Your current automotive advertising is not ready to deal with shortages of inventory

I have participated in thousands of monthly advertising meetings with hundreds of dealers, sat on all sides, sometimes on the dealer side, sometimes on the vendor side, and sometimes as a consultant or on my competitor's meeting. There are many good ones, but they all follow the same format. How was your month? What is the manufacturer trying to promote this month? Where should we focus?

However, it is based on the models we moved, the models the manufacturer wants to move, and the models the dealers want to move, and there is usually a conflict between the dealer and manufacturer's wishes. In today's market, there is no inventory, dealers don't know what is coming, and no one knows when it will be resolved. Here is where the problem begins, we have been targeting specific brands, vehicles, and even specific vehicles based on their VIN.

Where will the message be without an inventory? What do you stand for as your dealer's brand? Why are you in business? What is its purpose? What is your vision? What are we inspired to become? What is our mission? What are our values? Making more money or paying for a new boat is not the answer to this question; the answer lies in thinking about the brand that your customers see when they think of your dealer.

Every advertising meeting for the dealer brand and every decision the dealer makes must be led by the brand. Recently, I had a conversation with Kyle Mountsier of Contagious Auto about how marketing and branding need to be the most important department at the dealership and should permeate all decisions. Everything should answer these simple questions, those that align with our brand? And is or brand getting a benefit with this decision?

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Make a rule that in your next advertising meeting you won't discuss inventory unless necessary, but rather your brand, the brand that your dealer represents, and how are we promoting this message.

?#Automotive #Marketing #Sales #Autoindustry