Effective marketing is as much about ideas and strategies as it is about campaign development and execution. Creativity can involve the original and unorthodox, and when spinning out initiatives, you’re effectively throwing ideas against the wall to see which ones will stick. What may work in theory doesn’t always translate in practice, but as marketers, you accept that possibility.
In this installment of our February State of the Industry report on effective marketing, our dealer panel shares some of the lessons they’ve learned and tripping points encountered. These perspectives are essential to ideally helping other marketers gain insights when formulating their own strategies.
One of the unfortunate truths of marketing is that a campaign may thrive in a given market, but that doesn’t always translate to success in others. Keven Ellison, vice president of marketing for Advanced Imaging Solutions (AIS) of Las Vegas, notes that outbound telemarketing doesn’t work in metropolitan markets, whereas dealers in more rural markets have enjoyed significant results.
“This demonstrates that in marketing, we need to continue to keep trying different tactics and strategies, and always be testing when it comes to developing successful programs,” Ellison said. “And above all, the most important thing is knowing your audience. That’s how you can ensure your programs are a success.”
Although the synergy needed between sales and marketing has been discussed ad nauseam, troubleshooting a campaign’s failure usually leads back to a disconnect in representatives not doing their part to support a campaign through social media. Joe Blatchford, CEO of Image 2000 in Valencia, California, having that critical buy-in from key individuals within the organization makes all the difference in a campaign’s success rate.
“Not communicating the campaign can shoot it in the foot before it has a chance to get off the ground,” he said. “When our reps post about it on social media, it geometrically grows. It’s important to communicate through LinkedIn, and employee engagement on social media posts expands our audience.”
Come Together
Having that “buy-in” from all stakeholders within an organization is critical, as is crafting a strategy when taking on a new initiative. For Impact Networking of Lake Forest, Illinois, the decision to implement a chatbot on its website in 2020 lacked an aligned strategy, according to Karlee Travis, CMO. Also, the software for the chatbot was not the most user-friendly, which added a degree of frustration. Having the bandwidth to ensure the success of any initiative is paramount; Travis herself was answering for the chatbot for a period.
“For marketers, there’s so much out there, different tools and strategies,” Travis said. “Sometimes, it’s best to go back to the basics, like having your website optimized and having forms in the right places for leads. I think sometimes marketers get hung up on trying something new, like implementing a new SaaS product, and by the time you get it implemented and get people bought into it, you’re a year in and unfortunately don’t have the ROI to show your executive leadership.”
The shelf life of a lead can be extremely brief, notes Robert Woodhull, marketing director for Woodhull LLC of Springboro, Ohio. As prospects are now more likely to be pretty far downstream in their education/research efforts at the point when they reach out to a vendor, it ratchets up the immediate need for touching base. Three days by 2023 standards might equate three months in the buyer’s journey—by then it’s too late.
“This isn’t a casual ‘I’m interested in learning more’ thing, this is ‘I’m actively ready to buy and want a quote’ situation,” Woodhull said. “Once a lead is fielded, it needs to be called on immediately. Otherwise, it’s lost to a competitor.”
Aligning resources to capitalize on a campaign cannot be overstated. Woodhull remembers making a significant investment in advertising upon entering the Columbus market, but the dealer lacked the workforce to effectively call on prospects there. So while the exposure was tremendous, the ROI didn’t materialize.
“It got our name and messaging across, but in hindsight, I probably could’ve spent a fifth of that money and had the same effect,” he said. “That’s kind of marketing in itself, an exercise in failure and recovery.”
Price Busting
Given the fundamental changes in market demands for print and the need for added revenue streams, the need to become a one-stop shop is greater than ever. Chip Miceli, CEO of Pulse Technology in Schaumburg, Illinois, cautions against the over-reliance on MPS when dealers can proffer a more varied product and service arsenal. In the case of Pulse, that entails managed IT, workflow and automation software, A/V design and implementation, video conferencing tools and furniture, among many others.
Of all the marketing messaging tactics at a dealer’s disposal, Miceli believes the urge to lead with low prices must be resisted. “Yes, it’s important to make a profit, but selling on value and solutions to pain that a customer feels is the better way to go,” he said. “The overall marketing effort should focus on selling value, helping customers simplify their operations, and being that trusted advisor and single stop for office needs.”
With a wealth of tools to attack a market—social media, PR, Google Ads, newsletters, and webinars—Miceli also recommends having sales reps enroll in networking groups and business organizations like the Chamber of Commerce, where the chance to meet referral and introduction sources is strong. Employing a combination of these strategies is the best bet, and he feels it’s important to give each specific type of marketing initiative enough time to evaluate it properly.
“One error that dealers could make is to try, for example, Google Ads or LinkedIn advertising for two weeks, be disappointed with the initial results, and conclude that the method does not work,” he noted. “Dealers could also benefit from a peer group, such as the Select Dealer Group, where they can talk with peers and learn from them as well, sharing what works for them.”
Messaging that is short, succinct and tailored to a given audience can make for a more impactful campaign, notes Alexandria Moran, marketing director for Applied Innovation of Grand Rapids, Michigan. The mistake, she believes, is in trying to reach too broad of an audience and providing too much information at the onset. Segmented messaging for targeted personas can be quite effective. One example Moran cites is a CFO of manufacturing; by learning as much about that persona as possible, she can craft content especially for them.
“It’s important that we don’t over-explain things,” she said. “We need to respect their intelligence. All OEMs provide marketing tools and a lot of them as so information heavy, but there’s a time and place for that. To lean on [excessive information] for your initial marketing is where a lot of marketers go wrong.”
