{"id":53919,"date":"2023-02-23T12:30:14","date_gmt":"2023-02-23T20:30:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/?p=53919"},"modified":"2023-02-23T12:30:16","modified_gmt":"2023-02-23T20:30:16","slug":"creative-juices-flow-dealers-share-nontraditional-and-innovative-marketing-methods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/feature-articles\/2023\/02\/creative-juices-flow-dealers-share-nontraditional-and-innovative-marketing-methods\/","title":{"rendered":"Creative Juices Flow: Dealers Share Nontraditional and Innovative Marketing Methods"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

It wasn\u2019t all that long ago that mass marketing was deemed an effective manner to share a company\u2019s message and maximize the return on marketing spend. OK, so for people of a certain age, 1990 is \u201cnot that long ago,\u201d and we must admit that times and methods have changed quite a bit in the ensuing 30-plus years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, the volume of channels that are open to marketing penetration is enormous. As social media platforms bloom and take on their own personality, the audience fragments by age, income and many other parameters. Some are ripe for marketing\/networking penetration, such as LinkedIn, while others (such as TikTok) remain a curiosity and require greater creativity to deliver a message. In the middle lies platforms such as Facebook, which boasts the desired scale but has been victimized (to a degree) by advertising saturation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the subject of Facebook, there\u2019s the sinister and spooky Big Brother effect. We know our phones and portable devices are \u201clistening\u201d to us. Otherwise, how can advertisements for a particular product or service automatically start popping up when we haven\u2019t even done a Google search? I had that happen the other day when discussing (aloud, not via text\/chat) a new refrigerator purchase with my wife. A slew of Samsung device ads suddenly popped up in my Facebook feed. Unless you turn off your iPhone or android\u2019s microphone, your spoken thoughts are open game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regardless, the operative word continues to be creativity\u2014how does one effectively infiltrate a channel in a manner embraced by its audience? This week\u2019s State of the Industry report on marketing covers both nontraditional and innovative means by which marketers communicate the value of their dealership\u2019s wares.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Online Reputation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Robert Caldwell, Datamax<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

One of the keys to bolstering a dealership\u2019s online presence is to garner reviews, a method embraced by Datamax of Little Rock, Arkansas (with offices in Texas). Robert Caldwell, vice president of marketing, cites a moz.com Business Review Survey that found nearly 60% of those paneled read online customer reviews of businesses daily or weekly, and 79% cite Google Reviews as their preferred source. Further, 79% trust what customers say about a business, whereas only 11% trust what a business says about itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In order to increase its Google Review engagement across all of its locations, Datamax paired its existing resources (CEO Juice post-service call surveys triggered from its ERP service process) with HubSpot workflow capabilities to solicit reviews from its Net Promoters, according to Caldwell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe post-service call survey is a great opportunity to solicit Google reviews, by specifically focusing on the one NPS question: How likely is it that you would recommend Datamax to a colleague or friend?\u201d Caldwell explained. \u201cWorking in concert with CEO Juice, we developed a HubSpot workflow that pulls any survey respondent who scored that question a 9 or 10 (considered a Promoter) and sends them an email asking for a Google Review. This is done without any intervention on our end. We feel this has helped us improve on Google Reviews from where we were, but certainly feel there is plenty of room to grow here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe might say customer-based business accolades are not conventional as a means to market our products and services, but are we actively pursuing the customer\u2019s voice? The stats clearly prove that we should be,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Open Door<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Chip Miceli, Pulse Technology<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The relationship dealers forge with the local community can go a long way toward fostering business opportunities. While not directly a marketing ploy, Pulse Technology of Schaumburg, Illinois, places a high value on being active in local Chambers of Commerce and other business associations in the region. Further ingratiating the dealer to the regional business sector, CEO Chip Miceli enables these associations to make use of Pulse\u2019s space and technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen we opened our headquarters in Schaumburg, we designed the building with a large, state-of-the-art conference room and showroom and state-of-the-art videoconferencing capabilities,\u201d he said. \u201cWe make the space available for community organizations, including business associations, which benefits the organizations and increases our company\u2019s visibility.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For many dealers, the period prior to the pandemic provided an ample opportunity to open their doors to hosted events. That was the case for Image 2000 of Valencia, California, which held \u201cmeet and greets\u201d that mixed refreshments with product demonstrations. Headquartered in a state renowned for its wine grapes, Image 2000 would welcome clients and prospects to taste some of the local flavors while also enjoying cheese and crackers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Joe Blatchford, Image 2000<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPrior to COVID, it was a fun way to bring in people and showcase some of our products in a relaxed atmosphere,\u201d said CEO Joe Blatchford. \u201cWe would have contests among the reps to see who could bring the most people to the event. We\u2019ve used local wineries for various programs like this, and they\u2019re quite effective.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As businesspeople in the state become more acclimated to in-person gatherings, Blatchford is hopeful he can resume these events on a quarterly basis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Socially Acceptable<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ability to scale messaging through social media networks is definitely a team sport, and Impact Networking of Lake Forest, Illinois, has taken considerable strides to ensure maximum participation for enhanced exposure. Karlee Travis, Impact\u2019s CMO, points out that the company leverages its three-day training period for new employees to underscore the value of social media sharing. The company\u2019s director of digital marketing gives a presentation on the topic and works with employees to optimize their LinkedIn accounts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Karlee Travis, Impact Networking<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs a result, we\u2019ve seen such a significant increase in our employees being engaged in our social channels,\u201d Travis said. \u201cThat helps make our social channels so much stronger.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Impact Networking also appreciates the differences between the social media channels, and cultivates strategies that dovetail with the unique characteristics of each. For example, the dealer found its Facebook performance wasn\u2019t up to standards, so its social media coordinator devised a meme campaign that better aligns with the platform\u2019s demographic. Travis, for one, was skeptical about the tactic, but it has outperformed Impact\u2019s expectations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re seeing tons of engagement with the memes on Facebook, and not just on the sales side. Recruiting is hearing from prospective employees who love the memes,\u201d Travis noted. \u201cI was 100% wrong\u2014the meme campaign is killing it. Just because we\u2019re a B2B and need to be professional, this campaign provided a little break from ordinary content and covered areas such as IoT and cybersecurity. It adds a little personality and is working really nicely for us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Partner Prowess<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Robert Woodhull, Woodhull LLC<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Making an impact on the community while also benefiting nonprofit organizations can have a salutary, if indirect, impact on business. Woodhull LLC of Springboro, Ohio, devised a great concept to that effect. It partnered with a local recycling nonprofit that will travel to the dealer\u2019s customers in its three primary markets to pick up decommissioned copiers, printers, computers and furniture and any other recyclable materials. The bonus is that proceeds from the recycled materials go toward children\u2019s hospitals in each of the markets. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t involve any market spend; there aren\u2019t any contracts involved. It was just a great idea that\u2019s mutually beneficial,\u201d noted Robert Woodhull, marketing director. \u201cWe seized the opportunity to benefit the hospital systems that do such tremendous work. It\u2019s also opened up new lead opportunities because [the nonprofit] work with people that we don\u2019t, and they get to work with our customers. It\u2019s definitely been a competitive differentiator for us.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It wasn\u2019t all that long ago that mass marketing was deemed an effective manner to share a company\u2019s message and maximize the return on marketing spend. OK, so for people of a certain age, 1990 is \u201cnot that long ago,\u201d and we must admit that times and methods have changed quite a bit in the ensuing 30-plus years. Today, the volume of channels that are open to marketing penetration is enormous. As social media platforms bloom and take on their own personality, the audience fragments by age, income and many other parameters. Some are ripe for marketing\/networking penetration, such as LinkedIn, while others (such as TikTok) remain a curiosity and require greater creativity to deliver a message. In the middle lies platforms such as Facebook, which boasts the desired scale but has been victimized (to a degree) by advertising saturation. On the subject of Facebook, there\u2019s the sinister and spooky Big Brother effect. We know our phones and portable devices are \u201clistening\u201d to us. Otherwise, how can advertisements for a particular product or service automatically start popping up when we haven\u2019t even done a Google search? I had that happen the other day when discussing (aloud, not via text\/chat) a new refrigerator purchase with my wife. A slew of Samsung device ads suddenly popped up in my Facebook feed. Unless you turn off your iPhone or android\u2019s microphone, your spoken thoughts are open game. Regardless, the operative word continues to be creativity\u2014how does one effectively infiltrate a channel in a manner embraced by its audience? This week\u2019s State of the Industry report on marketing covers both nontraditional and innovative means by which marketers communicate the value of their dealership\u2019s wares. Online Reputation One of the keys to bolstering a dealership\u2019s online presence is to garner reviews, a method embraced by Datamax of Little Rock, Arkansas (with offices in Texas). Robert Caldwell, vice president of marketing, cites a moz.com Business Review Survey that found nearly 60% of those paneled read online customer reviews of businesses daily or weekly, and 79% cite Google Reviews as their preferred source. Further, 79% trust what customers say about a business, whereas only 11% trust what a business says about itself. In order to increase its Google Review engagement across all of its locations, Datamax paired its existing resources (CEO Juice post-service call surveys triggered from its ERP service process) with HubSpot workflow capabilities to solicit reviews from its Net Promoters, according to Caldwell. \u201cThe post-service call survey is a great opportunity to solicit Google reviews, by specifically focusing on the one NPS question: How likely is it that you would recommend Datamax to a colleague or friend?\u201d Caldwell explained. \u201cWorking in concert with CEO Juice, we developed a HubSpot workflow that pulls any survey respondent who scored that question a 9 or 10 (considered a Promoter) and sends them an email asking for a Google Review. This is done without any intervention on our end. We feel this has helped us improve on Google Reviews from where we were, but certainly feel there is plenty of room to grow here. \u201cWe might say customer-based business accolades are not conventional as a means to market our products and services, but are we actively pursuing the customer\u2019s voice? The stats clearly prove that we should be,\u201d he added. Open Door The relationship dealers forge with the local community can go a long way toward fostering business opportunities. While not directly a marketing ploy, Pulse Technology of Schaumburg, Illinois, places a high value on being active in local Chambers of Commerce and other business associations in the region. Further ingratiating the dealer to the regional business sector, CEO Chip Miceli enables these associations to make use of Pulse\u2019s space and technology. \u201cWhen we opened our headquarters in Schaumburg, we designed the building with a large, state-of-the-art conference room and showroom and state-of-the-art videoconferencing capabilities,\u201d he said. \u201cWe make the space available for community organizations, including business associations, which benefits the organizations and increases our company\u2019s visibility.\u201d For many dealers, the period prior to the pandemic provided an ample opportunity to open their doors to hosted events. That was the case for Image 2000 of Valencia, California, which held \u201cmeet and greets\u201d that mixed refreshments with product demonstrations. Headquartered in a state renowned for its wine grapes, Image 2000 would welcome clients and prospects to taste some of the local flavors while also enjoying cheese and crackers. \u201cPrior to COVID, it was a fun way to bring in people and showcase some of our products in a relaxed atmosphere,\u201d said CEO Joe Blatchford. \u201cWe would have contests among the reps to see who could bring the most people to the event. We\u2019ve used local wineries for various programs like this, and they\u2019re quite effective.\u201d   As businesspeople in the state become more acclimated to in-person gatherings, Blatchford is hopeful he can resume these events on a quarterly basis. Socially Acceptable The ability to scale messaging through social media networks is definitely a team sport, and Impact Networking of Lake Forest, Illinois, has taken considerable strides to ensure maximum participation for enhanced exposure. Karlee Travis, Impact\u2019s CMO, points out that the company leverages its three-day training period for new employees to underscore the value of social media sharing. The company\u2019s director of digital marketing gives a presentation on the topic and works with employees to optimize their LinkedIn accounts. \u201cAs a result, we\u2019ve seen such a significant increase in our employees being engaged in our social channels,\u201d Travis said. \u201cThat helps make our social channels so much stronger.\u201d Impact Networking also appreciates the differences between the social media channels, and cultivates strategies that dovetail with the unique characteristics of each. For example, the dealer found its Facebook performance wasn\u2019t up to standards, so its social media coordinator devised a meme campaign that better aligns with the platform\u2019s demographic. Travis, for one, was skeptical about the tactic, but it has outperformed Impact\u2019s expectations. \u201cWe\u2019re seeing tons of engagement with the memes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":166,"featured_media":53920,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1650,82,87,1638],"tags":[2170,3926],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53919"}],"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=53919"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53919\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53921,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53919\/revisions\/53921"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}