Category: Dealership Marketing

Time to Get Y-lingual^® with Your Brand

Post author By efgmarketing
Post date October 10, 2018

Contributing Author:
Eric Fifield
Chief Sales Officer
EFG Companies

Did you know that Baby Boomers are no longer the largest generation in the U.S. workforce? As of this year, Millennials (or Generation Y) have taken that spot according to the Center for Generational Kinetics. This also means that Millennials are now the largest generation of consumers.

If you remember the headlines from a couple years ago, everyone in the auto industry was concerned with Millennials simply not wanting to buy vehicles. Headlines abounded with articles discussing the migration to urban centers with walkable commutes, the rise of ride sharing, and the “inevitable” doom of personal ownership. All these fears turned out to be unfounded when it turned out that the reason Millennials weren’t purchasing vehicles was not because they weren’t interested in owning their own vehicle, but rather because they simply couldn’t afford the purchase.

Now, however, times are changing. This demographic is getting older and settling into careers. Their debt-to-income ratio is becoming more balanced. However, that’s not to say that this demographic is as well off as their Baby Boomer parents were at the same age. According to Northwestern Mutual’s 2018 Planning & Progress Study, those Millennials between the ages of 25 and 34 have an average of $42,000 in debt. In addition, more than 44 million Americans are saddled with student loan debt averaging $33,000.

Dealership Marketing Dealership Training

The Integrated Dealership

Post author By efgmarketing
Post date February 14, 2018

Contributing Author:
John Stephens
Executive Vice President
EFG Companies

One of the biggest struggles many dealerships have is breaking the different departments out of their silos to work together towards dealership initiatives. Sales teams tend to focus on just increasing front-end margin. On the other side, F&I teams tend to focus on back-end margin, financing, and product sales. The service drive considers itself completely separate from sales and finance, working towards completely different goals.

While the individual goals of each department are important, if they aren’t aligned under a general strategy for the dealership, they can often create tension and even serve as a deterrent to achieving larger dealership initiatives. While this may seem odd, just go with me here. To keep everyone aligned, go back to the basics of marketing: Product, Place, Price and Promotion.

Product and Place

Does your inventory mix meet the needs of your target consumer demographic? To determine this, take a look at your sales numbers for 2017 and look at what type of vehicles were the biggest sellers, i.e. sedans, SUVs, Trucks, etc. Talk with your service department to get a better understanding of what type of vehicles are coming through the service drive and the costs associated with certain repairs. The service department can demonstrate where attention is needed relative to new technology and cost of repair as well as the costs of certain repairs for certain models.

For example, if you sell a large amount of diesel vehicles, your service department can provide you an overview of just how much more maintenance this vehicle requires, and the associated cost of that maintenance. This knowledge can then be applied in sales and F&I to better promote the benefits of a pre-paid maintenance plan for diesel vehicles.

Dealership Marketing Featured

Is Your Brand Working for You Online?

Post author By efgmarketing
Post date October 28, 2013

One of the biggest challenges dealerships face is convincing the consumer to get out from behind the computer and walk through their showroom floor. When nameless, faceless customers are researching and talking about you and your competitors without your knowledge, how can you address their wants and needs and incentivize them to choose your dealership for their business?

It is understandable to focus your efforts on what you know and can control. You know how to price, structure your inventory, and train your team to provide the best customer service. You are familiar with mail-outs, TV spots, and radio and newspaper ads because you’ve had decades to work with them. You know what to expect when it comes to return on investment and how to work within each of these mediums. However, these traditional mediums are losing traction in influencing your customer base.

According to a recent study from Automotive News:

49% of customers base their car buying decisions based on online research.
45% of online buyers visit dealership websites before walking on to a lot

It’s time to stop fearing the unknown and become knowledgeable directors of your online reputation. You are probably already engaging in some aspects of digital marketing. You may have an email campaign, and maybe even social media and SEO campaigns. But do you know what’s working and how your dealership ranks online compared to your competitors?

Online reputation management can be more than intimidating, but with over 35 years of consumer insights with EFG works with you to reallocate where your advertising and marketing dollars can be best utilized to generate a higher ROI. Our integrated communications plans include implementing differentiated messages in all modes of communication, designed to generate leads, facilitate customer loyalty, and significantly impact a higher degree of word of mouth.

Our proprietary social media platform monitors online chatter on you and your competitors as well as online reputation management, allowing you to turn reviews into positive leads.

With EFG Insights, our email management tool, we use strategic processes to identify and target the right audience for the right messages, enhancing email communications from a shot in the dark to directing qualified leads and driving customer loyalty.

If you are ready to take your online reputation to the next level, contact us today.