lay of the land has changed dramatically. Not just because small isolated towns that were once surrounded by pasture and farm land have been connected by four lane roads and endless options and choices for nearly every category of business, but also because of the internet. Nearly anything and everything imaginable is just a click away. 

Even though it’s been many years since my Dealer Principal days, I can vividly remember my cable TV rep, billboard salesmen, and radio reps all teaching me the “branding my dealership” lesson. Heck, once I even bit off on a “re-branding” campaign where I had a new logo created, new signage on the building, new t-shirts, decals, etc. But, that was just the beginning of the expense.  Then I was sold on the need to advertise and let everyone know about my new logo. This was a painful lesson, and one of the many expensive street smarts learning experiences that have led me to ask two very important questions before doing any advertising:    

1. What is the objective of my advertising?

2. Can I afford that objective?

A lot of the branding that often looks tempting to the small business owner is being done by well-funded mega companies who have lots of patience and loads of cash. Unfortunately, most dealerships aren’t in this position.  But, many DP’s do just as I did, and ignorantly plow forward doing branding with a limited budget only to find out they have nothing quantifiable to show for it, except an empty bank account. The harsh reality is your customers don’t care about your new logo, and spending money advertising it is just plain silly.  

When you go into the branding mindset you begin to think of how you want people to look and think about you, your products, and your business and how you can promote that image. That’s an okay objective, if you can afford it.

When you shift gears and change your mindset into answering the heart of that first question you realize that what you really want from your advertising is not a warm and fuzzy feeling because you heard your commercial on the radio; what you really want to do is generate some business and make some damn money, right?

This shift redirects you to think about who your most viable target audience is, what is a compelling message that could encourage them to come into the dealership, call, or submit an online inquiry, and how you can measure this advertising to see if it’s working or not working.

Simply put, the purpose of your advertising is to produce quantifiable sales opportunities and generate a positive return on your investment.  

“But, what about my brand?” some will say…”It’s important to me.”  I understand, my company’s brand is very important to me as well. However, our branding is a happy byproduct that is created by lead generation marketing, quality client experiences, and excellent products, not from some expensive display ad placed in one of the trade journals or a fancy direct mail piece featuring our logo and slogan.  Thinking that your logo and your advertising are responsible for your brand is a poorly thought out strategy.

This is where that tricky balance of book smarts and street smarts comes into play. You’ve likely fallen for some of the same advertising B.S. that I have in the past, but the fact that you’ve read this article shows you're also open to mixing those lessons learned with some book smarts, too. They say wisdom comes from experience, and the combination of those two ingredients could be the impetus for you having a record breaking spring and summer in 2017.

Gotta run, headed to lunch now to see if I can snag Brad’s wallet. ; - )

To learn more about Powersports Marketing’s lead generation marketing contact us at 877-242-4472.