Don't Waste Your Advertising $$

What you say is as important as where you say it. Let me put up some guardrails on this for you.

A Single Thought

This is my favourite analogy for advertising. I still use it. Imagine a friend standing in a room standing at the opposite wall. Your job is to throw ping pong balls to him. He must try to catch as many as he can. You throw one. He catches it. You throw two at a time. He struggles but catches both. You throw three. He does not catch any. Your advertising message is just like that. Make it too complicated with multiple ideas and no one gets it. Make it simple message and it is easy to catch.

I think arriving at a singular message is the hardest part of advertising. Deciding on where it should go is relatively easy. A single message means discarding some cherished thoughts, however. One of the most cherished is saying “We are real nice people”. To many dealers, that is enough for customers to come to your store. Seriously? The world is littered with “We are real nice people” messages. It is an empty promise. The emptiest. It will not do a thing to bring you sales. This kind of advertising is cooked up in a boardroom. It should really stay there.

Then Prove It

However, if your “We are real nice people” message comes with an action that demonstrates it. Now you are on to something. For instance, “We are real nice people because we wash your car every time you come for service” is far more meaningful.

What if you took it a step further and said something like “We are real nice people because we pick up your vehicle for service right from your driveway. Then we bring it back to you when we are all done.” Now you have a proof point that demonstrates what ‘real nice’ means.

A promise without a proof point is empty. Remember the advertising world is full of empty promises.

Never About Price

Secondly a promise should never involve price relative to someone else. Never, ever make your advertising promise about offering the lowest price. We saw what happened to Zellers, where the “lowest price was the law”. Remember them? Making your advertising about the lowest price like they did is a sure-fire way to get out of business. Just like they did.

Left Brain/Right Brain

Do not forget that a vehicle purchase is fraught with emotion. It is exciting and intimidating at the same time. There is risk. There is joy. And there is a reward at the end, that new vehicle. Customers arrive at deciding to purchase a vehicle by taking a myriad of paths. None of them are particularly linear. Most of them could not explain the exact steps of the process to you. They just know they are ready to purchase. It is the emotional side doing the work here, not the logical side.

How Do They Feel?

Customers will long remember how you made them feel, after the details of their deal have faded. Driving a ‘bargain’ vehicle is only valuable if the vehicle is still a bargain. Once a vehicle starts to age, the bargain purchase price fades and the cost of repairs and maintenance takes over. However, if the customer remembers you fondly, they are more likely to come back for another vehicle.

So, what do you talk about then? The experience. Use some emotions when you talk about what happens at your store. Will the process be efficient? Will the transaction be transparent? Will you attempt to fulfill customer needs? Will you give them a fair price? Does the store have a reputation for honesty and fairness? Does your business office seek to find the most favourable loan rates? Will they do it at the expense of some lucrative compensation from your lenders for higher interest rate deals? Can a customer feel confident when they deal with you?

Never Mislead

Customers have become a lot more sophisticated. They have access so much information about you and your products. Your reputation will be fully formed in a customer’s mind before you ever hear from them. More importantly, do not attempt to mislead them or promise something that you cannot deliver. Virtually every dealer I know intends to be honest, fair and to deliver outstanding service.

The TEST

Today’s customers will test you. With access to so much information, these customers have done extensive research. Based on the research, they will ask a specific question to which they already know the answer. I call it ‘The TEST’. Their willingness to deal with you hinges on your ability to answer that question. The answer could be “Let me find out”. It could be a fully detailed, accurate answer. In truth, the customer is assessing how honest you are. The honest answer wins. The informed knowledgeable answer also wins. After successfully testing your honesty and knowledge, this customer will feel confident enough to move forward.

Basically, it is a simple recipe. A singular message supported by proof points. It must be honest without over promising. Never mislead. Do not forget to inject a little emotion into the mix, because we know that excitement and enthusiasm are contagious. And finally, be on the lookout for the TEST. If you fail, you lose.

Bonus

I would also strongly suggest that you experiment with your messages and monitor the impact of each one.It is the surest way to arrive at the most relevant and most powerful combination.Like target shooting, some fine adjustments are necessary to hit the mark.Think of advertising the same way.It is an ongoing process that takes management.Experimentation is a necessary component of success.