Wham

As we move into November it is that time of the year where we can play Automotive “Whamageddon”. No- not listening for the first play of Wham’s “Last Christmas”, but listening for those 3 little words that marketeers dread, from the first dealer that states “It’s gone quiet”.

As Harry Bott famously states, we have moved into the season of dealer amnesia, where they forget that consumers turn their attention and web searches to buying Christmas presents and festive activities. We also know that 80% of dealers will begin running stock down in order to keep cash on the books for the year end, whilst the smarter dealers and car supermarkets will begin stock piling ready for the January Sale.

This is usually met with marketing teams reaching ‘paralysis by analysis’, to understand the downturn, and then throwing money at PPC budgets trying to chase a softer market. However, there are many constructive and pro-active tasks that can be actioned. 

Finance renewals – collaborating with a recent dealer group we identified that only 10% of renewals were being contacted. Now we know how hard it is with the current interest rates increase to swap; however this does provide the opportunity to speak with the consumer to understand their current position and reduce the risk of retention leakage to a competitor.

Leads - review all leads in the CRM from the previous 6 weeks, identifying if the consumer has purchased, or is still in market. We should also be following up all part-ex requests – there is a reason the consumer has requested a part ex price.

Although this time of year is quieter for the dealers, this should be the busiest time for marketeers due to the following:

Database cleanse – best time of year to cleanse the data getting ready for the sale events that will start on Christmas Eve.

Website Projects / Enhancements – The perfect opportunity to implement and integrate web enhancement and run A/B testing to improve website conversion, again getting ready for the January uplift.

Lead handling and identifying consumers who are in-market through engagement marketing will be more critical than ever over the next few months due to the cost-of-living increase and the time of year (and we even have a world cup thrown in for good measure!). 

If you need any assistance with any of the points raised or just want to feedback the first dealer to win “Whamageddon” please get in touch via LinkedIn, through phone 07500 091123 or email iangodbold@igcdigital.co.uk.   

Ian Godbold

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