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Monday, May 4, 2009

Big Checks Show Customer Savings

Advertising the value of incentives to customers can help a great deal. Our dealers find displaying incentives in the form of an oversized check on an easel does just the trick.

Click here for the rest of the story.


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Budget-Less Marketing

It seems as if for now, the dust is settling from the recent economic turmoil. Though the outlook is somewhat positive, it may be months before businesses get back on track. This means that marketing dollars are still tight and in some cases, nonexistent.

The past few months have been very difficult for the company I work for. We serve the automotive industry and have been faced with situations that have almost forced our marketing and advertising budgets to zero. This isn't because we are cutting back, but because there just wasn't the available capital to move forward. This put me in an interesting position and I believe it has been one of my greatest challenges to date - how to successfully market a companies products and services with just a few penny's in the bank.

In a recession, the marketing and advertising dollars are typically the first to go, even though sometimes it doesn't make sense - I was presented with this dilemma late last year. My first priority was to be sure the company wouldn't quickly be forgotten as our presence in magazines, on Google and at tradeshows was withdrawn. There were several exciting new products coming to the table at the time and I quickly arranged (free) press releases with our advertising partners. Most of the last quarter was spent negotiating the continued placement of monthly articles we produce for the print publications even without contributing advertising revenue. Though an ad may not be present, the articles could potentially draw just enough attention standing alone.

As our advertising contracts expired I noticed a very quick decline in leads - this was expected. By this time, I had already began implementing a plan for budget-less marketing.

One of the first things I did was prepare a detailed database of each email contact and started perfecting the data. Cleaning email databases can be very, very time consuming but if there isn't money to spend - there's plenty of time to do the things you wouldn't be able to do in normal circumstances. My goal was to improve upon our email marketing campaigns (that are practically free) by importing a CLEAN database into a 3rd party tool that could provide detailed reporting and personalization capabilities. Soon after, our newsletter became one of the most popular forms of contact with clients and is well received each month. I have expanded the email campaigning with a monthly specials email and have recently added a quarterly 'Secret Specials' campaign that will go to select groups of email addresses belonging to clients that may need a jumpstart.

In one of my more recent posts entitled 'good times with vseo' I shared some ideas that could help boost website traffic by experimenting with video. My co-workers have now grown accustom to seeing me with a camera around the office. Take the time to buy a simple editing program (MoviePro @ BestBuy - $49.95) and a JVC camera ($395 @ BestBuy) and learn to use these things to your advantage. Come up with some creative ways to generate interest with video and develop a YouTube website. Use your email marketing tools to promote these videos and be sure to get everyone from the company involved from the President to the production staff. This will help to offset the reduced traffic to your site and allow you and your co-workers to have some fun!

My last tip for budget-less marketing is simple. Be sure to take a hard look at customers that discontinued business and leads that haven't been closed in the last twelve months. Do some joint research with the sales team and see if you can form a campaign that will spark new interest. Become aggressive and start making calls from the marketing department, send individual and personalized emails, contact sales representatives and ask what the status is of a lead from eight months ago. Now is not the time to worry about hurting someone else's feelings at the office or in the sales field, now is the time to strap in and do whatever it takes to generate interest and grow sales. In my opinion, if the marketing dollars are taken away - you can either sit tight and wait to lose your job or get serious and make you and your department valuable. Use the down time to learn new things and prep a new campaign, get in touch with customers and experiment. There is no time like now.

Joshua Hays is an aggressive marketing consultant with a strong background in design and nearly ten years of broad experience involving both B2B and B2C marketing techniques including print and online campaigns. He has advanced knowledge of both the Microsoft and Adobe software suites and is cross-platform, multi-operating system (MAC&PC;) trained. Joshua specializes in product and campaign development. Joshua Hays can be reached at http://www.joshuahays.com

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Make more sales by giving away Gas rebates! FREE GAS Promotions
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I Love Free Gas! Part 1

RETAILER TESTIMONIALS

"This gas Promotion is the best closing tool I have used in a long time." - Bruce Davis, Bellastanza Furniture

"Sold $18,756.00 of furniture on 11 gas certificates. This program works!" - Furniture Retailer, Russell R.

"Gas prices are notably one of the most current topics of conversation today. It seemed like a win-win to introduce FREE Gas Certificates to all existing members&those; businesses considering one of my 25 state-wide chapters as part of a Membership Drive. From the first day of the promotion, my region added 9 new members to several chapters! I believe this may be the most cost effective marketing I have utilized in the past 6 years." - LEADS Club, FL

"We were going through some slow times here due to the economic instability of our economy. I was approached about your gas certificates and like anyone else I was hesitant on buying them, so we gave them a test run. Was offering them on the phone before they were in hand and we had an overwhelming response to this. With the response that we've received, I've also had to order the $500 certificates for unit sales as well. Long story short it was a good shot in the arm for our business, and turns out to be a prosperous deal for us." - Heating & Air Conditioning Services, Keith H.

"I'd say we close 25% more and you see no difference in terms of the quality of the buyers from this promotion than from anything else we've done. The more people there are on the lot, the better our sales are. You can't sell somebody until they are on the lot, and this gets them on the lot. I have already recommended this to other dealers, absolutely." - Frank T, 5 New Hampshire locations

"We sold 20 cars in the first 10 days using the gas certificates. The customers were excited and most of them came in asking about it from the get-go. Foot traffic increased quite a bit and It was pretty dead until we started this. Then we ran the ad to come in and get a gas certificate for taking a test drive. It at least doubled our foot traffic, and also doubled our bottom-line deliveries as well. This was pretty easy compared to other promotions we've tried. We just gave out the certificates with the instructions on how to redeem them. I've never had anybody complaints and it continues to go very well. I would definitely recommend the Free Gas Certificate to other dealerships or anyone looking to get more customers in the door." - Roy R. Kia Dealer

"When I first heard about the Free Gas Certificates I thought there must be some catch to it, and I was a little skeptical about it. We've been putting our ads out there saying "take a test drive and get up to $500 in gas". The responses have been very positive. The people have absolutely come in for the test drive. I would say it has increased our foot traffic at least 30% to 40%, and a good amount of them have definitely bought cars." - Vince A., Ford Dealer

"I think It's a great program as I have used it extensively. I've used it in test drives, in Super Sales where they are gifts that were given away, and in closing situations where I have offered it to the customer. All three work, and it works very well. This is inexpensive, it is a real program, it is true; everybody spends 100 dollars in gas in a month's time, you get back 25 dollars every month. Why not use the gasoline company's money? That's what it is, it is real, take advantage of it, that is all I can say." - Bob T., Ford Dealer

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Make more sales by giving away Gas rebates! FREE GAS Promotions
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"We have used it in situations where somebody hesitates to come back in the store. We say "Pick out a car, let us show you what we have to offer." The worst case scenario is that you are going to end up with $500 in fuel.' It will get people back in the door for us, and we have sold cars from that." - Bob W.

"It's a great closing tool, something nobody else is doing. And it's not a gimmick; you know so many of these things are gimmicks. Our customers have responded very favorably to this, absolutely. We are offering it as an incentive for every new car purchase, it seems to draw quite a response, positive feedback. The customers are very positive. They may be a little skeptical at first when they see it is not "cash in fist." I tell them to mail it out, they spend 100 dollars to get 25 back, as a promotion for brand loyalty with the gas stations. The customers are very satisfied, I haven't had any complaints. And I am very satisfied. It is working because we have noticed an increase in traffic. Compared to this time last year, we are up 20% in deliveries right now. I would recommend the Free Gas Certificates to other dealerships." - Jack B, Ford Dealer

"We use the $500 Free Gas Certificate for closing deals. We buy internet leads and use the certificate to get them to come in, we also use it to get people to come in for dormant service customers who have not been here for awhile. When we get people to come in using the certificate some of them do buy. I am happy with this promotion. We have also used this as the feature in our email blast marketing, and in some smaller very targeted direct mail promotions. Our customers seem to be happy that it is performing the way it was represented to perform. I think they specifically like the fact that unlike other offers, this one is very simple to redeem, no big hoops to jump through. I would recommend this promotion to businesses looking to get more customers." - John G., Kia Dealer

"I was actually excited to start this promotion, I mean who doesn't want to save money on gas these days. We started using the $500 certificates as an incentive for ever new customer. We put a big sign out front and ran a few small ads in the local paper and the results have been amazing. We've even been offering the certificates for referrals and thats worked great as well... I don't think we've been this busy in over 6 months... I would definitely reccommend these gas vouchers to others." - Travis F., Direct TV Dealer

"I was pretty skeptical at first that something like this would actually work. It wasnt the free gas I was worried about, it was how the heck they could offer that much for such a small price to my marketing budget. I decided to give it a try and just did a starter pack of 25 vouchers... The first week was slow until my ads hit and before I new it I was slammed. I had to order over 100 more vouchers quickly and have had no problem finding new customers to take them off my hands...LOL. This is really a great program and it works." - Fred M., Carpet Retailer

"I own a landscaping company in Utah and although we stay pretty busy in the summer, we slow down when it gets colder. When I was introduced to the vouchers I thought it would be a good way to get more referrals, boy was I wrong it was a Great Way!! My customers love the vouchers and I'm staying busy." Thanks. - Soni U, Landscape Services

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Make more sales by giving away Gas rebates! FREE GAS Promotions
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I Love Free Gas! Part 2

GIFT CARD TESTIMONIALS

"Yes, I did receive my card, and pleased! I plan to continue this program for myself and employees. Thanks!" - Alan Van Hartesveldt

"Thank you for the free card! It is easy to do, and I will keep sending the receipts to get more." - Cindy Zuker, St. Johns, MI

"Thank you so much for the free gas, this really helps out." - Jane

"I was excited to receive my 1st free fuel gift card. I will also look forward to receiving the other 19 cards over the next several months. I appreciate your program and wish you luck with it." - D. Springer, UT

"Thank you so much for the Gift Card, we will be sure to continue our campaign by sending our receipts in monthly...This is a goood thing" - Chuck&Darlene, Sctottsdale, AZ

"FreeFuelCenter GREAT! Thanks for the free gas cards!" - Connie

"The Free Fuel Center promotion is really easy to do and works great. This is a great promotion and definitely is worth the effort of sending in your receipts. $300 here I come." - Blake Tingey

"I am so glad to have the opportunity to participate in this program!" - Sharon Baum, Albany, OR

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Make more sales by giving away Gas rebates! FREE GAS Promotions
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