Articles

I love Cajun cooking. Gumbo, jambalaya, and e’touffee. If it’s Cajun, I love it. 

A common theme in Cajun cooking is the presence of what they call “The Holy Trinity.” The trinity is onions, bell peppers, and celery. You see them as the base of some of the best food you’ll ever taste. It’s a proven recipe for success.

In the same way that Cajun cooking has a trinity, digital marketing has one as well. In digital marketing, the Holy Trinity is your web site, paid search, and social media.

When all three of these elements are in balance, the results are amazing. The trick is to keep them in balance – which should be a team effort, not an individual one.

Web Site – This is the foundation of your web presence. As we’ve discussed in previous articles this is your ‘conversion machine.’ The idea is for it to be streamlined for conversions with no roadblocks or distractions from it’s main purpose of turning browsers into buyers. Your web site provider, marketing manager, and dealer principal should be responsible for the initial design, with the marketing manager tasked with keeping it lean. The sales manager will be the key stakeholder in making sure that inventory listed on your site is current, has good pictures, and is priced correctly. It’s also the responsibility of sales to be proactive and jump on every lead that comes in as quickly as possible.

Paid Search – Paid search is the fuel for your web site. AdWords is the 800lb. gorilla when it comes to search marketing because most people who are actively searching are doing so with an intent to buy – which your web site will give them the opportunity to do. While designing your site for organic results has its place, paid search is where you should spend your money. An up and coming subset of paid search that is becoming more and more relevant is Facebook advertising. The demographic of motorcyclists fits perfectly into the Facebook user demographic. The ability to effectively (and inexpensively) drive traffic to your web site based on the demographic info available in Facebook is pretty amazing.

Whether AdWords or Facebook (preferably both), your marketing person should steer whatever professional company you use to achieve your marketing goals. I can’t think of a time when having someone in a dealership managing either has been more effective (or cheaper) than having a professional handle the execution.

Social Media – In the past year or so, my feelings about social media with regards to motorcycle dealerships has changed a great deal. If you had asked me two years ago, my answer was that it was a necessary evil. Now, if used properly, it can be a powerful tool.

I’m speaking primarily about Facebook. Maybe even only about Facebook.

First, Facebook fits the rider demographic about as perfectly as anything could, and it has a tremendous number of users.

Second, because Facebook is somewhat of a ‘closed universe,’ they can see what you like, share, and post. Over time, they develop a real understanding of who you are. While that may seem a little scary to you as an individual, as a marketer it’s a gold mine. Pinpoint, surgical accuracy in advertising through them is possible – and in some cases less expensive than AdWords.

Finally, people buy from people they know, like, and trust. Facebook allows you to create a history over time. Facebook is where you post all those things that used to go on your web site, only to be forgotten and left to go stale and make you look like you aren’t paying attention enough to keep your site fresh. 

With Facebook, you can post all those cool pictures of events, specials, people who bought bikes, concerts, or whatever. And there’s no need to go back and remove anything from history, because over time it allows browsers to see what a great dealership you have and begin to – you guessed it – know, like, and trust you.

Nothing is better than searching a dealership in Facebook and finding all kinds of pictures of the cool things going on there. Nothing is worse than searching for them and finding nothing.

This is also the perfect place for your marketing person to thrive. Take and post pictures, share funny pictures or videos, show personality and warm up browsers to your dealership. 

The important thing is to remember the dealership ‘Holy Trinity,’ because it is the path to success for your dealership. 

Want to learn how to put this in to practice in your dealership? Give us a call.

Talk Soon,

Brad