I recently read an interesting article in Forbes about cause-based marketing which states that  55 percent of consumers would switch brands and/or pay more for a product or service to a company that…

Every successful business needs customer feedback to gauge how they are doing. Customer loyalty, experience and retention can’t be modified without hearing what your customers think. Dealerships rely on such things as manufacturer surveys and online reviews to get an idea of how well they are doing. Some will even go a step further and email their own survey, or have their…

Some skeptics lament the decline in the use of social media platforms. Perhaps because they’ve become jaded due to all the arguments and political rhetoric constantly popping up in news feeds. Well, don’t for a second believe these pessimists!

Social media is not only growing, it’s becoming more popular than ever. For example, Facebook-owned social media…

One of the hottest current trends is influencer marketing. Businesses (and dealerships) bring in influencers to attract a crowd. We’ve all seen it, if not done it.

Perhaps it’s the latest YouTube star, that sports athlete that may (or may not) have purchased a vehicle from your dealership. These influencers can cost upwards of $187,000 per social media post,…

When it comes to earning business, the customer experience has become a key differentiator. These days, sales and service customers tend to choose convenience and experience over pricing. In fact, dealers that consistently provide an excellent customer experience, make it convenient for the customer to interact with them, and broadly promote this, are thriving, while others…

Great content comes in several forms. However, many people think of content as just the written word, such as blogs and articles. For those who aren’t writers, or don’t have the time to write, this can seem like a daunting task.

It’s tough coming up with ideas and, even when you do, explaining your idea in writing, rather than speaking about it in person, can…

In the age of customer experience, successful salespeople have transitioned from an “always be closing” mindset to an “always be helping” mindset. In fact, the title of salesperson isn’t really an accurate reflection of what the job entails any more. A better title would perhaps be Trusted Advisor.

A Trusted Advisor earns their customers’ trust. The best way…

Study after study finds that word-of-mouth is the single greatest influencer when it comes to marketing. Providing a consistently excellent customer experience, then having those customers go out and tell their family and friends about it is the marketer’s holy grail. According to many, it’s perhaps the easiest and least expensive way to acquire new customers while also…

With its focus firmly set on communicating through photographs and videos, Instagram is ideally suited for business in the lifestyle sector, especially fashion. Both designers and models have been using Instagram in increasing numbers to showcase themselves. However, with more than 90 million photographs being uploaded daily by Instagram users, those in the fashion…

The principal reasons why brands take to the social media are to enhance brand awareness, engage with customers and followers, and build brand loyalty. However, it is quite evident that they can use social media to also make their SEO more effective even though Google has denied that it factors in social media in its page rankings. Some useful…

Lately I’ve heard the terms omni-channel and multi-channel marketing used interchangeably. Yet there’s a distinct difference between the two terms, and several reasons why I believe omni-channel marketing is a more effective approach for auto dealers.

Years ago, we realized that not all customers can be reached by a single channel such as mail, email,…

One of the most frustrating things for marketers and public relations professionals is that companies tend to be so focused on producing sales, and/or marketing to prospective clients, that they become a bit like horses with blinders on -- focused on the single carrot in front of them – namely, customer acquisition.

Don’t misunderstand me; whether you’re a…

When social media marketing burst on the scene nearly a decade ago, just about every dealership immediately piled onto the bandwagon. We didn't all know exactly what we were doing; we just knew we had to do it because everyone else was doing it.

At the time I was with AutoNation and we spent a lot of money and time trying to figure out how to market our dealer…

This week on Think Tank Tuesday, Ally & Haley take over to reveal how to make a great logo for your business.

What does it take for consumers to remember your name? Watch this week's episode to find out!

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Have you ever put an item in your shopping cart on Amazon and then started getting emails and ads about that product? It might seem like the product is following you around the internet.

Well, these products ARE following you. And on this week's Think Tank Tuesday, I'm going to show you step-by-step exactly how you can do this for your own company.…