You Need to Know How to Be More Relevant

Paid search, display, social media, email, direct mail, texting, telemarketing, mass media, web-sites, landing pages, ringless voicemails, etc… You have an endless choice of marketing channels to communicate with car buyers. A lot of times I see people spend too much time worried about "how" they are going to market to prospects instead of "why". Never lose site of what you're trying to accomplish - “What is your overall goal of all this communication?”

For me it’s simple: Increase the overall value of your customers, which really means... they buy from you more often, pay you more money per transaction and they visit your dealership for sales and service more frequently. A mere 5% increase in customer retention can result in a 75% increase in customer value. The challenge dealers face is how do you improve retention by 5% when customer loyalty to the brand is at an all time low.

You run the real risk of alienating or accomplishing the polar opposite of what you're trying to accomplish. Over communicating or saturating your customers with information that is irrelevant to them causes them to become callous to everything you send them. 

Relevance is critical in marketing

Google puts a lot of emphasis on the relevance of your ads because people are tired of going to sites that don't contain the information they want. That's why people bounce. The ad said one thing... you get there and it's another. Or, it's hard to quickly find what the information you went there for in the first place. The higher the bounce rate... the lower your quality score. The lower your quality score... the more your ads will cost to get the positions you need to convert.

Google knows that if they can't provide value to you when you Google something - then you'll choose another search provider. Google is not interested in becoming the next Yahoo.

The relevance of your communications and offers is just as important and is a key ingredient to any marketing program you have. Trying to be everything to everybody will have a negative impact. Think of it this way…

• Increased relevance creates increased engagement from the customer.
• Increased engagement creates increased satisfaction with you and your dealership.
• Increased satisfaction creates increased behavior (and isn’t this what we need our marketing to do?)
• Increased behavior creates increased value.
• Increased value creates an increased return on investment. 

The exact opposite happens when your message is irrelevant. An effective direct response marketing strategy should not focus on “getting your name out there.” It should improve the relationship you have with each and every customer. When this is done, your direct marketing efforts will start to lead the customer’s behavior.

So how do you do this? Know Who You Are Talking to...

It starts with the data. The more information you retain and collect, the stronger an automotive direct marketing program can become. Good data is only half the battle. You have to have a reliable data analytic team or partner with the skill set to create profiles specific to each customer and develop predictive models; that way, you only send information that is timely and relevant to their needs.

A reliable data analytic team should be able to provide insights and opportunities to:

• Increase customer activity and spend during the customer’s lifecycle.
• Retain more customers.
• Prevent or at least reduce defection.
• Win back customers.
• Increase your profitability.

…And What to Say

What do you want the marketing to accomplish?

Once you've identified where your opportunities are and you know who you are talking to, you need to know what you want to achieve through your marketing message. Do you want to:

• Offer a new service to existing customers?
• Launch a new model or service like a "Free 35-point inspection" on the market?
• Generate new leads for your sales or service teams?

A clear objective means a specific context that turns into a simpler – and more effective – marketing message.

Effective marketing messages are tailored to your audience and your objective. Using a single marketing message for multiple objectives just confuses the message. It becomes overly general and dull.

Adapt Each Marketing Message to Each Concern

Understanding the concerns and challenges that motivate your customers is essential for providing them with relevant offers that they're interested in.

If you are using marketing messages that focus only on you - STOP immediately. Consumers communicate on their terms - they don't need you for information anymore. The only thing they care about is what can your offer do for them... that's it. Will it save them time, money or effort?

Do you know how to talk about your customers’ problems - and the solutions that are available to solve them? This is just as important with your paid search marketing too. Too many times we only bid on broad terms and assume everyone is only motivated by price. Take your service department for example. Not everyone defects or shops based on price alone. Convenience is also a strong motivator. If someone is searching for an "oil change near me" they may be more motivated with an ad headline that is all about convenience, speed, etc. You must be relevant.

You Have to Rise Above the Noise

Be aware of what makes your dealership or offer different. Those differentiators will help guide your communication and the marketing messages that your customers will receive.

Your customers’ ability to quickly identify the value you offer and how you are different from your competitors will help them understand that not all dealer or dealerships are the same. In a time where the internet is saturated with all the same vehicles and prices... being different and relevant to what car buyers want is a game changer.

To stand out from your competitors, the quality of your marketing message will be more important than the quantity of information that is delivered: choose to focus primarily on the customer issues for which your solution provides a unique answer – or emphasize the features of your solution that support this capability.

Build in The Long Term

Try not to rely on a single marketing message and/or a perfect marketing campaign to yield all of the results that you are expecting to help you achieve your goal.

In order to be effective, your marketing messages need to be delivered over time and with a multi-channel approach: regular and constant repetition of solid, relevant marketing messages is the most proven process to succeed.

Honesty and Integrity

Your customers are becoming more and more wary of marketing messages, which are all too often associated with advertising and exaggerations.

They will appreciate simple and honest messages that are free of useless frills.

Speaking truthfully, consistently and authentically is not only requirement for a new professional ethic, but is also the means to being truly effective.

If you have a question or comment or different opinion? Don't be shy, comment below.

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Scott Joseph is an automotive dealer and CEO of J&L Marketing. With nearly 3 decades of automotive sales, marketing and leadership experience, he helps automotive clients grow predictable sales with his engineered proven marketing process. To message me privately on LinkedIn, click here.