Pre-event marketing is essential

One of the most important, and neglected, aspects of holding a successful sales event is getting buy-in from staff. Dealership salespeople can get just as immune as potential customers to redundant sales messages. For a customer to get excited, the salesperson must be enthusiastic and convinced that the sales event will offer real value to the customer and isn’t just another weekend “big sale.” Management must be able to convince the salespeople that the event is really an opportunity for the customer to have an experience above and beyond a normal day. If done successfully, the customer will feel the salesperson’s excitement, and a sense of urgency will be much easier to create.

Don’t neglect the power of social media to help generate buzz around your event as well., but what most dealerships forget is to market during the event. Posting real-time content can easily drag someone off of their computer and to your dealership. You can also integrate social media into the event. If you’re doing test drives, have a video camera in the car. Ask customers for real-time reviews. Your goal is to make the event exciting and attract attention. Ask people to check-in at your dealership on Facebook. Solicit Facebook page “likes” and incentivize tweets about the event from the customers on your lot. Those customers’ social networks will contain a large percentage of people in your PMA who will see this activity.

Keep in mind that to pull this off, you can’t do this every weekend. Events should be planned and timed properly to succeed. With the right planning, message and marketing, however, you can create your own sales event that your community will not only recognize, but also anticipate and, perhaps, even line up to buy a car.

Misti Miller is Vice President of National Accounts for J&L Marketing. She oversees all activities as they relate to OEM relationships as a preferred vendor with BMW, GM, Mercedes-Benz and MINI, delivering marketing strategies and solutions for national and regional programs, campaigns and events