How Automotive Vendors can Tap Into Madison Avenue Magic

When we first started this company in 2013, I had a vision of two different sides to our business. The first and most important side was helping car dealers drive more car buyers to their website and showroom. The second was to help automotive vendors who had the best products in their segment to get the attention they deserve in an industry where the biggest is usually not the best.

It became clear very early on that the first side of our business, helping dealers, was going to grow much more quickly than anticipated. The need was intense; so many more dealers than we expected had been craving the type of powerful content, search, and social marketing that we deliver. We didn’t underestimate the need; we started the company because we knew that the gap between average and incredible was huge for the vast majority of dealers out there. What we underestimated was the recognition of the need. We thought it would be harder to help dealers see that they deserved better. Our mistake has since been corrected. We now know that there are plenty of dealers out there who are savvy enough to realize that what they’re getting from their marketing vendors is a few strokes below par and that we deliver eagles.

We quickly became very busy with the core business. Our goal of being a five-person-team nearly quadrupled in the first year because our goal of having a few dozen clients was achieved in the very early stages of the company. As a result, the secondary aspect of our company was put on hold.

We’re pleased to announce that we’re reengaging the “second side” of our business. Based upon what we consider to be poor decisions by some OEMs and business decisions by large corporations, the homogenization of automotive digital marketing is rapid and rampant.

Keep in mind that we don’t blame the OEMs or the corporations. For the OEMs, they often have to make decisions based upon what they feel is best for their overall brand and these decisions often run contrary to the needs of dealers. It’s just a fact of franchise business. For the corporations, they’re buying up other companies and consolidating under one roof because that’s how they can make more money. Neither are doing anything that’s necessarily bad. They’re just doing things that aren’t always in the best interest of dealers.

We want to help those companies that serve the automotive industry with the best products in their segment. Over the years, we’ve seen incredible products and services fail because they didn’t have enough horsepower in their marketing and advertising to compete with the big companies. I remember the sadness I felt when the best PPC system I’d ever seen at the time folded because they couldn’t get attention. Their clients were pleased. Their results were amazing. They just couldn’t get over the profitability hump and were muscled out by PPC automation companies that could afford big booths at conferences and full page ads in magazines.

We’ve been blessed to hire some of the most incredible minds in the industry. We pull the vast majority of our team from within the retail side and their experience working with vendors gives us an insight into what works and what does not. This is important to both dealers and vendors because it allows for the right perspective to find success.

As we expand this second side of our business, we have certain criteria that we have to meet. Most importantly, we only want to work with the best. It doesn’t matter how big a company is or how many clients they have. If a vendor is producing the most cutting-edge, results-driven service within a segment, we want to help spread the success to dealerships across the continent.

The second criteria is a willingness to accept consultation and advice. No product is perfect. We feel we have the best solution in our particular segments and yet we are in a constant state of improvement because of the nature of Google, Facebook, and consumer trends. While not all products or services require the same degree of perpetual adjustments, every product can take advantage of the fresh perspectives that my team brings to the table.

Lastly, we’ve seen that the biggest challenge for many companies and products is their place within the market. We’ve proven that top-tier PR, buzz, positioning, and branding can help small companies become bigger and medium-sized companies become players. We take a full-service approach to what we offer. In essence, we become “the agency for the agencies” to help bring success to the best vendors and the most aggressive dealers.

If you have “the best kept secret” in automotive products and services, we’d like the opportunity to help bring your company to full maturity within our industry. Reach out and we’ll set up a consultation.