Holiday frenzy is sweeping the nation and people everywhere are starting their holiday shopping. Ok, maybe not exactly, but children are starting to think about their Christmas and Hanukkah wish list, parents are attempting to figure out how they will pay for this year’s must-have gifts, and retail outlets everywhere are getting ready for the holiday rush.

Have you started planning your holiday marketing? You should be. Today I’ll share easy ways to engage customers during the holiday shopping season to get them to your door.

Think Big
The holidays mean increased competition from not only your competitors, but also for your customers’ attention from other retail outlets. This is when you have to “go big or go home.” If you don’t put out a sales or service offer to attract the consumer’s eye, you might as well forget it.

Get Outside the Box
On the same wavelength, to grab consumers’ attention, you’ll want to use marketing that gets you noticed. For example, if you plan to leverage email marketing, the average inbox receives significantly higher emails during the holidays. You’ll want to use an attention-grabbing subject line to increase opens, simple, striking, creative imagery, and of course, your offers need to be front and center to generate increased response.

Leverage Shopping Days
This tip may sound like an obvious one, but be sure to participate in the usual holiday shopping days: Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and of course the weekend in between. Some dealerships we work with offer shuttle services for shoppers on Black Friday, especially if they are located close to a mall or shopping center. This is the time to get creative to determine how you’ll increase holiday traffic.

Get Your Message Heard
Because the holidays are such a busy time for consumers, you’ll want to leverage communication mediums that matter most to them. Social media, email, and direct mail are important channels to utilize and deliver your message. They ensure consumers don’t have to search for your content because you’re reaching them through methods they are already use daily.

Depending on your end-of-the-year goals, the upcoming holiday shopping season presents a perfect time for you to get noticed. So what are you waiting for? Start planning your holiday marketing now.

Holiday frenzy is sweeping the nation and people everywhere are starting their holiday shopping. Ok, maybe not exactly, but children are starting to think about their Christmas and Hanukkah wish list, parents are attempting to figure out how they will pay for this year’s must-have gifts, and retail outlets everywhere are getting ready for the holiday rush.

Have you started planning your holiday marketing? You should be. Today I’ll share easy ways to engage customers during the holiday shopping season to get them to your door.

Think Big
The holidays mean increased competition from not only your competitors, but also for your customers’ attention from other retail outlets. This is when you have to “go big or go home.” If you don’t put out a sales or service offer to attract the consumer’s eye, you might as well forget it.

Get Outside the Box
On the same wavelength, to grab consumers’ attention, you’ll want to use marketing that gets you noticed. For example, if you plan to leverage email marketing, the average inbox receives significantly higher emails during the holidays. You’ll want to use an attention-grabbing subject line to increase opens, simple, striking, creative imagery, and of course, your offers need to be front and center to generate increased response.

Leverage Shopping Days
This tip may sound like an obvious one, but be sure to participate in the usual holiday shopping days: Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and of course the weekend in between. Some dealerships we work with offer shuttle services for shoppers on Black Friday, especially if they are located close to a mall or shopping center. This is the time to get creative to determine how you’ll increase holiday traffic.

Get Your Message Heard
Because the holidays are such a busy time for consumers, you’ll want to leverage communication mediums that matter most to them. Social media, email, and direct mail are important channels to utilize and deliver your message. They ensure consumers don’t have to search for your content because you’re reaching them through methods they are already use daily.

Depending on your end-of-the-year goals, the upcoming holiday shopping season presents a perfect time for you to get noticed. So what are you waiting for? Start planning your holiday marketing now.

Wow, how time flies! Looking at the calendar we are already in November and that means the end of the year will be here before we know it. This month we’re going to share campaign ideas that get you the most bang for your buck to bring in additional end-of-the-year traffic and revenue. Here’s a guide to plan your Thanksgiving marketing.

Traditionally Thanksgiving is a time to spend with family and friends and reflect on the things for which you’re thankful. This is the very reason we recommend not sending customers hard-hitting deals in your Thanksgiving marketing. There are plenty of events in November, Black Friday and Cyber Monday for example, that are perfect campaigns to leverage your November deals; however, Thanksgiving is just not one of them.

Instead, thank customers for their continued patronage throughout the year. The best channels to send this heartfelt thank you message is through voice messaging or email marketing, both of which are inexpensive channels of delivery. If you have the ability, think about making a video of your staff thanking customers for their business and then link to it in your email campaign. This type of communication really shows customers that you go above and beyond to show your appreciation to them.

If you must put an offer in your Thanksgiving communication, stage it in a way that looks like you are offering your customers something for being so loyal such as a $9.95 Loyal Customer LOF for customers who have been in your Service Department in the past 12 months or a Thank You $2,500 on their vehicle trade for customers who have purchased from you in the past. The only problem with these types of offers is that they muddy your message of being thankful by trying to reap benefits from your customers. So if you must include an offer, be sure to put your customers’ best interest first.

The Thanksgiving holiday is a couple weeks away, but now is the time to start putting your thoughts together to determine how you will show your appreciation to customers.

Wow, how time flies! Looking at the calendar we are already in November and that means the end of the year will be here before we know it. This month we’re going to share campaign ideas that get you the most bang for your buck to bring in additional end-of-the-year traffic and revenue. Here’s a guide to plan your Thanksgiving marketing.

Traditionally Thanksgiving is a time to spend with family and friends and reflect on the things for which you’re thankful. This is the very reason we recommend not sending customers hard-hitting deals in your Thanksgiving marketing. There are plenty of events in November, Black Friday and Cyber Monday for example, that are perfect campaigns to leverage your November deals; however, Thanksgiving is just not one of them.

Instead, thank customers for their continued patronage throughout the year. The best channels to send this heartfelt thank you message is through voice messaging or email marketing, both of which are inexpensive channels of delivery. If you have the ability, think about making a video of your staff thanking customers for their business and then link to it in your email campaign. This type of communication really shows customers that you go above and beyond to show your appreciation to them.

If you must put an offer in your Thanksgiving communication, stage it in a way that looks like you are offering your customers something for being so loyal such as a $9.95 Loyal Customer LOF for customers who have been in your Service Department in the past 12 months or a Thank You $2,500 on their vehicle trade for customers who have purchased from you in the past. The only problem with these types of offers is that they muddy your message of being thankful by trying to reap benefits from your customers. So if you must include an offer, be sure to put your customers’ best interest first.

The Thanksgiving holiday is a couple weeks away, but now is the time to start putting your thoughts together to determine how you will show your appreciation to customers.

Creating an effective marketing strategy in today’s world is not an easy task. Should you spend your time and money to conquest new customers? Allocate your marketing budget to build brand awareness in your community? Create a program to strengthen customer retention among your existing database? Or should you focus your energy on all of the above? The possibilities are endless. Chances are the answer to an effective marketing plan lies in a perfect combination of a new and current customer strategy that delivers the most optimal return. The problem is finding a harmonious balance.

We all know the old adage, “It costs five times more to acquire a new customer than to retain an existing one.” If this is true for your dealership, then it is in your best interest to capitalize on every opportunity with current customers. Make sure they are informed about needed vehicle maintenance, communicate service savings, share OEM incentives on new vehicles, etc. Now I’m not telling you to give up conquest marketing, but you’ll want to be smart and accurately measure the effectiveness of these efforts to create a low cost, highly effective strategy. If you’re looking for an easy way to bring in new sales without the cost of conquest marketing, here are some quick and easy ideas to get you started.

Identify Ready-to-Buy Customers
You’re probably already trying to determine how to identify current customers in your database who are ready to buy a vehicle. The simplest way is to target any customer who has owned their vehicle for 5 or more years, since according to AAA the average length of vehicle ownership in the U.S is 5.95 years. A little more complex way to identify ready-to-buy customers is to gather customer vehicle payment information from your DMS. This should be found in the F&I records for each customer when they purchased their most recent vehicle. Then, determine which customers are in an equitable position in their current vehicle and would benefit greatly by trading it in for a newer model. If you like the second option, but it’s a little too complex, think about partnering with a third party company to obtain this information about your customers.

Target In-Store Service Customers
You’ve probably noticed that even if you are able to identify in-equity customers in your database, a communcation to them via email or direct mail is not always effective or you typically have to send several communications before your message is heard. An easy way to reduce the cost of these communications is to target in-equity customers when they are in your Service Department. If you can flag customers in your DMS who have equity in their current vehicle, then you can identify them when they arrive for service. This will provide a perfect opportunity for you to start an impactful dialogue between your sales staff and current customers.

Train Your Team to Approach In-Equity Customers
After spending the time to identify in-equity customers who have appointments in your Service Department, the last thing you want to do is send a “too eager” salesperson out to scare them. Make sure the salesperson you have talking with these customers is seasoned and understands these customers are not at your dealership to buy a new vehicle. They should be trying to inform customers about the equity in their current vehicle. You’ll also want to make sure your salesperson doesn’t sound like a predator stalking its prey, so have facts and maybe even a document that can be used as a talking point for the customer to reference. It isn’t likely a customer entering your service drive will buy a new vehicle the very same day, so any steps you can take to ensure they are at ease about the conversation and excited about a new vehicle are necessary.

Follow-Up with In-Equity Customers
In a perfect world, you’d be able to sell an in-equity customer a vehicle on the day of their service appointment, but this is not reality. They typically have a spouse they need to talk to, budget they need to reference, or even research about what vehicle they’d like to purchase. Because of this, you have to follow-up, which can be done in multiple ways and depends on your specific dealership. If you have the manpower, have the salesperson that approached the customer reach out to them by phone, send an email to the customer with specifics about their in-equity position, or if you have one available to you, have your BDC communicate with the customer to set up a test drive. Whichever way you decide to follow-up is totally up to you, but just make sure you don’t lose sight of the potential sale.

Start Building Sales Among Existing Customers
With data directly from your DMS, a knowledgeable sales team, and accurate follow-up, your dealership will return additional sales from your existing customer database. This approach is an efficient marketing strategy that will help you STAND OUT among your customers and differentiate you from your competitors.

Creating an effective marketing strategy in today’s world is not an easy task. Should you spend your time and money to conquest new customers? Allocate your marketing budget to build brand awareness in your community? Create a program to strengthen customer retention among your existing database? Or should you focus your energy on all of the above? The possibilities are endless. Chances are the answer to an effective marketing plan lies in a perfect combination of a new and current customer strategy that delivers the most optimal return. The problem is finding a harmonious balance.

We all know the old adage, “It costs five times more to acquire a new customer than to retain an existing one.” If this is true for your dealership, then it is in your best interest to capitalize on every opportunity with current customers. Make sure they are informed about needed vehicle maintenance, communicate service savings, share OEM incentives on new vehicles, etc. Now I’m not telling you to give up conquest marketing, but you’ll want to be smart and accurately measure the effectiveness of these efforts to create a low cost, highly effective strategy. If you’re looking for an easy way to bring in new sales without the cost of conquest marketing, here are some quick and easy ideas to get you started.

Identify Ready-to-Buy Customers
You’re probably already trying to determine how to identify current customers in your database who are ready to buy a vehicle. The simplest way is to target any customer who has owned their vehicle for 5 or more years, since according to AAA the average length of vehicle ownership in the U.S is 5.95 years. A little more complex way to identify ready-to-buy customers is to gather customer vehicle payment information from your DMS. This should be found in the F&I records for each customer when they purchased their most recent vehicle. Then, determine which customers are in an equitable position in their current vehicle and would benefit greatly by trading it in for a newer model. If you like the second option, but it’s a little too complex, think about partnering with a third party company to obtain this information about your customers.

Target In-Store Service Customers
You’ve probably noticed that even if you are able to identify in-equity customers in your database, a communcation to them via email or direct mail is not always effective or you typically have to send several communications before your message is heard. An easy way to reduce the cost of these communications is to target in-equity customers when they are in your Service Department. If you can flag customers in your DMS who have equity in their current vehicle, then you can identify them when they arrive for service. This will provide a perfect opportunity for you to start an impactful dialogue between your sales staff and current customers.

Train Your Team to Approach In-Equity Customers
After spending the time to identify in-equity customers who have appointments in your Service Department, the last thing you want to do is send a “too eager” salesperson out to scare them. Make sure the salesperson you have talking with these customers is seasoned and understands these customers are not at your dealership to buy a new vehicle. They should be trying to inform customers about the equity in their current vehicle. You’ll also want to make sure your salesperson doesn’t sound like a predator stalking its prey, so have facts and maybe even a document that can be used as a talking point for the customer to reference. It isn’t likely a customer entering your service drive will buy a new vehicle the very same day, so any steps you can take to ensure they are at ease about the conversation and excited about a new vehicle are necessary.

Follow-Up with In-Equity Customers
In a perfect world, you’d be able to sell an in-equity customer a vehicle on the day of their service appointment, but this is not reality. They typically have a spouse they need to talk to, budget they need to reference, or even research about what vehicle they’d like to purchase. Because of this, you have to follow-up, which can be done in multiple ways and depends on your specific dealership. If you have the manpower, have the salesperson that approached the customer reach out to them by phone, send an email to the customer with specifics about their in-equity position, or if you have one available to you, have your BDC communicate with the customer to set up a test drive. Whichever way you decide to follow-up is totally up to you, but just make sure you don’t lose sight of the potential sale.

Start Building Sales Among Existing Customers
With data directly from your DMS, a knowledgeable sales team, and accurate follow-up, your dealership will return additional sales from your existing customer database. This approach is an efficient marketing strategy that will help you STAND OUT among your customers and differentiate you from your competitors.

The spirit of the holidays is in the air. Halloween is next week and before you know it, Thanksgiving and the end-of-the- year holidays will be here. With all the excitement of these upcoming holidays, many retail companies will glaze over a very important tribute, Veterans Day on November 11^th. This day of remembrance and thanks to veterans for their commitment and sacrifice to defend our nation deserves a place in your end-of-the-year marketing strategy. Here are two ways you can honor veterans, drive traffic and revenue, and STAND OUT from your competition.

Offer Exclusive Veterans Savings
This idea seems like a no brainer because it is! Put together valuable discounts, something you’d typically offer your most loyal customers, and advertise them exclusively to veterans and active duty military personnel who visit your store during the month of November. You could also decorate your showroom or service drive with red, white, and blue to show your support of these brave men and women who have sacrificed so much for our freedom.

Start a Thank a Veteran Campaign
This is another simple idea and one that is really easy to execute. All you need to do is start a marketing campaign using all delivery channels at your disposal; be sure to include mediums such as email, direct mail, and even social media to get your message out. The content of your campaign should be to ask the members of your community to use the month of November to show thanks to veterans and active duty military personnel. A campaign like this goes a long way in showing your support for these individuals, but also in building strong bonds in your community.

All gestures, big or small, will be recognized by your community and your dealership will receive recognition for giving back to those who have served our country. You’ll generate brand awareness among prospects and customers, which will make you STAND OUT this holiday season.

The spirit of the holidays is in the air. Halloween is next week and before you know it, Thanksgiving and the end-of-the- year holidays will be here. With all the excitement of these upcoming holidays, many retail companies will glaze over a very important tribute, Veterans Day on November 11^th. This day of remembrance and thanks to veterans for their commitment and sacrifice to defend our nation deserves a place in your end-of-the-year marketing strategy. Here are two ways you can honor veterans, drive traffic and revenue, and STAND OUT from your competition.

Offer Exclusive Veterans Savings
This idea seems like a no brainer because it is! Put together valuable discounts, something you’d typically offer your most loyal customers, and advertise them exclusively to veterans and active duty military personnel who visit your store during the month of November. You could also decorate your showroom or service drive with red, white, and blue to show your support of these brave men and women who have sacrificed so much for our freedom.

Start a Thank a Veteran Campaign
This is another simple idea and one that is really easy to execute. All you need to do is start a marketing campaign using all delivery channels at your disposal; be sure to include mediums such as email, direct mail, and even social media to get your message out. The content of your campaign should be to ask the members of your community to use the month of November to show thanks to veterans and active duty military personnel. A campaign like this goes a long way in showing your support for these individuals, but also in building strong bonds in your community.

All gestures, big or small, will be recognized by your community and your dealership will receive recognition for giving back to those who have served our country. You’ll generate brand awareness among prospects and customers, which will make you STAND OUT this holiday season.

We always talk about how to build loyalty among your existing customers. This week’s idea goes a long way in helping you achieve this goal. You probably haven’t realized it yet, but the Daylight Saving time change is just around the corner, Sunday, November 2^nd. You may remember my recommendation this spring and even last year to market the time change to your customers. Well, this is a reminder to do it again.

Sending a time change reminder to your customers is a great way to stay top-of-mind and create brand awareness without having to send them hard-hitting deals. Think about it. Your customers appreciate when you send them vehicle incentives or service offers, but sometimes they want to hear from you without your latest deal front and center in your communication. A helpful reminder to fall back is one communication that will help you STAND OUT among your competitors and show customers you’re thinking of them.

Some of our clients choose to offer service discounts with their Daylight Saving communication or offer to change the clocks in their customers’ vehicles. Either way, make sure the main message of your Daylight Saving campaign is a simple reminder for your customers to fall back and change their clocks.

A helpful Daylight Saving time change reminder will be appreciated by your customers and you’ll be one step closer to building lasting relationships and loyalty among your existing database.

We always talk about how to build loyalty among your existing customers. This week’s idea goes a long way in helping you achieve this goal. You probably haven’t realized it yet, but the Daylight Saving time change is just around the corner, Sunday, November 2^nd. You may remember my recommendation this spring and even last year to market the time change to your customers. Well, this is a reminder to do it again.

Sending a time change reminder to your customers is a great way to stay top-of-mind and create brand awareness without having to send them hard-hitting deals. Think about it. Your customers appreciate when you send them vehicle incentives or service offers, but sometimes they want to hear from you without your latest deal front and center in your communication. A helpful reminder to fall back is one communication that will help you STAND OUT among your competitors and show customers you’re thinking of them.

Some of our clients choose to offer service discounts with their Daylight Saving communication or offer to change the clocks in their customers’ vehicles. Either way, make sure the main message of your Daylight Saving campaign is a simple reminder for your customers to fall back and change their clocks.

A helpful Daylight Saving time change reminder will be appreciated by your customers and you’ll be one step closer to building lasting relationships and loyalty among your existing database.