Summer days are anything but lazy when your objective is to sell automobiles and raise awareness of your brand. People are on vacation, soaking up the rays, traveling to new places and generally taking it easy. The last thing on their minds is buying a new car. Selling cars is the automotive dealer’s bread and butter. Just because their customers take time off doesn’t mean they can.
To raise brand awareness, a car dealer may try many things, such as clearance sales, direct mail, contests, radio sponsored giveaways, etc. In the past, traditional advertising has sent point of sale (POS) materials out by snail mail or through broadcasting, but there has been no definitive way of gathering and analyzing results.
Digital advertising brings a clear sense of immediacy to special events. Digonary is working closely with a well-known Tri-State automotive retailer to present a summer promotion in the form of a lease giveaway contest. Digonary has designed an online campaign that links radio spots, a website landing page, entry forms, and web banner ads and is managing the giveaway from every aspect.
The radio sponsors are driving listeners to the entry form via a landing page on their websites and e-mail blasts. When a potential customer fills out an entry form, they must fill in every line of this form or the entry does not count. Once complete, the form is sent to the automobile franchise’s web page where a cookie is embedded in the potential customer’s web browser and they are now being retargeted.
The radio stations are working hand in glove with the dealership and Digonary to maximize exposure and jumpstart the promotion. The car dealer has what is known as a Customer Relationship Management tool (CRM). When an entry is submitted, all data entered is registered with this CRM tool and the IT department now knows the customer’s information as well as the source and time it was submitted. Digonary receives this information via an e-mail from the CRM tool which can be utilized in future promotions.
This promotion is an ongoing event for the entire summer of 2013 for this dealership. There will be live appearances by the radio stations with vehicle displays, on-air sponsorships, digital streaming videos and much more. The purpose of this campaign is to excite and entertain prospective customers while solidifying the dealership brand until the culmination event when the winner is finally chosen. The usage of digital advertising and the advantages are apparent in the interaction of the event and the customer. Through digital, the customer is more than an interested observer in the event as he becomes a participant, raising the value of the promotion.
