Articles

The above headline is a famous quote from John Wanamaker that always struck a nerve with me. Especially back when I was a Dealer Principal myself.

In 1875, Wanamaker purchased an old abandoned railroad depot and converted it into a large store, called John Wanamaker & Co. “The Grand Depot” is considered one of the first true department store chains beginning in Philadelphia, then New York, and even expanding abroad with locations in London and Paris. He went on to become a pioneer in merchandising and advertising and is credited with the invention of the price tag, the money back guarantee, and was the first retailer to ever place a full page newspaper ad. Worth well over $100 million at the time of his death in 1922, Wanamaker was also known for writing his own ad copy, a tedious and under-valued task most retailers don’t fully recognize.

Part of the cause for ad copy not receiving the attention it deserves is the fact that most media providers claim that their delivery method is the Holy grail, and as long as you choose my radio station, TV, billboard, newspaper, email system, direct mail, social media, etc. you will be making the best decision. The actual message (copy) becomes an afterthought.

The fact is our four-legged stool analogy of right message, right market, right media, right time is a requirement for a successful advertising campaign. Take any one of those 4 components out of the equation, take a four-legged stool, and knock off one leg, and the entire stool is broken. I suspect Wanamaker was a smart enough guy he figured this out, but probably the hard way, just as I did, by wasting tens of thousands of dollars on lame branding type messages that generated no quantifiable results. This would explain why he was reluctant to delegate such a critical step in his advertising, creating the message. And this is why I still review damn near every piece of copy that goes out of this building for both us and clients by seeding myself on campaigns. 

The goal of your message is to attract, not repel; to create affinity, not isolate those not in the market today; to generate leads, not build a brand (with proper messages branding is a happy byproduct). Or, as marketing legend Dan Kennedy says, the goal of your message is “to be a welcomed guest, not a nagging pest.” Here are the three biggies I play close attention to.  

Plain Vanilla – The most common challenge with marketing messages created by big corporate agencies is that they are boring, not interesting, and not personal.  Vanilla ice cream is popular no doubt, a good choice if you’re trying to play it safe and appeal to everyone. However, vanilla can have a competitive disadvantage because it is much less interesting than flavored ice creams. Take pistachio for example, while pistachio may appeal to a narrower crowd, those that do buy it don’t just like it, they love it. They’re raving fans, passionate about their preferred flavor. The goal of pistachio isn’t to appeal to the masses, it’s to engage its pre-defined niche really well.

People are interested in people, not brick and mortar. When you send your message from a person to a person (one to one marketing) you can inject personality, which creates relationships. As Gitomer says, make a sale and earn a commission, make a friend and earn a fortune. When your message is being delivered to proven riders in your back yard versus the masses, your message can be more colorful and build affinity which leads to loyalty, which leads to referrals. 

Relevant – Why send out a stiff corporate direct mail and email campaign promoting a finance offer on a single category of units? If your reach is 10,000 people how many do you think are in the market to buy that category today? Less than 2%, right?  You can take that same media, same target audience and create a clear and simple message that is applicable to all on your list and generates quantifiable sales leads telling you exactly what they are currently interested in whether it is new units, used units, parts, accessories, clothing or service. Doesn’t crafting your message to target all recipients make more sense than making 98% think all you care about is trying to sell them the big ticket item?

One and Done – To build a true and authentic relationship you have to be consistent. How do your customers feel about your communication with them? Excited? Eager? Interested? Or neutral, take it or leave it? Bored or Disinterested? I don’t know about you, but when my local car dealer sends me a new car sale mailer once a quarter I’m usually pretty disinterested. Do your messages feel authentic, genuine and trusted or do they feel artificial, self-serving, and contrived? When you commit to touching your buying base with interesting and relevant messages 52 to 104 times per year you will improve retention and grow new market share through repeat and referral business. Guaranteed. 

If you’re tired of wasting half the money you spend on marketing, we’d love for you to join us at our Fall Marketing Boot Camp Oct. 24th through the 26th or call us today at 877-242-4472 and we’ll happily walk you through our secret formula for crafting effective messages.

Heartland Honda is a family owned and operated Honda Powerhouse dealer.  In fact, they were the first Powerhouse dealer in the state of Arkansas. Owner/General Manager, Greg Donahoe takes a lot of pride in having a highly trained staff that has exceptional product knowledge and that has the highest customer rating on Google over any other Honda dealer in the state.  Greg knows that as a single-line powersports dealership, it’s critical that they set themselves apart from all the other multi-line Honda dealers and that it’s his customers that will help set him apart.  

One of the primary reasons that anyone starts riding, is the influence of family and friends.  So, Greg worked with our

team to tap into another way to let that influence help set him apart from his competitors and grow his business.  We created a Facebook advertising campaign.  The demographic on Facebook’s social media platform lands firmly in the motorcycle industry’s demographic, making the allocated budget an appropriate ad spend.  Plus, with Facebook, Greg is able to target only folks in his market who have expressed an interest in motorcycles.  So, no wasted money on advertising to people who don’t ride or don’t care about what he sells. And best yet, his Facebook advertising is totally quantifiable.  So we set up a campaign to drive traffic to his website, instead of growing his page likes.  Greg was looking for ways to generate sales, not friends.  He’d let his quality customer service convert buyers into friends once they were in the dealership.

In one month, the campaign generated 834 website clicks, with a reach (how many people in his market saw his ad) of 24,037.  That’s a TON of visibility and a huge increase in website traffic for only $255, which breaks down to a cost-per-click of about $.31!  These results are even more impressive when you consider that each ad not only has the objective to drive website clicks, but additionally, can increase engagement on the post and increase likes to the Heartland Honda Facebook page all as a happy byproduct and for no extra cost. In fact, for the same time period, that ad campaign also generated 28 new page likes, 24 likes to the ad/post itself, and 2 people shared the post on their newsfeed.  That’s an incredible value for only $255, while still targeting the right audience with quantifiable results.  Greg is a business owner that’s in tune with how to leverage the most impactful marketing avenues to generate new business through the influence of friends and family.

Want to see how a professionally managed Facebook advertising campaign can give you the biggest bang for your buck?  Let us show you how a targeted social media campaign can be a powerful supplement to your current digital marketing strategy. Give us a call for a FREE demonstration or to get a FREE quote on the Local Web Dominator program: 877-242-4472 or visit us online at www.PowersportsMarketing.com 

DEALERSHIP:

In 1978, Chuck and Mary Cox made their dream a reality when they opened Hampton Roads H-D in Yorktown, VA. Today,

they’ve grown that single store into a five store dealership group that includes Southside H-D, Harley Haven, Revolutionary H-D and Virginia Beach H-D. Still family owned, they devote their success to their legendary customer service and the many long-standing relationships built over the years.

SOLUTION:

There’s really two types of dealers out there…there are market driven dealers and then there are marketing driven dealers. A market driven dealer makes reactive advertising decisions and randomly pays for one-and-done billboard, radio, TV, and newspaper campaigns because they know they should be advertising. No one says you can’t grow the business with poor advertising, but a lot of the growth dealerships experience comes from well-timed weather, an improving market and economy, or a focus on sales process and training. Customers are solar powered; when the suns out they’re out. When the market is up, business is up; when it’s down, business is down. A marketing driven dealer has a pro-active, integrated, direct marketing plan designed to touch their buying base 52 to 104 times per year that is quantifiable. Barring natural disaster, a marketing driven dealer experiences predictable growth. 

The Sharp Shooter Program puts more control in dealers’ hands by implementing a S.Y.S.T.E.M. for Predictable Growth. Here’s how:

1) We Grow Your Active Customers, defined by folks who’ve spent money with your dealership in the last 12 months. We do this by reactivating lost customers (those who haven’t spent money with you in the last 12 months) and by driving new customers through the door (these are competitor’s customers and orphan owners that ride what you sell, live in your backyard but have never bought from you). If we can increase the number of customers who do business with you each year, your business will grow.

2) We Increase Your Annual, Average Customer Value by increasing the frequency of visits to your dealership. Let’s face it, when your customers walk through your doors, they are kids in a candy store…they can’t help themselves but to spend money. If we can just increase the amount of times they visit your dealership each year, they will buy more parts, more accessories, more gear, they’ll service their unit more often and they’ll shorten their trade cycle. We know past customers who are loyal (they like, know and trust you, so your closing ratios go through the roof along with your margin) are less likely to haggle over price.

By focusing all your time, energy and marketing dollars on driving past customers and other riders in your backyard who haven’t bought from you as frequently as possible, you will grow your business predictably despite the weather, market or economy.

Once we identify your Buying Base, we give them up to 12 opportunities to respond to a survey site to capture contact information and generate leads for every department of the dealership, and walk through the dealership’s door on event day. Short-term, Sharp Shooter Events drive a ton of traffic and typically generate hundreds of leads from proven riders in our clients’ backyard. Some dealers make the mistake of doing a one-and-done campaign because that’s what they’re used to doing, only to do another one month’s later. The real secret to predictable growth lies in consistently marketing to your Dealership’s Buying Base. Your goal should be to touch your customers 52-104 times per year. At this frequency, you are guaranteed to create affinity with your buying base, increase frequency of visits to the dealership and ultimately grow sales in all departments. Give them more reasons to walk through your door, and they will buy more from you.

RESULTS:

Danny & Chad Cox attended our Spring Marketing Boot Camp and quickly tried their 1st Sharp Shooter in March. At the time of this article, they are planning their 5th Sharp Shooter event with us. One fundamental component of the program is focusing the message on the party and not the sale. This is exactly what Hampton Roads H-D did with their St. Patrick’s Day Party, Spring Open House and Memorial Day Event. Most dealers think if you don’t have a ‘sales focused-message’, they won’t sell anything. Hampton Roads generated a total of 287 new and pre-owned unit leads in their first three SS campaigns by focusing on the party!

So for the fourth campaign, they decided to throw a tent sale wrapped around a party and made sure to invite the 287 people who said they wanted to buy a bike. They sold 75 bikes in the first four days of June during their 4-Day Tent Event. This month they’re back to planning parties with their 4th of July Celebration on July 1st-3rd.

LOOKING FORWARD:

What’s next? Before marketing with us, some of our clients made the mistake of pulling back their marketing dollars in the summer hoping for good weather and a stable economy to keep their business going. Don’t make that mistake. Be a Marketing Driven Dealer by focusing on touching your buying base 52-104 times this year and make some more hay while the sun shines. 

For more information on how the Sharp Shooter Program can help make this the best summer you’ve ever had, give me a ring on my direct line at 877-242-4472 ext: 112 or visit us at www.PowersportsMarketing.com/sample-campaigns. Happy selling.

Don't Pull The Trigger Too Quick!

Closing the Sale isn't magic, and of course there isn't one 'closing technique' that works all the time. However, this Quick Takes video focuses on how to avoid a misfire! 

Click the video to watch... 

Last month I wrote about my trip to the Atlanta Digital Summit, and how we saw and learned quite a bit in the short time it lasted.

One of the things that struck me was the important part email is playing in digital marketing. 

Every year for at least the past 7 or so, there are critics who come out and say that e-mail is officially dead, and being replaced by (fill in the social media du jure). 

It never happens. And I don’t foresee it happening anytime soon. As a matter of fact, the opposite is actually true.

Email remains one of the most effective tools in your dealership’s arsenal of marketing tools, and a lot of dealers aren’t using it, or are not making the best use of it.

Here are some interesting stats about e-mail:

72% of consumers say that email is their favored conduit of communication with companies they do business with.  -MarketingSherpa

61% say they like to receive promotional emails WEEKLY, and 28% want them even more frequently. -MarketingSherpa 

53% of emails are now opened on mobile devices. -Campaign Monitor

23% of readers who open an email on a mobile device open it again later. -Campaign Monitor

92% of online adults use email, with 61% using it daily. -Pew Research

For every $1 spent, email generates $38 in ROI. -Campaign Monitor

Email marketing drives more conversions than any other marketing channel, including search and social. -Monetate

I could go on a lot longer, but it’s pretty easy to see what I mean. Email marketing is stronger than ever, and can be a pretty amazing way to generate sales and profits if executed properly. 

The challenge is, how do you execute it properly?

At Powersports Marketing, we believe that email marketing works, and we also believe in living what we preach. That means that if you ever hear us telling you that you should be doing something, you can rest assured that we are doing it ourselves.

When it comes to email marketing, we do it. A lot of it. If we have your email address, you already know that. 

We use email marketing because it is a proven winner. It’s a great way to get a direct response marketing message directly to a prospect. According to a Forrester Research study, better than 90% of emails get to an intended recipient’s inbox, vs. 2% in a Facebook feed.

But back to the how…

Frankly, it can be very intimidating. I remember 7 years ago when we made the commitment to consistent email marketing. I’d sit down in front of my computer, looking at a blank screen, trying to come up with something meaningful to say. It was tough.

As time went by, we all got better at it, and it’s turned out to be a really great way to communicate with our regular clients and prospects. We send out emails and the number of replies we get is pretty cool to see. And yes, many of the responses are folks saying they want to participate in campaigns we are running, or sign up for our LWD program. 

I’m being transparent here, but that’s how it’s supposed to work. And it does.

I’m saying that because it can and will work that way for you as a dealer just as well. In a passion based industry, people WANT to hear from you. Let them.

You also have an advantage that we didn’t have when we got started. You have the ability to use Firestorm, the first email program designed specifically for the powersports industry BY industry experts and enthusiasts.

That’s a big deal, because the only thing as bad as staring at a blank screen to try and muster up your mojo, is trying to figure out how to make some generic, somewhat feminine, non-awe-inspiring, lukewarm template look “powersports-ish” AND get some mojo going. Am I right?

The cool thing about Firestorm is that it has totally customizable premade templates designed specifically for the powersports industry that get you inspired just by looking at them.

You won’t have to worry about what to say, because the graphics start the conversation for you. It’s awesome.

Even better news is that Firestorm is currently being offered at no additional charge for LWD clients, so if you are a current client – try it! If you aren’t a current client, now is the perfect time to become one and get one of the greatest marketing tools in our industry at no additional charge.

Do me a favor, add me to your email list when you give it a shot: bcannon@powersportsmarketing.com. I’d love to see what you come up with.

I’d love to hear (and see) your success stories. Another great time to tell me how it works for you is at our Fall Marketing Boot Camp. It’ll be a great time to share with me as well as with other dealers from across the country, and learn more about marketing strategies that work, backed up by real world stories and data.

See you this fall.

In the last issue (#84) I wrote about the 4 pillars of marketing (right audience, right message, right media, right time) being a test to run any and all advertising through. This applies to digital marketing too. There are advertising options out there that fall under the ‘digital marketing’ umbrella that are either a complete waste of money or simply not a good fit.

Our Local Web Dominator contains the most crucial elements of digital marketing, and it passes the ‘4 pillars test’. 

AUDIENCE:

There may not be a better audience than the folks who are actively doing a search (or searches) for a product you sell.  When a prospect Googles “2016 Street Glide” or “Color Options on New Yamaha Raider” (or anything else you sell) they’ve immediately passed the test.

MESSAGE:

All of our digital marketing maintains a well-crafted message that we tailor to the individual (what they’re searching for and more). Our messages always include a call-to-action that answers the question “Why should I click on this?”.

MEDIA:

The worst number in marketing is 1, meaning you have to diversify. Diversity equals stability. That’s why our Local Web Dominator includes multiple media, and other important features that generate business for your dealership:

•Firestorm Email System: Email is often overlooked as a digital media, but it’s a powerful way to increase customer purchases and loyalty. Our in-house development team has created the first and only email system dedicated specifically to the motorcycle industry.  Firestorm enables you to create original, creative emails in minutes that contain professional graphics designed for motorcycle enthusiasts by motorcycle enthusiasts. 

•Search Marketing (i.e. Google AdWords): It’s no secret that the vast majority of folks do research online before purchasing a product. You have to be visible when prospects are searching, and make sure you’re seen. Our years of dealership experience combined with our appetite to study and be marketing Gurus has led us to develop a Pay-Per-Click strategy that trumps any and every other company out there.  

•Display Advertising/Retargeting/Geo-Fencing: These add additional layers we utilize to reach riders who may not be

actively searching (and therefore we can’t reach with Search Marketing), enabling us to use a good media to put the right message in front of the right people.

•Grow Online Reviews: Reviews are completely shaping what a person purchases, and who they purchase it from. We create a review site for your dealership and activate an automated review acquisition system that grows Google reviews and makes you the obvious choice to do business with in your market area.

•Identify Unhappy/Lost Customers:  When our review acquisition system uncovers an unhappy customer we keep it private and notify you and your management team. Now you can save those customers and ensure they continue doing business with you.

•Boost SEO: The review site we create provides a huge SEO benefit, but we take it a step further. We create a uniform visibility across directory listing sites, which increases your backlinks/citations and makes your site more visible.

•Social Media Marketing: Social Media is ever evolving, and knowing which ones to take advantage of (and how) is only becoming more and more difficult. We cut through the clutter and get quantifiable results in the areas that matter.

•Lead Magnet: This form opens automatically when a customer visits your new and used inventory pages and offers an incentive to give you their contact information and tell you what they’re most interested in. Increasing your visitor-to-lead conversion means more quote requests, and ultimately more units sold. 

TIME:

We ensure you’re in front of the prospects who are searching and interested RIGHT NOW.  

To answer the original question, if it were my dealership, I’d spend at least 40% of my budget towards digital marketing. With the balance, I’d be investing in the Predictable Growth System that Eric writes about in his Case Study… check it out. 

For more information on our Predictable Growth System, or on how our Local Web Dominator can help you excel in all three areas of the search engine results page (SERP)… organic search, paid search, and Google Maps call
1-877-242-4472, or visit www.PowersportsMarketing.com.

-Tory

When I was a teenager I had a job at the local golf course, picking up the driving range, maintaining the carts, etc. I played a little golf here and there, but once I had enough money to buy myself a truck and a dirt bike I never touched a club again for 20+ years. In fact, I eventually even put a decal on my ol’ Mustang that read: Throttle Jockey - Because Golf Courses Should be Motocross Tracks.

My father and uncles all rode hare scrambles and enduros when I was a kid. I had a few mini bikes early on, but when my dad hung up his leathers, my riding days were put on hold and replaced with stick and ball sports. As a kid, I always knew when I got old enough I wanted to race like my dad and uncles did. And, racing I did. Clearly, it was in my blood. I was “eat, sleep, drink, and breath” motorcycle racing from the time I was 19 years old until my early-to-mid 30’s. Racing motorcycles led me to friends who raced mountain bikes and road bikes, which led me to friends who raced triathlons. All of which I eventually participated in after retiring from motorcycle racing. 

Fast forward to a few years ago and the guys here at the office started a little golf outing tradition once a year. On a whim, I decided to go out and enjoy the scenery with my friends and colleagues and ride around, hit a few balls and drink a few beers. I had a good time, but I didn’t give it much thought until the next year. I decided to go again, but this time I hit a couple of decent shots and it piqued my curiosity.  It’s borderline discomforting for me to share this with my 2-wheel friends, but now I try to play golf once a week. 

There’s a big marketing lesson here. Every hobby I’ve been involved with over the past 25 years has come as a result of the influence from friends and family. Not as a result of advertisements. My self-image was so anti-golf that the manufacturers couldn’t have converted me to golfing if they gifted me a set of 14kt gold clubs. 

This is why targeting your marketing directly to existing riders and improving their ownership experience is hands down the best way to invest your limited budget. Notice I said ownership experience. When you create happy customers, they become raving fans, their enthusiasm is contagious and they begin to influence their friends and family members to ride (They also stay longer, pay more, and refer you more business). 

When I play golf with the guys, we’ll often put a small wager on the game. I’m not really a big gambler, but I’ve noticed gambling and marketing have two things in common that interest me. Mathematical odds and behavioral psychology. When you go to Vegas, payback percentages and frequency are greatest on the $.25 and $.50 slots, somewhere in the 10% range. When you move up to the $1 slots you drop to 8%-ish, then $5 you’re down to 6% payout. In Vegas you’re eventually likely to lose, but you can buy more entertainment by playing better odds. 

Fortunately, with your dealership’s marketing you can play the odds and psychology game and win. 

If you spend $5,000 to advertise on the radio around your entire metro city take these odds into consideration. With satellite radio, mp3, audiobooks, etc. not everyone listens to the radio anymore. Even if they do listen to the radio, you’re not guaranteed to be on the rock or country station that riders choose. And even if you do, most people don’t pay attention to commercials. If you’re not the closest dealer to riders the radio ad could potentially just send a prospect to their local dealer. From an odds perspective how would you rate your radio ad in improving the riders in your back yards’ ownership experience so they will frequent your dealership more often and influence more new riders to join the sport?

Now consider throwing a Summer Sizzler party at your dealership. You send a personal invitation to your existing customers via email, telephone, direct mail and social media. You also invite a few conquest customers (those who live in your backyard, ride what you sell, but haven’t done business with you). You offer a fun (non-salesy) incentive for your guests to share what’s on their mind on a custom landing page. As a result, you have hundreds of customers who have raised their hands and told you exactly what they want (sales opportunities), and you haven’t even had your party yet. How would you compare these odds of improving rider’s ownership experience compared to your radio campaign?

Now, what if you committed to improving the ownership experience of riders in your backyard 12 months out of the year with a SYSTEM that has very high odds of producing Predictable Growth? With smart marketing, and the latest technology you can play the odds to win in your favor.

To discover more, join us at our Fall Marketing Boot Camp Oct. 24th through the 26th or call us today at 877-242-4472.

Most motorcycle dealerships are run by passionate motorcyclist enthusiasts who wanted their very own ‘toy store’ and the crew at Volusia Motorsports in New Smyrna Beach, Florida is no exception.  Megan Pallemaerts, Marketing Manager at Volusia Motorsports, knows that even though she’d love to be at the races all-day, every-day, it’s important to share that level of enthusiasm with their customers on a regular basis. In fact, she is always on the hunt to find ways to give their customers ‘fun on wheels.’ 

One of the fastest, easiest, most dependable ways to communicate with customers on a regular basis is through email.  So, Megan was delighted to use the new Firestorm email system to start sending fun emails to her customer list. After seeing the cool graphics and templates available in Firestorm, she invested the time it took to learn the program and start sending emails from Firestorm right away.

Using the fully themed templates within Firestorm, Megan is consistently getting 25-26% open rates in each one of her emails.  Additionally, she’s asking folks to sign up for her newsletter now and dropping those emails into Firestorm.  Her list has DOUBLED in the 2 months she’s been putting a focus on email marketing.  Plus, according to Megan, there has been tons of engagement with each email she sends.  She’s loving how easy the system is to use and that she’s able to send out really creative emails in a matter of minutes without having to have a graphic artist on staff to create custom emails each time.   It’s all done for her in Firestorm.

Want to have an email marketing program that is designed just for the Powersports industry that can help you get that

kind of positive response from your emails? The Firestorm email program is included for FREE within the Local Web Dominator program. Give us a call for a FREE demonstration or to get a FREE quote on the Local Web Dominator program: 877-242-4472 or visit us online at www.PowersportsMarketing.com 

Arkport Cycles is a family-run business since 1972. They are a Top 100 Dealer and one of the largest dealers in New York State for H-D, Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha, & Arctic Cat. 

The Sharp Shooter Program starts by finding every real opportunity you have to sell a unit in your backyard. This is exactly where we started with Arkport Cycles. We call these folks your ‘Dealership’s Buying Base’ and it’s made up of two types of customers 1) Past Customers who’ve spent money with the dealership in one of your departments in the last four years and live in close proximity to the dealership and 2) Conquest Customers, or people who ride what you sell, live in your backyard, but haven’t bought from you. These are competitor’s customers and other orphan owners in your local market area. If you focus all your time, energy and marketing dollars on driving these two groups of customers through the door as frequently as possible, you will grow your business.

Once we identify the Right Audience, we give them up to 12 opportunities to respond to a survey site to capture contact information and generate leads for every department of the dealership, and walk through the dealership’s door on event day. Short-term, Sharp Shooter events do an excellent job of giving dealers a shot in the arm. They generate hundreds of leads from proven riders in their backyard, and typically drive a ton of traffic on the day of the event. But the real secret lies in consistently marketing to your dealership’s Buying Base. Your goal should be to touch your customers 52-104 times per year. At this frequency, you are guaranteed to create affinity with your buying base, increase frequency of visits to the dealership and ultimately grow sales in all departments. How? At the end of the day, your customers are kids in a candy store and they can’t help themselves but to spend money when they’re standing on your showroom floor. Give them more reasons to walk through your door, and they will buy more from you.

This is exactly what happened with Arkport Cycles’ Armed Forces Day Event. They had food, drinks, door prizes and more. After executing thousands of events with over 700 dealerships, we’ve proven that focusing your message on the party is enough to drive a lot of high-quality traffic through the door and create hundreds of sales opportunities.

For this event, Arkport Cycles targeted customers through direct mail, integrated emails, an integrated call blast, event signage, fliers, a web banner and more. Each piece of communication incentivized customers to go online and complete a survey and the results were incredible. There were 586 surveys completed, which created a total of 465 sales opportunities in P&A, Service, and riding gear, PLUS 103 responses for a new or used bike. Anything over a 1% response rate is considered a HUGE success for direct mail, and Arkport Cycles’ campaign resulted in a 23.44% response rate! More than 20 x’s the national average. 

Jenny Swarts, GM of Arkport Cycles said, “It was a great event! Traffic was amazing the day of the event despite the weather looking like it was going to rain. Sold a few bikes the day of the event and are working a few more.”

What’s next? Summer has arrived! July and August mean Independence Day/Patriotic -Themes and Dog Days of Summer Events. These are some of the biggest reasons to market to your buying base. If you don’t already have events on the books for these two, get them planned today. Check out the insert for samples of some proven winners in July and August.

For more information on how the Sharp Shooter Program can help make this the best summer you’ve ever had, give me a ring on my direct line at 877-242-4472 ext: 112 or visit us at www.PowersportsMarketing.com/sample-campaigns. Happy selling.