AUTOMOTIVE ADVERTISING & MARKETING

Budget

Getting the Most from Your Ad Budget

JKRAdvertising / Automotive Advertising Advice /

July 28, 2015

Budget How can an automobile dealer get the most out of his/her advertising budget? If they’re doing their own advertising, the answer is simple: they can’t. How can we be sure of this? Just as the dealer invests in tools to do their job properly and efficiently, we at JKR Automotive Advertising spare no expense to deploy the most effective software available to us. We also feature experienced, proven professionals who are ready to ensure maximum ad campaign effectiveness every step of the way … month after month; year after year. It’s why more than a third of our client base has been with us for at least a decade!

There are some fundamental things every dealer wants when it comes to advertising. They want the lowest ad rates possible. They want the right mixture of reach and frequency, so their advertisements are seen/heard by the right people the proper number of times. They want proof the chosen media outlets deliver everything they promise. They want effective, creative advertisements that focus on the reasons people buy cars. They also want to make sure these ads follow the stringent guidelines of their corporate entities, so they receive co-op dollars. In short, they want a lot!

Budget Concerns

Now consider what happens when a dealer doesn’t have all these things. They would have unnecessarily high ad rates; an iffy target audience; no guarantee of media performance; boring, ineffective ads; and the inability to recoup corporate co-op dollars. This all adds up to fewer sales and wasted advertising dollars – certainly not the best use of a dealer’s advertising budget.

If you think you’re ready to “kick the tires” a little and see what JKR can do, give Eric Tigner a call today at (321) 397-0777. We’ll send you a FREE AUTOMOTIVE ADVERTISING REVIEW that’ll give you a taste of what we can do … with absolutely no obligation on your part. Once you find out all the ways JKR Automotive Advertising can benefit you and your dealership, you’ll begin to wonder how you ever managed your budget without us!

JKR Automotive Advertising: We Move Cars.

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Post-Pandemic Dealer Gross Profits are Down – But They Don’t Have to Stay There!
March 13, 2024
It is no secret that dealer gross profits per vehicle are down sharply in the post-COVID automotive world. According to a recent article in Automotive News, gross profits of the six largest publicly traded dealership groups plunged significantly from Q4 2022 to Q4 2023. One of them was actually down 35% per vehicle!

The article explains: High interest rates, more expensive vehicles and a steadier post-pandemic supply chain continue to soften demand and bring it closer to pre-pandemic levels. Still, new-car buying has remained strong overall …

This means that, while sales volume is similar, overall bottom lines are lower for many dealers due to the reduced gross profits. What about your dealership?

Being Realistic
It’s time to turn the page! The time for dealers to simply be order takers for people willing to pay MSRP for a vehicle (and in some cases more) has passed and dealers have to work hard once again to achieve acceptable gross profits.

Selling a high volume of cars doesn’t control gross profits, no matter how much you wish this was the case. Correct processes and menu pricing – and strict adherence to them – do!

What kind of processes?
∙ Slow down the transaction! Your sales staff has to once again sell the customer on the features and benefits of every new and pre-owned vehicle on your lot.

∙ Your salespeople and managers should devalue the customers’ trade-in value (politely, of course) as much as possible. After all, if the customer expects you to lower your price, shouldn’t you be able to do the same on their trade? Remember, you’ll have to fix it up, put your name on it and resell it to someone else with all the tenacity you would a brand-new car. So make sure you buy it right … because the profit is made when you buy it, not when you sell it!

∙ To that end, management should be ready and willing to leave the desk and do thorough walk-arounds on each trade to ensure the best outcome for the dealership.

The Cure for Low Gross Profits
If you are like a lot of dealers these days, you could use some good news. Here it is: while you may not have the capability to achieve profit margins similar to those you enjoyed during the pandemic, they could likely be improved. JKR’s clients enjoy the benefit of attracting not only more customers, but better ones, too!

If meeting and exceeding your sales goals (and increasing gross profits at the same time) sounds great to you, you need to call us. Don’t settle for reduced gross profits when help is out there to get you closer to where you’d like to be.

Want to know how we do it? Reach out to Senior Partner Richard Brauns (407) 701-4233 or Partner/Vice President Jon Albert (407) 718-2494 today.

JKR Automotive Advertising: We Move Cars.

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