Labor Day. Memorial Day. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Some of the best sales days of the year in the car business happen on national holidays when people are off from work and ready to buy cars.

Many dealerships put a great deal of their advertising and marketing budgets towards promoting their various sales. The OEMs normally have something going on for these types of holidays and the combined advertising efforts makes for some amazing exposure. It's easy to ride the wave and assume that your customers know you're participating, but you can't take that for granted. Even more important is that these holidays are a great time to prompt people into car buying mode.

Let's take a look at these two important components of holiday advertising so you can look at hitting your customer database in a different light.

Ride the Wave with Familiarity

Even in today's ultra-informed consumer world, there are still many people who cannot discern between factory, regional, and individual dealership incentives. It's common for them to see an ad where the dealership is simply promoting the manufacturer's incentive, but they conclude that the dealership itself is the one having the special.

Even the national and regional advertising can put a little doubt in their mind. The ads often use phrases like "participating Ford dealers" or "Connecticut Acura dealerships" that can get them wondering whether or not their normal dealership is involved. Then, when they see a competitor's ad reiterating the sale, they contact them instead because it's confirmed that they are part of the program.

Letting your past customers know that you're part of the event keeps them from migrating to a competitor who is more aligned with the ad they saw. For example, it's not uncommon for someone in Connecticut to buy their Acura in New York, but the way that the manufacturer or regional ad is worded could make them think they need to stay in their own state instead of going back to you.

Use the Holiday Prompt

Your customers are your customers if you're treating them right and staying visible to them at all times. They are more likely to open your direct mail, emails, or other forms of communication than they are to open the advertising from a competitor. They should also trust your message more than a competitor's.

Holidays are often a time for people to get together with friends and family that they don't always see. We all know what happens when Uncle Greg rolls up in his new ride: vehicular envy. There isn't a better time to bring your past customers into the market than before and during holidays.

Take advantage of this through advertising designed to pull people forward into the market ahead of time by letting them know about what you have going on at the dealership. Too often I see dealers focus on the barbeque pit and bouncy ball house in their holiday advertising events while missing out on utilizing their customer database for intelligent pre-event marketing.

As you plan out your holiday advertising, don't forget to put the right amount of effort and budget towards the low hanging fruit that your past customers represent.

Labor Day. Memorial Day. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Some of the best sales days of the year in the car business happen on national holidays when people are off from work and ready to buy cars.

Many dealerships put a great deal of their advertising and marketing budgets towards promoting their various sales. The OEMs normally have something going on for these types of holidays and the combined advertising efforts makes for some amazing exposure. It's easy to ride the wave and assume that your customers know you're participating, but you can't take that for granted. Even more important is that these holidays are a great time to prompt people into car buying mode.

Let's take a look at these two important components of holiday advertising so you can look at hitting your customer database in a different light.

Ride the Wave with Familiarity

Even in today's ultra-informed consumer world, there are still many people who cannot discern between factory, regional, and individual dealership incentives. It's common for them to see an ad where the dealership is simply promoting the manufacturer's incentive, but they conclude that the dealership itself is the one having the special.

Even the national and regional advertising can put a little doubt in their mind. The ads often use phrases like "participating Ford dealers" or "Connecticut Acura dealerships" that can get them wondering whether or not their normal dealership is involved. Then, when they see a competitor's ad reiterating the sale, they contact them instead because it's confirmed that they are part of the program.

Letting your past customers know that you're part of the event keeps them from migrating to a competitor who is more aligned with the ad they saw. For example, it's not uncommon for someone in Connecticut to buy their Acura in New York, but the way that the manufacturer or regional ad is worded could make them think they need to stay in their own state instead of going back to you.

Use the Holiday Prompt

Your customers are your customers if you're treating them right and staying visible to them at all times. They are more likely to open your direct mail, emails, or other forms of communication than they are to open the advertising from a competitor. They should also trust your message more than a competitor's.

Holidays are often a time for people to get together with friends and family that they don't always see. We all know what happens when Uncle Greg rolls up in his new ride: vehicular envy. There isn't a better time to bring your past customers into the market than before and during holidays.

Take advantage of this through advertising designed to pull people forward into the market ahead of time by letting them know about what you have going on at the dealership. Too often I see dealers focus on the barbeque pit and bouncy ball house in their holiday advertising events while missing out on utilizing their customer database for intelligent pre-event marketing.

As you plan out your holiday advertising, don't forget to put the right amount of effort and budget towards the low hanging fruit that your past customers represent.

Anyone who has sold cars in their life has come across the customer that forgot them. They sold someone a car, then they see them a year later in finance after buying another one from a different salesperson. You gave them your card. You called them to check on things and to prep them for their CSI call. Why didn't they come straight to you this time? They liked you, right?

The same thing happens at the dealership level all the time. They bought a car at your dealership, then they went to a different dealership to buy another one later.

It's not that people are trying to screw us over. It's because you gave them no reason to remember you. Just because you delivered a great experience and gave them a great deal is no guaranty that they'll come back to you next time they're in the market. People forget. Many of them also believe that a Nissan dealer is a Nissan dealer and it doesn't matter where you buy.

You can change this perception. You can be different. You can make an impact. You simply have to constantly remind them that you are their dealership and they should always be doing business with you.

This isn't about dropping them in an automated database and spamming them with generic emails once a month. It takes strategy. It requires diligence. It takes a specialized view on the mentality of modern car buyers and a willingness to be aggressive without being annoying.

Today, there are plenty of services available to car dealers that help them to stay in front of their customers, but the majority of these are not doing it the right way. As we describe on our website, you must:

• Design and tailor offers and messages relevant to each customer's needs and position in their ownership lifecycle
• Implement the relevant and value-driven messages via its strategic multi-channel approach
• Deliver to the customer's preferred method of communication first and complement it with other channels as appropriate dependent on the message

Maintaining loyal customers isn't hard. It's a process, but it's worth the effort. It's easier to bring past customers back to the dealership next time they're in the market than to focus on getting new customers. That's not to say that you shouldn't get new ones. You just shouldn't ignore the old ones.

Make your dealership memorable. Your past customers are the low hanging fruit on the tree of success.

Anyone who has sold cars in their life has come across the customer that forgot them. They sold someone a car, then they see them a year later in finance after buying another one from a different salesperson. You gave them your card. You called them to check on things and to prep them for their CSI call. Why didn't they come straight to you this time? They liked you, right?

The same thing happens at the dealership level all the time. They bought a car at your dealership, then they went to a different dealership to buy another one later.

It's not that people are trying to screw us over. It's because you gave them no reason to remember you. Just because you delivered a great experience and gave them a great deal is no guaranty that they'll come back to you next time they're in the market. People forget. Many of them also believe that a Nissan dealer is a Nissan dealer and it doesn't matter where you buy.

You can change this perception. You can be different. You can make an impact. You simply have to constantly remind them that you are their dealership and they should always be doing business with you.

This isn't about dropping them in an automated database and spamming them with generic emails once a month. It takes strategy. It requires diligence. It takes a specialized view on the mentality of modern car buyers and a willingness to be aggressive without being annoying.

Today, there are plenty of services available to car dealers that help them to stay in front of their customers, but the majority of these are not doing it the right way. As we describe on our website, you must:

• Design and tailor offers and messages relevant to each customer's needs and position in their ownership lifecycle
• Implement the relevant and value-driven messages via its strategic multi-channel approach
• Deliver to the customer's preferred method of communication first and complement it with other channels as appropriate dependent on the message

Maintaining loyal customers isn't hard. It's a process, but it's worth the effort. It's easier to bring past customers back to the dealership next time they're in the market than to focus on getting new customers. That's not to say that you shouldn't get new ones. You just shouldn't ignore the old ones.

Make your dealership memorable. Your past customers are the low hanging fruit on the tree of success.

The automotive industry has always been one that focuses on volume. Even those who do not consider themselves to be "volume dealers" still perform better when they are increasing the total number of units sold and service customers hitting the racks. We've grown accustomed to the concept of "bigger is better".

In today's competitive automotive advertising and marketing arena, the dealers who are finding the most success are doing so by being smart with their targeting data. The free-for-all days of the past that used bulk-strategies have been replaced by hyper-targeting, improved data, and the type of business intelligence that can only come through careful examination rather than hitting it with a sledge hammer.

Today, dealers need to be selective. You customers are selective. You need to be as well.

What I'm talking about specifically is the trend of blasting out marketing and advertising messages where size matters more than targeting. This is a mistake. You can actually do more damage than good by using the shotgun approach to advertising.

Why You Need to Be Selective

Take, for example, direct mail. The old way of thinking had dealers or their vendors buying cheap lists of names and addresses and sending out as many sales event mailers as possible. It was more cost-effective to hit a larger, unfiltered list than it was to try to parse out the list for smarter targeting. The technology wasn't there to help you differentiate between likely buyers and non-buyers. More importantly, the data wasn't there to guide you through what to target where and when.

Today, we have that data.

An even better example is in email marketing. Thanks to improvements in spam filtering and the ability for people to report emails that shouldn't be targeting them, it's imperative for dealers to be much more selective with the type, format, and frequency of their email marketing. One bad "bulk blast" can be enough to do real damage to your future efforts. In other words, you can get blacklisted much more easily than ever before, essentially eliminating your dealership's ability to take advantage of the wonders of email marketing.

Customer data isn't just about getting more of it. It's about getting better data. It's about taking that data, parsing it out properly, appending it with the most current information, and selecting the targeting appropriately so that the right people are getting the right message at the right time.

Why Your Vendors Aren't Telling You This

Here's a dirty little secret about automotive marketing and advertising vendors and agencies. They usually shoot for the path of least resistence. This isn't universal - there are some honorable and ethical companies out there in this arena - but it's exceptionally wide-spread.

Most vendors, particularly those in direct mail, email, and location-based targeted advertising, utililze techniques to get around the filters and avoid the problems that can come from the shotgun approach... for a while. These techniques are not sustainable. By using these techniques over time, the ROI on the direct mail pieces will diminish, the ability for your emails to get through the filters will disappear, and the location-based targeting will cease to present its data. These "bandaid techniques" will keep the ball rolling for long enough for them to make their money and either move on when the campaigns stop working or continue to bill and make excuses for their lack of success.

If all of this is inevitable, why do they continue down this road? The answer is simple. It's more profitable and most dealers aren't paying enough attention to hold them accountable. The effort, research, and investment necessary to build a sustainable and effective advertising and marketing solution is great, but it's totally worth it for the dealers. As odd as it may sound, vendors who are using the bulk approach rely on dealers staying in the dark.

Turn on the Lights!

It isn't just about vendor profits. There's another more important reason why you should be more selective with your advertising. The pinpoint nature of modern targeting allows you to get the message in front of the right people.

Let's say that you have a great email list of past customers and you want to give them an oil change special to bring them back in and get them used to going to your service department. If you stay in the dark and let an inefficient vendor blast it out to the whole list, you'll likely be targeting quite a few people that are over 50 miles away. It can be hard to get people to drive 10 miles for an oil change, let alone 50. You could be burning your email list due to irrelevance by targeting the wrong people with the wrong message.

Now, let's look at the same scenario but with a tire special that includes a $25 gas card. In that scenario, you'll want to target people further away rather than close by because the message matches their interests and gives you a greater opportunity to get bigger ROs out of the visit.

These are simpe examples but they demonstrate the point. You should not allow your database marketing to stay in the dark. By getting more specific with your targeting and using a combination of the data that's available and the common sense that you already have in order to position your marketing appropriately, you can improve your ROI on campaigns and prevent damage from being done for future initiatives. This is often the difference between sustainable success and eventual failure.

The automotive industry has always been one that focuses on volume. Even those who do not consider themselves to be "volume dealers" still perform better when they are increasing the total number of units sold and service customers hitting the racks. We've grown accustomed to the concept of "bigger is better".

In today's competitive automotive advertising and marketing arena, the dealers who are finding the most success are doing so by being smart with their targeting data. The free-for-all days of the past that used bulk-strategies have been replaced by hyper-targeting, improved data, and the type of business intelligence that can only come through careful examination rather than hitting it with a sledge hammer.

Today, dealers need to be selective. You customers are selective. You need to be as well.

What I'm talking about specifically is the trend of blasting out marketing and advertising messages where size matters more than targeting. This is a mistake. You can actually do more damage than good by using the shotgun approach to advertising.

Why You Need to Be Selective

Take, for example, direct mail. The old way of thinking had dealers or their vendors buying cheap lists of names and addresses and sending out as many sales event mailers as possible. It was more cost-effective to hit a larger, unfiltered list than it was to try to parse out the list for smarter targeting. The technology wasn't there to help you differentiate between likely buyers and non-buyers. More importantly, the data wasn't there to guide you through what to target where and when.

Today, we have that data.

An even better example is in email marketing. Thanks to improvements in spam filtering and the ability for people to report emails that shouldn't be targeting them, it's imperative for dealers to be much more selective with the type, format, and frequency of their email marketing. One bad "bulk blast" can be enough to do real damage to your future efforts. In other words, you can get blacklisted much more easily than ever before, essentially eliminating your dealership's ability to take advantage of the wonders of email marketing.

Customer data isn't just about getting more of it. It's about getting better data. It's about taking that data, parsing it out properly, appending it with the most current information, and selecting the targeting appropriately so that the right people are getting the right message at the right time.

Why Your Vendors Aren't Telling You This

Here's a dirty little secret about automotive marketing and advertising vendors and agencies. They usually shoot for the path of least resistence. This isn't universal - there are some honorable and ethical companies out there in this arena - but it's exceptionally wide-spread.

Most vendors, particularly those in direct mail, email, and location-based targeted advertising, utililze techniques to get around the filters and avoid the problems that can come from the shotgun approach... for a while. These techniques are not sustainable. By using these techniques over time, the ROI on the direct mail pieces will diminish, the ability for your emails to get through the filters will disappear, and the location-based targeting will cease to present its data. These "bandaid techniques" will keep the ball rolling for long enough for them to make their money and either move on when the campaigns stop working or continue to bill and make excuses for their lack of success.

If all of this is inevitable, why do they continue down this road? The answer is simple. It's more profitable and most dealers aren't paying enough attention to hold them accountable. The effort, research, and investment necessary to build a sustainable and effective advertising and marketing solution is great, but it's totally worth it for the dealers. As odd as it may sound, vendors who are using the bulk approach rely on dealers staying in the dark.

Turn on the Lights!

It isn't just about vendor profits. There's another more important reason why you should be more selective with your advertising. The pinpoint nature of modern targeting allows you to get the message in front of the right people.

Let's say that you have a great email list of past customers and you want to give them an oil change special to bring them back in and get them used to going to your service department. If you stay in the dark and let an inefficient vendor blast it out to the whole list, you'll likely be targeting quite a few people that are over 50 miles away. It can be hard to get people to drive 10 miles for an oil change, let alone 50. You could be burning your email list due to irrelevance by targeting the wrong people with the wrong message.

Now, let's look at the same scenario but with a tire special that includes a $25 gas card. In that scenario, you'll want to target people further away rather than close by because the message matches their interests and gives you a greater opportunity to get bigger ROs out of the visit.

These are simpe examples but they demonstrate the point. You should not allow your database marketing to stay in the dark. By getting more specific with your targeting and using a combination of the data that's available and the common sense that you already have in order to position your marketing appropriately, you can improve your ROI on campaigns and prevent damage from being done for future initiatives. This is often the difference between sustainable success and eventual failure.