The race to improve digital marketing for dealers is on.
We wrote about must-have PPC campaigns for auto part eCommerce sites and why outsourcing digital marketing for aftermarket auto parts makes sense.
Therefore, I am certain that auto dealers will benefit from outsourcing their digital marketing as well. As dealers compete to grab car buyers’ attention, lead generation strategies must be tailored to stand out.
This is why digital marketing for dealers is changing:
Why Cookie-Cutter Campaigns Don’t Work?
At scale, cut-and-paste is any vendors’ best friend. A campaign in Florida is the same campaign in Arizona — with slight modification of geo targeting and timezones. Beyond that, there is no customization when it comes to their digital marketing for dealers and their auto business. This is not fair to the dealers. Dealers who make the switch from a preferred vendor to a more nimble agency could better suit the dealerships’ needs.
Overloading the Dealer System
The influx of dealers vendors get after earning the coveted preferred endorsement can be, and is often overwhelming. The only choice any vendor can do is to go on a hiring spree and risk bringing on inexperienced individuals just to fill seats. The surge in new clients is exciting, but that euphoria quickly fades when the quality of work starts to deteriorate.
Co-op Dollars Come and Go
Sometimes, the money isn’t there from the manufacturer to support co-op marketing campaigns. The OEMs control when the funds are available and has total control to restrict co-op money and shift it to national campaigns they deem priority.
Is The Strategy is Aligned to OEMs not Dealers?
Preferred partners are more vested to align themselves with the automakers than dealers. The reality is that automakers don’t care which dealer sell the most cars. All the care about is moving as many vehicles possible across the board.
- 1. Why Cookie-Cutter Campaigns Don’t Work?
- 2. Overloading the Dealer System
- 3. Co-op Dollars Come and Go
- 4. Is The Strategy is Aligned to OEMs not Dealers
Cookie-cutter digital marketing campaigns for dealers no longer work — and agencies who cut-and-paste campaigns will be a thing of the past.
Smart dealers know this. And they have a different view on digital marketing for their dealership business.
But the conundrum is that many dealers rely on the co-op dollars to subsidize their digital marketing spend. And this co-op money isn’t available to dealers when they choose an outsider — vendors without preferred status with the OEMs.
When auto dealers seek the best digital marketing vendor, there are many more things to consider beyond co-op dollars.
It’s Not Always About The Co-op Dollars when Executing Digital Marketing for Dealers
That’s right. Until now, preferred OEM vendors have been monopolizing and controlling access to dealers. And choking the efficiencies instead of delivering meaningful results dealers deserve.
Agencies and digital marketing vendors race to become a OEM preferred vendor. Why? Exponential growth. A preferred vendor could add hundreds of dealers in a matter of weeks after being accepted into the program.
That’s great for the vendor, but it is an absolute nightmare for the dealers who are under the impression they are getting a white-glove digital marketing services from a preferred OEM vendor. They will quickly realize the inefficiencies and “backlog” will be the most common word. YUCK!
Strategic Long-Term vs Short Sightedness of Digital Marketing for Dealers
Not every dealer is going to forgo co-op money. In fact, I’m glad that many dealers won’t. Because that makes it easier for our PPC agency to challenge the status quo of incumbent OEM preferred vendors.
4 Reasons Dealers Should Opt Out of Co-op Digital Marketing Dollars
#1. Why Cookie-Cutter Campaigns Don’t Work?
At scale, cut-and-paste is any vendors’ best friend. A campaign in Florida is the same campaign in Arizona — with slight modification of geo targeting and timezones. Beyond that, there is no customization when it comes to their digital marketing for dealers and their auto business. This is not fair to the dealers. Dealers who make the switch from a preferred vendor to a more nimble agency could better suit the dealerships’ needs.
#2. Overloading the Dealer System
The influx of dealers vendors get after earning the coveted preferred endorsement can be, and is often overwhelming. The only choice any vendor can do is to go on a hiring spree and risk bringing on inexperienced individuals just to fill seats. The surge in new clients is exciting, but that euphoria quickly fades when the quality of work starts to deteriorate.
Changes take longer than usual, responses slow down because of logjams, and campaign execution gets interrupted and delayed. All these are bad for any dealer who has placed their trust in the preferred vendor.
#3. Co-op Dollars Come and Go
Sometimes, the money isn’t there from the manufacturer to support co-op marketing campaigns. The OEMs control when the funds are available and has total control to restrict co-op money and shift it to national campaigns they deem priority.
Dealers who do not depend on co-op money from the manufacturers are positioned to be in more control of their digital marketing strategy. With the right ad agency partner, dealers are willing to jump through hoops to recoup their co-op money. The focus in on delivering results dealers deserve. Co-op marketing dollars is only useful if it campaigns are effective — otherwise, it’s just a feel-good spend.
#4. Strategy is Aligned to OEMs not Dealers
Preferred partners are more vested to align themselves with the automakers than dealers. The reality is that automakers don’t care which dealer sell the most cars. All the care about is moving as many vehicles possible across the board.
So a dilemma arises where the vendor is focused on moving as many vehicles based on what the automaker wants them to do.
At Fullmoon, our focus is on the clients we work with. We are not beholden to any automaker. When a dealer hire us, we are obligated to get their business as much attention and leads as possible.
As a result, sometimes the strategy is to sell more Ford trucks, to sell more F-150s; it’s not Galpin Ford trucks.
Strategy Alignment
Preferred vendor exclusivity is gone — in a matter of time. OEMs and dealers are starting to realize the inefficient mass-marketing approach.
At the end of the week, it doesn’t matter how much co-op advertising dollars is reimbursed. If your marketing campaign stinks, you might as well not advertise at all.
Results will get better if dealers are getting the campaign they need to grab customers’ attention within their marketplace.
