“A man who stops advertising to save money, is like a man who stops the clock to save time.”
Henry Ford
We know you can’t cut your way to growth. The key point is, driving vehicle sales requires an investment in advertising expense.
As a former General Manager turned marketing AdMan, I’m painfully aware when things get tight for dealerships, one of the first things we’re tempted to cut is the advertising. It’s like a survival tactic that kicks in and all we want to do is shore up our resources so we can make it to the other side. I get it, but dealerships should not make the mistake of sabotaging their own success in the meantime. Dealers should evaluate their campaigns and determine which are performing the best for both short-term and long-term results.
When dealerships advertise, in addition to generating immediate vehicle sales, you’ll bolster consumer confidence in the future of your business. Consumer confidence builds market share. Market share leads to profit. Those that continue to advertise in tougher or slower times will actually gain a bigger piece of the pie when vehicle sales starts back on the upswing…leaving other dealerships (who cut way back on their advertising efforts) in the dust.
