New Car Specials - What REALLY Works?

[joe.pistell]

Attribution is extremely difficult in the automotive space .../snip/... That is why I find it very difficult to assume that a gas card is the reason why someone walks in - .../snip/... Isn't it much more likely that the sum total of every touchpoint they made on the journey each contributed to end result.

I'm with ya Ed.
We're not selling shoe laces, we're selling big expensive complicated cars that have a multi-year contract. There are many kinds of attribution models, Ed, you've described a 'linear' model http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/multi-channel-attribution-modeling-good-bad-ugly-models/. IMO, a gas card is a CTA trigger. Conceptually, it's job is to be that last incentive needed to get that shopper to commit to your store. In my world, no one knows how much waste there is in gas cards (i.e. shopper was coming to your store anyways).

To those ppl that are charged with Internet marketing decisions, if you want insights that lead to answers, ask a few hundred buyers what their 'road to our store' looked like. About 20 customers into your research, you'd know that single source attribution is... bad science. After a few hundred interviews you'd start to see 'common shoppers tasks that create paths into your store's website' (i.e. "On OEM.com 2 weeks ago I liked how the XLX model had 3rd row with backup camera and AWD. Yesterday, one of my co-workers told me he loves his, so, I came to your site to see how many you had and what deals you offered").

HTH
Joe

 

[Alexander Lau]

 

[Trisha C]

It's no secret that customers love specials. It's not about the deal they're getting, it's about the deal they think they're getting. We get the rare customer we make 50 cents on who leaves thinking we got one over on him and we might never see again after all the back and forth. Then we have customers who buy a used car at list price who are happy as can be and will buy five more. Perception is reality I guess.

Anyway, I'm not exactly elbow deep in our advertising but I can certainly sidle my way in. I'm wondering what are some common specials and promotions that others have had success with? Be it a banner on a website, a bulk email, radio ad, commercial etc.

The latest thing here that they've been running is leasing specials at x dollars/day. "Lease a new ford focus for $5/day!" Clever, but I haven't really found it to be a business catalyst.

Awhile ago we gave away a "free ipad" with certain used cars. In reality, the iPad was worked into the deal (shocking I know). Again, this idea sounded ok, but didn't really do a whole lot. Our GM and sales managers are good at the basic task before them...selling cars.

I'm trying to help boost the creative side of things. Our dealership seems to suffer from refusal to change with the times. Don't get me wrong, we are on our best six month run in over a decade from what I understand but I think we could do even better. I see all of our competitors running these promotions all of the time.

Any feedback is welcome and appreciated. Thanks!

The average car shopper is more educated today than in the past. With so many available online tools at their disposal, the gimmick approach isn't as effective as it once was. The campaigns that I've had the most success with in my marketing career have been those that are more targeted and personalized without the giveaways. If you know what they're driving, what they can trade into or that they just spent an above avg amount in your service dept, you're more likely to generate a response or inquiry. Letters directly from a GM do well also. Call volume to the dealership is also always higher when they're targeted and personalized. I've been able to read transcriptions of calls where the customer is clearly stating, "I received a letter from the GM." Hope this helps spark a few new ideas for you.

 

[Trisha C]

The average car shopper is more educated today than in the past. With so many available online tools at their disposal, the gimmick approach isn't as effective as it once was. The campaigns that I've had the most success with in my marketing career have been those that are more targeted and personalized without the giveaways. If you know what they're driving, what they can trade into or that they just spent an above avg amount in your service dept, you're more likely to generate a response or inquiry. Letters directly from a GM do well also. Call volume to the dealership is also always higher when they're targeted and personalized. I've been able to read transcriptions of calls where the customer is clearly stating, "I received a letter from the GM." Hope this helps spark a few new ideas for you.

And I realize you're talking about specials on your site and not campaigns in general. Let me add...Ask your customers, not the industry. The more a dealership starts talking to real buyers about how they want to buy a car and what's going to motivate them, that's when the leader of the pack will emerge. Everything I read and hear and have experienced myself recently is simplicity and transparency. I sat once for a dealer as a showroom greeter for a mail event early in my career. We gave away BBQ sets over Memorial Day Weekend. Many dealers believe quantity of customers over quality of customers is the way to go. Get them all in and you'll be able to get them converted to a sale, just get them in front of you. Not true, unless you have the proper staffing. In this case we had people waiting. So many that I was giving vouchers to the local restaurant across the street and taking cell phone numbers to call when there was an available sales person. Most just wanted their free BBQ set and because there weren't salespeople available to convert them, there were numerous opps lost.

Simple process and transparency or they move on to the next guy they find online.