Smaller marketing sells

Are you looking for a silver bullet when it comes to selling more products? Something that won't cost wheelbarrows of money but is easily measured to help gauge results?

Donny Seyfer

Jan. 1, 2020

4 min read

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Are you looking for a silver bullet when it comes to selling more products? Something that won't cost wheelbarrows of money but is easily measured to help gauge results? Then invest in your customers. Most of you know that buying media at a local level is cheaper than at a national level, but you may overlook it because it doesn't have as much reach. A great way to make local media effective is to promote the customers who sell your product. That way you get a grass roots connection to your product. Believe me, this tactic really works.

Let me give you an example of a large company using local media. I host a pair of car related talk radio shows in the Denver area, one of which is a high performance show called GearHeads High Performance Radio. The show is very different from other performance offerings in that it is a nuts-and-bolts call-in show for hot rodders. Our major sponsor is K&N Engineering, a product line that both my co-host John Rush and I sell. K&N felt that the Denver market presented some challenges and opportunities for them, so they signed on to be a sponsor.

The show provided an opportunity for K&N to talk directly to the consumer regarding the "myth" of mass air flow (MAF) sensors being contaminated by the company's filters and what testing revealed. Live commercials and visits to the show from the company's R&D manager, Rich Dwyer, had significant positive return on an annual investment of $9,000, plus travel expenses for live studio visits. As customers of K&N, we're now selling more of their product and — with their support — we've even hosted hands-on events for consumers and technicians to help them learn about and embrace the product.

Another scenario exists where a group of repair shops in the Denver market pooled their advertising money to give them a presence normally available only to dealers. These repair shops happen to be NAPA AutoCare Centers. NAPA has supported this subset of its NAPA AutoCare program in Colorado both financially and organizationally, which has resulted in the Denver NAPA distribution center having one of the highest sales per AutoCare center in the country. Could you take an idea like this and make it work on some scale with your customers? I believe that the answer is yes.

Advertisements that endorse a third party are the most sought after marketing. Everyone wants someone famous to say they are good at what they do. Your customers will purr like kittens if you put out an ad that calls them a trusted partner. Some of you might be saying, "We do this with advertising co-op." While that is true, I think you will find it more effective to apply your marketing experience and work collaboratively with your customers. Most of your good customers probably are great at customer service and turning wrenches, but are not as good with the fine points of buying media. On the other hand, they may possess an admirable understanding of their customer that can work to your mutual advantage.

When you are looking at your annual budget for marketing, I encourage you to invest in your customers directly. Try partnering with them to create a completely different dimension to your marketing plan — one that will support more sales and complement your current programs. Let me know how it works for you.

Donny Seyfer is a second-generation repair shop owner and ASE Master Technician. An active industry educator, Seyfer hosts two automotive radio shows, serves as chairman of the Automotive Service Association of Colorado, works nationally to help repair shops with IT and service information utilization and writes for Motor Age, a sister publication of Aftermarket Business.