Covid 19 update

6 Ideas For Outdoor Power Dealers To Combat Coronavirus

by with No Comment Digital Marketing

Hi folks, I know it’s a little crazy out there right now, but I’ve talked to a bunch of dealers over the past couple of days and wanted to hop on for a few minutes to talk about some things those dealers are already doing to address the coronavirus and some things you may want to consider in your own business.

First of all, the grass is going to grow and farmers, who are so central to the country’s forward movement, are still going to do what the do, come hell or high water. Commercial cutters are likely still going to be serving customers and they’ll need parts and service like always. And the homeowners are going to have a lot of time on their hands sitting at home when the sun starts to shine, they’re going to be mowing as well. So the start of the season might be dulled, but the season will come, one way or the other. Some of these ideas could actually be permanent adjustments to the way your store does business.

  1. Take time to make sure you update your social channels and especially Google My Business if you have adjusted your normal hours of operation. These are the first places customers are going to go to find out what you’ve got going on. Use these channels to let your customers know how you are addressing the pandemic, that the safety of your employees and customers are of utmost importance.
  2. Follow the government’s guidelines on social distancing when interacting with customers in store or at the parts counter. Tape off an area around your service and parts counters.
  3. Offer curbside pickup or home delivery. Some OEMs like Cub Cadet offer online purchasing for whole goods that can be shipped directly to your door while still giving you credit for the sale. Support another local business and have a permanent sign made for designated parking spot for pickup and dropoff.
  4. Allow customers to schedule a virtual call with a salesperson. Use Facebook Messenger or Skype to make free video calls that allow customers to virtual shopping in your showroom.
  5. Review your marketing calendar – The beginning of the season is always nuts and OEM promotions are typically rolling out just in time so most of the dealers I talk to sometimes barely have time to keep current on those promotions before the sales crush hits. If you need to pause advertising, let your vendors (like us) know and they’ll work with you to restructure campaigns. Remember, the season isn’t going away, it’s just going to be delayed (we hope).
  6. Check with your OEMs to see what they are doing to ease the strain, extensions on terms, additional promotions. If they haven’t already announced them, they should have something in the works. No shame in pressing them to help.

Some things to consider on the business front.

The government is working to put stimulus programs in place in the form of cash payment to most families tentatively on April 6th and May 18th. That’s right in the middle of spring selling season so there is potential for some cash influx that you can wrap promotions around if you offer special cash pricing or use it to tie into one of the many promotions most OEM dealers will have during that time anyway.

We’re a small business, just like you and we’ve been watching pretty closely as the government is also pushing special SBA loans for qualifying businesses. With most of you sitting on a lot inventory that may not move for the next few months, it may make sense to look into the temporary relief that the SBA program can provide for payroll and other expenses. Check out the programs details from the SBA here.

Another thing to consider if you’ve racked up some credit card debt that’s killing cash flow, American Express may waive interested and late fees for businesses that are hit hard by the pandemic. Find out more details on that program here.

Here’s hoping some of this helps you and your business. Remember to try to  enjoy some of this time with your families and have faith that things are going to be back to normal again real soon.

local and digital marketing

Digital Marketing vs Traditional Marketing

by with No Comment Digital MarketingLocal Marketing

The world of Marketing is changing

You may have heard it before, but in 2020 this message is more poignant than ever.
Simply put, traditional marketing is no longer the end-all, be-all of sending your message into the world.

Customers research and shop across digital channels, and so dealers must go digital to message to them.

Traditional advertising encompasses formats like billboards, sales brochures, and TV and radio ads.
Digital Marketing includes channels such as websites, email, social media, Google search ads, and mobile messaging.

That’s not to say traditional marketing no longer has a place!

In a study done by neuro-marketing firm TrueImpact, direct mail was tested against email and display ads. They used eye-tracking and EEG brain wave measurements to track the ease of understanding, persuasiveness, and attention paid to each of these ad types.
According to their study, direct mail required about 21% less cognitive effort to process, suggesting it’s easier to understand and more memorable.


However, the downsides to Traditional Marketing includes the difficulty in tracking conversions, being very costly, and having very little direct interaction between the medium used and the customer. It’s great for creating brand awareness, if you have the budget to spend.If you want more bang for your buck, easier tracking of conversions and engagement, and to slot yourself neatly into the world of research-savvy customers who are further down the sales funnel, then Digital is your way to go. 

With Digital Advertising, you can keep your costs lower, target people who are already actively showing interest in or searching for the brands you carry, and you have the opportunity to engage with them directly through instant actions like click-to-call, exploring your website, asking a question, and even saving your location.

With the right targeting and messaging, you know whoever sees your digital ad is already interested in the type of product you sell. Unlike a billboard, where you’re paying for every commuter in the area to see it, even if they’ve never touched a lawn tractor in their life. 

Digital advertising also increases the ease of sharing with friends and coworkers. How often do paper fliers get passed around by friends, compared to folks sending links or pictures? Or tagging a friend in a facebook post that seems like it’d appeal to them?
If you consider that the average Facebook user has around 100-200 friends, with an average of 12% who see their posts in day-to-day browsing – if your post is shared even once, that’s likely 15 new prospects who have essentially been recommended by a friend to check out what you have. This Word-of-Mouth opportunity is why making high-quality, interesting content is so important.
So, which kind of marketing is better?

 Well, both are good. Clearly we’re passionate about digital marketing, because we know that it works, and it has a ton of benefits. But traditional marketing materials also work well, especially if you’re completely new to an area.

 

Rather than taking an all or nothing stance, coordinated multi-channel marketing can leverage the unique benefits of paper, with the convenience and accessibility of digital to create a marketing campaign that spans the entire sales funnel. 

Dealership Listing Accuracy

6 Reasons Your Dealership’s Business Listing Needs to Be Accurate

by with No Comment Business ListingsDigital MarketingLocal Marketing

The Importance Of Business Listings

As a business, how likely is it that potential customers will come through your door if there’s no way for them to know if you exist?
The whole point of an online presence and digital business listings is to entice customers into your showroom so you can convert them to paying customers rather than just browsers online. Anything else is just a waste of time.

Nothing is more frustrating as a customer than finding out that you have been given the wrong information about where a business is located. As a customer, how likely are you to give this company your business? Not very. In fact, according to Placeable, 73% of consumers stated that they lose trust in a brand when the online listing shows incorrect information.

1. Missing hours of operation information can be a dealbreaker

There are many things that people look for in listings, whether they are looking at that search engine on a PC or on a mobile device. The top piece of information that most people look for is the hours of operation, especially with mobile searchers who are highly likely to visit a business within 24 hours of searching..

In fact, in a study conducted by local data aggregator Localeze, hours of operation were noted as the most helpful feature in selecting a business during local search. 76% of respondent reporting that they expect this information when searching and 61% believe that it is a feature that helps them to select a business.

 

business listing hours of operation

Even if people are new to your dealership, it doesn’t give people a good impression if the business hours are not listed and they don’t know that it’s only open from 11 a.m-6p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. Imagine that potential customer who is ready to spend their money on a fancy new zero-turn mower, but shows up on Monday at noon only to find it closed. That customer is likely going to do another search on a mobile phone to find a different store and spend their money there.

2.You can’t spell NAP data (and score a citation) without an A(ddress)

While most people would assume that the number one reason people do a search online is for the address or location of a business, the address is actually behind hours of operation as the second most desired information. But, of course, the whole point of being in business is to make money doing what you love or selling what you love. And that happens by attracting foot traffic and increasing customer base.

It bears repeating that if a business address is incorrect on listing sites such as Google or Bing, then customers will not be crossing the threshold. A simple thing such as the wrong number on a street address, or even the wrong town, can mean that a customer cannot find you. The US Postal Service relies on a complex system of checks to verify and standardize addresses, and many of the search engines will default to the USPS for correct mailing addresses.

What this means for the average dealership is that unless a business is in an established location, getting the correct address on their listing means that both the address from City Hall and the information on USPS must be consistent. If USPS doesn’t recognize that address, then a business owner must contact them to verify their new address and get that information updated on USPS’s online database.

3. Local searchers are mobile creatures

According to Localeze, mobile-phone-based searches drive in-store purchases with more than 75% of searches ending in a purchase—if a business has their listing details correct. Now if half of the people searching for a business listing on a local search engine, such as Google Local/Maps, can’t find the store’s business listing details, then the business is going to lose 100% of their business.

For ease of use for potential customers, some of those details need to be as readily available as possible in a mobile-friendly manner. This can be accomplished with a responsive website that supports cellphone and tablet-specific versions. Is your website responsive? We can help.

4. Updated, accurate websites still serve as a first impression

At the same time, more than 60% of searches on PC platforms have a similar chance of ending in a purchase. While mobile searches are becoming more of a standard in where a customer searches, you can’t discount the power of a consistent and accurate listing that is reflective of the business website.

Any listing should be linked to the business’s website and feature the exact same information, but more of it. While a website should be enough to entice a customer to visit or buy, if those inconsistencies exist, then trust issues may arise in a business’s practices before a customer ever crosses their threshold.

preview of business website

 

5. Local searchers mix it up across multiple devices, situations and times

People who search for listings are doing it in many more ways than when the Internet first coalesced into existence about two decades ago. In that time, we went from working on desktops to laptops to PDAs to Blackberries to Apples to tablets—and in each iteration, the methods of search have changed.

However, that has slowed over the last five years or so as web developers realize that they need to be smarter. Rather than designing three different sites for three different platforms, they have created websites that are scalable to the search device. And that has been helped along by the proliferation of types of devices in use everyday.

According to Pew Research Center, In 2015, smartphone ownership in America was at 68%, with tablet and computer ownership at 45%. Statista says that almost half of American adults use their smartphones the most to search for local information online, the other half being split between computers (40%) and tablets (11%). According to Localeze, like the types of devices used, what we are searching for varies by the time of day and device. Entertainment is searched for during work hours on computers, restaurants during evening using phones and health/fitness evening using tablets.

The most important part of those mobile searches is accuracy. If someone cannot find your business in a local search or find inaccurate results whilst out and about, then your business has lost the chance for that browser to become a customer. So having those business listings correct in all of the device formats is a must as we, and our technology, continue to evolve in the way we interact with local businesses.

6. Local search results are trusted sources of information

Last but certainly not least is the fact that local search results are considered the most trustworthy. In a study by Neustar, it was determined that these searches, such as “zero turn mowers Batavia, NY”, are what people do the most since they put that trust in local business more than big box, big website stores.

Local searches lend themselves to instant gratification and that interaction between browser and salesperson will convert that browser from someone who might get just the minimum to a loyal customer – a customer who brings their equipment back in time and time again for parts, service and repair. Acquiring a customer is a big deal. And local search visibility is the first step to earning that business.

Those interactions are what lead people to local searches and the absolute necessity of getting your listings correct. Trust leads to loyalty, which leads to more business, which leads to happy customers and business owners.

And it all starts with that correct business listing in that customer’s local search.

Dealership Listing Accuracy