Data stored in a dealership's DMS system contains valuable information about customers and processes that can be used to improve sales and service. Unfortunately, most dealers only use 20% of this data for routine tasks and campaigns that do not generate results. Using intelligent data software, dealers can run their business more smoothly and improve sales and service by 50% by implementing targeted campaigns across different channels. This requires cleaning up and repairing existing customer data, running intelligent campaigns, and tracking customer behavior both online and offline to send the right messages through the right channels. Partnering with a company that can build an engine to analyze all this data and customer behavior is the key to multi-channel marketing success.

1. Data Driven Dealerships – Sell More Vehicles
In dealershipstoday,we have more storeddatathaneverbefore,the issue isthatdealersdonotknow whatto dowith
thisinformationorevenrealizethe value of thisdata.
So,data is onlyinformation gatheredoverthe yearsthroughsalesandservice right? Noway,datathat isheldinyour
DMS systemisthe brainof the dealership,ithelpseverypartfunctionandstreamlinesprocessesandmakesthe body
run smoothly.
Your data isthe DNA of yourdealership,itisfundamentalandhasdistinctcharacteristicsof yourprocessesandthe type
and demographicsof yourcustomerbase,whichisrelativetothe areayour store is basedin. The qualityof yourdata is
the legacyor the pedigree of yourbusiness.
Unfortunately,dealersuse only20percentof the data, and mostof the time itis usedfordailyroutine ormaintenance
campaigning,whichfailsoneverylevel. Usingintelligentsoftware dealerscanrunthe dealershipsmoothlyplusimprove
salesandservice by50%. All facetsof the dealership,including,sales,service andcustomerrelationscanbe takentothe
nextlevel withthe rightdatasystemscompanytohelp.
The data that is collecteddaily,isthe stockof the company,it holdsthe laddersof successwithinthe confinesof the
system.A gooddealershipisappraisedaccordingtothe integrity of the dataheld.
Good data isan issue foreach andeverydealership,andpurifyingthatdatashouldbe of highimportance tothe decision
makerat the dealership.ThisiscalledDataIntegrity,there are onlyahandful of companies thatcanhelpdealerswith
thisissue, andmostof themare expensive.
Most manageror owners,are afraidof the data and aren’t sure how to processor fix whatseemsto be broken. Good
data miningcompanies,canwake upthe sleepybuyersinyourdatabase andpromptthemto come to the store through
clear,time sensitive messages. There are manybuyerslivinginside the DMSthathave a highstatistical probabilityof
buyingor servicingwithyourdealership.
We call those people the “perfectprospects”,theyare the easiest,leastexpensive,organicleadthatyoucan harvest.No
thirdparty or pre-paidleadprospecthasahigherclosingpercentage thanthe familythatresidesinyourwonDMS.
Most dealershave dailyroutine emailsorlettersthatare generatedandmailedouteachday,withoutaclearideaof
whatthe ROIreallyis. Spendinghundredsof thousandsof dollarsonmainstreamadvertising,forgettingaboutall the
unsold,inequity,orconquestprospects,thatwillvisitanotherdealer,if theyare notreachedina timelymanner.
Many of the DMS companies,selltheirproductwithabuiltinData miningplugin,unfortunatelythisrequiresthe dealer
to manage and supervise the process.
Many managersquicklyrealize thatthere isahuge learningcurve whenitcomestohow to implementa datacampaign.
The campaignsshouldinclude:

2.  Intelligent databaseclean up and repair.
 Service and sales campaigns.
 Targeted email anddirect mail.
 Campaign-basedlandingpages.
 Customerandprospect eNewsletters.
The targetedcampaignsrequire catchytemplates,whichshouldbe personalizedwitheachconsumer’sname.The
integrityof the datawill fail atthislevel,datamustbe appended,byoutsidesources,suchasPOLK,USPS,or national do
not call registries.Leavingthe dealerwithanextreme handicapof resourcesorpersonnel toaccomplishthe cleanupand
repairof data that is eitherold,incompleteorfalse.
Data integrity isthe keytorunningcampaigns,andsecretweaponof some of the largestdealergroupsinthe US. Being
able to engage yourown customersandencourage loyalty,isthe firstrunginthe ladderof increasedsalesandservice.
It muststart withData hygiene,acomplete overhaul andrepairof the old,dustyrecordsthat have beencollectedand
ignoredoverthe years.Once thisiscomplete itturnsyourDMS database intoa cleanmarketingengine withverifiedand
appendedhouseholddatafromnumeroussources,includingPolk,USPS,VIN Title Transfer, Conquestlists andyour
OEM.
Segmentingandhouse holding yourdatatohelpensure consumersare gettingthe rightmessage,atthe righttime,to
the right person,viathe rightchannel will driveextreme traffictoall departmentsof yourdealership.
When“Internetmarketing”wasanewidea,manydealershipswent awayfromtraditional marketingtoDigital
Marketing,theywouldsay…printisthe mediumof the past.Those people have spentmore moneytryingtocapture
theirportionof online shoppers,thanif theywouldhave usedahybridmodel whichincludedarare breedof targeted
marketingusingall differentchannels.
Withthe enormousamountof datathat is available,inandoutof the dealership,the combinationandhybridrecipe
makesmore sense thanever.
We lookat advertisingnotbya certainchannel anymore,butmore refined,byeithertargeted(usingexistingvariable
data),or non-targeted(usingvariable datapulledfromoutsidesources).
We can use targeteddirectmail,todrive online traffic,anduse thatonline trafficto tell how toretargetand redefine
our mail campaign, thisreduceswaste byconfirmingthe habitsanddesiresof customers,andallowsdirectmail to
deliverahigherquality piece,which ismore relevantbytrackingtheironline shoppingbehavior.
The bestpart of thistype of advertising,isthatthe dealercanimportall of the informationthatwascapturedandadd it
to the existingdatabase of customers,tohelpfuture marketingefforts,andmakingyourDMS database intoa superior
marketingengine,insteadof oldinsufficientrecords,thatfail everytime.
The way of dealershipmarketingistakingona whole new lookandfeel,dealershipswill startmarketingsmarter
because of BigData. We knowmore about an internetcustomerthaneverbefore,we have behavioraltargetingand
agenciesprovidinginsighttoan online shopper’sbehavior.BigDatacan now relate dealersDMSdata to social sitesas
well.Withthe immersionof Facebookadswe are able to marketdealersexistingcustomersaccordingtothe vehicle
theyown,on social sites!
There ismore data outthere than anyone dealershipcanhandle,findingthe rightcompanytoput an engine tothat
data isthe key.

3. Most dealersthinkthatisthe jobof the CRM. But inactuality,the CRMis a relationshipmanager,itmakessure that
your dealershipkeepintouchwithyourexistingcustomers,itworksoff of a calendar.One thingitcannotdo, iswork
fromthe online behavioryourcustomerisexhibiting.A partnerwhocan helpdrive campaignsbasedoncustomer
behaviorratherthanon a calendarisa diamondinthe midstof all the garbage companiesthatpromise results,but
neverdeliver.
Multi-channel marketingisthe driverbehindmostof the large groupdealershipsuccess,itistheirsecretweapon.They
understandthatclosingthe deal,reliesonthe customersrelevantmessage thatisdelivered.The more timesacustomer
see yourmessage,the closertheyare to buyinganew vehicle.
Autodealersneedtorealize the value inyourstoreddata,partnerwithacompanythat can take youto the nextlevel of
digital marketing. The life bloodof yourdealershipisrunningthroughyourdailydata,use itto your advantage!