While watching your dealership's TV ads, people with smartphones are probably using their phones and more than likely are online. In fact, according to a recent article by Engadget, a study by Nielsen and Yahoo! found that 86% of mobile internet users are browsing on their phones while watching TV, whether using mobile apps, browsing the internet, accessing social networks like Facebook or Twitter, or texting.

So what does this mean for car dealers' TV commercial production? Advertisements need to call these mobile users to action to stand out from the background noise, which people often tune out during ads. Combine TV promotion with social media to drive people to like an auto dealership's Facebook page. Ask people to tweet with hashtags like in Audi's recent Superbowl commercial. Have them text to opt into a special auto service mobile marketing list. Keep brainstorming, and the possibilities are endless.

The point is, an auto dealer's TV production needs to integrate with digital marketing efforts, like mobile marketing and social media campaigns, to be successful. 

While watching your dealership's TV ads, people with smartphones are probably using their phones and more than likely are online. In fact, according to a recent article by Engadget, a study by Nielsen and Yahoo! found that 86% of mobile internet users are browsing on their phones while watching TV, whether using mobile apps, browsing the internet, accessing social networks like Facebook or Twitter, or texting.

So what does this mean for car dealers' TV commercial production? Advertisements need to call these mobile users to action to stand out from the background noise, which people often tune out during ads. Combine TV promotion with social media to drive people to like an auto dealership's Facebook page. Ask people to tweet with hashtags like in Audi's recent Superbowl commercial. Have them text to opt into a special auto service mobile marketing list. Keep brainstorming, and the possibilities are endless.

The point is, an auto dealer's TV production needs to integrate with digital marketing efforts, like mobile marketing and social media campaigns, to be successful. 

Potratz, a full service automotive advertising agency is pleased to welcome Jordan Wolfe to its team as Senior Graphic Designer to help take auto dealer clients to a new level. With over 12 years in advertising, Jordan prides himself on the unique path where his career has taken him.

He has worked in the sign industry, trade show sector, and automotive world, as well as for a national retail chain. He also managed to freelance along the way for a wide variety of clients and industries. At KB toys he handled retail advertising for over 450 locations both nationally and in Puerto Rico.

As the advertising manager for Herb Chambers, one of the country’s largest privately held automotive groups, he helped them achieve a strong, consolidated presence in their markets. Jordan is excited to take this experience and pass it along to our clients to help them drive more leads and sell more cars.

Potratz, a full service automotive advertising agency is pleased to welcome Jordan Wolfe to its team as Senior Graphic Designer to help take auto dealer clients to a new level. With over 12 years in advertising, Jordan prides himself on the unique path where his career has taken him.

He has worked in the sign industry, trade show sector, and automotive world, as well as for a national retail chain. He also managed to freelance along the way for a wide variety of clients and industries. At KB toys he handled retail advertising for over 450 locations both nationally and in Puerto Rico.

As the advertising manager for Herb Chambers, one of the country’s largest privately held automotive groups, he helped them achieve a strong, consolidated presence in their markets. Jordan is excited to take this experience and pass it along to our clients to help them drive more leads and sell more cars.

Social media campaigns for auto dealers should be designed to deliver performance and ROI for dealerships and dealer groups. Not all campaigns should be evaluated the same, nor should the same metrics be used. In order to track the success of a campaign, dealers should set objectives upfront to help identify key performance indicators.

First, dealers should determine what their campaign sets out to accomplish. Here are three
objectives to get you started:

1. Increase reach - exposing new car prospects to your brand
2. Drive a specific call to action – sign-up for email list, opt-in to mobile text program, Facebook “like,” filling out a form, scheduling an appointment
3. Incentivized sharing – reward customers based on their behavior

Over a period of time, track individual campaigns using historical benchmarks. Then assign
weighting values accordingly. For example, a campaign designed to build an auto dealer’s
database will be weighted heavily on data capture versus a campaign to drive awareness, which
could be rated on such tactics as influence sharing through a viral invitation. There are many
different combinations for weighting values as usually multiple objectives come into play in most
social media campaigns. 

Social media campaigns for auto dealers should be designed to deliver performance and ROI for dealerships and dealer groups. Not all campaigns should be evaluated the same, nor should the same metrics be used. In order to track the success of a campaign, dealers should set objectives upfront to help identify key performance indicators.

First, dealers should determine what their campaign sets out to accomplish. Here are three
objectives to get you started:

1. Increase reach - exposing new car prospects to your brand
2. Drive a specific call to action – sign-up for email list, opt-in to mobile text program, Facebook “like,” filling out a form, scheduling an appointment
3. Incentivized sharing – reward customers based on their behavior

Over a period of time, track individual campaigns using historical benchmarks. Then assign
weighting values accordingly. For example, a campaign designed to build an auto dealer’s
database will be weighted heavily on data capture versus a campaign to drive awareness, which
could be rated on such tactics as influence sharing through a viral invitation. There are many
different combinations for weighting values as usually multiple objectives come into play in most
social media campaigns. 

This week’s snowstorm is affecting dealerships across the country as they plan to deal with the weather: getting ready to dig out the lot and preparing for fewer customers to come in. But bad weather can be the perfect opportunity to send out a special offer. Your auto dealership’s marketing campaign needs to connect to what people are experiencing to see more results than just generic advertising.

First, you can set up an automotive email marketing campaign promoting service. When a snowstorm is coming, a “weather advisory” email can push a special for snow tires. People will be more likely to think about getting snow tires for their cars when bad weather is on its way. We have seen these emails get a much higher open and click rate than generic sales offer emails.

Next, your dealership's social media also needs to push this special. Offer a coupon that people can print or show on their smartphones at the dealership.

Take advantage of whatever’s going on around you to push an offer--bad weather is an ideal chance for dealers to call people to action for service specials.

This week’s snowstorm is affecting dealerships across the country as they plan to deal with the weather: getting ready to dig out the lot and preparing for fewer customers to come in. But bad weather can be the perfect opportunity to send out a special offer. Your auto dealership’s marketing campaign needs to connect to what people are experiencing to see more results than just generic advertising.

First, you can set up an automotive email marketing campaign promoting service. When a snowstorm is coming, a “weather advisory” email can push a special for snow tires. People will be more likely to think about getting snow tires for their cars when bad weather is on its way. We have seen these emails get a much higher open and click rate than generic sales offer emails.

Next, your dealership's social media also needs to push this special. Offer a coupon that people can print or show on their smartphones at the dealership.

Take advantage of whatever’s going on around you to push an offer--bad weather is an ideal chance for dealers to call people to action for service specials.

Location based marketing within your social networks and applications provide your dealership an excellent opportunity to promote itself and your service department. With geo-based apps gaining an enormous amount of headway, it's important that your dealership use them to help promote your various marketing campaigns and departments. 

Location based networks like Foursquare, Gowalla, and SCVNGR are great avenues to achieve these types of promotions.  Let's start with Foursquare and discuss 3 simple steps that your dealership can do to promote its service department's current specials and coupons.

Step 1 - Claim your venue (Dealership) - Head to foursquare.com and claim your dealership by searching for it in the upper right hand corner. Then, click your venue and simply follow the instructions to claim your dealership and you'll be on your way to setting up specials.

Step 2 - Head to your venue and create your first specials. You can create this based on simple check-ins, a set number of check-ins, or mayor-ships. This is great way to provide your visitors ADDED value for your service department or sales incentives. Add a current service coupon and get started… But remember, you'll want to add more savings to provide your visitors with an additional and exclusive incentive to check in.

Step 3 - Promote It! Utilize P.O.S materials in the service or sales departments that encourage your walk-in traffic or customers to check in. Make sure they are aware that they will be able to get something of value, just for checking in! Also, promote it on your Facebook page and website. This will let your other social databases be aware of these customized savings!

So those are a few simple steps that can get you started with customizing some of your location based marketing efforts at your dealership. In no way are these campaigns limited to service coupons and incentives… and you can have fun by setting up treks on SCVNGR and trips on Gowalla. This will let you tie in a series of events that people can do in order to get certain things in return. It's a locational scavenger hunt and a lot of the manufacturers have been utilizing these apps to create fun games and treks for mobile users (Nissan, Mazda, Buick, and more).

Take some time to set up these networks so you can customize these options. It will definitely increase your social networking and location based marketing stamp, but also allow you to communicate with car buyers on a more personal and fun level! Plus, it keeps your dealership on the cutting edge of location based technology. So start checking-in today!
 

Location based marketing within your social networks and applications provide your dealership an excellent opportunity to promote itself and your service department. With geo-based apps gaining an enormous amount of headway, it's important that your dealership use them to help promote your various marketing campaigns and departments. 

Location based networks like Foursquare, Gowalla, and SCVNGR are great avenues to achieve these types of promotions.  Let's start with Foursquare and discuss 3 simple steps that your dealership can do to promote its service department's current specials and coupons.

Step 1 - Claim your venue (Dealership) - Head to foursquare.com and claim your dealership by searching for it in the upper right hand corner. Then, click your venue and simply follow the instructions to claim your dealership and you'll be on your way to setting up specials.

Step 2 - Head to your venue and create your first specials. You can create this based on simple check-ins, a set number of check-ins, or mayor-ships. This is great way to provide your visitors ADDED value for your service department or sales incentives. Add a current service coupon and get started… But remember, you'll want to add more savings to provide your visitors with an additional and exclusive incentive to check in.

Step 3 - Promote It! Utilize P.O.S materials in the service or sales departments that encourage your walk-in traffic or customers to check in. Make sure they are aware that they will be able to get something of value, just for checking in! Also, promote it on your Facebook page and website. This will let your other social databases be aware of these customized savings!

So those are a few simple steps that can get you started with customizing some of your location based marketing efforts at your dealership. In no way are these campaigns limited to service coupons and incentives… and you can have fun by setting up treks on SCVNGR and trips on Gowalla. This will let you tie in a series of events that people can do in order to get certain things in return. It's a locational scavenger hunt and a lot of the manufacturers have been utilizing these apps to create fun games and treks for mobile users (Nissan, Mazda, Buick, and more).

Take some time to set up these networks so you can customize these options. It will definitely increase your social networking and location based marketing stamp, but also allow you to communicate with car buyers on a more personal and fun level! Plus, it keeps your dealership on the cutting edge of location based technology. So start checking-in today!