What are your marketing goals in 2020? One of the biggest pain points for dealers is deciding where to spend their marketing dollars to get the results they want. Many dealers feel like their marketing strategies don’t perform as well as they used to, which, when combined with declining sales profitability, puts extra pressure on marketers to up their…

A decade ago we fought through an economic recession that drove an automotive depression. Dealers across the nation refashioned their business models as Internet departments developed into Internet dealerships.

Much time, energy, and teeth-gnashing abounded as old-school met new-school and an industry that can be decades behind in technology…

As time goes by, digital marketing is increasingly integrated into car dealerships’ ad budgets. Because of that, many options have developed which allow dealerships to create exposure and deliver ads in a more direct and targeted way -- more than was ever possible with traditional media.

Even some forms of traditional media have become digital, such as radio,…

For decades, advertising enjoyed a fairly predictable business. Print, radio, and TV coalesced into a three-pronged approach that was mastered after decades of relative stability. Simply put, if a vendor demonstrated expertise, then clients willingly trusted them, generation after generation. Then the Internet happened.

The ones and zeros that began streaming…

Content marketing has become somewhat of a buzzword recently. With developing technology and the Internet taking over our lives, PR and marketing terms constantly develop and shift in meaning. So, I thought a little primer on content marketing might be useful!

The classic definition of marketing typically involves activities such as ads, coupons and direct…

Chalk this up as a win! YouTube TV has finally been released. It's something you may have heard about for a while, and now you can see it in action in California, New York, and Philly. But why is it so important for your dealership? Your YouTube ads will play on TV! 

Interesting, right?

Watch this episode of Hard Facts for more info.…

So many times business owners focus on the conversion or lead factor of their analytics. While this provides some insight into how successful your marketing campaign in, there's one crucial piece that you should be looking at.

Watch this week's Think Tank Tuesday to figure out what you've been missing in your analytics.…

Has your blog reached its greatest potential? 

Your blog can boost traffic to your website, create demand for your products and services, and position your business as a credible resource for information. If you’re not utilizing your blog properly, you’re missing out on awesome opportunities!

Watch this week’s Hard Facts to learn about some things you should know before hitting the publish button on your…

Good ideas always start with a bad one. Come to a meeting with an overflow of ideas and you're bound to find a good one out of the batch!

Watch this week's #ThinkTankTuesday to learn how you can improve your brainstorming meetings, marketing strategy ideas, and teamwork. Plus, Dan brought his dog.…

We talk a lot about how you can merchandise or present your product to get your customers to purchase. But what we really need to focus on is making sure that our digital customers receive a traditional experience.

What do we mean? Watch this week’s Hard Facts as Samantha explains why the digital buying experience needs to be so much more than what it currently is.…

Business owners and marketers alike have long been set in the idea that in order to make money you must spend money. While this is inherently true, the amount spent and on what mediums, can drastically vary. Since 2009, before the height of social media and paid digital advertising, I have been focused on finding alternative strategies for my clients and my own companies, instead of opting for the expensive clutter-filled traditional mediums like print and radio.

While…

Quick question -- do you think that advertising has changed in the last 5 years? 

On this week's Think Tank Tuesday, I talk about the path of a customer and how that can affect your marketing strategy. Watch it now and join the conversation.

Also, take a moment and register for Part 1 of our 3-part mini series by clicking here. You'll learn…

Influencer marketing. It’s an affordable way to get your brand name out there and increase your sales. But where do you start?

In order to add influencer marketing to your strategy or campaign, you have to iron out the details. In this week’s Hard Facts episode, Samantha reveals what you need to do before you take on key leaders that will promote your brand message.

Watch the video to learn more!…

These days, Google searches are much more personalized and localized. For example, when a consumer types in a search query at their home it produces different results to the exact same search conducted at their office 30 miles away.



And, to further complicate matters, consumers increasingly shop and conduct their research using multiple devices, making it that much…

What have we learned from all of the studies?

There seems to be a ton of them coming out lately saying that social media isn't working, SEO isn't working, television isn't working, classified listings aren't working... the list is ongoing. If all of the studies…

If there's one thing that gets me riled up when talking to dealers, it's finding out that there are two completely different strategies being applied to their traditional and digital marketing. It made sense a decade ago when the digital age was first coming into existence in automotive marketing. It made a little sense a few years ago when the digital spend was much…

Consumers today are increasingly becoming finicky about where and how they want to communicate. While the past may have seen a traditional print ad performing well on its own, that’s increasingly not the case. Data supports the fact that consumers are all over the place and successful marketers know that their message needs to be at every potential touch point possible. The…