Courtney Evans's Posts - DealerELITE.net2024-03-29T07:21:33ZCourtney Evanshttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/CourtneyEvanshttps://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/220100182?profile=RESIZE_48X48&width=48&height=48&crop=1%3A1https://www.dealerelite.net/profiles/blog/feed?user=0iv0hdc2h58vs&xn_auth=noKnowing Your Customer vs. Looking for the Saletag:www.dealerelite.net,2020-03-27:5283893:BlogPost:9543082020-03-27T14:03:22.000ZCourtney Evanshttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/CourtneyEvans
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/4246369695?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/4246369695?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="380"></img></a> How well do you know your sales and service customers? Not just the customers who have purchased a car in the last month, or the ones who get their cars serviced on a regular basis, but all of your customers?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Considering your dealership has thousands of contacts in its DMS, it’s highly unlikely —and unrealistic—that you know your customers…</p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/4246369695?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/4246369695?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="380" class="align-right"/></a>How well do you know your sales and service customers? Not just the customers who have purchased a car in the last month, or the ones who get their cars serviced on a regular basis, but all of your customers?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Considering your dealership has thousands of contacts in its DMS, it’s highly unlikely —and unrealistic—that you know your customers well. Yet as a business today, it’s critical that your customers feel like you know their needs and appreciate their business.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sending out the wrong marketing communications at the wrong time sends a glaring message to your customers; that you don’t really know them and you’re just looking to make a sale.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>How do you think your customers feel when they receive a coupon for an oil change, and they just had an oil change a week ago? What if they just bought a car from you and receive a message for an upcoming sales event? One time I received a coupon in the mail but forgot to bring it to the dealership when I took my car in for service. The dealership did not honor the coupon. Needless to say, I never went back there for service.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Effective marketing is not about sending out offers, then counting how many coupons were redeemed or dollars in ROI you received for every campaign. Marketing is about building and maintaining a relationship with your customers. If your marketing strategy isn’t equipped to accomplish this goal, it’s failing.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>To gauge the effectiveness of your marketing strategy, answer the following questions:</p>
<p> </p>
<ul>
<li>Is your messaging the same across all marketing channels?</li>
<li>Does your dealership send out consistent, ongoing communications to your customers?</li>
<li>Are your sales marketing efforts communicating with your service (aftermarket efforts) and vice versa?</li>
<li>Have you identified any unnecessary communications that were sent to customers who just recently took an action at your dealership?</li>
<li>Are your communications always relevant to each of your customers?</li>
</ul>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Building a Comprehensive Strategy</strong></p>
<p> </p>
<p>To build a marketing strategy that’s personalized and relevant for each of your customers, you need to ensure that all of your marketing solutions and products work hand in hand, and not against each other.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Many dealers are expanding their marketing channels from traditional print and email into the digital realm. Digital ads, SEO/SEM and social media are all great channels to use for different purposes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>But are all these channels working in sync with each other? If you’re using different products from different vendors, probably not. Yet keeping multiple channels in sync with each other is critical to creating a consistent customer experience.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ideally, your customers will see the same message delivered across all of your channels. When a customer clicks on a Facebook ad, that click becomes a piece of data that is analyzed along with other data, to determine what the next message should be for that customer, and which channel it should be delivered on.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Integrating the in-store customer experience with your marketing efforts is also important. When a customer declines a service, when and how do they receive a message reminding them that the service needs to be taken care of? When a customer schedules an appointment online, do they see the same offer that they saw in their email or mailbox yesterday?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A unified marketing platform solves many of these issues, but it’s not enough to just have all the different channels talking to each other. Every message that gets sent out, and every offer delivered, must be for a particular reason. The fact that your service revenue is still 30% away from goal with one week left in the month is not a good enough reason. The reason must be individualized and relevant for each of your customers.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>This can only be accomplished with a unified platform that utilizes customer data and machine learning. When every piece of customer data and every customer action is analyzed, it’s possible to predict with a high degree of certainty what that customer needs and where they are in the ownership lifecycle. Then, an individual offer or message is created that’s appealing to that customer. We know what’s appealing based on that customer’s past behavior; which ads did they click on and which did they ignore? Do they respond more to emails, print or social media?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>When it comes to marketing, the more customer specific you can be, the better the results. Studies show that customers prefer a personalized shopping experience, even more than they want savings.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It may be impossible to get to know all of your customers, but your customers don’t have to know that. With a unified marketing platform that integrates messaging across multiple channels and utilizes data-driven algorithms to deliver a personalized experience, your customers will feel valued. As a result, your dealership will see a boost in both marketing ROI and customer satisfaction levels.</p>New Trends Require New Marketing Strategytag:www.dealerelite.net,2020-02-28:5283893:BlogPost:8728132020-02-28T15:16:17.000ZCourtney Evanshttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/CourtneyEvans
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3955964841?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3955964841?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="380"></img></a> 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…</p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3955964841?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3955964841?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="380" class="align-right"/></a>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 game.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>However, doing the same thing over and over again and hoping for different results is the definition of insanity. You know what else is insane? 85% of leadership teams spend less than one hour per month discussing strategy, and 95% of employees don’t understand their organization’s strategy. If you want to improve marketing ROI, the first step is to block some time so you can research and develop new strategies, put them in writing and communicate them to your employees.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The auto industry is changing rapidly, so the next step is to consider current industry trends. What worked yesterday doesn’t work today, and this doesn’t only apply to marketing. It also applies to sales and service. Let’s review major market trends:</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Trend 1: Digital Transformation</strong></p>
<p>Gartner Market Insights reveals that 67% of leaders say their companies will no longer be competitive if they can’t be significantly more digital in 2020. Today, nearly all consumers begin the car-shopping process online and 86% of consumers use social media every day. Relying on inventory alone to attract car shoppers to your website is no longer a viable marketing strategy to attract new car shoppers, and neither is relying on email and/or snail mail to retain your current customers. Too many customers today delete emails or send them directly into spam folders, and disregard snail mail.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Your dealership needs a digital marketing strategy, and not just for sales. Your fixed ops department is responsible for half of your gross profits, so half of your digital marketing budget should be allocated to a strategy for service and parts. The old “sales feeds service” paradigm is outdated, as these days “service feeds sales” is equally true.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Trend 2: Importance of Data Curation</strong></p>
<p>Intel CEO Brian Krzanich famously said “Data is the new oil.” In dealerships, on average, only 10% of data stored in the DMS is being used for any purpose, let alone developing business and marketing strategies.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>These days the ability to leverage data is critical to gain the insights necessary that keep your business thriving. And if your marketing partners(s) aren’t leveraging your data to reach and engage with consumers, it’s no wonder that your marketing isn’t getting results.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>When selecting a new marketing partner, ask them how they use your DMS and/or CRM data. In addition to the data in your DMS, an effective marketing strategy relies on selective acquisition of third-party data. This is used to augment the data in your DMS to develop targeted, relevant communications.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Today’s savvy marketing companies either perform their own data analysis, or partner with companies that specialize in this area, in order to maximize marketing ROI.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Trend 3: Rise of the Customer Experience</strong></p>
<p>75% of consumers say the customer experience is an important factor in purchasing decisions. Millennials also dominate the consumer space, and they care less about price and more about ease of service, convenience and the overall experience.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>With flat margins, the only way to differentiate your dealership from the competition is with customer experience. In the service department, where conversion and retention are paramount to growing profitability, the experience is everything. From how you communicate to the technology in your service lane, it’s important to implement a strategy that fits how you want the service experience to be. Do the research and ask what consumers want, and then provide that experience.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Avoid Common Pitfalls</strong></p>
<p>Leverage these trends in your new marketing strategy. Take the time to develop a comprehensive strategy that focuses on these trends, while avoiding these common pitfalls.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>1.</strong> Do-it-Yourself. When times get tough, many dealers reduce spending on outside marketing and bring it in-house. Unfortunately, digital marketing expertise doesn’t come easily, and you can spend a lot more making costly mistakes. Choose a partner with proven expertise and a track record in digital marketing, and ask for referrals so you can talk to other dealers about their results.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>2.</strong> Investing in too many partners. Your marketing strategy should provide your customers with consistency in messaging. This can’t happen when you have too many partners. Look for a marketing partner that can integrate your marketing strategy with your sales and service marketing strategies. It’s also important that your direct mail and email strategies align with your digital marketing strategy.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>3.</strong> Separate the marketing strategy from sales, service and customer experience strategies. The customer experience you provide is dependent upon your marketing programs and your sales and service processes. Therefore, your marketing strategy needs to seamlessly integrate with your service and sales strategies to accomplish your goals. Additionally, your employees need to know what role they play in your dealership’s strategies, so their behaviors and words can be aligned with your planned customer experience.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Today’s marketing strategies are no longer “set it and forget it.” With the rapid pace of change, you need to review, monitor and adjust your strategy so that your dealership can evolve to meet your customers’ needs and outperform your competition.</p>Owner Retention Programs: The Good, the Bad and the Uglytag:www.dealerelite.net,2020-01-31:5283893:BlogPost:8153012020-01-31T14:30:58.000ZCourtney Evanshttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/CourtneyEvans
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3841729833?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3841729833?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="380"></img></a> Most auto dealerships do some, if not all of their service marketing with their manufacturer owner retention programs (ORPs). The purpose of ORPs is stated in the name: to build customer loyalty. But how well do these programs deliver on that promise?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The results from ORPs are all over the board. Some dealerships effectively use ORPs to…</p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3841729833?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3841729833?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="380" class="align-right"/></a>Most auto dealerships do some, if not all of their service marketing with their manufacturer owner retention programs (ORPs). The purpose of ORPs is stated in the name: to build customer loyalty. But how well do these programs deliver on that promise?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The results from ORPs are all over the board. Some dealerships effectively use ORPs to increase customer retention, while other dealers experience lackluster results.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>The Pros</strong></p>
<p>The premise behind ORPs is to stay in touch with sold customers, bring them back in for service and continue the relationship until they're ready to buy again. This is definitely the right idea. Sending consistent communications to customers keeps brand awareness high and generates ROs and revenue.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>The Bad</strong></p>
<p>Many dealerships' ORPs underperform due to a "one size fits all" marketing strategy. If you're simply sending out mailers and emails once a month with an offer based on what you think customers will respond to, you're not getting optimal results.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>The Ugly</strong></p>
<p>Dealers underinvest in service marketing as a whole. Fixed ops is responsible for roughly half of dealership gross profits, yet most dealers spend 10% or less of the overall marketing budget on service marketing.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Even worse, as sales start to slow, service marketing budgets often get cut. This makes no sense. If sales are slowing, don’t you want to get more service business? How else do you expect to maintain profits during challenging times?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>If your service marketing strategy is not working, change it, don’t cut it. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The key to maximizing ORP dollars is to measure results. However, most dealers go about this the wrong way.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>For example, many dealers view service marketing campaigns as a way to generate immediate ROI. For every email campaign sent, success is measured with metrics like open rates, click-through rates (CTRs), number of ROs or dollars generated.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>While it's important to keep your marketing partner accountable, the ultimate goal of an ORP is to increase customer retention. Therefore, the correct way to measure results of your ORP is with customer loyalty or retention metrics.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Some popular metrics include Net Promoter Score (NPS), active customer status, customer lifetime value (CLV) or revenue per units-in-operation ($/UIO). Pick one or several to measure progress by.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Tips for Improving ORP Results</strong></p>
<p>Once you have customer retention benchmarks for your ORP effectiveness, it’s time to implement strategies to improve results. Here are a few tips to get you started.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Most dealers choose a budget-first approach, but this caps the potential audience that your campaigns can reach. Instead, use a goal-oriented budget approach and strategically select communications based on your dealership’s needs and business goals. This might mean doing fewer campaigns but maximizing the reach x frequency of each campaign.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Diversify your channel strategy beyond email and direct mail. Implement an omnichannel strategy and add social media, digital advertising and other channels depending on the goal of the campaign. If you’re doing conquest service campaigns, it takes up to seven touches to drive customer action. Adding more channels enhances the effectiveness of the channels you already have in place.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Not every campaign has to drive ROI. Be sure to include campaigns such as service thank-you’s and educational pieces that help build customer relationships.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Take a holistic approach and consider how your ORP messaging complements your overall dealership’s marketing strategy. What dealership events and marketing messages can be incorporated into your ORP?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Additionally, many dealers fail to leverage their customer data to create targeted and relevant ORP campaigns. Using predictive analytics can help identify which customers are most likely to buy into your dealership’s service value proposition and therefore are most likely to become loyal customers.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>You can read more about these strategies as well as others in Affinitiv’s ebook, “<a href="https://info.affinitiv.com/ebook_turbocharge_your_owner_retention_program">Turbocharge Your Owner Retention Program (ORP) Marketing</a>.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Once you’ve modernized your ORP and you’re getting better results, it’s time to connect the dots between your ORP marketing and the rest of your dealership’s marketing. Your owner retention program should not be run in a separate silo. To really maximize results, it’s important to integrate your service marketing strategy with your sales marketing strategy.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Integrating the ORP into the rest of your marketing creates a more consistent and better customer experience throughout the vehicle ownership lifecycle, which in turn increases customer loyalty and generates more revenue.</p>Beyond the ORP: Creating a Single, Cohesive Marketing Strategytag:www.dealerelite.net,2019-12-27:5283893:BlogPost:7943072019-12-27T14:58:04.000ZCourtney Evanshttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/CourtneyEvans
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3788668108?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3788668108?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="380"></img></a> Owner retention programs (ORPs) are one of the most used marketing tools and have been used by dealerships for many years. However, most ORPs are run in a silo, separate from the rest of the dealership’s marketing strategy.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>This practice results in an inconsistent, less than optimal experience for dealership customers. The way it currently…</p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3788668108?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3788668108?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="380" class="align-right"/></a>Owner retention programs (ORPs) are one of the most used marketing tools and have been used by dealerships for many years. However, most ORPs are run in a silo, separate from the rest of the dealership’s marketing strategy.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>This practice results in an inconsistent, less than optimal experience for dealership customers. The way it currently works is dealers sign up with several marketing vendors for different purposes; e.g. one vendor for their ORP, another for email marketing and another for video marketing. As a result, customers are subjected to messages with different voices, different ways of connecting and different tones.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>To increase customer retention, you need to deliver a strong and consistent brand message. Your marketing strategy is an important part of how customers perceive your brand. To improve brand perception and thereby improve the customer experience, it’s critically important to connect the dots between your ORP program and other marketing products. Here are a few examples of how this connectedness works and how it improves your marketing efforts.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Customer Data</strong></p>
<p>Data is the backbone of every marketing program. To be successful requires using first-party data in your DMS, as well as third-party data. Why? The more data you have on your customers, the better insights you have into what drives their behavior and actions.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It’s critical to integrate all customer data with your ORP in order to communicate accurate and timely information. Data helps with messaging and also knowing when to start and stop communications. Data also allows you to see who is redeeming your offers, viewing your marketing and what drives higher CSI scores.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Conquest Solutions</strong></p>
<p>Historically, conquest marketing has been viewed as a separate strategy from ORPs. However, the best conquest customers are the ones who are currently in your DMS. Isn’t a return customer even more valuable than a new customer?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Using data such as buyer habits, life events and Internet history, you can accurately guess when an existing customer is ready to exit their existing cycle and start a new one—regardless if that cycle is in sales or service.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Then you can take those customer profiles and data and create lookalike audiences, so you can accurately identify new prospects in your primary market area (PMA) who are most likely to buy. This conquest strategy is much more cost effective than blanketing an entire PMA with television commercials and direct mail.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Online Scheduler</strong></p>
<p>You may not think of an online scheduling product as a marketing product, but it’s essential to have this connected to your marketing program. When you send out service reminders and customers respond, you want them to be able to schedule without delay.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>When a customer logs into your scheduler, do they see the same service offers that they received in the mail or on social media? This allows them to simply click on their offer(s) of choice. Seeing exactly what they received helps to build trust and create a consistent customer experience.</p>
<p><strong> </strong></p>
<p><strong>Service Lane Software</strong></p>
<p>Integrating your service lane technology with your retention program helps with the customer experience, as well as how to communicate. Anything that happens during a service appointment can be communicated to everyone who’s involved with touching the customer and ensuring that message gets delivered.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It’s well known that customers are wary of being taken advantage of. Service lane software ensures consistency of messaging at every level. What the service advisor tells a customer in the shop is the same message they hear two weeks later when they receive their next email.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Digital Channels</strong></p>
<p>More than 80% of people consume media over digital channels, so marketing via digital channels is no longer an option. This applies to your ORP as well.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Social media is a very cost-effective way to deliver personalized service reminders, lease-end expiration alerts and other timely and relevant messages. These communications can be dropped right into your customers’ Facebook and Instagram feeds.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>In marketing there is a “Rule of 7,” meaning it can take up to seven marketing touches before a customer takes action. Adding digital channels such as social media and online ads to your ORP is an effective way to increase customer touches without seeming overly invasive.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Other digital channel strategies to consider include integration between your website leads and your ORP, as well as videos into email marketing. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Instead of running your ORP in a silo, try integrating it with the rest of your marketing products. When you consolidate and integrate multiple products into a single, cohesive marketing strategy, your dealership will convert and retain more customers, as well as deliver a better customer experience.</p>5 Essential ORP Communicationstag:www.dealerelite.net,2019-11-08:5283893:BlogPost:7524732019-11-08T14:36:19.000ZCourtney Evanshttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/CourtneyEvans
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3702555002?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3702555002?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="380"></img></a> Your dealership has probably been using an owner retention program (ORPs) for years, but when was the last time you evaluated the effectiveness of each communication?</p>
<p></p>
<p>One thing is certain. Sending out the same communications with the same messages via the same channels, again and again, isn’t a winning strategy. The goal of an ORP is to…</p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3702555002?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3702555002?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="380" class="align-right"/></a>Your dealership has probably been using an owner retention program (ORPs) for years, but when was the last time you evaluated the effectiveness of each communication?</p>
<p></p>
<p>One thing is certain. Sending out the same communications with the same messages via the same channels, again and again, isn’t a winning strategy. The goal of an ORP is to increase customer loyalty and improve marketing ROI. To accomplish this goal, you may have to modernize your ORP touchpoints to reach and engage more customers.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Start with the five most essential ORP communications.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>New Car Thank You, Sales to Service Handoff</strong></p>
<p>This communication is the first one that your customers receive after purchasing a vehicle. This should be an elevated piece that hits the customer when they are most excited about their new purchase. The primary goal is to set the tone for your relationship going forward.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Everyone loves driving their new car, and sending a message that warrants the amount of time and money they spent on their vehicle is a great way to keep customers’ excitement levels high. This communication also presents an opportunity to sell accessories.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Many dealers send either an email or a letter. Some do both. Using only one channel for this communication limits your reach to just a small percentage of your new customers. How can you establish a relationship if the customer never hears from you again?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A direct mail piece is a good strategy here since the customer just purchased a vehicle, so they might think the letter is something important related to that purchase. Better yet, use social media to reach that customer with the same message. The more channels you use to send this message, the greater your reach and the more relationships you will build.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Declined Service</strong></p>
<p>Multiple channels may be required to ensure that the customer sees and hears this message. A highly effective strategy is to have a Service BDC conduct outbound declined service call campaigns. These will be most effective if scheduled shortly after the customer receives an email and/or sees the reminder in their Facebook or Instagram feed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The most important strategy with this communication is to make the message relevant and personalized. Let’s say your customer declined a wheel alignment and tire rotation. When your customer clicks on the email or social media link, they should be taken to a specific landing page that plays a video on the importance of doing a wheel alignment and rotation.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Interim or Education Pieces, Newsletter</strong></p>
<p>Many dealers believe that if a communication isn’t designed to immediately generate a repair order (RO), then it’s a waste of money. Nothing could be further from the truth.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Remember the goal of marketing is to build customer loyalty and retention, which increases long-term revenue. Not every campaign needs to have immediate ROI. The purpose of these communications is NOT to sell, but to inform, educate and entertain.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>One dealership I know of invites their customers to bring gifts to the showroom every holiday season. The customers place the gifts in a new vehicle. When the vehicle is full of gifts, the dealer drives it to the nearest children’s hospital and distributes the gifts. Stories like these generate a lot of goodwill and help to cement your dealership brand in your customers’ minds.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A quarterly newsletter is a great way to share educational information about your customers’ specific models, such as how to use the infotainment center, how to operate the sunroof or how to check tire pressure. You can also invite them to upcoming events and share the latest news about the manufacturer or your dealership.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Inactive/Reactivation/Lost Customers</strong></p>
<p>How do you reach customers who haven’t been into your dealership in the last 18 months? Generic marketing messages and offers won’t cut it. If they haven’t worked in 18 months, what makes you think they’ll work now?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The key to re-activating lost customers is personalization. First, get to know these customers by analyzing your customer data. Then, create campaigns designed to drive action. Many dealers make the mistake of creating campaigns targeted towards the vehicle, and not towards the vehicle owner.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The more data you have on a customer, the more likely you can find the reason why they defected in the first place. Was it a bad experience? Did they move? Did their warranty expire? Purchasing third-party data about these customers can give you insights into how to win them back.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Did a customer just have a new baby? Buy a new house? Recently married? Life-changing events are powerful indicators that a customer may be in the market for a new vehicle soon, if they aren’t already. Focus messaging on your customers’ needs, not on the vehicle needs.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Service Thank You</strong></p>
<p>Again, many dealers might believe this communication isn’t important since it doesn’t generate ROI. That’s short-term thinking.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The primary goal of this thank you message is to solicit feedback from customers. The Customer Service Index (CSI) score is essential to track what went well and what didn’t go well with your service experience.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The most valuable information is collected within a week of your customers’ visit, when the experience is still fresh in their mind. During this short window customers want to share feedback whether their experience was good or bad.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Of course, feedback is only useful if you actually use it to improve your service processes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Before sending out these communications, make sure that the purpose of each communication is clearly defined. To drive customer action, keep your messaging clear, complete and concise. Most of all, make sure each communication is relevant for every customer. Follow these steps to improve both your customer retention metrics and ORP ROI.</p>Use Data to Improve the Customer Experiencetag:www.dealerelite.net,2019-09-13:5283893:BlogPost:6925292019-09-13T14:30:00.000ZCourtney Evanshttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/CourtneyEvans
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3554629839?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"></a><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3554633116?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3554633116?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="380"></img></a> <a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3554629839?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"></a>When we think of using customer data, it’s often in the context of marketing. I’ve written previously on how…</p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3554629839?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"></a><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3554633116?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3554633116?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="380" class="align-right"/></a><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3554629839?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"></a>When we think of using customer data, it’s often in the context of marketing. I’ve written previously on how data can be used to drive action and build better relationships with customers by sending them the right message on the right channel at the right time.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>But customer data has another important use that’s underutilized in dealerships. When a service appointment is scheduled, data can and should be used to create a better experience for that customer.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>What role does data play in the service lane?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Think about the steps your customers take to get their vehicles serviced. Each step coincides with a service department process.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Schedule> write > inspect > track > retain</p>
<p> </p>
<p>If you provide a stellar customer experience, the cycle will repeat.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>When your service lane technology solutions are integrated with your marketing platform, data can be collected and used at every step to educate your employees and help them better meet the customer’s needs. Here’s an example.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Schedule</strong></p>
<p>Customer Catie is on Facebook one day and sees a notice in her newsfeed that her vehicle is due for a brake job. Coincidentally, her brakes have been squeaking lately, so she knows its probably time. Fortunately, the dealership’s notice includes an offer for $50 off. When she clicks on the offer, she is taken directly to an online scheduler, where she can choose a day and time for her service.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>While scheduling her appointment, Catie sees another offer for an oil change, and realizes her vehicle could use one of those, too. Best of all, she sees an offer for a free loaner car, which she really appreciates because she has no other way to get to work. She clicks on both those offers and into the scheduler they go.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The offers that Catie sees when she’s using the online scheduler are not there by accident. Those offers don’t show up for everyone. The offers are generated for Catie based on data from her customer profile, her past service experiences and vehicle needs.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Already, Catie is happy. She’s getting discounts for her brake job, oil change and a free loaner car!</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Write</strong></p>
<p>When Catie arrives in the service lane, she is greeted by an advisor. During the write-up process, the advisor checks for recalls and “Vehicle like mine” recommendations. Based on the VIN, he sees that a recall has been issued for the vehicle’s airbags. He asks Catie to approve the replacement, and she does. The advisor then offers Catie a cup of coffee, which she gratefully accepts. A valet runs to get it for her while she gets into her loaner car.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Inspection</strong></p>
<p>Catie drives to work. As she settles down at her desk, she receives a text from the dealership. During the vehicle inspection, it was discovered that the rubber seal on her fuel cap is worn and needs to be replaced.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>At first, Catie’s annoyed because she thinks she’s being taken advantage of. But the text came with a video attached, so she plays the video and sees that the seal does indeed look frayed on one edge. She texts her approval back to the dealership.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Track</strong></p>
<p>Late that afternoon, Catie receives another text. Her vehicle is ready for pickup. When she returns to the dealership after work, the service advisor tells her that her rotors are beginning to wear and should be replaced, but it’s not urgent. He also shows Catie that her tire treads are starting to wear, but they should still be good for another 10,000 miles.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Catie declines to have her rotors replaced but makes a mental note. She knows her car is getting up there in mileage, so she’ll have to start putting aside some money for these repairs.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Catie’s in a hurry because she needs to pick up her daughter from soccer practice. The advisor tells her about a mobile pay option. Catie is thrilled. Last time she waited at the cashier for fifteen minutes. Today, all she has to do is sign on the mobile tablet and she’s free to go!</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Retain</strong></p>
<p>The next day, Catie receives a message thanking her for her business, along with a customer survey. She fills out the survey and gives the dealership a high rating. After all, she got two discounts, a free loaner car, and most important, she felt that the service advisor respected her busy schedule. She also appreciates being forewarned about upcoming repairs, so she can budget for them.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Several times in the next six months, Catie receives reminders that she declined the brake rotor repair and that she should bring her vehicle in. But her brakes seem fine and she’s busy, so she puts it off.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A couple months later, Catie receives a special offer for a discount on new tires. In the last newsletter that the dealership sent her, she read an article about tire safety. Winter’s coming, and Catie decides that she should go ahead and purchase the new tires. While she’s at it, she’ll get the brake rotor repair.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She logs into the dealership’s online scheduler, and sure enough she sees another offer for a free loaner car. Sweet! She schedules another appointment.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>In this scenario, you can see how using data helps to improve Catie’s customer experience.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Catie has a demanding career and is a busy mom, so a mobile check-in and check-out process limits the time she has to spend at the dealership. Because she’s a loyal, repeat customer, the dealership offers her a free loaner car with every service. Although Catie loves to save money whenever possible, convenience and trust are more important to her than whether she can save twenty dollars somewhere else. Besides, she doesn’t have time to shop around for quotes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>No matter which advisor services Catie when she returns, that person will have the data available at their fingertips to provide Catie with an experience and messaging consistent with her last visit.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Using data in the service lane can help your employees connect the dots so they can provide your customers with a better experience. The more you know about your customers and their vehicle needs, the better you can meet their expectations.</p>Use Customer Data to Build Better Relationshipstag:www.dealerelite.net,2019-08-09:5283893:BlogPost:6641442019-08-09T14:15:28.000ZCourtney Evanshttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/CourtneyEvans
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3415850416?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3415850416?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="380"></img></a> For such a small word, the word ‘data’ packs a pretty big punch. Some marketers get overwhelmed when they hear it because they believe it’s complicated. Others give it a bad rap without really understanding the benefits.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Yet it’s difficult to deny the advantages of data-driven marketing:</p>
<p> </p>
<ul>
<li>2 out of 3 leading marketers admit…</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3415850416?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3415850416?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="380" class="align-right"/></a>For such a small word, the word ‘data’ packs a pretty big punch. Some marketers get overwhelmed when they hear it because they believe it’s complicated. Others give it a bad rap without really understanding the benefits.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Yet it’s difficult to deny the advantages of data-driven marketing:</p>
<p> </p>
<ul>
<li>2 out of 3 leading marketers admit that data-based decisions beat gut instinct</li>
<li>78% of organizations say that data-driven marketing leads to increased conversion and customer acquisition</li>
<li>Personalized marketing increases ROI 5X to 8X</li>
</ul>
<p> </p>
<p>Keep in mind that marketing statistics like these are simply a gauge for how strong your customer relationships are—and ultimately, that’s the goal of any marketing strategy.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The face-to-face communications that your employees have with customers during the sales and service process lay the foundation for a relationship. While first impressions and good customer service are important, it’s when the customer is out of sight that your dealership either becomes out of mind, or builds on that foundation.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>To build that relationship requires the ability to send personalized, relevant communications to every individual. Sending a monthly email blast or postcards with a single service offer to your entire database is neither personalized nor relevant.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>This is where data becomes valuable. Chances are you already have all the data you need to create targeted marketing campaigns. The only question is, are you leveraging that data?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Every customer in your database has a unique profile. Data-driven marketing allows you to analyze each profile and quickly determine what the best message is, the best time to send that message and the best channel(s) to send it through. Of course, these analyses are not done by you as an individual—that would take forever. The entire process can be automated or semi-automated, depending on your preferences.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Let’s review how the right data can help your dealership improve relationships with three sample customers.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Customer Profile “A”</strong></p>
<p> </p>
<ul>
<li>Male, aged 35</li>
<li>Purchased a vehicle from you 4 years ago</li>
<li>Purchased a warranty</li>
<li>Owns 2 other vehicles, both the same OEM/brand</li>
<li>Actively searching online for 2020 models of the same brand</li>
<li>Recently got married</li>
<li>Loyal customer to your dealership for service; he has not visited any independent repair facilities (IRFs)</li>
<li>Lives 7 miles away from your dealership</li>
<li>Consumer spending habits include luxury restaurants, organic supermarkets</li>
</ul>
<p> </p>
<p>Based on this data, we can surmise this customer is a brand enthusiast who always wants the latest, greatest thing out there. He understands the value of OEM parts and service and is already loyal to your dealership for service.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>This customer is what we call a “Super Responder” because he is looking for a new vehicle and recently had a life event change (marriage).</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Based on his browsing history and previous communications from your dealership, we know he has clicked on Facebook ads and banner ads on his favorite websites.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Now, imagine if this individual received an oil change coupon in the mail from your dealership. Is that relevant? Is it going to put your dealership in consideration for his next purchase?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>This customer should immediately be targeted with Facebook and digital ads promoting the 2020 models he has searched for online. This customer is also an ideal target for exclusive car clinics and other VIP events at your dealership. If he is due for service, he’s more likely to respond to an offer with a free loaner vehicle; especially one of those newer models he is checking out online.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Customer Profile “B”</strong></p>
<p> </p>
<ul>
<li>Female, aged 27</li>
<li>Drives a vehicle that she leased from you 2.5 years ago</li>
<li>Did not purchase a warranty</li>
<li>Actively searching online for independent repair facilities (IRFs), as well as new models</li>
<li>Recently got married and had a baby</li>
<li>Last service was with an IRF 4 months ago</li>
<li>Recently moved 12 miles away</li>
<li>Consumer spending habits include budget restaurants and wholesale supermarkets</li>
</ul>
<p> </p>
<p>This customer understands the value of OEM parts and service and has visited your dealership for some repairs. However, she is also budget-conscious and uses IRFs for oil changes and other routine maintenance.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She is also a “Super Responder” because she is actively searching for a vehicle. She’s also had a baby, so her vehicle needs have changed and safety is likely a priority. However, she has recently moved so you’ll need to make it worth her while to purchase or lease from you again.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>This customer is active online and has responded to previous communications sent through email and Instagram. She frequents YouTube and has also clicked on video ads.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>This customer needs education as to why it’s best to get her leased vehicle serviced at your dealership. She should also be targeted with an early lease trade-in promotion. Make the 12-mile drive worth her time by offering a free loaner car or shuttle service. Use an omnichannel marketing approach, targeting her with digital and video ads delivered via email, on Facebook and Google properties.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Customer Profile “C”</strong></p>
<p><strong> </strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Male; age 63</li>
<li>Purchased a vehicle from you one year ago</li>
<li>Owns one other vehicle of a different brand</li>
<li>Did not purchase a warranty</li>
<li>No online presence</li>
<li>Unmarried</li>
<li>Has visited an IRF for an oil change</li>
<li>Lives 4 miles away from the dealership</li>
<li>Consumer spending habits show he shops locally and is a convenience shopper</li>
</ul>
<p> </p>
<p>This customer purchased a new car from you a year ago but has not returned for service. The fact he took his vehicle to an IRF for an oil change means that cost and/or proximity are most important to him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Since he doesn’t have an online presence, it’s best to target this customer with a direct mail piece. From his profile, we know he’s a convenience shopper so create offers that promote convenience, speed and competitive pricing for routine maintenance. Invite him to a car clinic to increase his enthusiasm for your brand.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>These examples clearly show how the right offer delivered to the right customer through the right channel at the right time will increase response rates and engagement with your brand.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The ability to leverage data allows you to get to know your customers and connect with them on a personal level, which in turn creates a better customer experience and stronger relationship.</p>Increase Your Marketing ROI with 3rd Party Datatag:www.dealerelite.net,2019-06-21:5283893:BlogPost:6253162019-06-21T14:16:29.000ZCourtney Evanshttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/CourtneyEvans
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3049938788?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3049938788?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="380"></img></a> Most marketers think of third-party data as something to be used in conquest marketing. While it's true that we must rely on 3rd-party data to acquire new customers, it's important not to overlook the value of this data in marketing to your current customers.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Most companies use only 12 percent of the data they have on hand, which means 88…</p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3049938788?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3049938788?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="380" class="align-right"/></a>Most marketers think of third-party data as something to be used in conquest marketing. While it's true that we must rely on 3rd-party data to acquire new customers, it's important not to overlook the value of this data in marketing to your current customers.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Most companies use only 12 percent of the data they have on hand, which means 88 percent of their data is not being used effectively. In dealerships, that 12 percent is typically contact information. Most customer records are limited to names, phone numbers and emails, if that.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>This limited data gives us very little insight to our customers, which makes it difficult to market to them effectively.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>For example, the July Fourth holiday is coming up. Did your dealership send out postcards or email blasts to everyone in your database? If so, you've just wasted a lot of your marketing budget on customers who have purchased cars within the last few years and/or who have recently been in for service.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Not only did you waste money, but you also delivered a customer experience that was less than optimal. Remember that customer experience doesn't just happen in your store; most of your customers' experience with your store happens online, with every impression or email they see.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Infrequent, mass marketing campaigns are largely ineffective with low response rates and ROI. Frequent, targeted marketing campaigns to smaller groups of individuals based on their needs will always deliver higher response rates and ROI—with no change to your current marketing budget.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>When third-party data is added to your customer records, it allows you to create complete customer profiles, which gives you a better understanding of what types of messages and offers your customers will respond to.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Three Types of Data</strong></p>
<p>There are three types of data that will be most useful in your current marketing campaigns:</p>
<p> </p>
<p>1) Vehicle Data</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Vehicle type, age and mileage can be used to predict what type of service the owner might need. Additionally, what other vehicles are sitting in your customer's garage that belong to other household members?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>2) Customer Data</p>
<p> </p>
<p>This data can include demographics, life events and credit scores. For example, we know that newlyweds, new parents and parents of high school and college-aged children all make great potential prospects for new or used vehicles.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Additionally, you might want to target prospects by zip code or within a certain income range. There are literally hundreds of demographic data points to filter through and you can get as specific as you like.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>3) Shopper Data</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Vehicle and customer data become even more useful when they are layered with specific shopper data. Is a former customer getting vehicle service done at an independent repair facility (IRF) or at a competing dealership?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>You can also determine whether someone fits your ideal customer profile by filtering through shopper data from restaurants, department stores, sporting events, or even the kind of wine they like to drink!</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Create a Customer Profile</strong></p>
<p>Once you populate your customer records with this data, you have more complete customer profiles. Now you can look at a customer record and gain a lot of insight by asking questions such as:</p>
<p> </p>
<ul>
<li>Did they purchase a warranty for their vehicle?</li>
<li>What other vehicles are sitting in their garage?</li>
<li>Are they actively searching for a new car or service online?</li>
<li>Did he/she just have a child?</li>
<li>Do they visit an independent repair facility (IRF)?</li>
<li>How far are they located from the dealer?</li>
<li>Did they purchase a new or pre-owned vehicle?</li>
</ul>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>How can this data help you? Let's say you're having a big July Fourth Sale. I already mentioned how it's not a good idea to target customers who have purchased a vehicle within the last three years—UNLESS they've had a major life event change. For example, if a customer recently had a baby, you'll definitely want to add that person to a list of prospects for a mini-van or SUV.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>If you discover that a customer frequents an IRF for vehicle service, but has a luxury brand vehicle sitting in their garage and eats at upscale restaurants, that person is definitely worth spending some extra money on to try and win their service business.</p>
<p></p>
<p>However, this type of customer probably won't respond to a coupon; so, promoting your service expertise and offering incentives like a loaner car is a better strategy.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Third-party data can also tell you how the customer is more likely to respond. For example, as a marketing professional I deal with a ton of emails every day so I am pretty diligent about unsubscribing and deleting all unnecessary emails. But if I know I need an oil change and I get a postcard with a coupon in the mail, I'm likely to use it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>On the other hand, someone who travels a lot for business and/or pleasure probably throws most of their 'junk mail' away without looking at it. To reach them, social media would probably be the best option because social media travels with you.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Then comes the fun part of marketing. Frequent, targeted campaigns allow you to switch up channels, messaging and timing to see what's more effective. And because your messaging is so targeted, you're delivering a better customer experience.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Every individual is unique, and your marketing should be too. Using third-party data is a very cost-effective way to make your marketing campaigns more timely, relevant and customized—all of which returns a higher response rate and ROI.</p>Why Your Marketing Goals are All Wrongtag:www.dealerelite.net,2019-06-07:5283893:BlogPost:6110752019-06-07T13:44:38.000ZCourtney Evanshttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/CourtneyEvans
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2801998509?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2801998509?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="380"></img></a> Most people think about marketing as a way to generate immediate ROI. For every email campaign sent out, we measure its success with metrics like open rates, click-through rates (CTRs), number of sales or ROs, or even dollars generated.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>While it's important to expect accountability from your marketing partner, sometimes it's easy to get lost…</p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2801998509?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2801998509?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="380" class="align-right"/></a>Most people think about marketing as a way to generate immediate ROI. For every email campaign sent out, we measure its success with metrics like open rates, click-through rates (CTRs), number of sales or ROs, or even dollars generated.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>While it's important to expect accountability from your marketing partner, sometimes it's easy to get lost in the weeds of campaign results data. I recommend taking a step back from scrutinizing campaign results and taking a more holistic approach to your marketing strategy.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>What are your ultimate marketing goals? Do you want to get a lot of click-throughs, or do you want to acquire new customers? Do you want to generate a dozen ROs, or do you want to increase customer retention? More ROs does not necessarily translate to increased customer retention, and customer loyalty cannot be measured by the number of coupons redeemed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The true purpose of marketing is to stay in touch with your customers and keep them engaged so that when something is wrong with their vehicle, your dealership's service department is the first place they think of. Or, when it's time to trade their vehicle in for a new car, your dealership is the one they trust the most.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>In order for this to happen, your marketing strategy needs to include campaigns designed to build brand recognition and customer trust, without the expectation of immediate results.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Too often I see dealership marketing strategies designed with a "What in it for me?" focus. Meaning, every single campaign the dealership is trying to sell the customer something; whether it's a car or service. What are you giving your customers other than a sales pitch?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>While some of your marketing communications can and should include targeted offers, it's important to also deliver communications that aren't sales-oriented; such as educational information, 'feel good' campaigns that highlight your dealership's commitment to the community and/or newsletters.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>With educational and "feel good" types of campaigns, you will probably get high open rates and CTRs, but very few dollars generated. Does this mean they are a failure? Absolutely not! Sending a holiday card is one example of a campaign that asks for nothing but generates a tremendous amount of goodwill. </p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>How to Measure Marketing Success</strong></p>
<p>Campaign results data such as CTRs and number of ROs generated are important and can definitely be used to review the effectiveness of individual campaigns. This data can tell you what's working or not working so you can make improvements and adjustments to campaigns.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>However, this type of data should not be used to measure the overall effectiveness of your marketing strategy. If the goal of your marketing strategy is to improve customer retention, then it makes sense to use customer retention metrics to gauge success.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Here are several customer retention metrics you can use, or you can come up your own method.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>1) Assign a loyalty score to each customer in your database, and track the cumulative average of that score over time. Net Promoter Score (NPS) surveys are a relatively easy and low-cost method for generating a loyalty score.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>2) Assign a status to every customer, such as active, inactive or lost, based on how long it's been since the customer has visited your dealership. The more active customers you have, the more effective your marketing strategy is.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>3) Assign a customer lifetime value (CLV) to every customer in your database. CLV is the estimated net profit that a customer will provide over their lifetime, calculated using metrics such as average purchase value and frequency. Measure the average increase in the CLV of your database over time.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>4) Measure and track revenue per units-in-operation ($/UIO). This metric is far more effective for measuring service potential than the outdated service absorption metric. To calculate your $/UIO, take the total number of vehicles your dealership has sold in the last six years. If you average 100 cars per month, that's about 72,000 vehicles. Now, calculate all the service revenue you have generated from these sold VINs (excluding new conquest customers). Divide that figure by 72,000 to arrive at your current $/UIO. Use this number as a benchmark to measure future growth by.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Service revenue from VINs sold in last 6 years/ # of cars sold in last 6 years = $/UIO</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Your marketing strategy should be designed to build relationships, not one-and-done transactions. Taking a holistic approach to your marketing goals allows you more freedom to create campaigns designed to engage your customers, build trust and keep your dealership top of mind until their next visit.</p>Let's Get Visual: Targeting Auto Shoppers with Videotag:www.dealerelite.net,2019-05-03:5283893:BlogPost:5815382019-05-03T14:28:10.000ZCourtney Evanshttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/CourtneyEvans
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2266860860?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2266860860?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="380"></img></a> One of the biggest challenges for dealers today is knowing which marketing channels deliver the best reach, frequency and ROI. For marketers everywhere, it can be difficult to reach an intended audience, and when they do, many times the audience isn't paying attention.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Take television, for example. Many dealerships still create and air…</p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2266860860?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2266860860?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="380" class="align-right"/></a>One of the biggest challenges for dealers today is knowing which marketing channels deliver the best reach, frequency and ROI. For marketers everywhere, it can be difficult to reach an intended audience, and when they do, many times the audience isn't paying attention.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Take television, for example. Many dealerships still create and air commercials on TV and cable for brand awareness. But take a look at these stats:</p>
<p> </p>
<ul>
<li>31% of people aged 18-49 are light TV viewers</li>
<li>18% of US population have never signed up for cable</li>
<li>Only 45% of TV ads are watched</li>
</ul>
<p> </p>
<p>As expensive as TV ads are, there's a large segment of your intended audience that either aren't watching at all, or are simply tuning out commercials. Consider that most people, especially the younger generations, watch TV with smartphones or tablets in their hands. When commercials come on, it's easy to hit the mute button and scroll through emails, check social media or watch a video on YouTube.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Increasingly, YouTube is a favorite alternative to television, with more than 5 billion video views daily. Additionally, the average length of visit to YouTube is 40 minutes. Not only do people love the entertainment value of YouTube, but they rely on it for educational and research purposes; including researching new and used vehicle options.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>YouTube clearly has an influence on auto shoppers:</p>
<p> </p>
<ul>
<li>75% of auto shoppers say that online video has influenced their shopping habits</li>
<li>60% of auto shoppers who used video during research visited a dealership website</li>
<li>40% of auto shoppers who use online video for research said it helped them discover a vehicle they weren't aware of or previously considering</li>
</ul>
<p> </p>
<p>But the best thing about YouTube for auto marketers is its targeting capabilities. On YouTube, there are four ways to target an audience:</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>1) Demographic/Geographic</strong>. YouTube provides a multitude of demographic information such as age, gender, income and location. It also factors in signals from Google's search and maps properties to locate auto intenders near your location.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>2) Interests, behavior and life events</strong>. We all know that major life milestones often precede new vehicle purchases. YouTube makes it easy to target newlyweds, new parents, parents of high school and college aged kids, college graduates and people who have recently moved. You can also target by specific interests; e.g. automotive or brand names.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>3) Consumer patterns and shopping behavior</strong>. How well do you know your most valuable customers? Many of them shop at certain department stores, frequent nice restaurants and attend local sporting events. Knowing the behavior of your most valuable customers allows you to create lookalike audiences and target similar prospects on YouTube and other Google properties.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Additionally, you can find consumers who have their vehicles serviced and purchase tires at independent repair facilities, and create ad campaigns designed to drive them into your service department.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>4) Video content that your audience is watching</strong>. This one's a no brainer. If a consumer in your PMA is watching a manufacturer test drive or walkaround video, your dealership name should be the first thing they see. Again, YouTube can tap into Google's search properties so it's easy to target in-market auto shoppers, and also consumers who are looking for service.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>In addition to its incredible targeting capabilities, as an advertising platform YouTube allows for greater budget and scheduling control. Perhaps its greatest advantage is that you only have to pay for video views and interactions. This means there's a huge opportunity to raise your brand awareness even when you don't have to pay for video views.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>You've probably seen skippable pre-roll ads on YouTube videos. Whenever you want to watch a video, you have to sit through five seconds of a pre-roll commercial before you're allowed to click on "Skip Ad."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>This five seconds is where the greatest opportunity lies. If you create a commercial that displays your dealership name and can grab the viewers' attention in the first five seconds, even if the consumer clicks on "Skip Ad" you are raising your brand awareness and increasing the reach and frequency of your message—for free!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Hopefully, your message and accompanying images are compelling enough to appeal to auto intenders, and they won't skip your ad. Either way, it's a win-win situation.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The ROI of skippable pre-roll ads varies, but a recent national Lexus campaign delivered the following results:</p>
<p> </p>
<ul>
<li>13:1 ROI for every dollar spent</li>
<li>12% YOY total RO increase</li>
<li>19% YOY total revenue increase</li>
</ul>
<p> </p>
<p>Videos are a cost-effective way to increase your dealership's brand awareness and capture the attention of consumers, where their attention is focused most—increasingly, that attention is on YouTube.</p>Customer Loyalty: Playing the Long Gametag:www.dealerelite.net,2019-04-05:5283893:BlogPost:5457442019-04-05T13:00:00.000ZCourtney Evanshttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/CourtneyEvans
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1768637273?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1768637273?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="380"></img></a> How long does it take to build customer loyalty? It might start with a great sales experience, but if a customer feels like they've been taken advantage of in the sales process, it will be hard convincing them to come back for service. True customer loyalty is built over a period of several years in the service drive.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>But providing a great…</p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1768637273?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1768637273?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="380" class="align-right"/></a>How long does it take to build customer loyalty? It might start with a great sales experience, but if a customer feels like they've been taken advantage of in the sales process, it will be hard convincing them to come back for service. True customer loyalty is built over a period of several years in the service drive.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>But providing a great customer experience in the service lane is not enough, on its own, to build loyalty. Just because I receive good service somewhere doesn't make me a loyal customer. In order to become loyal, I've got to like and be able to identify with the brand. I also want to feel like my business is appreciated and receive special offers designed just for me—that I can actually use.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>That's why your marketing program is such an important part of building customer loyalty. Marketing provides you with the opportunity to tell the story of your brand. Who are the people behind the dealership name? How are they helping out in your community? How do you demonstrate customer appreciation? Are the offers that you send out to customers relevant and personalized, or are they just randomly selected and blasted out in email campaigns with the hope that you'll get a two percent response rate?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Just because a customer redeems a coupon and comes in for a service does not make them loyal. If the only reason they come in is because they got a great deal for a service, guess what? At some point, an independent repair facility will offer them an even better deal, and that customer will defect. The reality is, they were never loyal in the first place.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Building loyalty requires playing the long game with a strategic customer retention process. This process requires seamless integration of your brand story, customer experience in your service lane and marketing messages.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Consider the following facts:</p>
<p> </p>
<ul>
<li>In 2018, 82% of registered vehicles were serviced at a 3rd-party service center</li>
<li>85% of those visits included maintenance</li>
<li>36% of those visits included repair</li>
<li>7% of those visits included enhancement</li>
</ul>
<p> </p>
<p>Dealerships cannot afford to lose this many customers. Yet, most dealers do not make the necessary investments in service marketing to win their customers' loyalty. The path to loyalty is a long one, and your marketing goals need to align with the customer experience at every step.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Step 1: Customer Enters Purchase Cycle</strong></p>
<p>This phase includes customer awareness, need, research, product selection and the actual purchase. Your marketing goals during this period are to build brand awareness, win customers over, encourage customer action and ensure that your dealership is in consideration.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Step 2: Customer Ownership Experience</strong></p>
<p>This phase is when the customer is driving the car in their daily routine and they start coming in for standard maintenance. Your primary marketing goal in this phase is to establish yourself as a trusted and knowledgeable resource for their vehicle needs. At this stage it's also critical to deliver on the promise of an excellent customer experience in the service lane. This is best achieved with technology designed to boost productivity and better manage your dealership.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Step 3: Service Needs Increase</strong></p>
<p>As the vehicle ages and/or goes out of warranty, service needs and spending rises. This is a critical customer defection point, but also the greatest opportunity for retention.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Let's analyze who actually brings their vehicles in to get serviced at dealerships:</p>
<p> </p>
<ul>
<li>75% of 0-2 year old vehicles</li>
<li>64% of 2-5 year old vehicles</li>
<li>43% of 5-10 year old vehicles</li>
</ul>
<p> </p>
<p>You can see by these statistics that customer defection greatly increases once the warranty expires, and once the vehicle is in the hands of a second owner. Does your current marketing strategy address warranty-end customers and second owners?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Prior to warranty expiration, your customers should receive messages of appreciation, along with your very best offers for anticipated repairs on their vehicle. This is a critical defection point so you want to do everything you can to keep them coming in.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>To find 4- to 6- year old vehicles in the hands of second owners, search registration records in your primary market area (PMA) and use tactics like screen scraping to locate and target potential new customers. Also add service conquest campaigns to replace the inevitable defections that do occur.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>By now, you should be established in the customers' mind as a trusted resource and the first place your customers think of when it's time for service. At this stage, equity mining campaigns are also helpful to identify which customers might be good candidates for new vehicle offers.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>While it's important to provide customers with a great experience in the service drive, those efforts must be integrated with a marketing strategy that aligns with that experience. Winning customer loyalty requires a strategic approach that targets customers with relevant and personalized offers, as well as marketing messages that tell your brand story and establish your expertise. This takes time, so be sure your marketing strategy is designed to play the long game.</p>Making PPC Clicks Counttag:www.dealerelite.net,2019-03-01:5283893:BlogPost:5278962019-03-01T15:14:12.000ZCourtney Evanshttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/CourtneyEvans
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1237475119?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1237475119?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="380"></img></a> As many dealership marketers know, search campaigns are a necessary part of a multi-channel marketing strategy. The danger with search campaigns is the potential for pay-per-clicks to become very expensive, which tends to happen when marketing vendors use a single strategy for all dealerships, and set up campaigns as…</p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1237475119?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1237475119?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="380" class="align-right"/></a>As many dealership marketers know, search campaigns are a necessary part of a multi-channel marketing strategy. The danger with search campaigns is the potential for pay-per-clicks to become very expensive, which tends to happen when marketing vendors use a single strategy for all dealerships, and set up campaigns as "set-it-and-forget-it."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Your dealership is a unique business with a unique market and unique customers. Therefore, the keywords and strategies used in your PPC campaign should be different than the keywords and strategies used in PPC campaigns of other dealerships.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>With the right keywords and strategy, benefits of a well-executed PPC campaign include:</p>
<p> </p>
<ul>
<li>Real-time measurable results</li>
<li>Budget & scheduling control</li>
<li>Targeted traffic</li>
<li>Reduced cost due to paying only for clicks, not impressions</li>
</ul>
<p> </p>
<p>PPC campaigns can greatly increase the ROI of your dealership's current Owner Retention Program (ORP) marketing strategy. Here's an example:</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Dealership 1 and Dealership 2 were both using email and direct mail for their ORP marketing. Dealership 1 added a multi-channel marketing strategy that included social media, display advertising and phone calls. In one year, Dealership 1 saw a 3.9% RO increase and $168,300 average increase in RO revenue.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Dealership 2 added the same multi-channel marketing strategy with the addition of PPC. In one year, Dealership 2 saw a 7.5% RO increase and $299,200 average increase in RO revenue.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The difference is significant because Dealership 2's strategy targets both passive consumers and active consumers, while Dealership 1's strategy only targets passive consumers.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A passive consumer is one that we identify as ready to take action based on online behavior, lifestyle factors and vehicle history. We target them through multi-channel marketing to reach them with the right message at the right time.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>An active consumer has an immediate need; for example, it's time for an oil change or the brakes start squeaking. The consumer turns to a search engine and enters a phrase such as "BMW oil change," or "Silverado brake pads."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>If your dealership doesn't have an effective PPC strategy, you risk not showing up in the search engine results, and the consumer will click on another link.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>More than 60% of Google's searches are performed on a mobile device, so it's also critical to have your PPC campaign optimized for mobile search.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Customize PPC for Consumer Micro-Moments</strong></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Google has identified five key micro-moments that occur during the consumer's road to the sale. These moments are when information is actively acquired, shaping a car shopper's preferences and purchase intent.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>An effective strategy is to create a PPC campaign that targets consumers during these micro-moments:</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>1) Which car is best?</strong> These initial research moments focus on collecting general data to understand which cars are recommended by experts and are considered best in class. Information is increasingly collected from YouTube videos featuring trusted reviews and comparisons. The conversion rate for consumers at this stage is just 2%.</p>
<p><strong> </strong></p>
<p><strong>2) Is it right for me?</strong> This is a critical stage where searches become more personalized. Car buyers want to know whether specific vehicles will suit their lifestyle so it's common to see searches about appearance, safety features and luxury options.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Videos are instrumental in this phase as consumers turn to YouTube to watch vehicle test drives and highlight reels on attributes and configuration options. Static images still play a role in showing how a car looks, but the vast majority of these pictures are now being viewed on mobile devices. The conversion rate for consumers at this stage is 6%.</p>
<p><strong> </strong></p>
<p><strong>3) Can I afford it?</strong> Once choices have been narrowed down, consumers concentrate on the financials. Information around prices, owning and leasing options are critical at this stage and are increasingly being searched for on smartphones. Conversion rates for consumers at this stage is 13%.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>4) Where should I buy it?</strong> Once consumers have determined which car to purchase, they seek out dealership locations, hours and inventory. More dealerships are getting the comparison treatment as consumers examine online reviews to obtain the best experience. Conversion rates for consumers in this category are the highest, averaging 40%.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>5) Am I getting a deal?</strong> Even after consumers get to the dealership and start negotiating packages, their online research continues, with 50% of shoppers consulting mobile phones to ensure they are getting the best price. Conversion rates for consumers at this stage are around 10%.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Owning each of these micro-moments can help steer car shoppers to your dealership. When you create a PPC campaign, it's important to make sure you're in consideration at each stage, as the opportunities to raise brand awareness in the first few stages can help convert shoppers into customers later.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>If you're not happy with the ROI of your PPC campaigns, don't be tempted to give up. Adjust your strategy and focus on common search phrases used during the micro-moments. When added to a multi-channel marketing strategy, PPC campaigns have the potential to double your ROI.</p>5 Keys to Successful Social Ads Campaignstag:www.dealerelite.net,2019-01-11:5283893:BlogPost:5261082019-01-11T15:58:01.000ZCourtney Evanshttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/CourtneyEvans
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/725986253?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/725986253?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="380"></img></a> When it comes to social media advertising, Facebook reigns supreme with Instagram a close second. These are ideal platforms on which to raise brand awareness, bring customers down funnel and generate leads.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>For dealers, a presence on Facebook and Instagram is essential, because quite simply, this is where your customers are spending their time.…</p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/725986253?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/725986253?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="380" class="align-right"/></a>When it comes to social media advertising, Facebook reigns supreme with Instagram a close second. These are ideal platforms on which to raise brand awareness, bring customers down funnel and generate leads.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>For dealers, a presence on Facebook and Instagram is essential, because quite simply, this is where your customers are spending their time. Check out these usage stats for different age groups.</p>
<p></p>
<ul>
<li>80% of adults age 18-49 use Facebook</li>
<li>73% of Facebook users check feeds 5-6 times daily</li>
<li>55% of adults age 50+ use Facebook</li>
<li>40% of adults age 30-49 use Instagram</li>
<li>57% of adults age 25-29 use Instagram</li>
<li>78% of adults age 18-24 use Instagram</li>
</ul>
<p> </p>
<p>As you can see, having a dual presence on Facebook and Instagram provides you with a broad reach to social media users in every age range.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I have heard from dealers who have tried advertising on these platforms with varied results. Some see the ROI but many don't. If you haven't seen the ROI you have hoped for, make sure your marketing vendor's strategy incorporates these five keys necessary to creating successful social ads campaigns.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>1) Focus on your business objective</strong></p>
<p>Before you start any campaign, decide what your objective is. Do you want to build awareness of your brand, generate more leads or complement your other marketing objectives by increasing reach? Don't expect to accomplish all of these with one ad campaign.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>If your marketing vendor is still using social metrics such as likes, shares and comments to justify your marketing spend, beware. It's fine to keep track of those but your goal is not to have 1,000 fans. Your business objective builds a frame for the rest of the ad campaign.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>2) Plan with target audience in mind</strong></p>
<p>Facebook and Instagram users are real people, not proxies or bots. Because of this, these platforms offer very precise targeting with an accuracy of 85%. You can choose from many different parameters including demographics, interests, lifestyle, life stage, psychographic and geographic.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Perhaps best of all, you can upload your customer database and Facebook and Instagram will match those customers with users on their platform. This allows you to serve personalized ads and videos that greatly expand reach and frequency.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Once you are getting good results with your target audience, Facebook and Instagram can create lookalike audiences to discover potential new customers in your geographic area.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>3) Ensure media best practices align with your objectives</strong></p>
<p>Depending on what your objective is, your social ad campaigns are designed as high funnel (awareness), mid funnel (consideration) or low funnel (conversions).</p>
<p> </p>
<p>If you're running a low funnel campaign, the amount you're willing to bid for a conversion will be higher than what you want to bid for high funnel campaigns. Know what a conversion is worth to you, or let Facebook/Instagram decide the best bid for you.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Select an optimization goal that meets your business objective. Use Facebook Pixel codes on your website to track activity and actions. This allows you to track user behavior on your website and also to tie specific activities, such as scheduling a service appointment or submitting a lead, back to a social ad campaign.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>4) Think about creative for a mobile world</strong></p>
<p>The majority of Facebook and Instagram impressions are delivered on mobile screens. Your goal is to develop creative that will stop people as they scroll through their news feeds.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Create ads with simple, stunning and clean images. Keep text to a minimum and ensure that text size is optimized for mobile so you can read it on a small screen. Design ads for sound off.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>5) Measure effectiveness</strong></p>
<p>Before you launch a campaign, define the KPIs you will use to measure your objectives. If your goal is consideration, your KPI might be website visitors. If your goal is conversion, it might be leads. If your goal is to increase service revenue, your KPI might be the number of service appointments scheduled online, or monthly ROs.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Note your baseline KPIs before the campaign starts, then again after it ends. Was there an increase? An effective social ad campaign should have a pretty immediate impact in just 30-60 days.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>If your campaign didn't move the needle on your KPI, don't give up. Re-evaluate.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Start with your audience. Are you reaching the right audience? If you're using your own first-party customer data, it's hard to go wrong.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>If your audience is good, look at reach and frequency. You want to ensure a 50 to 70 percent reach of your target audience at all times. As far as frequency, it typically takes four to seven impressions to drive a customer to take action.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Finally, look at resonance. Is your message relevant? Don't create an ad for an oil change and serve it to customers who have recently been in for an oil change.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Does the creative appeal to them? One strategy to increase resonance is to segment your target audience by their expressed interests and create different ads for each segment. For example, if a portion of your audience is interested in technology, create an ad with a technology focus. For nature lovers, include stunning visuals of the outdoors.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Social advertising can be an incredibly effective complement to your marketing strategy. But there's a lot more involved than just coming up with a cool ad campaign. Facebook and Instagram give you the tools for success; all you have to do is find a marketing partner that knows how to properly leverage them.</p>How to Grow Loyalty with Service Marketingtag:www.dealerelite.net,2019-01-04:5283893:BlogPost:5256632019-01-04T15:20:45.000ZCourtney Evanshttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/CourtneyEvans
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/651827111?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/651827111?profile=original&width=380" width="380"></img></a> For car dealers, the opportunity to create loyal customers might start with a sale, but true loyalty is created in the service department. According to a 2017 IHS Markit study, the average length of car ownership is nearly seven years. That's a long time to maintain a relationship with someone until the next sales cycle.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>So, the focus must be…</p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/651827111?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/651827111?profile=original&width=380" width="380" class="align-right"/></a>For car dealers, the opportunity to create loyal customers might start with a sale, but true loyalty is created in the service department. According to a 2017 IHS Markit study, the average length of car ownership is nearly seven years. That's a long time to maintain a relationship with someone until the next sales cycle.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>So, the focus must be to keep the customer coming back for service. How is this best accomplished? Let's look the four types of loyalty and what drives customers to choose your dealership versus another dealership or an independent repair facility (IRF).</p>
<p> </p>
<p>1) Relationship. This is where your customers get to know and like a service advisor and other service employees.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>2) Needs are met. This is when the customer feels that every time they bring their vehicle in, the problems are identified and solved. They don't have to worry about something going wrong after the fact.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>3) Convenience. Some customers are loyal to dealerships based on location or hours.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>4) Value Proposition. You might believe that cost is a major factor in loyalty, but this is actually not the case. I personally drive past five or six IRFs every time I drive to my dealership to get my car serviced. I know I could get an oil change for cheaper somewhere else, but I like the fact that my dealership uses OEM parts and I can wait in a comfortable waiting room.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Some, if not all of these factors contribute to customer loyalty, but the common denominator in all these types of loyalty is trust. Trust is a sacred bond in any relationship, and once broken is not easily rebuilt.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>What's the best way to build trust with your customers?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>There are three steps involved: engagement, relevant messaging and omnichannel marketing.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Engagement starts in the dealership, but only 30 percent of customer interactions with your dealership actually happen in the dealership. Once the customer leaves, how do you continue that engagement? You must be able to engage your customers with relevant, consistent messaging in places where customers spend their time.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>When it comes to service marketing, relevancy is critical. If you tell a customer in the service lane that they need new brakes, but then send the a coupon for an oil change, that doesn't make sense.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The frequency of your message is also important. In marketing we have something called the Rule of 7, which states that a customer needs to "hear" your message at least seven times before they take action to buy a product or service.</p>
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<p>That's why omnichannel marketing is the most cost-effective means to deliver your message. Omnichannel marketing combines the power of customer data, vehicle service history, online behavior and predictive analytics to deliver the right message to the right customer at the right time.</p>
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<p>These days, it's especially important to include social media in your service marketing strategy. The average person spends 135 minutes a day on social media platforms and even more time on the Internet. Are you service messages being delivered to customers via social media? If not, you're missing out. Take a look at these response rates using different marketing channels.</p>
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<ul>
<li>Direct mail campaign alone - 6%</li>
<li>Direct mail + social display - 20%</li>
<li>Direct mail + email - 27%</li>
<li>Direct mail + email + social display = 37%</li>
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<p>The more channels you add, the higher lift you will see in ROs and the more service revenue you will generate. For example, adding social channels alone to service marketing adds an average 3.9% lift in ROs and nearly $300,000 in RO revenue per year.</p>
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<p>To achieve these results, start with your manufacturer's owner retention program (ORP). Make sure you maximize everything your OEM is offering.</p>
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<p>Then, look for a digital marketing provider that can add social display, display advertising, additional email campaigns and PPC for service. Make sure the provider can align their messaging with your ORP messaging.</p>
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<p>Additionally, leverage the power of triggered communications. Based on mileage or vehicle service history, these automatic reminders are sent to customers when it's time to bring their vehicle in for service. Because they're so personalized, triggered communications are most cost-effective when delivered through email and social media.</p>
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<p>Finally, consider a customer rewards program. Programs that allow customers to accumulate points that can be redeemed towards additional service or aftermarket products are ideal, because they encourage multiple visits to your dealership.</p>
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<p>Building trust with your customers requires continuous engagement, consistent messaging and an omnichannel marketing approach. Generic service offers that are sent via email and direct mail aren't compelling enough to keep customers returning to your dealership for the next seven years, until they're ready to buy again. Does your service marketing program leverage these strategies to build loyal customers?</p>