The used car market is hot and dealers around the country are scrambling to shift their traditional new car advertising budgets to promote used car sales. Why not? The margins can be better on used cars, plus dealers can stock their lot heavy or light depending on the demand for a specific type of vehicle or range of vehicles. Recently, dealers have been scouring the auctions buying up all the used vehicles they can. Now that their lots are stocked with plenty late model/low mile used cars, it’s time to sell them fast.
If you’re absorbing automotive media right now, you’ve noticed the shift to used car sales. Dealers are promoting vehicle buyback programs, offering to pay up to 120% of NADA value for trades and everything in between, to get more used car inventory and to flip buyers over to their new car inventory.
How are top dealers standing out and promoting their vehicle selection in a crowded used car market? It differs from market to market. Web banner ads, direct mail, newspaper and select database offers seem to be the best fit right now. Electronic is still the number one overall medium for dealers, but primarily for new car advertising.
What is the best medium for dealers to use when promoting used cars and what is the best type of offer? Right now, it’s used car payments. That’s right, used car payments. This is not a new trick of the trade, but it’s a trick that’s being used more often recently to increase traffic to the dealership and catch eyeballs with their advertising.
This concept appeals to the consumer’s sense of greed: “I want more for less and I want something I know I can afford each month.” A $159 per month car payment sounds like a whole lot less than $18,000, doesn’t it? It looks better in print (web ads, newspaper, direct mail, database offer) and sounds better in electronic advertising. People understand what they can afford each month in terms of a payment, but $18,000 seems like a lot of money to borrow right now. Of course, they end up borrowing the money, but dealers are driving more traffic with eye catching low monthly payments, rather than price on used cars.
Payments have been driving the purchase decision on new cars for years supported by factory incentives and low APR’s. Now with the economy the way it is, high gas prices and the mind set of a cautious and budget minded consumer, it is working on the used car buyer more than ever.
Still not sure? Here is a no cost way to test this approach at your dealership today. Just place ad banners on your web site’s home page that screams ‘low monthly payments’. Have one under $250 per month, one under $200 per month and even another under $150 per month on late model, low mileage used cars. You will receive phone calls and e-mail inquiries immediately. From there, you will feel more comfortable placing traditional advertising using the same format and payments.
Thomas Hensey is the Managing Partner at Rhino Marketing, a full-service advertising agency.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Marketing Toolbox
The world of automotive marketing has experienced drastic changes over the past several years. Dealers are jumping from one medium to another trying to attract that ever elusive customer hiding behind a very fragmented media landscape.
One month it is a cable TV buy, the next it is a ‘Hail Mary’ direct mail campaign. Meanwhile, dealers are clubbing their database over the head with ‘one-size fits all’ e-mails, throwing videos up on YouTube or postings on the internet in hopes that someone will see it and buy a car from them.
So with increased competition for fewer customers and limited resources and budgets, how do you reach that elusive customer?
Start by identifying them. There’s plenty of demographic, geographic and even psychographic information that you can access from your manufacture. You also have years of your own research and customer profiles to draw from. Take an hour and revisit that before you start your planning.
Okay, now that you’ve figured out who you would like to target, it’s time to figure out where they are. Access the millions of dollars of independent research available and it will tell you what your target customer reads, watches and listens to. Your agency will have this or you can access it from any media outlet at no charge.
Remember, there is not one right way to reach them, there are many right ways. It is now about finding the most cost efficient way to communicate to as many people, as many times as possible who have the highest propensity to buy a car.
Think of marketing as a toolbox. Inside it you have dozens of tools to choose from to fix, repair or build with. Not knowing exactly what you may need, you want to have all the tools at your disposal so they are ready when required.
Marketing is the same way. Open your Marketing Toolbox and find the right tools to work with. You may simply need a screwdriver (advertising), wrench (database) or just a hammer (direct mail) from time to time. Or you may find that you need several different tools to achieve the desired results – an integrated approach.
Challenge each tool in the beginning to make sure you select the right one with the right fit to accomplish the job. Set benchmarks, objectives and measurements for the desired outcome. You would not use a drill to saw a two by four in half, would you?
Don’t make your next media buy based on a media rep calling and offering ‘fire sale’ rates or buy cable TV because it is cheap in your market. Review, consider and use the tools in your Marketing Toolbox to build the most efficient path to the customer. If the job calls for an electric sander, then make sure you have the best electric sander in your Marketing Toolbox.
Research, plan and execute your 2011 strategy carefully. Monitor and measure it daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly with your agency. Then you will know what is the best tool to use, when to use it and how to use it. You can now make course adjustments as necessary. Remember, the Marketing Toolbox can be a dealer’s best friend if used properly.
Thomas Hensey is the managing partner of Rhino Marketing, a full service automotive advertising agency. He can be reached at 713-681-6711, thensey@rhinomarketing.cc or www.rhinoautomotive.com.
One month it is a cable TV buy, the next it is a ‘Hail Mary’ direct mail campaign. Meanwhile, dealers are clubbing their database over the head with ‘one-size fits all’ e-mails, throwing videos up on YouTube or postings on the internet in hopes that someone will see it and buy a car from them.
So with increased competition for fewer customers and limited resources and budgets, how do you reach that elusive customer?
Start by identifying them. There’s plenty of demographic, geographic and even psychographic information that you can access from your manufacture. You also have years of your own research and customer profiles to draw from. Take an hour and revisit that before you start your planning.
Okay, now that you’ve figured out who you would like to target, it’s time to figure out where they are. Access the millions of dollars of independent research available and it will tell you what your target customer reads, watches and listens to. Your agency will have this or you can access it from any media outlet at no charge.
Remember, there is not one right way to reach them, there are many right ways. It is now about finding the most cost efficient way to communicate to as many people, as many times as possible who have the highest propensity to buy a car.
Think of marketing as a toolbox. Inside it you have dozens of tools to choose from to fix, repair or build with. Not knowing exactly what you may need, you want to have all the tools at your disposal so they are ready when required.
Marketing is the same way. Open your Marketing Toolbox and find the right tools to work with. You may simply need a screwdriver (advertising), wrench (database) or just a hammer (direct mail) from time to time. Or you may find that you need several different tools to achieve the desired results – an integrated approach.
Challenge each tool in the beginning to make sure you select the right one with the right fit to accomplish the job. Set benchmarks, objectives and measurements for the desired outcome. You would not use a drill to saw a two by four in half, would you?
Don’t make your next media buy based on a media rep calling and offering ‘fire sale’ rates or buy cable TV because it is cheap in your market. Review, consider and use the tools in your Marketing Toolbox to build the most efficient path to the customer. If the job calls for an electric sander, then make sure you have the best electric sander in your Marketing Toolbox.
Research, plan and execute your 2011 strategy carefully. Monitor and measure it daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly with your agency. Then you will know what is the best tool to use, when to use it and how to use it. You can now make course adjustments as necessary. Remember, the Marketing Toolbox can be a dealer’s best friend if used properly.
Thomas Hensey is the managing partner of Rhino Marketing, a full service automotive advertising agency. He can be reached at 713-681-6711, thensey@rhinomarketing.cc or www.rhinoautomotive.com.
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