Branding / Marketing
Striking the balance between branding and
influencing the consumer to buying a
car – from you– is a constant pursuit.
Being an automotive retailer and representing a new car franchise involves a host of challenges when it comes to marketing that brand – and your business. At the core of the challenge is the dictate from the OEM to adhere to their standards all while trying to establish a personality for your brand that resonates with your consumers – in your specific marketplace.
Striking the balance to establish awareness of- and a preference for your business through a brand that the consumers associate with, i.e., “Houston ABC Highline Motors” and “Brand X Houston” can be daunting. When signing up to doing business as “Brand X Houston”, you agree to abide by the brand communications standards set by the OEM.
Creating an institutional presence in the local market is important. Communicating what you offer and what you have for sale is complex at best and of paramount importance. Many platforms and elements must be considered:
- Do you have a formal marketing plan to include social media that includes a budget?
- Do you regularly adjust your advertising plan schedule based on choice of medium, message, audience and metrics?
- What website platform and service provider will work best for you?
- How do you design your website and pages to effectively engage your website visitors and offer an experience that is intuitive and drive their interest – to inquiry – to test drive – to purchase?
- Does your site offer payments that are VIN-specific, all-inclusive and identical to what the customer is presented with when visiting the showroom?
- Do you capture the leads your website generates?
- Do you market, and re-market to those leads?
- How do you manage your leads?
- Do you have a CRM platform that enables you to respond to inquiries within moments after an inquiry has been made?
- Do you offer a virtual assistant on your website, and are you already deploying video and AI to communicate in the manner the consumer wants?
- Are you involved in social causes in your local community, and if so, have you defined a PR strategy associated with it to leverage your activities?
- Do you control how 3rd party is serving up your marketing messages and ads?
- On which platforms and through what channels should you advertise and how do you measure if you are getting the results you expect?
- Do you monitor what people say about your dealership on social channels – do you think it matters?
These are just a few of the many questions a dealer must consider when determining the systems, platforms, and integrations needed to establish an effective marketing communications and customer management structure. What worked 5 years ago may have worked 5 years ago – but is unlikely to be effective today.
To be successful in creating relevant branding and how to market to discerning consumers, whose shopping habits have changed dramatically over the past few years, requires defining a strategy, proper planning, and executions you should be able to measure.
The Mach10 team is experienced in creating brands and planning, as well as executing marketing initiatives and campaign. We have worked for OEMs and for/with dealers, so we are intimately familiar with the challenges dealers face.
We welcome the opportunity to discuss how we can assist you.
