The Secret to Dealer Advertising that Makes Money

Creativity and stress don’t mix. The first insight to being effectively creative is to understand that real creativity and stress cannot occupy the same space at the same time. Sure we’ve all seen someone blow out an idea or two under pressure, but doing so always leaves lots to be desired. We always come up with our best ideas when we are relaxed. Some of the best occur on vacation. To learn more about the secret go to www.hyperdrivetech.com/opportunity.

So as we can see the idea of hurrying up and thinking of a good idea for a last minute sale would not go down on the overly smart list. We may pull out the month, but we’ll leave ourselves in the same spot for next month and from there we go into that whole definition of insanity thing. When recovering from stress and over stimulation, you are in the perfect moment to be ultimately productive and profitable with your creative thoughts.

So then how would you motivate others within the dealership to be creative or how would you monitor the manager that is in charge of the advertising to make sure that they are tapping into all their potential? One thing you can do is to never be or ask anyone else to be creative after a sales meeting. These are motivational which implies stress.

Side Note: The reason motivational meetings typically induce stress, and thus reduce creativity is the individual is at what we call at the “lower levels of the success band.” The first success band is called “Determination” or “Positive 1.” It’s where the mind tries to recover from a period of lesser success by forcing itself to succeed by putting itself into the stressful and eventually destructive state of determination. Determination leads to “Positive 2,” which is the state of “Carelessness.” Carelessness results from the mind trying to recover from being in the stressful state of “Determination.” While it’s a higher condition of existence than “Determination” it leads to failure if the person does not have the techniques for jumping past “Carelessness” and into “Positive 3,” which is the state of “Conserving.” This is done through a specific success action recall interview process that moves the individual into the higher success bands and into more stable and predictable future. This ugly cycle of determination and carelessness can be seen every time a salesperson or dealership has good months followed by bad months or successful advertising followed by unsuccessful campaigns.

Now that we are in a creative mental space, let’s look at some philosophical shortcuts to a profitable advertising message.

Embrace the offensive. If you want your message to be clear, then be willing to mildly offend 15 percent of your audience. Bold statements are some of the things that the mind does not expect and it is the unexpected that keeps the audience keyed-in to your message the necessary six seconds it takes to make a lasting impression. I don’t mean be theatrical I mean be bold. Theatrics in automotive advertising are expected, and it’s difficult to keep the mind’s attention when they’ve seen and heard it before.

Take the leap of faith between business mathematics and creative advertising. Decisions in marketing that are made purely from a calculator and a pencil is vulnerable at best. The advertising industry presents itself as a science for the slide rule and pencil pushers. Learn to separate fact from fiction. Advertising is an art propelled by medium, which results in an audience. Defining the audience is the only place a calculator should be used. Leave the painting to the canvas.

Trust your message over the medium of delivery. In today’s marketplace we are constantly being dazzled with new innovative mediums to deliver our message. Electronic billboards, online blogs and highly integrated sponsorships to name a few. Remember the medium of delivery is not your message. Your message is the message. The medium is and always has been just the catalyst.

Avoid Risk and Perish. In times of change the biggest risk is to take none at all. The key of course is calculated risk. Just don’t get stuck on the “calculated” part or it really becomes a sham to make you feel like a risk taker. Risk is a shared thing in most organizations. Learn to take risks that are calculated, but still greater than your competition is willing to take and in the long run you will succeed.

Pick a rope and climb it. Taking a list of every perceivable quality that a dealership thinks they should have then trying to be all things to everyone inevitably results in meaning little to anybody. Most political candidates that fail at the polls, in the final analysis do so as the result of trying to be liked by everyone. Deciding what you want your dealership’s brand to stand for must stem from real beliefs that you can stand behind at all times. Most consumers don’t like you anyway so make the ones that do your friends for life by picking a rope and climbing it.

Pick a fight with other dealers. To stand out from the scores of nasty advertising that exists in this industry, you need to position yourself against the competition. Taking a stance is a good thing for any dealership’s own brand and image. Pick something that is considered an alternative choice to your dealership’s message, values or selling proposition then pick up a club and start swinging. Do it tastefully and with style and you’ll win the hearts and minds of the public.

Don’t ever think you can win by out-spending the competition. The only way dealers get to the point where they can out-spend anyone is by first out thinking them. Spending too much will tempt you into making bad decisions.

In every market that our company is in we easily leverage a $20,000 advertising budget into what any other dealership in town would have to spend $80,000 to get. Then based on ad placement and message, we leverage it three times over again. That’s a $240,000 budget on $20,000 in real money, which is all the result of outthinking not out spending. Grow into your ad budget with certainty while taking risks for real long-term success.