Dealer Marketing Strategy

Executive Summary (Click the link below to download the complete paper.)

Most dealers do not have a marketing strategy, and it is hurting them financially in a number of ways:
1. Buying the wrong kind of advertising
2. Not buying enough of the right advertising
3. There is little or no synergy among the components of the overall advertising campaign
4. Advertising is not working in conjunction with pricing and the rest of the marketing mix
Advertising cannot be purchased cost effectively without consideration of how each advertising purchase works together and how the overall advertising effort works in conjunction with pricing, distribution (location and sales operations), and the product mix. The dealer’s marketing strategy maximizes the result of all these elements working together.

Dealers have but two fundamental advertising objectives, branding and traffic now. Branding should be done sufficiently or not at all. This is a key consideration in formulating the dealer’s strategy. Vehicle price is the top consideration impacting the effectiveness of traffic-now advertising. These two considerations, branding and pricing, define the four major marketing strategies dealers embark upon.

Which strategy is best for the dealer depends a great deal on location and franchises, if any. These variables cannot easily be changed. Modification of pricing, advertising and the mix of used vehicles are relatively easy to modify. The way in which the store operates can be changed to match any new marketing strategy. However, operational changes are difficult enough to merit consideration of developing a marketing strategy around the proven competencies of the existing store leadership.

Related files: 

Dealer Marketing Strategies.pdf