So why am I talking about the desert in the title of this article? Good question. I was talking to our Art Director Tyler earlier this week about a new client coming on board. During the discovery process we realised that the blame for a lack of leads had been placed on the website that was admittedly due for a bit of a refresh. From our analytics audit however we realised the bigger problem, their current site was averaging 200 visitors per month. Now it would be easy to place the blame on the website and dive into creating a new one for the client.

The problem however is the internet is the desert. Despite the fact that 3.7 billion people use the internet every day it can be an isolated place for a brand new website. You are competing against every other brand, news source and cat video.  Building a new website without the supporting distribution channels is like having a beautiful office building in the middle of the desert without any roads. It doesn’t matter what facilities you have, or how great it looks, if no one can get there it isn’t going to be a successful venture.

It would be really easy to say to this client, yes you need a website. We get paid, they get a shiny new website to show their family, friends, CEO or board. The problem is, after the the launch and the excitement, nothing much is going to change. We can’t urge strongly enough that before you jump into a website build, learn from your current situation. We recommend to every client to perform a digital audit before approving any new project. Look at your current site, what traffic do you have? How do they engage with your content? Where are you losing them in the sales funnel?  By learning from your existing data you can truly know the scope of what is needed to achieve your goals. Quite often the effective use of Social Media, PPC and branded content can drive the traffic you require.

We use this chart which we call the Digital Marketing Universe (DMU). This isn’t everything you can do in the digital space but as far as we are concerned this is what you should be looking at first. We are happy to share it, there are no secrets. It is something we go through with every client in the early stages to work out where their business currently sits in the DMU. Have a look at it, use it as a checklist to see what you are currently doing and what areas hold new opportunities. I can guarantee if your business isn’t looking and assessing digital marketing, your opposition is.

If you need a hand going through your audit or simply want to chat about an upcoming project we would love to hear from you.

We believe that when you visit a Page or see an ad on Facebook it should be clear who it’s coming from. We also think it’s important for people to be able to see the other ads a Page is running, even if they’re not directed at you. That’s why today we’re announcing important changes to the way we manage ads and Pages on Facebook as well as Instagram. These are designed to increase transparency and accountability, as well as prevent election interference. – Facebook

This however has much bigger implications. For any savvy digital marketer this now means you can view, analyse and compare ads from any of your competitors, industry leaders or just a quicker way to review your own ads across pages. We at AusGarage knew this was coming but had picked that like a lot of functionality it may have only been rolled out in the US initially.

What does this mean for your business?

• These changes give you one of the best opportunities you have had to do effective market research. Being able to see current ads will show you market trends, current sales priorities etc
• All of your ads will be completely visible. This shouldn’t worry you though, if you are attacking social ads correctly they should be changing constantly and be personalised to your brand tone.
• Consumers will have greater control on what they see in their news feed. This isn’t TV or Print. You can’t pay just to hammer your message at consumers. Now, more than ever there is a pressure on nailing engaging content and genuinely interacting with your audience.
• Retargeting with follow up discounts will be more obvious to the more tech savvy consumers.

What you can’t do

• You cannot currently see engagement on the ads
• You also cannot access budgets or precise targeting of these ads.

How do I see this?

Simply go to any Facebook Business Page. Hit the new menu item which is called “Info and Ads” and start scrolling.

This page will also show you extra details such as page creation date, whether it has changed names etc.

Struggling with how to make sense of these updates?

Get in touch and we can walk you through it and how it may affect your business.

Missed the first five points? Check it out: http://www.ausgarage.com.au/15-ways-to-get-the-best-out-of-your-agency/

6) Don’t strain your advertising through too many levels.

Sometimes the greatest ideas are elegantly simple. It is much like the movie “Inception”, great campaigns focus around planting a simple yet effective idea and letting that grow with your target audience. Allow your audience to make that message their own, relate it to their experiences and thus respond to your key message.

Do you know the best way to ruin a simple strong campaign idea? 9 times out of 10 running it through multiple levels of staff and committees will do the trick. You want opinions, you want to value your staff/board but ultimately you want feedback that will help make your advertising more effective. Consult with your departments, see what issues they face in the market place and compile them prior to commencing the campaign. Ultimately, when it comes to final review. Let the decision be made by yourself or your marketing manager. Make your feedback prompt and concise then let your agency do the hard work and stand behind their product.

7) Make sure that your agency makes a profit

This is a simple one. Whilst agencies will fight for your business during an initial pitch, if they are running at a loss on your account the shine quickly wears off. Whether your account has high billables or not you want your agency on whole (as well as the individuals in it) to enjoy working on your account. The difference between truly effective advertising and not is very rarely down to working “harder” or “longer”. It comes down to passionate creatives investing the emotional and creative energy into great work. If your agency is doing their job they are making you money, it is in everyone’s best interest for both parties to prosper.

On a side note: From experience, if your agency runs on any model that pays a percentage of your ad spend to cover their creative services, it is time to question that. (ie % kickback from media organisation to place an ad) You don’t want there to be any incentive for your agency to promote you raising ad spend unnecessarily. Pay them correctly for their work and get honest, unbiased advice when it comes to ad spend on any campaign. (This does change when it comes to management of PPC campaigns)

8) Don’t haggle with your agency

This is a great time to look internally. Your products and services took years to develop and master. Your team learn and improve daily. Advertising is no different. Each medium changes rapidly, audiences react differently, and production methods change as quick as the technology they rely on.

Whether you like it or not, a successful agency/client relationship requires both organisations to work as a team. You both have the exact same goal, for your business to succeed! During the pitch process you negotiate on dollar figures. It is good practice to have set review periods for pricing, services etc. In between, don’t haggle with your agency. It is a waste of both parties’ time, resources and is a great way to kill morale of what could be your businesses most crucial relationship.

9) Be candid, and encourage candour

Your relationship with your agency can be the difference between success and failure. That doesn’t mean everything has to be rainbows and unicorns though. Mistakes are made, briefs are missed and sometimes you are just on a different page. It is critically important that you speak to your agency with complete honesty. If you receive draft work and note something wrong, let them know quickly and concisely the problem and importantly, why it is a problem. Don’t let them waste time and money guessing what you want and don’t let fear of upsetting the agency hold you back from getting exactly what you need out of your campaigns. This candour will encourage your agency to reciprocate meaning more effective campaigns, better value and better relationships during the good and bad times. Provide accurate feedback based on tangible effects that can be seen in your business not based on your personal emotion or what your friend thought of the campaign.

Side note: This is not an opportunity to play mind games with your agency. No one wins out of this situation. You have hired the agency to help your business, they need positive results for your business to thrive themselves. Speak with absolute honesty, remove the emotion and work together to constantly find solutions to your business problems.

10) Set high standards

No one is more passionate about your business then you. Let your agency know your goals and stay committed to achieving them. If your campaigns are set around small tasks that give you the satisfaction of “value” at the expense of big result campaigns, then it is time to revaluate your approach. It is cheaper and easier in the age of digital marketing to have your daily jobs done in house. Work on the “big stuff” with your agency. Hold them to it and settle for nothing less than the best you can both achieve at the time. (within time/budget constraints) Sell your passion and motivation to your agency, at the end of the day they must sell that very same thing to your entire audience. There is an art to this however, a balance that needs to be maintained for everyone’s sake. You need to be very critical of all work to ensure only the best is produced, that means you need to be just as generous with your accolades.

To create truly amazing campaigns you can never settle, you can also never forget to celebrate the wins!

Points 11-15 coming soon.

Agree, Disagree or want to elaborate further? Comment below

Let’s say I am looking for a new car. If my local dealership doesn’t meet my requirements I am no longer limited to dealing with them. Within minutes I can have pages of dealers across the country in which I can deal with via phone and email as well as view videos and pictures of the car. Sight unseen online sales of cars have increased dramatically in recent years and there is no signs of slowing. More broadly across the automotive industry however there is a shift back to the local business. The increase in online sales does not mean the end of customer service and branding, in fact it is more important then ever. A consumer will travel longer distances and go to more effort just to deal with a business that they have a connection with.

What does this have to do with how professional your business is?

With so much choice on offer and the ability to shop around, your business needs to stand out. Consumers are sold on personality. Your personality (for sole traders) or your team/business personality (larger companies) needs to show through in everything you do. Every day when I drive into our office I drive past a mechanic that has now stepped into second hand car sales. They spent a small fortune building an extension, updating their showroom and installing new signage. This is great for building long term trust in the business however I wouldn’t have even noticed them if it wasn’t for one clever move. They have an old sign board out the front. Every week or so it is updated with a new saying, quote, or joke. It is always done in a tasteful way and is more often than not cleverly linked back to a product or service they have for sale. This is obviously not for everyone, you need to have the inspiration to continue updating and entertaining the passing traffic. What this simple sign board does is command attention. I would pass 50 mechanics each day, however it is this one that every day I look at as I drive past. It drives me to know more about the business but more importantly instantly gives me the confidence that I am going to be greeted by happy creative people when I enter. It sounds like a lot to draw from a simple sign board out the front of a shop but this is what clever affective marketing does.

Personality is the key! You still need to have the quality branding, the uniforms and all the typical items associated with a professional business. The trick is, you can’t be afraid to stand out. Learn more about your target demographic, add the personality of you and your employees and you are on the right track. There is no point running a Bentley style commercial if you are selling $20 000 cars and vice versa.

If you want to discuss how your business can stand out and build its own personality contact us today.

We live in an exciting time. Technology doesn’t just add to our lifestyle, it is an integral part. While you are reading this article there is a good chance you have multiple devices in front of you. How often are you reading something on your phone, while glancing over to your TV, or computer and nowadays you can check your smart watch, just in case you aren’t connected enough.

So what does this mean for the average person? You wake up and check your Facebook or you turn on the TV, both of which bombard you with consistent advertising opportunities, whether you’re aware of it or not – Even half the shows are an ad themselves! Next you hop into the car, tune into the radio and get hit by business after business trying to get their message into the front of your mind. It goes on and on, from the moment we wake up to the moment we go to sleep, we are hammered by advertising messages.

So with endless opportunities to reach your customer, advertising in the tech era should be easy right? It is simple, you just put your product on your website and social media profiles, customers will see it and the sales come rolling in. With all these different avenues, it would seem that it has never been easier to advertise your product… at least, that is the common thought.

The bottom line is that anyone can get their product online – the real talent is in making yourself standout from the market. It is simple, in the age to technology, quality creative is still king! The lines between entertainment and advertising have never been so blurred. To earn the attention of your customers you need to entertain. Break through the white noise with the kind of genuine content that your ideal customer wants to consume. Successfully integrate that entertainment with your product and the opportunities open up. Beyond sales you are able to drive brand loyalty, connect with your consumer and grow your business with the market.

An exciting example of creative strategy and the latest technology was the recent Porsche campaign run in Melbourne by oOh! Media. The billboard outside Melbourne Airport used cameras to detect a Porsche approaching and automatically changed the message to “It’s so easy to pick you out of the crowd”. This campaign was creative and exciting for all involved. The driver of the Porsche feels special, driving home brand loyalty. Other commuters witness the special treatment of a Porsche owner which further perpetuates the premium branding of the car manufacturer while millions around the country spent weeks talking about the campaign. This was creative, bold and a thoroughly entertaining way for Porsche to engage with their customer base. Full article here.

Unless you are dealing with an essential item or service, you need to provide motivation to purchase your product. Or better yet find and engage with those already motivated. Think about how your customer consumes your product. What sort of person are they? What age group? Where do they spend most of their time? Once you know the basics it is then about using a creative strategy to reach, entertain and engage with them.

It is this creative strategy and implementation that we here at AusGarage work with every client to discover. Your brand needs to stand out from the crowd, advertising is not a game of follow the leader, it is about being bold, being different and engaging with your consumer in a way your competitors haven’t.

If you have any questions about your Marketing or Advertising for your Automotive business, we would love to meet with you and see how we can help.

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Relative to our bigger neighbours, Australia is a small market. Break that down to automotive businesses in Australia and it gets significantly smaller. Despite our size and customer base the auto industry has proven time and time again that we can lead the way. We are lucky enough to enjoy a wealth of quality products and workshops that are dedicated to delivering world class services.

So why can’t we get along?

It doesn’t matter what industry you are in, you are in for a long hard slog if you try and do it alone. Working with other auto businesses is more than just having beers on a Friday arvo. (Although that is a good start!) It is about identifying strengths in another business and working towards a mutually beneficial goal. Co-Branded products are one the most effective ways to promote a product. Co-Branding builds both businesses as well as increasing your potential customer reach. Do you have a product that could be better or sell faster by using another businesses distribution network or production?

Some great examples are the Toyota – Subaru agreement that lead to the production of the 86/BRZ. Two competitor companies that managed to Co-Brand a product with incredible success. We often see it overseas, workshops that will work with parts suppliers for the R&D and the launch of the product. The part supplier gets the product endorsement of the workshop while they in turn throw their marketing and product reach behind that particular workshop.

It can be as simple as finding a business that has a similar target audience but sells a different product.
So rather than always seeing competition, or wondering what could happen if only you had the facilities, bigger reach, or customer base. Get out there, talk to other auto businesses and see what is possible. As long as your brand values align there are plenty of opportunities to advance your business.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So how do you meet new businesses?

Networking can be hard, you have a busy enough schedule as it is. Running a business doesn’t often leave you with a lot of spare time to get out to different events. It is however essential. The old saying “you have to be in it to win it” rings very true when it comes to building valuable business partnerships. The classic notion of having to be at the office 9-5 is now a relic of the past. In order to build your business and your network you need to both create and capitalise on every opportunity that arises.  It might be something as easy as being at a local motorsport event, an industry function or simply communicating further with your existing network. Jump at opportunity and learn more about what Australian businesses can achieve together.

Next time you have the opportunity to meet new business contacts, remember these few tips:

• Schedule a meeting – NOW!

Lining up meetings can be difficult, especially over text or email. If you meet someone with whom you’d like to see again, set your next catch up on the same day that you meet. This ensures that you stay on their radar and takes the pressure of yourself to remember to do so after the event.

• Make meetings, not expectations.

It is very rare that you have the opportunity to walk into a meeting knowing exactly what the outcome will be. Do your homework on the business  behind the person you’re meeting with and the rest will follow from there.

• Be genuine – no one likes a wanker.

The age of the slick salesman is over, it’s now all about genuine business relationships. If you’re honest about your business and what you stand for then you’re going to be in the ideal position to foster positive business relationships with those you meet.

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Depending on their background, we come across many clients with their own media preferences. Those who have been using print media for years enjoy having something tangible with their brand that is distributed to a large volume of consumers. Another client may be drawn entirely to their own channels of digital media. It can be cheaper, more efficient and they get to focus on existing customers. The final client wants everyone talking, they want to release a video or image and for it to “go viral”. They see blogs, forums and consumers talking about products and they want to take advantage of it.

So which client has the right strategy?

The simple answer – none of them.

We say it time and time again, effective marketing is about doing all the little things correctly. Each strategy has its merits, they are all very effective ways to reach existing and potential customers. To market successfully you want to be using a number of these techniques as a holistic strategy. To do this, first you need to understand the difference between Paid Media, Owned Media and Earned media .

Paid Media

Paid media is when you purchase ad space or access to the consumers of that particular medium. If it is a magazine, you purchase a certain amount of space in order to deliver your chosen message to the readers of that issue. With social media, you may promote your own post to reach further users or to simply have your content viewed within their news feed (this can now be very targeted). Effectively, when using paid media, you are paying for the right to access someone else’s consumer base. This is highly effective for reach, just make sure you put the time and effort in to create the right message!

Owned Media

“It is cheaper to retain customers than find new ones”

With owned media your focus is placed on your existing communication channels. Your website, your email database, your own social media. Owned media is one of the most efficient ways to maximise your existing customer base. Why spend money on reaching 300,000 new potential customers if you are not fully utilising the 2,000 you already have following your business? Let existing customers know what you are doing, what current specials you have and find out what could be improved to service their needs further.

Earned Media

These are the campaigns you hear about, they are the ones that get plenty of media attention and generate talk at the water cooler. The thought often is that these campaigns are quick, easy and they just happened to be picked up and go viral. With the invention of Social Media these style campaigns have been becoming increasingly popular. You do not need to pay to reach consumers, instead the idea is that your content is interesting enough that it will be shared and distributed by interested consumers. Earned media is all about the strategy and the execution. You aren’t able to pay your way into the headspace of potential customers. You need to earn their attention through careful strategy and delivering quality, engaging content that is relevant to the values of your brand.

Now you know the difference between the different strategies. Take a look at how you market your automotive business. Which strategies do you currently use? Which ones could you utilise better? Look at your entire marketing efforts and break it down into each group, the most effective campaign will utilise elements of each to deliver your message clearly to the greatest amount of consumers.

Want to talk about developing effective strategies for your automotive business?

Contact us today to setup a meeting!
We would love to meet with you and see how we can help.

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The reality is, all advertising mediums work.

The important thing is that you choose the right ones for your business goals and you execute a strategy. Why spend all the money on buying the advert space and then throw in an image that was done by the receptionist a couple of years ago. Every single dollar you spend, whether it be local magazines, branding for your business, flyers, sponsorship etc. should be part of a clear strategy that works towards set business goals.

Successful marketing isn’t complex, it is simply doing all the small things right. This is something that the entire AusGarage team believes in and it is how we approach new campaigns and consistently deliver fantastic results. We run on a very simple strategy:

There are 3 key goals you want to achieve with the majority of marketing:

Trust, Reach and Engagement. All three aspects are equally as important and each one can be earned in a variety of different ways.

1. Trust – Show what your brand is made of
Trust is that warm and fuzzy feeling you get from a business – where you honestly believe that the business will do everything they can to help you in your purchase. It is what builds loyalty to a brand and what makes you recommend it to your friends. Inevitably trust is what allows millions of people every day to purchase items and services sight unseen from websites and over the phone.

From a marketing point, your brand builds trust through multiple areas. Your physical premises, whether it be a workshop, parts warehouse or an office. How your physical location presents does a lot for consumer confidence. Just as important is your website. Even if your business is not based online, your website is the virtual face of your business and needs to be at or above the standard of the rest of your branding.

Best Mediums for Trust: Branded premises, Website, Consistent Branding

2. Reach – Hit your target audience
Reach is generally the first thought when business owners look at advertising their product/service – “How many people are going to see the ad?”. It is also one of the most misunderstood areas when it comes to marketing and advertising.  Reach is crucial to any successful campaign. You could have the Prime Minister sinking a beer while endorsing your brand and it wouldn’t matter if it doesn’t reach the right audience. Reach however only matters if you have the right content and sales funnel to engage your audience and deliver a clear brand message. While a video going “viral” is great, you can’t just stick your brand and the end of a funny cat video and expect that to drive viewers to purchase your product. (unless your business sells funny cat videos, in that case disregard the last comment).

There are two main ways to achieve reach. One is paid media, you purchase a magazine page, radio spots, promoted social media posts. You are paying to use the reach of that particular medium. That is why publications sell advertising based on number of visitors, readers, subscribers etc.

The other is earned media. This is the tricky one, the one that every business owner wants to achieve. It offers the prospect of a massive audience for little outlay in purchasing advertising space. This can definitely be achieved, it is however not a game of certainty. Importance needs to be placed on generating exciting genuine and entertaining content. If that ad is then put in the hands of those who operate your large blogs, social media pages and websites, with a little luck it can deliver amazing results. This really comes down to the agency you use and their ability to create amazing content and utilise their contact list for distribution.

Best Mediums for Reach: Social Media, Print Adverts, Sponsorship, Radio/TV, Google Adwords

3. Engagement – Get to know your brand

Engagement takes reach to the next level. Once your message is in front of your audience you want them to react. Engagement helps your business sell products, learn from your audience and build your customer base. There is nothing stronger than brand recommendations from someone the consumer trusts. Testimonials have always been the tried and tested way to show this recommendation.

With the current dominance of social media there are numerous new and effective ways to achieve this. Every time someone comments, likes or shares something relating to your brand they are in effect recommending it to their friends. The more a consumer interacts with your brand, the more brand loyalty they are likely to build and this plays a major part when it comes to the point of purchase.

Lastly, it is always a great idea to get out and in front of new potential clientele at trade and exhibition events. Events provide a perfect opportunity for people to get to know the business outside of the office/garage, and allows for a concentrated and targeted audience to discover your brand or product.

Best Mediums for Engagement: Consistent Social Media Posts, Trade Displays, Competitions

Whatever your marketing style, if you are consistently addressing all 3 aspects of the Successful Marketing Triangle then you can rest assured your brand will continue to grow and reap in the benefits of effective marketing.

Need help developing an effective marketing strategy? Do not hesitate to contact AusGarage and organise a meeting with us today.

You know your business has a great product. You know that other automotive businesses would use it if you got the chance to talk to them. The benefits are obvious, you just need to get them out to those looking. So what is stopping you? One of the biggest limitations for any business is time. Short of having a dedicated sales team, how do you contact all the businesses that would use your product? Emails get ignored, cold calls are intrusive and you don’t have the time to be visiting each and every business personally.

AusGarage specialise in working with Automotive brands to deliver targeted distribution campaigns. These polished professional packs deliver quality branding for your business. It contains all the necessary information on your products and how they will benefit the potential trade customer or reseller. With databases provided it is as simple as a quick follow up after the packs are received…that is, if businesses aren’t already calling you! The best part is AusGarage will design, print, assemble and mail out all packs so you can focus on what you do best.

If you want to get your product out there quickly, now is the time.

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