Digital Dealer - March 2018 - 24

By Jim Boldebook
Founder,
CBC Automotive
Marketing

// Advertising
& Marketing

Mastering
'Experiential'
Marketing!
The word 'experiential' is a Latin word
from the 1600s relating to
our actions from 'learned'
experiences. From a
customer's perspective,
it's more than just a
temporary or staged
'experience.' It's the
overall perception of a
shopping journey,
measured by every
expression, impression
and touch-point they
encounter. Today, we are
inundated with cause and
effect attribution claims by
marketers. Mostly those
on the digital side of
things. The 'masters of the
'E' world besiege us with
metrics, algorithms and
data points to convince us
their proprietary technique
or program is the nirvana
of nudge at the final finial
of the sales funnel. Some
of these ideas are good.
Some not so good. All dig
into an ever tightening
bottom-line. Here is the
simple truth. Your best
marketing effort with the
highest return on investment is an internal
program to master
'experiential' marketing.
Here are some key
24

MARCH 2018

points in that process:

1. YOUR CEO HAS
TO BE A CMO! Taking

a page from some of the
world's largest corporations, marketing isn't
just a thing, it's everything. The leader of your
organization has to be

impact on your brand. You
can no longer afford just
an 'advertising manager.'
Your marketing team must
do more than just place
ads and review creative.
There has to be consistency in every single
message. There has to be

EVERY SINGLE
PERSON THAT GETS
A CHECK OUT OF
YOUR ACCOUNT IS A
VALUABLE MEMBER
OF YOUR TEAM AND
CAN CONTRIBUTE
TREMENDOUSLY
IF GIVEN THE
OPPORTUNITY."
savvy to every marketing
opportunity on every level
of your organization. If
you're a hands-on dealer
principal lacking marketing
skills, move over. Yes,
you can still be owner and
manage the mechanics of
your operation, but your
day-to-day operational top
dog has to understand
how critical every customer touch point is to not
just this month's bottom
line, but to the long-term

D I G I TA L D E A L E R . C O M

a 'sticky' brand definition
in every department...on
the lips and in the smiles
of every employee. You
simply can't shoot from
the hip and hope to grow
an ever-challenging environment without someone
at the very top managing
expectations.
2. YOUR TEAM IS
YOUR GREATEST
MARKETING ASSET.

Think of every single
employee in your

organization as an
'associate.' A partner.
The lot person, the
receptionist, the janitor,
the techs, the office staff,
even some of your most
closely aligned vendors
and suppliers. Every
single person that gets a
check out of your account
is a valuable member
of your team and can
contribute tremendously
if given the opportunity.
Do you have an internal
digital newsletter? Do
you consistently share
goals and achievements?
Do you have an email
list of every employee?
How about a texting
list of all employee cell
phones? We have the
greatest communication
opportunities in our
history. I personally know
of several dealerships
that sell quite a few
vehicles from internal
recommendations during
major sale campaigns.
Have you ever conducted
a brand survey with your
employees to find out what
they think your strongest
attributes are? Email me
if you'd like a free brand
survey template that will
give you some guidance.

3. UNCONVENTIONAL
RESEARCH. Have you

ever heard of 'Faith Popcorn'? She's considered
a marketing 'futurist' and
even a psychic by some.
Her firm makes oodles of
money consulting to some
of the biggest corporate
names in the world. But

Continued on pg. 26
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Digital Dealer - March 2018
