Did you know February is American Heart Month? Or that diseases of the heart are the number one killer in America? This February, leverage American Heart Month to drive customers and prospects to your door. Today you’ll learn three ways to raise awareness in your community and rev up your 2015.

Donate to the Cause
This idea is very simple. All you need to do is determine a dollar amount you will donate, the charity that will reap your donation, like the American Heart Association, and how your dealership will benefit from the campaign. There are many ways for your dealership and your charity of choice to benefit. For example, you could donate $5 for every oil change performed, $25 for every test drive taken, or $100 for every vehicle purchased during a given time period. This type of campaign is a win-win.

Sponsor a Walk for the Cause
Many cities throughout the country host a heart walk to raise awareness and promote healthy hearts in their communities. These events are always looking for sponsorships from local businesses, which presents a perfect opportunity for your dealership to step in and help out. A sponsorship to events like these are a great way for you to raise brand awareness in your community, generate goodwill, and in turn, drive more business to your store.

Promote Vehicle Health
Just like a human being, a vehicle runs off of a single “heart” – the engine. If it isn’t working properly, the vehicle will not run. Think about communicating heart healthy tips to customers for their bodies and their vehicles. You could even offer up some heart healthy vehicle savings to entice customers into your service drive.

Now is the time to get involved and show your support for healthy hearts and American Heart Month. You could select one of the ideas from above, combine them to make your impact more meaningful, or create a campaign unique to you. Whichever you decide, promoting healthy hearts will rev up your 2015 by increasing brand awareness, driving customers and prospects to your door, and informing your community about the number one killer in America.

Did you know February is American Heart Month? Or that diseases of the heart are the number one killer in America? This February, leverage American Heart Month to drive customers and prospects to your door. Today you’ll learn three ways to raise awareness in your community and rev up your 2015.

Donate to the Cause
This idea is very simple. All you need to do is determine a dollar amount you will donate, the charity that will reap your donation, like the American Heart Association, and how your dealership will benefit from the campaign. There are many ways for your dealership and your charity of choice to benefit. For example, you could donate $5 for every oil change performed, $25 for every test drive taken, or $100 for every vehicle purchased during a given time period. This type of campaign is a win-win.

Sponsor a Walk for the Cause
Many cities throughout the country host a heart walk to raise awareness and promote healthy hearts in their communities. These events are always looking for sponsorships from local businesses, which presents a perfect opportunity for your dealership to step in and help out. A sponsorship to events like these are a great way for you to raise brand awareness in your community, generate goodwill, and in turn, drive more business to your store.

Promote Vehicle Health
Just like a human being, a vehicle runs off of a single “heart” – the engine. If it isn’t working properly, the vehicle will not run. Think about communicating heart healthy tips to customers for their bodies and their vehicles. You could even offer up some heart healthy vehicle savings to entice customers into your service drive.

Now is the time to get involved and show your support for healthy hearts and American Heart Month. You could select one of the ideas from above, combine them to make your impact more meaningful, or create a campaign unique to you. Whichever you decide, promoting healthy hearts will rev up your 2015 by increasing brand awareness, driving customers and prospects to your door, and informing your community about the number one killer in America.

We all know Presidents’ Day weekend is a great time to move vehicle inventory. Have you decided how you will communicate with customers and prospects about the vehicle inventory on your lot? Have you decided if you’ll draw customers and prospects into your store with a unique offer or customer appreciation event? Today I’ll share three topics to include in your Presidents’ Day marketing.

Leverage OEM Programs and Marketing
Most OEMs advertise Presidents’ Day vehicle incentives, some even provide creative elements to help dealers promote these weekend specials. OEMs spend lots of money to produce marketing materials for their Presidents’ Day incentives and you should leverage these national assets to gain more visibility for your campaign. If you choose, you can always increase your incentives to differentiate yourself from the competition, but leveraging the national brand is key to extending the reach of your campaign.

Promote Vehicle Service Specials
Although Presidents’ Day is predominantly a sales holiday, make sure you get noticed by including service incentives in your holiday weekend marketing. The truth is, not everyone is in the market to buy a vehicle and unless you are receiving accurate in-market data, many recipients will discredit your campaign because it doesn’t apply to them. So, think about including some Presidents’ Day service specials to entice customers and prospects to your dealership.

Be Creative
Let’s face it, Presidents’ Day weekend is a great time to attract business for almost every retail outlet. You can’t begin to fathom how much a consumer will be bombarded during the next couple of weeks with advertisements vying for their attention. Get creative and make sure your marketing campaign stands out from the pack. We believe the best approach is leveraging multi-channel delivery to gain visibility to your campaign through diverse mediums and at different times to grab a recipient’s attention.

Whatever your Presidents’ Day plans are, it is time to start putting some thought into how you will promote your dealership to drive additional traffic to your store for the holiday weekend. A profitable Presidents’ Day weekend is just the thing you need to rev up your 2015.

We all know Presidents’ Day weekend is a great time to move vehicle inventory. Have you decided how you will communicate with customers and prospects about the vehicle inventory on your lot? Have you decided if you’ll draw customers and prospects into your store with a unique offer or customer appreciation event? Today I’ll share three topics to include in your Presidents’ Day marketing.

Leverage OEM Programs and Marketing
Most OEMs advertise Presidents’ Day vehicle incentives, some even provide creative elements to help dealers promote these weekend specials. OEMs spend lots of money to produce marketing materials for their Presidents’ Day incentives and you should leverage these national assets to gain more visibility for your campaign. If you choose, you can always increase your incentives to differentiate yourself from the competition, but leveraging the national brand is key to extending the reach of your campaign.

Promote Vehicle Service Specials
Although Presidents’ Day is predominantly a sales holiday, make sure you get noticed by including service incentives in your holiday weekend marketing. The truth is, not everyone is in the market to buy a vehicle and unless you are receiving accurate in-market data, many recipients will discredit your campaign because it doesn’t apply to them. So, think about including some Presidents’ Day service specials to entice customers and prospects to your dealership.

Be Creative
Let’s face it, Presidents’ Day weekend is a great time to attract business for almost every retail outlet. You can’t begin to fathom how much a consumer will be bombarded during the next couple of weeks with advertisements vying for their attention. Get creative and make sure your marketing campaign stands out from the pack. We believe the best approach is leveraging multi-channel delivery to gain visibility to your campaign through diverse mediums and at different times to grab a recipient’s attention.

Whatever your Presidents’ Day plans are, it is time to start putting some thought into how you will promote your dealership to drive additional traffic to your store for the holiday weekend. A profitable Presidents’ Day weekend is just the thing you need to rev up your 2015.

As we quickly finish up January and move into the second month of the year, you may already be able to see the predicated trend of rising vehicle sales for 2015. Vehicle sales is the number one indicator of success in the auto industry from year to year. However, I’m sure there are a number of other metrics you use to determine your yearly success, like customer retention, CSI scores, RO count, revenue, etc. All of these key performance indicators are important to you and the success of your dealership.

Due to the nature of our business, we always ask dealers to look at their marketing spend and cost per sale and service as a metric of success. For many of the dealers, we see an average marketing spend of $50,000 - $150,000, depending on the size of the store and allocated funds. At the core of our business, we strive to reduce a dealer’s marketing spend and find ways to drive down the cost per sale and service. Today, I’ll share five ways you can leverage our best practices and make a resolution to save marketing dollars.

Data Collection
One of the biggest wastes in the marketing world is inaccurately delivering campaigns. Specifically, delivering a campaign to the wrong physical or email address. Make it a point in 2015 to gather this information from your customers and input it accurately into your CRM or DMS. Think about putting processes in place so that each and every time one of your employees interacts with a customer, they ensure pertinent information is updated and correct so your marketing campaigns are delivered accurately and reach the right person.

Deliver Email
A great way to bring down marketing spend is by delivering email communications instead of direct mail. We all know that there are some communications that are best delivered through a direct mail channel; however, there are many that can be sent via email and will obtain the same response rates as a direct mail campaign. The truth is, when used correctly, an email is a fraction of the cost of a direct mail campaign.

Series Campaigns
If you aren’t convinced or aren’t ready to jump in with both feet and commit your marketing to an email delivery channel, think about creating a series of campaigns. Since email is the cheapest delivery channel, try communicating with customers first with an inexpensive email campaign. If you do not elicit the desired response from an email campaign, follow it up with a direct mail communication. Many customers will respond to an email campaign, which will save you on direct mail spend.

Segment Database
Not all customers react to the same type of marketing, so why would you market the same way to every customer? I know you’ve probably heard this before, but in today’s oversaturated marketing world, it’s true. Think about segmenting your database based on purchase behavior. Your new car customers will need to be simply reminded of their vehicle’s service needs, which can be accomplished with an email campaign. These customers have just purchased a vehicle and want to keep up on its maintenance to ensure their vehicle is running properly. Whereas a big ticket service customer, someone who is going to the independents for their minor maintenance, but coming to you for their major repairs, may need an email and direct mail campaign to drive them into your service drive on a more regular basis. Segmenting your database by purchase behavior is a great way to save on marketing.

Leverage Social Media and Reviews
In case you’ve been living under a rock, let me tell you, your customers are going online before coming to your dealership. Buyers are more educated than ever before on their purchase decision and who they will purchase from. Social media and review sites are free to join and cost very little advertising spend to promote. Your buyers are likely visiting these types of sites when deciding on who to buy their vehicle from or where to service their vehicle and one bad review can cost you up to 30 customers. By creating a positive online presence and filling social media and review sites with content from customers promoting your dealership, you’ll attract buyers and customers and lower your advertising spend.

With 2015 just starting, now is the time to reevaluate your marketing spend and figure out how to do more for less. These tips are really just the beginning and should provide you thought starters to implement new policies, practices, and processes for your 2015 marketing. This is your year to make a resolution to save marketing dollars.

As we quickly finish up January and move into the second month of the year, you may already be able to see the predicated trend of rising vehicle sales for 2015. Vehicle sales is the number one indicator of success in the auto industry from year to year. However, I’m sure there are a number of other metrics you use to determine your yearly success, like customer retention, CSI scores, RO count, revenue, etc. All of these key performance indicators are important to you and the success of your dealership.

Due to the nature of our business, we always ask dealers to look at their marketing spend and cost per sale and service as a metric of success. For many of the dealers, we see an average marketing spend of $50,000 - $150,000, depending on the size of the store and allocated funds. At the core of our business, we strive to reduce a dealer’s marketing spend and find ways to drive down the cost per sale and service. Today, I’ll share five ways you can leverage our best practices and make a resolution to save marketing dollars.

Data Collection
One of the biggest wastes in the marketing world is inaccurately delivering campaigns. Specifically, delivering a campaign to the wrong physical or email address. Make it a point in 2015 to gather this information from your customers and input it accurately into your CRM or DMS. Think about putting processes in place so that each and every time one of your employees interacts with a customer, they ensure pertinent information is updated and correct so your marketing campaigns are delivered accurately and reach the right person.

Deliver Email
A great way to bring down marketing spend is by delivering email communications instead of direct mail. We all know that there are some communications that are best delivered through a direct mail channel; however, there are many that can be sent via email and will obtain the same response rates as a direct mail campaign. The truth is, when used correctly, an email is a fraction of the cost of a direct mail campaign.

Series Campaigns
If you aren’t convinced or aren’t ready to jump in with both feet and commit your marketing to an email delivery channel, think about creating a series of campaigns. Since email is the cheapest delivery channel, try communicating with customers first with an inexpensive email campaign. If you do not elicit the desired response from an email campaign, follow it up with a direct mail communication. Many customers will respond to an email campaign, which will save you on direct mail spend.

Segment Database
Not all customers react to the same type of marketing, so why would you market the same way to every customer? I know you’ve probably heard this before, but in today’s oversaturated marketing world, it’s true. Think about segmenting your database based on purchase behavior. Your new car customers will need to be simply reminded of their vehicle’s service needs, which can be accomplished with an email campaign. These customers have just purchased a vehicle and want to keep up on its maintenance to ensure their vehicle is running properly. Whereas a big ticket service customer, someone who is going to the independents for their minor maintenance, but coming to you for their major repairs, may need an email and direct mail campaign to drive them into your service drive on a more regular basis. Segmenting your database by purchase behavior is a great way to save on marketing.

Leverage Social Media and Reviews
In case you’ve been living under a rock, let me tell you, your customers are going online before coming to your dealership. Buyers are more educated than ever before on their purchase decision and who they will purchase from. Social media and review sites are free to join and cost very little advertising spend to promote. Your buyers are likely visiting these types of sites when deciding on who to buy their vehicle from or where to service their vehicle and one bad review can cost you up to 30 customers. By creating a positive online presence and filling social media and review sites with content from customers promoting your dealership, you’ll attract buyers and customers and lower your advertising spend.

With 2015 just starting, now is the time to reevaluate your marketing spend and figure out how to do more for less. These tips are really just the beginning and should provide you thought starters to implement new policies, practices, and processes for your 2015 marketing. This is your year to make a resolution to save marketing dollars.

Chances are your lot is starting to quickly fill with 2015 models and if you’re lucky, you have very few 2014s left. With the start of every new year, people everywhere are thinking about swapping their current vehicle for a newer, upgraded model. This situation puts you in a perfect position to jump start your 2015 vehicle sales.

Pull Ahead Leases
One great way to move new vehicle inventory is with a pull ahead lease program. Typically these are offered by the manufacturers, however, you could allow customers who currently lease desirable pre-owned vehicles to turn their leases in early. Most will jump at the chance to do so and you can put them into a lease for a newer model.

Vehicle in Demand
Another idea for you to boost your vehicle sales in 2015 is by leveraging a “we want your vehicle” campaign. Same basic principal as above except you aren’t just looking for lease vehicles. Look into your database for popular demand pre-owned vehicles and communicate to these owners about the high-demand for their vehicle. You could even offer to give them an extra incentive for trading in their vehicle now.

Trade Up
It happens all the time. A consumer buys a vehicle and then the next year the manufacturer comes out with a new body style or better technology features for that model. Well the consumer is instantly envious of the newer model and wants to get it. Capitalize on this with your 2015 vehicles by targeting customers who may have an older body style, less fuel economy, or outdated technology features and offer them an incentive to trade in their current vehicle and trade up to the newest model.

Now is the time to start leveraging your new 2015s to attract and entice your customers to get rid of their current vehicle and step into a new model. With these campaign ideas, you’ll stock your pre-owned inventory with quality vehicles and move additional 2015s.

Chances are your lot is starting to quickly fill with 2015 models and if you’re lucky, you have very few 2014s left. With the start of every new year, people everywhere are thinking about swapping their current vehicle for a newer, upgraded model. This situation puts you in a perfect position to jump start your 2015 vehicle sales.

Pull Ahead Leases
One great way to move new vehicle inventory is with a pull ahead lease program. Typically these are offered by the manufacturers, however, you could allow customers who currently lease desirable pre-owned vehicles to turn their leases in early. Most will jump at the chance to do so and you can put them into a lease for a newer model.

Vehicle in Demand
Another idea for you to boost your vehicle sales in 2015 is by leveraging a “we want your vehicle” campaign. Same basic principal as above except you aren’t just looking for lease vehicles. Look into your database for popular demand pre-owned vehicles and communicate to these owners about the high-demand for their vehicle. You could even offer to give them an extra incentive for trading in their vehicle now.

Trade Up
It happens all the time. A consumer buys a vehicle and then the next year the manufacturer comes out with a new body style or better technology features for that model. Well the consumer is instantly envious of the newer model and wants to get it. Capitalize on this with your 2015 vehicles by targeting customers who may have an older body style, less fuel economy, or outdated technology features and offer them an incentive to trade in their current vehicle and trade up to the newest model.

Now is the time to start leveraging your new 2015s to attract and entice your customers to get rid of their current vehicle and step into a new model. With these campaign ideas, you’ll stock your pre-owned inventory with quality vehicles and move additional 2015s.

If your goal for 2015 is to drive additional service traffic and revenue to your dealership, then this week’s campaign idea is for you. Chances are your customers have made New Year’s resolutions for all kinds of things, like losing weight, stopping a bad habit, or self-improvement. Think about asking your customers to make a New Year’s resolution to stay current on their vehicle’s maintenance.

Resolve for Better Vehicle Maintenance
With a consumer’s busy life, they often forget about their vehicle and the maintenance it needs to continue to be in top working order. By sending them a communication and asking them to make a resolution to their vehicle, you bring the topic of vehicle maintenance to their attention and your dealership top-of-mind.

Remind Customer of Their Resolution
There is a big difference between making a resolution and keeping a resolution. You will need to have a plan of attack in place to remind customers to keep their vehicle maintenance resolutions. Think about sending helpful reminders every quarter about their 2015 vehicle maintenance resolutions or put together a type of calendar for customers who have resolved for better vehicle maintenance to keep them on track.

Reward Customers for their Resolutions
Provide a reward at the end of 2015 for customers who have kept their resolution throughout the year. You could offer them a gift such as a free oil change or car washes for 2016. Anything would be appreciated and would ensure your customers always come back to you for any future vehicle service needs.

New Year’s resolutions are a great way to connect with customers, increase brand awareness, and drive additional traffic and revenue. January presents the perfect time for you to ensure your customers are resolving to keep up with vehicle maintenance.

If your goal for 2015 is to drive additional service traffic and revenue to your dealership, then this week’s campaign idea is for you. Chances are your customers have made New Year’s resolutions for all kinds of things, like losing weight, stopping a bad habit, or self-improvement. Think about asking your customers to make a New Year’s resolution to stay current on their vehicle’s maintenance.

Resolve for Better Vehicle Maintenance
With a consumer’s busy life, they often forget about their vehicle and the maintenance it needs to continue to be in top working order. By sending them a communication and asking them to make a resolution to their vehicle, you bring the topic of vehicle maintenance to their attention and your dealership top-of-mind.

Remind Customer of Their Resolution
There is a big difference between making a resolution and keeping a resolution. You will need to have a plan of attack in place to remind customers to keep their vehicle maintenance resolutions. Think about sending helpful reminders every quarter about their 2015 vehicle maintenance resolutions or put together a type of calendar for customers who have resolved for better vehicle maintenance to keep them on track.

Reward Customers for their Resolutions
Provide a reward at the end of 2015 for customers who have kept their resolution throughout the year. You could offer them a gift such as a free oil change or car washes for 2016. Anything would be appreciated and would ensure your customers always come back to you for any future vehicle service needs.

New Year’s resolutions are a great way to connect with customers, increase brand awareness, and drive additional traffic and revenue. January presents the perfect time for you to ensure your customers are resolving to keep up with vehicle maintenance.