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Advertising is, by far, one of the most |
 Sdifficult areas to track your success, or lack of success. It has been said that only 50% of advertising is successful and the person who can determine which 50% will become an instant billionaire.
Many sales managers have huge budgets and some work very hard to create interesting and hopefully effective campaigns. Let's face the facts though; there are very few sales managers who possess the creativity to dream up a new campaign every month. So what are you going to do with your budget this month? Here are a few ideas that can prove to be reasonably successful when you're faced with the 'writer’s block' bug that undoubtedly will infect you from time to time. Piggy-back your manufacturer's current campaign - Manufacturers have million-dollar budgets and have spent millions in research to specifically target certain demographics that are most likely to purchase or lease one of your models. A number of years ago, as an example, Ford utilized the slogan "Have you driven a Ford lately?" and spent billions advertising all of their models, each ending with that slogan. There is nothing stopping you from utilizing the same slogan and tying it into your dealership, such as "Have you driven an ABC Motors Ford lately"? You are then able to capitalize on the billions spent by the manufacturer in your own market, and if done properly, your market will think of your dealership every time they see and hear the manufacturer's ads.
You can also piggy-back model-specific ads; if a national ad is hitting a great price point, such as $199/month for Model B, adopt a title such as 'ABC Motors - Home of the Model B' or "Philadelphia's Model B Dealer" using your own city's name. Local competitors’ promotions - The tent sale has become one of the most popular advertising promotions over the past decade and many dealers make this an annual event. In fact, many dealerships back off some of their own advertising when they know that one of their competitors is having a tent sale or any other off-site or on-site promotion simply because the local media will be dominated by the tent sale ads. This can prove to be an extreme success for you if you do a few things right. Typically, those tent sale ads stress directions to locate the big tent sale; however, because this is a non-typical automotive location, customers usually stumble on it when out doing other things. Your location should be reasonably well-known already as an automotive location, now your only task is to have customers coming to you. Any local party equipment rental facility will have a tent that you can rent at a very small expense. Simply erect a tent on your lot a day or two into your competitor’s promotion and you will be surprised how many people arrive at your dealership thinking you are the one having the big sale!
Non-automotive sale partnerships - There are many businesses in your city/town that advertise as often as you do, and they too have the ”writer’s block” bug from time to time. However, you can both benefit if you pool your resources when the other is having a sale. For example, Joe Schmo's Furniture Warehouse is having one of their clear-out sales and you are having a model year clear-out sale. Pool your resources and put together a joint advertisement stating something like "Cars and Chairs priced to get you off your seat!" or "Sofas and SUVs - don't lie around long - they'll soon be gone." These might seem pretty elementary-type campaigns; the reality is, there are so many automotive ads in the paper, on TV and on radio at any given moment, it is difficult to stand out, especially when you haven't got anything truly interesting or different to say than anyone else. With a combination promotion with a non-automotive company, you accomplish two things; first, it is unique and should stand out amongst all of the other car ads, and second, when two companies pool their budgets they can effectively advertise more often and in more media. Granted, your company is only getting half of the air time or ad space, but it is also getting twice as much of it. I would also recommend that you have a few pieces of their inventory in your showroom and they have a few of yours during the promotion to help tie it in for the public.These are only a few basic ideas for something you can do to promote your company and product when you haven't got any other ideas. The key to all advertising is not to sell cars, trucks, vans and SUVs in your ads but to spark enough interest in the customers to motivate them to want to visit your dealership today. Do your ads motivate? |
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For more information or should you have any questions please contact:
shawn.ryder@autouniversity.com© 2008 Auto University - A Division of Ted Ings Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved 
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