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<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nPerhaps the best methods are touches that are intended to be\nseen by people who didn\u2019t intend to see them. Billboards, radio ads, TV\ncommercials are a few examples. But what about automotive wraps? Direct\nmailers? Stadium advertisements during sports and entertainment events? Hot air\nballoons? OK, maybe not, but there are a multitude of ways for a dealer to\nrelate the virtues of its product and service offering, and a little\nimagination can go a long way toward guaranteeing the effectiveness of a\nmarketing program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Mary Steffl, marketing manager for Loffler Companies of\nBloomington, Minnesota, notes the dealer relies on traditional marketing\noutlets to provide a balanced approach with its inbound strategy. Advertising\nwith its sports-based partners helps to keep branding strong within the\ncommunity. Billboard and radio advertising are key touches in new markets, and\nLoffler has a large digital display at its headquarters that overlooks a major\nmetropolitan highway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur fleet of service and training vehicles are also branded\nand seen all over in all of our locations, so our name, logo and\nproduct\/service stack is always visible,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sporting Chance<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The same can be said for Impact Networking of Lake Forest,\nIllinois, which has branded delivery trucks, service vans and even sales reps\u2019\ncars to increase visibility. Its sponsorship of sports teams, both local and\nregional, have solidified the brand during the past 10-plus years, notes Karlee\nRicks, marketing manager.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen Impact became a sponsor of the Chicago Blackhawks in\n2008, it put us on the map, according to our CEO, Frank Cucco,\u201d she observed.\n\u201cHe said that we closed bigger deals and clients took us more seriously. For\nthis reason, we have replicated the model and partnered with various teams\nthroughout the country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Radio advertising still resonates with clients of Hendrix\nBusiness Systems of Charlotte, North Carolina. According to Tim Manuel,\nmarketing and operations manager, the radio spots have proven to be a strong\ndrawing card for more than 10 years. Other initiatives, such as direct mailers\nand publication advertisements, have been a mixed bag, but Manuel keeps all\noptions open for proliferating the company\u2019s brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One area that has proven to be a real boon for Hendrix is\nhosted events. During the past eight years, the company has put on showcase and\nopen house events that have attracted upwards of 150 customer and prospect\nguests. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe have an uptown location in Charlotte, the Bank of\nAmerica building, that\u2019s a beautiful showcase office,\u201d he said. \u201cIt contains\nboth production and workgroup equipment. It\u2019s also set up as a technical\nshowcase to highlight the new document software that\u2019s available. They\u2019re\ncatered events, and we try to do them in all of our locations once a year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Blue Technologies of Cleveland extends its visibility at\ncustomer galas and fundraising events, offering sponsorship and support. Direct\nmailers are frequently used to keep clients abreast of changes at the\ndealership, such as the implementation of its new ERP system, along with\ninvitations for its annual hosted event. Blue Technologies also partners with\nSBN and advertises bi-monthly with an educational article that focuses on each\nbusiness unit and solution the company provides. The stories are complemented\nwith a full-page advertisement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe drawback with more traditional marketing efforts is\nit\u2019s difficult to track or determine viability or ROI,\u201d said Cyndi Konold,\nmarketing director.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Time-tested Marketing<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Constance Barbian, director of marketing and communications\nfor Benchmark Business Solutions, points out that direct mail, radio and print\nadvertising are very much a part of the dealer\u2019s marketing mix. Many of its\ntraditional marketing endeavors are linked to community support and\npartnerships, which help the dealer leverage brand recognition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the newer initiatives Benchmark has embarked upon is\ncustom video spots created for each of its sales representatives. The videos\nare included in both the company\u2019s email and social media campaigns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Billboards, ads and signage have all been effective tools to\nhelp Prosource of Cincinnati enhance its brand awareness. Trade show\nattendance, particularly in the education and health care markets, is effective\nin promoting solutions specific to those verticals. As for direct mail, it is\nprimarily seen as a role player as part of a larger digital or traditional marketing\ncampaign. A production print marketing campaign may have a direct mail piece\nthat highlights the capabilities of Prosource\u2019s equipment, which can help\nnurture prospects in the middle of the sales funnel. It can also feature a scan-able\nelement to drive customers online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Amy Mersch, marketing manager for Prosource, is also a fan\nof the humble vehicle wrap, which helps keep the dealer atop the minds of\nclients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAs we have\ngrown throughout the Midwest, one thing we continue to hear from our customers,\nprospects, and the community is that they see our branded trucks everywhere,\u201d\nMersch said. \u201cThis brand awareness is a natural result of us doing our work and\nserving our customers. It also reinforces that we have a large, active team in\nour customers\u2019 markets, dedicated to keeping them up and running.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It\u2019s been said that the best-laid marketing plans are those that incorporate various \u201ctouches\u201d with the end-user. The more channels that are utilized, the better the chance of a dealer delivering the desired message to customers and prospects. Many of these are digital (emails, blogs, landing pages, white papers, case studies), but there are countless other ways to engage a client. Perhaps the best methods are touches that are intended to be seen by people who didn\u2019t intend to see them. Billboards, radio ads, TV commercials are a few examples. But what about automotive wraps? Direct mailers? Stadium advertisements during sports and entertainment events? Hot air balloons? OK, maybe not, but there are a multitude of ways for a dealer to relate the virtues of its product and service offering, and a little imagination can go a long way toward guaranteeing the effectiveness of a marketing program. Mary Steffl, marketing manager for Loffler Companies of Bloomington, Minnesota, notes the dealer relies on traditional marketing outlets to provide a balanced approach with its inbound strategy. Advertising with its sports-based partners helps to keep branding strong within the community. Billboard and radio advertising are key touches in new markets, and Loffler has a large digital display at its headquarters that overlooks a major metropolitan highway. \u201cOur fleet of service and training vehicles are also branded and seen all over in all of our locations, so our name, logo and product\/service stack is always visible,\u201d she said. Sporting Chance The same can be said for Impact Networking of Lake Forest, Illinois, which has branded delivery trucks, service vans and even sales reps\u2019 cars to increase visibility. Its sponsorship of sports teams, both local and regional, have solidified the brand during the past 10-plus years, notes Karlee Ricks, marketing manager. \u201cWhen Impact became a sponsor of the Chicago Blackhawks in 2008, it put us on the map, according to our CEO, Frank Cucco,\u201d she observed. \u201cHe said that we closed bigger deals and clients took us more seriously. For this reason, we have replicated the model and partnered with various teams throughout the country.\u201d Radio advertising still resonates with clients of Hendrix Business Systems of Charlotte, North Carolina. According to Tim Manuel, marketing and operations manager, the radio spots have proven to be a strong drawing card for more than 10 years. Other initiatives, such as direct mailers and publication advertisements, have been a mixed bag, but Manuel keeps all options open for proliferating the company\u2019s brand. One area that has proven to be a real boon for Hendrix is hosted events. During the past eight years, the company has put on showcase and open house events that have attracted upwards of 150 customer and prospect guests. \u201cWe have an uptown location in Charlotte, the Bank of America building, that\u2019s a beautiful showcase office,\u201d he said. \u201cIt contains both production and workgroup equipment. It\u2019s also set up as a technical showcase to highlight the new document software that\u2019s available. They\u2019re catered events, and we try to do them in all of our locations once a year.\u201d Blue Technologies of Cleveland extends its visibility at customer galas and fundraising events, offering sponsorship and support. Direct mailers are frequently used to keep clients abreast of changes at the dealership, such as the implementation of its new ERP system, along with invitations for its annual hosted event. Blue Technologies also partners with SBN and advertises bi-monthly with an educational article that focuses on each business unit and solution the company provides. The stories are complemented with a full-page advertisement. \u201cThe drawback with more traditional marketing efforts is it\u2019s difficult to track or determine viability or ROI,\u201d said Cyndi Konold, marketing director. Time-tested Marketing Constance Barbian, director of marketing and communications for Benchmark Business Solutions, points out that direct mail, radio and print advertising are very much a part of the dealer\u2019s marketing mix. Many of its traditional marketing endeavors are linked to community support and partnerships, which help the dealer leverage brand recognition. One of the newer initiatives Benchmark has embarked upon is custom video spots created for each of its sales representatives. The videos are included in both the company\u2019s email and social media campaigns. Billboards, ads and signage have all been effective tools to help Prosource of Cincinnati enhance its brand awareness. Trade show attendance, particularly in the education and health care markets, is effective in promoting solutions specific to those verticals. As for direct mail, it is primarily seen as a role player as part of a larger digital or traditional marketing campaign. A production print marketing campaign may have a direct mail piece that highlights the capabilities of Prosource\u2019s equipment, which can help nurture prospects in the middle of the sales funnel. It can also feature a scan-able element to drive customers online. Amy Mersch, marketing manager for Prosource, is also a fan of the humble vehicle wrap, which helps keep the dealer atop the minds of clients. \u201cAs we have grown throughout the Midwest, one thing we continue to hear from our customers, prospects, and the community is that they see our branded trucks everywhere,\u201d Mersch said. \u201cThis brand awareness is a natural result of us doing our work and serving our customers. It also reinforces that we have a large, active team in our customers\u2019 markets, dedicated to keeping them up and running.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":166,"featured_media":36829,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1650,82,87,1638],"tags":[3303,798,478,560],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36828"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/166"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36828"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36828\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36830,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36828\/revisions\/36830"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Karlee-Ricks-Impact.jpg\")
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