Hacking The Game of Dealership “Attention” and Going Viral | Nathanael Greklek
Resumen
TLDRIn this engaging podcast episode, Nathaniel Greckle, Corporate Brand Director at Mohawk Auto Group, discusses his innovative approach to dealership marketing, focusing on the power of content creation. He emphasizes the shift from traditional sales funnels to life cycles, urging dealerships to create content that resonates with their community and builds lasting customer relationships. Nathaniel shares his journey into the automotive industry, explaining how his passion for video-making led him to propose a dedicated content creation role at his dealership. Known for the viral TikTok series 'The Dealership', which humorously portrays life within a car dealership, Nathaniel highlights the importance of consistency and creativity in content to maintain brand visibility. He values community engagement and collaborative relationships as essential tools for content success, outlining how dealerships can measure the impact through engagement and reach rather than direct sales alone. Nathaniel's insights underline the evolving landscape of dealership marketing in the digital age, showcasing the importance of relatable and engaging content in building brand trust and reputation over time.
Para llevar
- 🚗 The traditional sales funnel is outdated; embrace a life cycle approach to customer engagement.
- 📈 Consistency in content creation builds brand recognition and trust over time.
- 🎥 Engaging content that resonates with the community can drive sales and visibility.
- 👥 Building relationships with big brands like GM can elevate dealership status.
- 🌟 Going viral is more about brand exposure than direct sales conversion.
- 🔄 Utilizing various social and digital platforms enhances content reach and engagement.
- 👪 Understanding the audience and targeting content to their interests is crucial.
- 🛠 Align content with dealership's business objectives for optimal results.
- 🧩 Collaborate with local communities to amplify dealership presence and brand.
- 📊 Measure success through engagement metrics, not just immediate sales outcomes.
Cronología
- 00:00:00 - 00:05:00
The conversation begins with a discussion on creating engaging content that attracts strangers, highlighting the importance of consistency in maintaining audience interest. The guest, Nathaniel Greckle, Corporate Brand Director at Mohawk Autogroup, shares insights into creating viral automotive content.
- 00:05:00 - 00:10:00
Nathaniel explains the importance of understanding the origins of successful people to inspire confidence and innovation. The conversation touches on human vulnerability, even among top executives, showing that confidence stems from repeated action and resilience.
- 00:10:00 - 00:15:00
The discussion highlights how consistent content publishing can compound into long-term success in the media business, emphasizing the importance of building an iconic brand through regular iterations rather than seeking instant results.
- 00:15:00 - 00:20:00
Nathaniel shares his journey into the automotive industry, initially joining as a delivery specialist while creating content for social media at Mohawk Honda. His career evolved as he demonstrated the value of strategic content creation for dealership marketing.
- 00:20:00 - 00:25:00
The conversation elaborates on the growth of Nathaniel's role, including expanding the content creation team across multiple locations and platforms. This expanded scope underscores the increasing importance of consistent and strategic content marketing in the automotive retail space.
- 00:25:00 - 00:30:00
The guest discusses the value of content beyond direct sales, such as enhancing brand recognition and supporting other marketing channels, highlighting the long-term benefits of building brand awareness through consistent and diverse content strategies.
- 00:30:00 - 00:35:00
Nathaniel talks about the dealership's focus on quality content and how content performance metrics guide further investment in successful pieces, optimizing reach by repurposing content across various media channels.
- 00:35:00 - 00:40:00
The conversation transitions into effective content strategies, emphasizing targeted, multifaceted content that aligns with both the dealership's and its audience's needs, challenging the misconception that virality directly converts to sales.
- 00:40:00 - 00:45:00
The guest reflects on the dealership's viral Tik Tok series, "The Dealership," exploring its impact and the internal and external interest it generated. The series' success is rooted in authenticity and relatability, leveraging employee participation.
- 00:45:00 - 00:53:32
The discussion wraps up by exploring future creative content avenues, focusing on innovative ways to engage with audiences, like live shopping experiences, while also fostering a collective space for automotive content creators to exchange ideas.
Mapa mental
Vídeo de preguntas y respuestas
Who is Nathaniel Greckle?
Nathaniel Greckle is the Corporate Brand Director at Mohawk Auto Group.
What does Nathaniel believe about sales cycles?
Nathaniel believes in a life cycle approach rather than a traditional sales funnel.
How did Nathaniel start in the automotive industry?
He started making videos as a hobby and proposed a content creator position at his dealership.
What is 'The Dealership' series about?
It's a TikTok series mimicking 'The Office,' showing humorous and relatable situations in a car dealership.
Why is consistency important in content creation?
Consistency helps build a brand over time, making the company recognizable and trusted by consumers.
What kind of content does Nathaniel suggest?
Content should be engaging and relatable, focusing on community interaction and customer education.
Why does Nathaniel meet with General Motors?
To collaborate on content and show the dealership's work, supported by their viral TikTok series.
How can dealers measure content success?
Success is measured by engagement metrics like views, shares, comments, and specific audience targeting.
What does Nathaniel think about going viral?
He believes virality is important for brand exposure but not the sole factor in driving sales.
What is one major challenge dealers face with content?
Dealers often struggle with knowing what content to create and understanding its long-term impact.
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- 00:00:00the funnel is dead I believe in a life
- 00:00:01cycle and when I heard this I was like
- 00:00:03this makes a lot of sense everyone
- 00:00:05starts off as a stranger so like you
- 00:00:07have to make content that would make a
- 00:00:09stranger want to watch that content so
- 00:00:11you have to keep them consistently
- 00:00:14integrated in that in you today I'm
- 00:00:18excited to speak with Nathaniel greckle
- 00:00:19corporate brand director at Mohawk autog
- 00:00:21group one of the key brains behind some
- 00:00:23of automotives most viral videos
- 00:00:25including the dealership the Tik Tok
- 00:00:27series you've probably heard of we dive
- 00:00:29into how he's hacking the game of
- 00:00:30dealership attention driving sales and
- 00:00:32even getting noticed by some of the
- 00:00:33biggest brands in the industry a big
- 00:00:35thank you to our sponsors for making
- 00:00:36today's episode possible Edmonds dealer
- 00:00:39pay and car dealership guide news and
- 00:00:42now let's get into the show Nathaniel
- 00:00:44greck on the CDG podcast anel welcome
- 00:00:47thank you so much for having me it's
- 00:00:49it's a pleasure to meet a
- 00:00:50legend a Legend You're The Legend I the
- 00:00:54the the best part over the last 10
- 00:00:56minutes or so is me asking you you told
- 00:00:59me you listen to some episodes prior to
- 00:01:01coming on so I asked you which episodes
- 00:01:02you listen to and I think like you know
- 00:01:05we've done like 140 episodes or so you
- 00:01:07told me episode three I'm like come on
- 00:01:09you're going back that far on me you
- 00:01:12have to go back to the beginning like
- 00:01:14everyone has the starting and I think
- 00:01:16that people and this is just my
- 00:01:17perspective is like people put people so
- 00:01:19much like on a pedestal right and they
- 00:01:21think oh my God I can never be there I
- 00:01:23can never do this but if you go back to
- 00:01:25the originals of like how someone
- 00:01:27started right and see where they started
- 00:01:29and what it looked like you're like we
- 00:01:32could do this like we you know kind of
- 00:01:34brings like hope to like bringing
- 00:01:36something new to the industry or
- 00:01:38wherever you are wherever you're at and
- 00:01:40that's kind of like how I think think
- 00:01:41see things so it's like saw the the clip
- 00:01:45of you with the I I don't even I forget
- 00:01:48her name I'm sorry but the new x
- 00:01:51c Angela zapa
- 00:01:54angelaa and uh and then going back where
- 00:01:57where it started
- 00:01:58from yeah yeah it's funny how things
- 00:02:01change man and also it's funny how some
- 00:02:04of the people that have been on the the
- 00:02:07show are you know these massive you know
- 00:02:11big businesses like stare some of the
- 00:02:14you're going to laugh now some of the
- 00:02:15least confident people and like vice
- 00:02:17versa like you think that 100% believe
- 00:02:20that to be honest yeah like and and I'm
- 00:02:22telling you like some people that you
- 00:02:24would never expect text me like after
- 00:02:28and stuff like oh my God like do people
- 00:02:30like it and like really like nervous and
- 00:02:32it's it's it's cool like it's uh it's
- 00:02:34human you know it's you see like wow
- 00:02:36like this person is like I thought they
- 00:02:37were like Untouchable no like everyone's
- 00:02:40human we all get those feelings and so
- 00:02:43uh it's cool when you see that side of
- 00:02:45people that vulnerable side and you're
- 00:02:46like wow I did not expect this person to
- 00:02:49react like this so it's kind of funny
- 00:02:51dude it's you know we had a chance to
- 00:02:53meet Mary bar right from from General
- 00:02:56Motors talk about yeah yeah and like
- 00:02:59same concept like just down to earth
- 00:03:01like this woman pretty much
- 00:03:04runs the the whole General
- 00:03:07Motors like gamut right and for her to
- 00:03:10like just be able to talk normal and
- 00:03:13kind of meet up with her and like seeing
- 00:03:16where she sits and what her what she
- 00:03:18thinks about is like it's just awesome
- 00:03:20to all these other people that I met
- 00:03:23that you just you're like dude these
- 00:03:25people are so awesome and then you meet
- 00:03:27them and they're like you just Time
- 00:03:29After Time
- 00:03:30the the celebrities you meet and the
- 00:03:32people that are of influence they're
- 00:03:34just down to earth like they just have a
- 00:03:37vision and they're they're chasing after
- 00:03:38that and to go back to like the
- 00:03:41beginning part right like just keep
- 00:03:44going and the confidence right people
- 00:03:47that have that confidence it is just the
- 00:03:50expectation of
- 00:03:52execution and over and over seeing okay
- 00:03:55they make that failure and then they
- 00:03:57just keep working with it right it's
- 00:03:59it's awesome I think the the way I would
- 00:04:02describe what you're saying right now is
- 00:04:04people underestimate compounding myself
- 00:04:07included putting that $1 in that index
- 00:04:09fund and like letting it compound like
- 00:04:11it's so it's so hard like oh I need to
- 00:04:13wait 20 years and but it's the same
- 00:04:15thing in business right and and and
- 00:04:17especially in the media business like
- 00:04:20you know repetitions are so freaking
- 00:04:22important you got to keep consistency
- 00:04:25right not every week will be your best
- 00:04:27week not every week will be your your
- 00:04:28worst week but the consistency is what I
- 00:04:31believe really creates you know an
- 00:04:33iconic brand U because you're able to
- 00:04:35constantly put out that content you
- 00:04:37mentioned by the way you mentioned Mary
- 00:04:38Mary bar and go to her uh did you ask
- 00:04:40her to to throw in some extra hold back
- 00:04:43on on some some vehicles or we didn't
- 00:04:46get that deep we didn't get that deep
- 00:04:48things by the way I the reason I I I
- 00:04:52said that jokingly but I forget who I
- 00:04:53spoke with whether they were on the pot
- 00:04:55or not or maybe I saw a podcast I don't
- 00:04:57even remember where I saw this but
- 00:04:58someone was talking about
- 00:05:00um the early days of I think it was like
- 00:05:03Facebook and like Flav of flave walked
- 00:05:06into like zuck's office I think this was
- 00:05:07from a podcast I saw so anyways Flav of
- 00:05:09flave walks into like Mark Zuckerberg's
- 00:05:11office he like goes to visit the thing
- 00:05:13or or at least he asks to see Mark
- 00:05:15Zuckerberg or he sits with like the CMO
- 00:05:17or someone and he's like hey he's like
- 00:05:19visiting our office he's like can you
- 00:05:20can you give me some more juice on on
- 00:05:22the IG account give me some give me some
- 00:05:24more reach put your thumb on the scale
- 00:05:26and so it's funny like that when you
- 00:05:27said and met with Mary bar in their
- 00:05:28headquarters I'm like so did you get a
- 00:05:30little extra hold back but I'm sure it
- 00:05:32was just a a good a good fun meeting and
- 00:05:35you know they got a chance to see some
- 00:05:36of the work you're doing behind the
- 00:05:37scenes every day it's that literally
- 00:05:40that consistency factor and that like
- 00:05:43we've been doing this we've been making
- 00:05:45content for seven years um like
- 00:05:48religiously like before I started they
- 00:05:50were kind of just doing delivery photos
- 00:05:52and every now and then they would post
- 00:05:53events of like where they were at and
- 00:05:54then I had an idea and was like Hey this
- 00:05:58could like be a actual job position to
- 00:06:00make content for social media because
- 00:06:02I'm a huge I'm a huge Gary ve fan uh if
- 00:06:04anyone knows me um and you know he talks
- 00:06:07about putting 12 pieces of content out a
- 00:06:09day per platform right well that's what
- 00:06:12he used to say and uh I was always that
- 00:06:16like how can we get more content out to
- 00:06:18let people know about our dealership and
- 00:06:20just been that consistent build and to
- 00:06:24where when
- 00:06:26we are out in the community everyone's
- 00:06:28like oh my God you're social Med is so
- 00:06:30great it's it that consistency is
- 00:06:32definitely key I want to dig into that I
- 00:06:35think lots of dealers are in just like
- 00:06:36pickle nowadays trying to understand
- 00:06:38like what the hell do I do at this
- 00:06:39content game how does this make me money
- 00:06:41is this a waste of time right like
- 00:06:43there's so many questions and I get them
- 00:06:45they're practical questions you're today
- 00:06:47the corporate brand director at Mohawk
- 00:06:50autog group and several of the
- 00:06:51subsidiaries but explain to us like how
- 00:06:53did you start at a dealership again you
- 00:06:55started doing content way before it was
- 00:06:57a cool or profitable I would even say
- 00:07:00um so can you explain how how all this
- 00:07:02happened with your background yeah so I
- 00:07:05mean like everybody pretty much in the
- 00:07:07automotive industry I kind of just fell
- 00:07:09into it I was working for a for-profit
- 00:07:11giving company that Mohawk Honda
- 00:07:15sponsored as a like vehicle of warmth so
- 00:07:18like every time a product would be
- 00:07:19bought from this company they would give
- 00:07:21it back to the community and so Mohawk
- 00:07:25Honda donated this vehicle and we went
- 00:07:29with them to different locations to drop
- 00:07:31off hats and and stuff like that and
- 00:07:34because was a startup I'm and I'm I'm
- 00:07:37married and I have two kids now but I
- 00:07:38was married and my wife's like like we
- 00:07:40need to make some money like can can you
- 00:07:43get a job and so the the Ambassador
- 00:07:47who's now actually a service visor here
- 00:07:49at Mohawk Honda was like Hey we're
- 00:07:51hiring as a a delivery specialist it
- 00:07:53seems like you're a techie guy we had
- 00:07:55already made two videos from moonda I
- 00:07:57don't know if you ever remember the
- 00:07:58mannequin challenge that came out that
- 00:08:01was a trend so like essentially you
- 00:08:03would shoot the video and everyone would
- 00:08:04be frozen wherever they were shooting
- 00:08:08move around so we made that video for
- 00:08:10Mohawk Honda originally and then we also
- 00:08:12made them a like sponsor warmth video
- 00:08:16and using my GoPros at the time it was
- 00:08:19like GoPro 3 plus uh that I got for
- 00:08:22Christmas and so I like yeah let me I
- 00:08:26would love to like apply and see what
- 00:08:28happens and I was also doing valet you
- 00:08:31know to kind of make up some of the cash
- 00:08:32I was like I'd rather not run 16 miles a
- 00:08:35day and let's try out this technology
- 00:08:37thing so I'm doing the delivery
- 00:08:39specialist I'm teaching the people how
- 00:08:41to use their vehicle and while I'm there
- 00:08:43I kind of see like an opportunity and
- 00:08:45I've always made videos in the past like
- 00:08:47my friends and I would make videos I had
- 00:08:49a it started with a flip video camera
- 00:08:51like I just been used to making videos
- 00:08:54and just love the content fun and so I
- 00:08:58started making a few
- 00:09:00things like a a spinning logo that will
- 00:09:03put through all of the the the the TVs
- 00:09:06and trying to figure out how I could get
- 00:09:07that before ABN was a thing
- 00:09:10and I'm like man social media is like
- 00:09:12really blowing up and Facebook I was
- 00:09:16scrolling through I was like there's
- 00:09:17like a lot more that we can do just like
- 00:09:20listening to managers and things like
- 00:09:22that and kind of like getting in the
- 00:09:24room with them and kind of being a part
- 00:09:25of meetings and stuff like that and I'm
- 00:09:28I was talking to gure who was the
- 00:09:30variable man operations manager who now
- 00:09:33owns Mohawk Chevrolet and I'm talking
- 00:09:36with him and I'm like hey I really think
- 00:09:38think this would this could be like a
- 00:09:40job position like what do you think I
- 00:09:42should do and he goes type up the job
- 00:09:44position and Pitch it I was like you can
- 00:09:47do that so I walk into the general
- 00:09:50manager's office with my sheet and I
- 00:09:52still have still have that digital copy
- 00:09:54and I walk in I hand like I think this
- 00:09:56would be a really good idea I think we
- 00:09:57should start making content and stuff
- 00:09:58like that so
- 00:10:00he's like yeah let's do it so that's
- 00:10:02kind of like the star of the chief
- 00:10:05digital branding leader that I made up
- 00:10:06like I made that title up just because I
- 00:10:08never wanted to be a manager right but I
- 00:10:10always wanted to lead by example so I
- 00:10:13just started getting into it like what
- 00:10:15could I do to push the business
- 00:10:18objectives forward what are you guys
- 00:10:19looking at well at the time it was Ed
- 00:10:22car vehicles and I mean that's still a
- 00:10:24thing but we were doing used car
- 00:10:26walkarounds all the time and I was
- 00:10:28getting sales people people to get in on
- 00:10:30them and I was doing lives and we were
- 00:10:32working with local talents in the radio
- 00:10:36and kind of putting them into all this
- 00:10:38content and that's it kind of just
- 00:10:40started to evolve and then I got one
- 00:10:42person and then I got a full-time editor
- 00:10:44and then we opened up Chevrolet and we
- 00:10:47got another person and now we have the
- 00:10:50rap shop so rap Kings and now we're
- 00:10:52we're kind of navigating this content
- 00:10:55space across all of these plat seven
- 00:10:58platforms and four entities and really
- 00:11:01diving into it on a deeper deeper level
- 00:11:04this episode is brought to you by
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- 00:11:59CDG again visit EDM ns.com CDG or click
- 00:12:05the link in the show notes below let me
- 00:12:08ask you this question right how do you
- 00:12:09measure the success and we'll dive into
- 00:12:11some of the specifics right you've come
- 00:12:13up with this you know the dealership
- 00:12:14which is like a Tik Tok series of which
- 00:12:17has you know really gone viral but just
- 00:12:19how are you measuring the success of all
- 00:12:20the different Endeavors when it comes to
- 00:12:22creating
- 00:12:23content yeah I think that that's a huge
- 00:12:27question that general manager ERS get
- 00:12:29dealership principles ask all the time
- 00:12:32is like what's the ROI what am I
- 00:12:33actually getting out of this and I ALS I
- 00:12:37it's not just making the content our
- 00:12:41team is also making content for their
- 00:12:43commercials for their graphics for the
- 00:12:45website so you're it's not only the ROI
- 00:12:49of like a onetoone someone sell the
- 00:12:51content comes in buys the vehicle it's
- 00:12:54the I guess like the negative of like
- 00:12:57not having to pay a company to come in
- 00:12:59and make your commercials all every
- 00:13:00single month or the OTS like we make all
- 00:13:03that in house right it's it's the
- 00:13:06ancillary stuff that helps build that in
- 00:13:08but the brand like brand is huge if
- 00:13:11people don't know who you are they're
- 00:13:12not going to come buy from you right and
- 00:13:14that's why we spend all this money on
- 00:13:16marketing dollars but what if you could
- 00:13:18make it to where someone's always
- 00:13:20looking at you on social media and has
- 00:13:23that mentality of like seeing Mohawk
- 00:13:26autog group and Mohawk Honda and Mohawk
- 00:13:28Chevrolet in the community at your kids
- 00:13:32baseball game and and sponsoring all
- 00:13:34these events that you go to and taking
- 00:13:37those Partnerships that you would
- 00:13:39normally do and just get like a banner
- 00:13:41right know everyone has sponsored a
- 00:13:43little league or anything like that but
- 00:13:46taking that going to the place being a
- 00:13:48part of the event taking photo and video
- 00:13:51and kind of
- 00:13:52emphasizing who you are as a dealership
- 00:13:54and what you stand for and using the
- 00:13:57actual people and and
- 00:13:59and we tell our salespeople all the time
- 00:14:02like you make your business right so as
- 00:14:06if you're a dealership and you want to
- 00:14:08emphasize your salespeople getting you
- 00:14:10more business being able to put them in
- 00:14:12more content showing your customers and
- 00:14:14them really like loving your
- 00:14:17people
- 00:14:19because loving your people one your ad
- 00:14:23spend is more effective
- 00:14:25than if you had no branding your SEO
- 00:14:29game goes up and it's not and I think
- 00:14:32the one problem that most dealerships
- 00:14:35have is that it's not a 30-day cycle
- 00:14:38like if you hire a content creator in 30
- 00:14:42days the chances of them astronomically
- 00:14:44blowing you up and your brand in 30 days
- 00:14:47is is
- 00:14:49non-realistic unless you go viral and
- 00:14:52even that which we can talk about in a
- 00:14:55moment is like you're doing a lot more
- 00:14:57for the brand the actual brand versus
- 00:15:00the dealership because people see that
- 00:15:04main focus they see the people in there
- 00:15:07right and they see that but it's it's a
- 00:15:10long-term play and that's what I think
- 00:15:12most general managers have a difficulty
- 00:15:14yeah but so so what would you say like
- 00:15:16if if if you were a general manager that
- 00:15:19is like okay I'm bought in that it's a
- 00:15:20long-term play but like now what right
- 00:15:23how do I know if I'm hiring the right
- 00:15:24person for this type of role well you
- 00:15:26got to check the stats of social media
- 00:15:30what does social media care about to
- 00:15:32push your content out and right now it's
- 00:15:34video views it's comments it's shares it
- 00:15:37saves and that's really where the ROI
- 00:15:41comes from right that's where if because
- 00:15:45we care about attention we want people
- 00:15:47to see us and impressions are no longer
- 00:15:50a thing in my opinion like they're there
- 00:15:52and they kind of give you a nice little
- 00:15:54gauge of certain things but the
- 00:15:56engagements of what we see and who's
- 00:15:58viewing your stuff and who's actually
- 00:16:00liking your stuff that's that's the
- 00:16:02longer that's the longer like oh they
- 00:16:04actually have my attention like we
- 00:16:06actually have their attention they're
- 00:16:07sharing it I would and I would take it a
- 00:16:09step further like I would say it's in
- 00:16:12this game it's like having the right
- 00:16:13attention right so if you're creating
- 00:16:15content and you're a dealership or
- 00:16:17anyone or not a dealership even but you
- 00:16:19you need to be getting in front of the
- 00:16:21the right people right so whatever
- 00:16:23content you're creating right who are
- 00:16:25you getting in front out of is it
- 00:16:27someone that is within your like deal
- 00:16:29customer profile or are you creating
- 00:16:30content that you know doesn't make sense
- 00:16:33uh for your target audience do you put
- 00:16:35any PID spend beyond your content or do
- 00:16:38you only do organic and like Tik Tok try
- 00:16:40to kind of work the algorithms to go
- 00:16:42viral what do you do yeah so we focus on
- 00:16:46the the content um if one is doing
- 00:16:49really well then we're going to boost
- 00:16:50that content to see if we can get to
- 00:16:53grow that a little bit more because
- 00:16:54people have already told us that they
- 00:16:56really enjoy this video um but a lot of
- 00:16:59it is actually creating that Omni
- 00:17:02Channel content so it's like okay if
- 00:17:05it's doing good on social can we put
- 00:17:07this through Ott can we put this on
- 00:17:08YouTube pre-roll can we put this out in
- 00:17:11our traditional media ad spend um and
- 00:17:15taking that and multiplying it but yeah
- 00:17:17we we definitely take a look at those
- 00:17:19factors for sure and I so I think you
- 00:17:23mentioned a really great point which I
- 00:17:24think is that's just uh transcends any
- 00:17:26business and we we do it here as well
- 00:17:28which is if you have a good piece of
- 00:17:30content right you want to repurpose that
- 00:17:32in like as many ways as possible right
- 00:17:35it's no different than I guess it's so
- 00:17:37different if you're finding you know a
- 00:17:38good deal in the market you want to ride
- 00:17:40that wave or like a great lender who's
- 00:17:41really changed their program you want to
- 00:17:43ride that wave until they don't um you
- 00:17:46know for us it's the same as you know
- 00:17:47like our newsletter now we have an audio
- 00:17:49edition of it uh because it's people
- 00:17:51love it and some people don't want to
- 00:17:53read so we're like yeah well let's do an
- 00:17:54audio Edition boom we tried it out last
- 00:17:56week it worked really well we're going
- 00:17:57to continue it can you you take one step
- 00:17:59back you mentioned these words like Ott
- 00:18:01YouTube pre-roll for like people for
- 00:18:03people that are not exp like how do you
- 00:18:05actually execute this do you physically
- 00:18:07sit there yourself do you have people on
- 00:18:08your team do you Outsource it how do you
- 00:18:10do all these things these fancy words
- 00:18:12how do you how do you handle that yeah
- 00:18:14so over the top Ott is just extended
- 00:18:17which is it kind of hits the full gamut
- 00:18:21of you know if you're watching Hulu and
- 00:18:23a commercial comes on from a local
- 00:18:25dealership like that's considered Ott or
- 00:18:28over the top
- 00:18:29because we are so focused on the past
- 00:18:32that traditional ad spend is your linear
- 00:18:35or your your TV which like is the cable
- 00:18:39box which you physically have like the
- 00:18:41coax cable that plugs in like that's
- 00:18:43what you consider then you have your CTV
- 00:18:46which is your connected TV which you get
- 00:18:47a lot more stats from you can actually
- 00:18:50directly
- 00:18:51Target um specific people that are in
- 00:18:53the market whether it's Amazon or for us
- 00:18:57cbs6 or and then
- 00:19:01um others that are that are part of that
- 00:19:05but we do have a vent we have vendors
- 00:19:07that help us out for that specific
- 00:19:09targeting because again there's only
- 00:19:11three of us in in the content creation
- 00:19:14marketing
- 00:19:15department um when it comes to that so
- 00:19:18we use consultants and we use outside
- 00:19:22vendors to help us put the placements
- 00:19:24with all the data that they have to kind
- 00:19:26of again amplif what we're trying to do
- 00:19:30okay so you are using third parties to
- 00:19:32actually execute this stuff so if you
- 00:19:33want to add on Hulu and you want to you
- 00:19:36know put some YouTube and this and
- 00:19:39whatever you are using third parties
- 00:19:41until I have a full like until you have
- 00:19:43a full team that can actually dive in
- 00:19:46deep to really get all of your stuff
- 00:19:48there I think vendors do a great play
- 00:19:50and that's kind of what I tell everybody
- 00:19:52is
- 00:19:53that my init when I first started like
- 00:19:55I'm bringing everything to the
- 00:19:57dealership we're g to have everything
- 00:19:58everything's gonna be in house and for
- 00:20:00the smaller dealerships unless you have
- 00:20:03I I don't even know what what would make
- 00:20:05sense because I'm not there yet um but
- 00:20:08until you have enough stores to where
- 00:20:10you you can bring more people in to kind
- 00:20:12of take all that and do everything in
- 00:20:15house I think vendors are a very good
- 00:20:17way to go especially ones that care
- 00:20:19about you and you have to vet them
- 00:20:21properly obviously to make sure that
- 00:20:23they're aligned with your goals aligned
- 00:20:24with what you're trying to do um yeah
- 00:20:27for sure
- 00:20:29so how are you measuring success
- 00:20:31yourself now for you know short-term
- 00:20:33campaigns long-term
- 00:20:35campaigns what are your you know just
- 00:20:37what what measurements you use for that
- 00:20:39if
- 00:20:40any yeah um in terms of short-term
- 00:20:44campaigns long-term
- 00:20:46campaigns in terms of content I'm really
- 00:20:48looking at who's engaging with it um do
- 00:20:51I know any of the the local players
- 00:20:53because obviously we're we're a local
- 00:20:55dealership so we need to know who's
- 00:20:57looking at our content content
- 00:20:59so um I'm looking at those I'm looking
- 00:21:03at video views I'm looking at comments
- 00:21:05shares saves so you're trying to really
- 00:21:08see who are the individuals that are
- 00:21:11engaging with the content right and then
- 00:21:13obviously you have the different uh
- 00:21:16social platforms that tell you the
- 00:21:18audiences and is that the audience that
- 00:21:22is per pertaining to your Source like
- 00:21:26Honda is draws a different crowd than
- 00:21:29Chevrolet does and are we actually
- 00:21:31hitting those right demographics with
- 00:21:33the content that we're doing are you an
- 00:21:35equity partner at Mohawk or if you want
- 00:21:37to answer that or rkings no I'm not I'm
- 00:21:40not but I'm assuming you have some good
- 00:21:43long-term incentives in play or
- 00:21:46something uh I don't know what you mean
- 00:21:48by that like I don't I don't don't I
- 00:21:51don't have uh I'm just passionate to be
- 00:21:54honest if if that's that's coming from
- 00:21:57like it's pretty it's pretty
- 00:21:59incredible so I I'll give you a little
- 00:22:01context like Andy geler has been a huge
- 00:22:03mentor of mine since I started working
- 00:22:05at Mohawk and him and I have gone back
- 00:22:09and forth on ideas and putting them into
- 00:22:12play and he's been a huge part of my
- 00:22:14life along with so Andy dealer principal
- 00:22:17Andy G was the dealer principal of
- 00:22:19Mohawk Chevrolet and the herodan family
- 00:22:22I I talk to them I like they
- 00:22:26are like the best way that I can Des
- 00:22:28describe this is that they're in the
- 00:22:31dealership like they're there almost
- 00:22:34every day they're they're walking around
- 00:22:36they're talking to you they like
- 00:22:37actually want to be a part so when I
- 00:22:39first started I was talking with Jeff
- 00:22:42and Andy
- 00:22:43like almost every day like sitting down
- 00:22:46talking with them like trying to
- 00:22:48understand who they are and when I
- 00:22:50learned who they are and what they stand
- 00:22:52for it gave me a passion to be able to
- 00:22:56amplify and really chase out after what
- 00:22:58they're trying to accomplish and really
- 00:23:01understanding
- 00:23:03that who they are will affect the
- 00:23:06community way more and that is what
- 00:23:08brand is if people understand who Mo
- 00:23:11Mohawk is yeah we have probably I think
- 00:23:15we have five let's see ker Dela Saratoga
- 00:23:20frenier that's the other one we have
- 00:23:21five haunted dealerships probably within
- 00:23:23a 20 mile radius is that the entire
- 00:23:25group five Honda dealerships or well
- 00:23:27obviously they're Chevy but we have no
- 00:23:29we have a Honda
- 00:23:31Chevrolet Collision Center and rap Kings
- 00:23:34so we have four four things at the
- 00:23:36moment but what I'm saying is that brand
- 00:23:39is the only factor that not only but it
- 00:23:42is a huge Factor when someone's going to
- 00:23:44look at something right we we hear all
- 00:23:46the time when value exceeds price
- 00:23:48transaction takes place and people only
- 00:23:50buy things from buy from people they
- 00:23:52know like and Trust well how do you do
- 00:23:56that they have to know your brand they
- 00:23:58have to know who you are who you stand
- 00:24:00for and when I understood who Mohawk was
- 00:24:04like I was all in and I honestly I love
- 00:24:07them like they're they've been so
- 00:24:10gracious and and good to the community
- 00:24:12and good to me and really like built me
- 00:24:16up to where we are today in building
- 00:24:18content every single day it
- 00:24:20just fired up for them let me ask you
- 00:24:23this question yeah if you were running a
- 00:24:25smaller dealer group or dealership like
- 00:24:27at what point do you think it makes
- 00:24:29sense to bring in someone like yourself
- 00:24:31because I can't imagine you're you know
- 00:24:32a low compensated individual so like
- 00:24:36when do you think that that inflection
- 00:24:38point starts where like okay or is it
- 00:24:40like hey if you're under x amount of
- 00:24:42stores maybe I have a you know a
- 00:24:44salesperson or salespeople creating
- 00:24:46content in the meantime like what's the
- 00:24:47what's your framework for that how do
- 00:24:48you think about that so for someone it
- 00:24:52has to make sense for them to see what
- 00:24:54they're doing in traditional ad spend
- 00:24:56right if you're doing Billboards that
- 00:24:58cost you $1,000 a month to do stop that
- 00:25:03hire somebody to make content every
- 00:25:04single day and invest into them right
- 00:25:07Mohawk invested into me
- 00:25:09like not many dealerships have these
- 00:25:12microphones right or a camera or the
- 00:25:15gear that we have but you can start with
- 00:25:18an iPhone and that's what I did I
- 00:25:19started off with an
- 00:25:20iPhone but to make sense for them
- 00:25:23wherever you're at if if you have a
- 00:25:26marketing budget I would definitely stay
- 00:25:28start start with social it's the highest
- 00:25:31risk reward I mean you know it's very
- 00:25:34low you know low production value low
- 00:25:35effort to start and you could go viral
- 00:25:38or you can you know well let's talk
- 00:25:40about going viral right because I think
- 00:25:41going viral is also like a fallacy in
- 00:25:43itself right what do you what do you
- 00:25:46strive for do you strive for like what
- 00:25:48type of content do you try to put out to
- 00:25:50create what
- 00:25:52result the content that I put out
- 00:25:55is I I was talking to your team before
- 00:25:57but I believe in a f not the funnel
- 00:26:00anymore the funnel is dead I believe in
- 00:26:02a life cycle and when I heard this I was
- 00:26:05like this makes a lot of
- 00:26:06sense everyone starts off as a
- 00:26:09stranger so like you have to make
- 00:26:11content that would make a stranger want
- 00:26:14to watch that content so what kind of
- 00:26:16content is that that's fun Q&A questions
- 00:26:19that like that um talk about family and
- 00:26:23talk about things that they like right
- 00:26:26then you're moving it into
- 00:26:29someone who's actually investigating and
- 00:26:31and might be in the market for a vehicle
- 00:26:33or they know someone right then you have
- 00:26:35a about a vehicle and how can you make
- 00:26:37that fun and actually do a walk around
- 00:26:38to show the features we have intro
- 00:26:40videos and and education on how to look
- 00:26:43for a vehicle what to look for then you
- 00:26:45move into their okay so you do that you
- 00:26:48yeah you do that too yeah so now then
- 00:26:50you go into okay let's actually do a
- 00:26:53walk around on an actual video on a
- 00:26:54vehicle that someone might be interested
- 00:26:56in maybe it's a pilot passport you name
- 00:26:58it
- 00:27:00um and then you you kind of you're kind
- 00:27:02of just cycling through all of this but
- 00:27:03at the same time you're also meeting
- 00:27:06with your managers you're meeting with
- 00:27:07the general manager and the general
- 00:27:09sales manager and the service manager
- 00:27:10see what are their priorities right what
- 00:27:13are they seeing because I think and
- 00:27:16myself included when I first started I
- 00:27:19was like we we're not going to talk
- 00:27:21anything about price we're not to talk
- 00:27:22anything about like leases like nobody
- 00:27:25wants to see that just create value just
- 00:27:27create value
- 00:27:29and that works to an extent we still are
- 00:27:33a business right and people still do
- 00:27:35look for that every so often so use like
- 00:27:39your Ott videos and have them up there
- 00:27:41in case someone's curious and actually
- 00:27:43clicks on your web on your profile and
- 00:27:46Scrolls through your content to have
- 00:27:48those but you have to create that value
- 00:27:50for someone to come in because people we
- 00:27:53know the average customer if they're
- 00:27:56leasing will be every 3 years
- 00:27:59but if they're buying typically it's
- 00:28:00seven years and I know a lot of people
- 00:28:02that like that's how long it takes right
- 00:28:05and you have to keep them
- 00:28:08consistently integrated in that in you
- 00:28:13and you're a dealership you're in that
- 00:28:17Community which they live and chances
- 00:28:20are you're doing a lot of community work
- 00:28:22you are at their school you are at their
- 00:28:26kids baseball game or you go and work
- 00:28:29with local businesses that they attend
- 00:28:31like all the time like how do you
- 00:28:32collaborate with those businesses to
- 00:28:34keep them informed and things like that
- 00:28:36it's there's so much there I feel like
- 00:28:40that fallacy of VI virality right like
- 00:28:43oh if I just go viral I'm gonna sell a
- 00:28:44million cars wrong that's not it
- 00:28:48virality is not the key and we talked
- 00:28:51about it already it's consistently being
- 00:28:54there for your community right every day
- 00:28:58and every moment and being that dealer
- 00:29:01that when someone's like hey I'm really
- 00:29:03thinking about a
- 00:29:04vehicle I've seen a bunch of content
- 00:29:07about what their favorite thing was for
- 00:29:09Thanksgiving yeah maybe I'll take a look
- 00:29:11oh okay they have this special on the
- 00:29:14prologue that's 289 a month I don't have
- 00:29:15to pay anything down okay I don't think
- 00:29:18I really want EV oh they have an
- 00:29:20informational video on EV okay that's
- 00:29:22kind of cool or the CRV oh all right I
- 00:29:26like that and then it I feel I feel like
- 00:29:30that's the mentality that has to be made
- 00:29:32when it comes to making content it's
- 00:29:34that full cycle of the business needs
- 00:29:38along with their customer needs as well
- 00:29:40this episode is brought to you by dealer
- 00:29:41pay are you tired of payment nightmares
- 00:29:43at your dealership with most processors
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- 00:30:01with dealer pay and experience the
- 00:30:03difference visit dealer.com to schedule
- 00:30:06demo again that's dealer.com or click
- 00:30:08the link in the show notes below has
- 00:30:11there been a specific campaign that
- 00:30:13you've ran that has been like
- 00:30:15disproportionately successful in terms
- 00:30:17of generating direct return on
- 00:30:19investment is it the dealership I mean
- 00:30:22is it something else or no it's it's not
- 00:30:25actually I don't to be honest think
- 00:30:28we've ever had
- 00:30:31a to be it's weird because we hear all
- 00:30:34the time that like people see us on TV
- 00:30:37like whether it's CTV or linear that
- 00:30:40might just be the area that we're in
- 00:30:42right
- 00:30:44but it's
- 00:30:46usually every it's it's all of it like I
- 00:30:48never had one campaign where someone's
- 00:30:51like oh yeah this really brought me in
- 00:30:54it was yeah so it really is like
- 00:30:55holistic holistic effort with just
- 00:30:58hitting all different types of content
- 00:31:00consistently yeah it's you it usually
- 00:31:02when I hear someone say it's like you're
- 00:31:05big partner in the
- 00:31:07community like that's that's like the
- 00:31:09verbatim where like oh I always see you
- 00:31:11in the community or like you you helped
- 00:31:15out this nonprofit you helped out this
- 00:31:17nonprofit that I that I love to
- 00:31:19subscribe to um a lot of it's Community
- 00:31:23Based to be
- 00:31:24honest so I want to transition to the
- 00:31:27dealership for anyone that's not
- 00:31:28familiar right you launched this Tik
- 00:31:31Tock series of pretty much like a a play
- 00:31:35on the office the show um from TV so you
- 00:31:38pretty much did the dealership by the
- 00:31:40way I think it's cool how our industry
- 00:31:42has launched these like spin-off of you
- 00:31:46know TV shows so like you have like you
- 00:31:48know the dealership the office or if you
- 00:31:50know you know like George CBA uh he has
- 00:31:52a dealership in New Jersey where he does
- 00:31:54he's also really big on Tik Tok he sort
- 00:31:56of does like Pawn Stars but it's the
- 00:31:58dealership right where you show live
- 00:32:01that I'll have to see that that's
- 00:32:02awesome so I just think in general it's
- 00:32:04cool how you know all these different
- 00:32:06types of content been recreated in the
- 00:32:08automotive industry um I love to see it
- 00:32:10I definitely had the idea for like the
- 00:32:12Pawn Stars in the dealership and never
- 00:32:13executed on it so George good for you
- 00:32:16you killed it let's go George I know no
- 00:32:18he's he's honestly like he's amazing at
- 00:32:21it but I'm curious to know like how the
- 00:32:23dealership actually started and again
- 00:32:24when I say you went viral I mean you
- 00:32:26that that has gone ballistically viral
- 00:32:29Absol Millions upon millions of
- 00:32:31Impressions likes and all that um like
- 00:32:33you said you were invited to GM
- 00:32:35Headquarters you did a video there so
- 00:32:37can you give us like the behind the
- 00:32:38scenes first I want to understand how
- 00:32:40this even came to be about how you
- 00:32:43corraled the people from the dealership
- 00:32:45like take a step by step of how this
- 00:32:47actual you know was executed I see
- 00:32:49you're already getting excited yeah so
- 00:32:51it it's great because you know Grace and
- 00:32:53Ben really have taken so who are who are
- 00:32:56Grace and Ben who are Grace and Ben and
- 00:32:58Ben are the main characters straight up
- 00:33:00like the doership Grayson Ben if you
- 00:33:02don't know Grayson Ben um Ben is our
- 00:33:04full-time editor like he typically
- 00:33:08doesn't get out of his shell like that
- 00:33:10right but he just has that humor that
- 00:33:12like everybody loves and he's a huge
- 00:33:14office fan and we've been trying to do
- 00:33:16we've been trying to make the office
- 00:33:19style for like we've had it in our mind
- 00:33:21of like when could we do so you had this
- 00:33:22Vision yeah yeah we were like trying to
- 00:33:24figure out because we've done things
- 00:33:26like um we've done things before where
- 00:33:28we done the the intro video of like Full
- 00:33:30House and things like that for our Honda
- 00:33:32store and we did something similar for
- 00:33:34Chevrolet but I was actually at the
- 00:33:37Honda store and I came up to the Chevy
- 00:33:41store because I go back and forth and
- 00:33:44Grace telling me this employee gave her
- 00:33:47these ducks that she wants her to hide
- 00:33:48around the dealership I'm like this is
- 00:33:51sweet all right and what was her
- 00:33:53position at the dealership or what is
- 00:33:54her position so Grace is the team lead
- 00:33:56at Mohawk Chevrolet the the content
- 00:33:58creator there oh so she's she was hired
- 00:34:01as a content creator yeah so her
- 00:34:04official title is digital branding
- 00:34:06Creator so yeah she's there to
- 00:34:08specifically just make content for the
- 00:34:10dealership um not to be confused with
- 00:34:12the show the actual Mohawk Chevrolet uh
- 00:34:16so I get up there and we're we're Ben
- 00:34:20her and I are talking and they're like
- 00:34:22we should turn this into like a
- 00:34:24dealership episode we've been trying to
- 00:34:25do this so Grace and Ben and they like
- 00:34:29we're like all right let's start
- 00:34:30interviewing people so we interviewed
- 00:34:32the the the first episode we included
- 00:34:35Jeff heran who I talked about earlier
- 00:34:37and he was in there like hey do you want
- 00:34:38to like do an interview and he's like is
- 00:34:40this what we do in the the automotive
- 00:34:42industry we just we just H we just hide
- 00:34:45Ducks around the
- 00:34:46dealership um and we just got a whole
- 00:34:48bunch of people we like this was like
- 00:34:49really fun let's make another one and so
- 00:34:52graceon Ben really took that and ran
- 00:34:55with it so they started making them we
- 00:34:57we made them like every once a month um
- 00:35:01and then the fifth one came about we're
- 00:35:04talking about consistency right we just
- 00:35:05kept making them because we loved making
- 00:35:07them and did you release them at like at
- 00:35:10the same time or were you kind of
- 00:35:11banking them no no we the first you'll
- 00:35:15see like the first one we made was in
- 00:35:17January of this year and then it hit in
- 00:35:21June so it's like we were just putting
- 00:35:23them out because we we had fun and they
- 00:35:25were getting more than usual views so I
- 00:35:28would say they were you know our
- 00:35:30typicals you'll see probably around 3 to
- 00:35:32400 and then these ones were were
- 00:35:34hitting a thousand so we knew that
- 00:35:36people were liking them they like the
- 00:35:37skits so we played them around again you
- 00:35:42know we have one about the EV about the
- 00:35:44Blazer and how we're trying to get
- 00:35:46people to make content for the for for
- 00:35:49us
- 00:35:50on an EV Blazer that we had going on um
- 00:35:55and then the one that we made that
- 00:35:56really hit was
- 00:35:58that kind of set off was we made the one
- 00:36:01about the
- 00:36:02Silverado and uh you know playing off of
- 00:36:07stereotypes of how you know women
- 00:36:09typically if they're driving a huge
- 00:36:11truck will be like or yeah typically
- 00:36:14it's like oh I think I'm gonna hit this
- 00:36:16truck but you know you have like so much
- 00:36:19space behind it right that everyone can
- 00:36:21relate to right you you you've
- 00:36:23definitely been in the car with somebody
- 00:36:25doesn't have to be a woman but like
- 00:36:26somebody's been like I don't think I'm
- 00:36:28gonna hit this you're like dude you have
- 00:36:29like seven feet like just keep going and
- 00:36:33then you know trucks are raised off the
- 00:36:35ground and you know short people have a
- 00:36:37tough time getting into the truck so we
- 00:36:39kind of dramaticized that um because you
- 00:36:42know Grace is shorter and her getting in
- 00:36:44the truck actually like a lot of it was
- 00:36:46based off of Life events and uh Ben
- 00:36:50getting sick like we were we were
- 00:36:51shooting rolling shots and Ben had
- 00:36:54gotten sick and we're like dude we
- 00:36:55should play into this and so
- 00:36:58we kind of play into those those factors
- 00:37:00like in later episodes as well okay so
- 00:37:03now so you basically you have this idea
- 00:37:06Grace is the content creator Ben is the
- 00:37:08video editor and what do you do just say
- 00:37:10okay go Corral the team and just start
- 00:37:12making a video or like what happens yeah
- 00:37:14we try to see
- 00:37:16so another question I typically get
- 00:37:18asked is how do you get people into your
- 00:37:21videos how do you get I I've tried to
- 00:37:23get sales people in they won't do it
- 00:37:25I've tried to get all these other
- 00:37:26individuals won't do it you do have to
- 00:37:29find the individuals that want to be a
- 00:37:31part of it and I will say now that it's
- 00:37:33a lot easier since it we went viral it's
- 00:37:36a lot easier to get salespeople and and
- 00:37:38uh employees into videos like are we
- 00:37:40gonna be in a dealership episode um but
- 00:37:44it's that consistency over the past
- 00:37:46seven years of can making content all
- 00:37:48the time and getting them into the
- 00:37:50videos and really lean weaning them into
- 00:37:54making content right like when I first
- 00:37:56started I don't think I I I rarely got
- 00:38:00people to make content with me but I
- 00:38:04knew that people needed to see them so I
- 00:38:08would put them together in videos you we
- 00:38:10have to get delivery photos with them in
- 00:38:12the photo so they they're becoming more
- 00:38:16keen on being in the content whether
- 00:38:18it's a photo or video now lives are a
- 00:38:20different story right when lives would
- 00:38:23happen I typically have to get in the
- 00:38:25Forefront give them some softball p is
- 00:38:27and be like okay I started doing uh lot
- 00:38:30walks with them when I initially started
- 00:38:32I was doing lot walks every Wednesday
- 00:38:35and I'm like all right everybody we're
- 00:38:36gonna go do a lot walk and show people
- 00:38:37what's on our lot and they're like I
- 00:38:39don't know I don't like lives I can't do
- 00:38:41this um and so what I would do is I I
- 00:38:44would start it and I would ask them
- 00:38:45questions that they would
- 00:38:47know so now it's easy um but we found
- 00:38:51the people we found the individuals that
- 00:38:52would be good for what we're looking for
- 00:38:54that have that humor that people are
- 00:38:57looking for for and that really
- 00:39:00everybody knows like in dealerships like
- 00:39:02there's just that mentality of like
- 00:39:04ragging on people all the time and being
- 00:39:06that dry humor like oh yeah okay
- 00:39:08whatever you know and so we kind of just
- 00:39:11played into that even more and finding
- 00:39:14those individuals that are really good
- 00:39:15at it or just have that personality that
- 00:39:18like
- 00:39:19Jerry if anyone knows like Jerry is uh
- 00:39:22the old bald man that's that's in the
- 00:39:24videos and like he is just he's an
- 00:39:26Italian and he talks and he just talks
- 00:39:28and he talks and you're like all right
- 00:39:29Jerry all right now is this only on Tik
- 00:39:34Tok or have you guys distributed on any
- 00:39:35other platforms yeah we have them on
- 00:39:37YouTube as well we did we have them on
- 00:39:39Instagram and Facebook um they did
- 00:39:42better on Tik Tok obviously but when we
- 00:39:46put them to other platforms it actually
- 00:39:47increased the rest of our our
- 00:39:49followership and and engagement for sure
- 00:39:52and are you still creating them
- 00:39:53consistently is it every two weeks every
- 00:39:55week um it's less consistent now
- 00:39:59definitely with everything going on
- 00:40:02especially with we we are trying to work
- 00:40:04on something we we're trying to figure
- 00:40:06it out they will be at NADA so they're
- 00:40:08working on some NADA
- 00:40:10content um but it's it's less consistent
- 00:40:14now because we're just trying to
- 00:40:16maintain everything yeah any did any
- 00:40:19cool opportunities arise from this I
- 00:40:22don't know you didn't even know what did
- 00:40:23any you know big agencies reach out or
- 00:40:26any interesting people individuals kind
- 00:40:29of you know take notice a lot of people
- 00:40:31have reached out we have people looking
- 00:40:33into it um that's all I can
- 00:40:36say maybe we'll see a mohawk mohawk
- 00:40:40Media Company yeah I mean we pretty much
- 00:40:43already have it
- 00:40:44but y we uh there no no comment on that
- 00:40:48but uh people are looking into the
- 00:40:50dealership for sure a lot of interested
- 00:40:53a lot of people are interested I mean we
- 00:40:55saw with GM GM was interested and uh I I
- 00:41:00have to give a lot of kudos to General
- 00:41:02Motors like to see to see this content
- 00:41:07going big and wanting to be a part of it
- 00:41:11I don't know of many oems that I don't
- 00:41:14know of any other oems that have done
- 00:41:16that to that scale of
- 00:41:19like a dealership a tier three marketing
- 00:41:24dealership meeting the CEO like bringing
- 00:41:28them out to headquarters to make content
- 00:41:30with them um so kudos to General Motors
- 00:41:33because I feel like that they are
- 00:41:35they're really thinking about this
- 00:41:37content strategy and this content play
- 00:41:39and how it's going to affect them as a
- 00:41:42tier one marketing
- 00:41:44strategy yeah I mean look I'll tell you
- 00:41:48you're doing something very
- 00:41:50unique and the reality is there's not
- 00:41:54many of you guys of what you're doing
- 00:41:56right and so
- 00:41:57I think it's I think it's smart on their
- 00:41:59end right they're saying hey like we
- 00:42:00have all this amazing earned media that
- 00:42:03is free it's making us cool right it's
- 00:42:06like young energy so uh I still I agree
- 00:42:09with you still like commend them on
- 00:42:11taking the initiative to invite you guys
- 00:42:13and even do a video there uh but it's
- 00:42:15obviously very smart for them as well
- 00:42:17right you're you're you're bringing a
- 00:42:19lot to the table you know but like think
- 00:42:21about we'll go to like rman Toyota that
- 00:42:24I just saw went viral right on Tik Tok
- 00:42:27for their Black Friday
- 00:42:29special I wonder if they got a call from
- 00:42:31Toyota it's like hey looks like you're
- 00:42:33doing really great stuff on Tik Tok why
- 00:42:36don't we figure something out right like
- 00:42:40who else is who else is doing that type
- 00:42:42of stuff I think that I get your point I
- 00:42:46do think it's a little different where
- 00:42:48like that's a specific special or
- 00:42:51specific deal that's kind of dealership
- 00:42:54specific you're sort of evangelized the
- 00:42:57brand Chevy anyways I get your point I'm
- 00:43:01just like I'm trying to be trying to
- 00:43:02really think through it again I I I
- 00:43:05still I I I definitely commend them for
- 00:43:07I definitely commend them for you know
- 00:43:09being supportive and not just like
- 00:43:11ignoring it or you know like they they
- 00:43:13get it this is we are in the age where
- 00:43:15content drives purchasing content drives
- 00:43:18you know what consumers think about
- 00:43:20businesses and so it's it's obviously
- 00:43:23very very smart oh yeah 100% and and
- 00:43:27exactly to your point like the
- 00:43:29dealership is definitely more brand
- 00:43:31oriented but how do you find how do you
- 00:43:35I guess from the OEM standpoint is how
- 00:43:37do you start to create that and talking
- 00:43:39about virality F fallacy I think
- 00:43:41virality is the best
- 00:43:44for the brand the major brand of
- 00:43:47whatever it is whether it's you know
- 00:43:49Nike or one of those major corporations
- 00:43:52like virality for them works great for
- 00:43:56someone local yes because we're not
- 00:44:00really we
- 00:44:02are we were try of talk about this
- 00:44:04earlier is that it's not like a t-shirt
- 00:44:06right like if I go viral with a t-shirt
- 00:44:09they're not people are gonna buy it
- 00:44:11you're you're a local business it's
- 00:44:14geographically constrained I mean it's
- 00:44:16very similar to me right where if I do a
- 00:44:18post about Mazda and it gets 10 million
- 00:44:20impressions and views right Mazda sales
- 00:44:23are popping everywhere that doesn't
- 00:44:25really help my Brando other than getting
- 00:44:27my name out there more sure but I am a
- 00:44:29B2B media platform right I'm I create
- 00:44:32content for industry Professionals for
- 00:44:34for dealers mainly and so that's not
- 00:44:37like it doesn't get me necessarily more
- 00:44:39listeners to the podcast that I want it
- 00:44:42might get me consumers or just people
- 00:44:44that I'm not you know I'm not creating
- 00:44:45content for but it's the same exact
- 00:44:47thing I agree with you like virality is
- 00:44:49a tricky thing it's nice to have it and
- 00:44:52it's nice to have some virality in your
- 00:44:54overall ecosystem uh because they just
- 00:44:56give some credibility you know gets your
- 00:44:58name out there people are like oh you
- 00:44:59went viral but at the end of the day it
- 00:45:01doesn't necessarily drive that next sale
- 00:45:05or something so I understand kind of
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- 00:45:42cd. news now or click the link in the
- 00:45:44show notes below what do you think are
- 00:45:46the biggest mistakes dealers are making
- 00:45:48when it comes to the to this to this
- 00:45:49content game and we we spoke about
- 00:45:51consistency and all that but like more
- 00:45:52specifically do you just see out there
- 00:45:55things like Hey cuz more and more
- 00:45:57dealers are doing this kind of stuff
- 00:45:58they realize the power of local brand
- 00:45:59building plus it's just differentiation
- 00:46:02in the market where there's
- 00:46:03consolidation is rising more dealerships
- 00:46:05are getting bought out um I tweeted out
- 00:46:07the other day you know the reality is if
- 00:46:10it wasn't for local franchises a lot of
- 00:46:12these automakers would be gone and I say
- 00:46:14that because you know many automakers
- 00:46:17and oems you know they can make lots of
- 00:46:19mistakes because at the end of the day
- 00:46:20they still have the distribution Network
- 00:46:21they still have the franchisees like
- 00:46:23that's your shock absorber um you make
- 00:46:25the mistake but you're still there
- 00:46:26you're you're still stuck in that the
- 00:46:28middle of that town and and whatnot and
- 00:46:31so with more and more dealers investing
- 00:46:32in space like do you see any mistakes
- 00:46:34that dealers are making that really kind
- 00:46:36of stuck out of you yes I think
- 00:46:40that they don't invest enough I think
- 00:46:44that they just think that it's a it's
- 00:46:46just it's just social media I think
- 00:46:49that's like a Common Thread that I hear
- 00:46:53is that there's one there's there's no
- 00:46:56Direction
- 00:46:57as well they just hire someone say hey
- 00:46:59make content uh but they don't know how
- 00:47:02to direct them they don't know how to
- 00:47:05get them like we want you to shoot this
- 00:47:08vehicle right we have this vehicle
- 00:47:11special we have this we have that um but
- 00:47:15I think that's the biggest thing is
- 00:47:17there's there's not a lot of Direction
- 00:47:19in terms of that so not being Hands-On
- 00:47:22enough and providing some
- 00:47:25Vision because you know like like I I
- 00:47:28call this um I call this the difference
- 00:47:30of like knowledge Gap and like technical
- 00:47:32Gap right if you're if you're the dealer
- 00:47:35right you're going to have the most
- 00:47:36knowledge you're going to know that this
- 00:47:38specific model of vehicle is great for
- 00:47:42families that need a third row seat and
- 00:47:44are on a budget like you're going to
- 00:47:46know these things that the video editor
- 00:47:48that you hire or contct Creator they're
- 00:47:50just not going to know that so if you
- 00:47:51can arm them with that knowledge then
- 00:47:53they can take that and they can execute
- 00:47:54on it when using their technical skills
- 00:47:57yeah I mean that's that's a a great
- 00:47:59point and that's thanks for saying that
- 00:48:01because that kind of puts like a what
- 00:48:05I've been trying to explain for while a
- 00:48:07while is that there there's that
- 00:48:09technical Gap and then the knowledge Gap
- 00:48:11and that's where your content creator
- 00:48:13has the I mean has that technical
- 00:48:16knowledge of making content that will
- 00:48:19hit the customer right but the knowledge
- 00:48:21comes from your salespeople your service
- 00:48:25advisors your technicians
- 00:48:27and then on top of that you have your
- 00:48:31general manager and your general sales
- 00:48:33manager that can give you the I guess
- 00:48:38it's almost like it's a top down like
- 00:48:40not to use a funnel but like you have
- 00:48:43the knowledge of making the content but
- 00:48:45in order to make that content to get it
- 00:48:47to the bottom of this funnel you need to
- 00:48:49be able to talk to the general manager
- 00:48:51to tell you what their what they're
- 00:48:54seeing in their Market what they see in
- 00:48:55an overall number
- 00:48:57and where we should be focusing okay if
- 00:49:00we're focusing on service all right
- 00:49:02perfect so let me go to a service
- 00:49:04advisor that's talking about the main
- 00:49:07questions that people have about maybe
- 00:49:08scheduling or whatnot and then from
- 00:49:11there like now we have recalls and
- 00:49:15things like that now I go to the
- 00:49:16technician to talk to them about what is
- 00:49:19their knowledge about that and turn that
- 00:49:21into something that's valuable for the
- 00:49:25customer exactly man you're an
- 00:49:28interesting dude this is awesome um
- 00:49:31before we wrap up I'm curious to know
- 00:49:33what's exciting to you nowadays like
- 00:49:35what's next right what's in your mind
- 00:49:37you I can tell you're you're like me in
- 00:49:39a sense that you're always thinking
- 00:49:40creatively about the next next thing and
- 00:49:43you know what is it for you what's in
- 00:49:45your mind nowadays so it's gonna sound
- 00:49:48weird um again I follow a lot of what
- 00:49:51Gary vaynerchuck does um if you don't
- 00:49:53know who he is check him out yeah g Gary
- 00:49:55V's good um he's talking a lot about
- 00:49:58shopping live
- 00:50:00shopping and I'm trying to figure out
- 00:50:03how I could do live shopping social
- 00:50:06shopping with maybe parts or Vehicles
- 00:50:10like I don't know how how that's going
- 00:50:12to happen but I think that if I can get
- 00:50:15on Al live and start going through and
- 00:50:17like almost QVC
- 00:50:20styling accessories like maybe I throw
- 00:50:23water on or rain or like you know kind
- 00:50:26of like trying to figure out how can I
- 00:50:28do how can I take these accessories and
- 00:50:30like take it next level to where someone
- 00:50:33sees it in action and is like cool like
- 00:50:36I want to do that I want to or they
- 00:50:38don't even know because I feel like
- 00:50:39there's not a lot of people that
- 00:50:40understand like oh we can get these new
- 00:50:43rims right like everyone wants black
- 00:50:45rims or like but they they just take
- 00:50:49what they get on delivery and yeah they
- 00:50:52you know the sales person talked about
- 00:50:54like all these accessories that you know
- 00:50:56give you the pro pack or whatever it is
- 00:50:58but like how do you get them afterwards
- 00:51:02especially in a time like this where
- 00:51:03people are looking and like okay let's
- 00:51:08let's take a look at all the different
- 00:51:09type of rims you can get and have them
- 00:51:11in parts and like tires I don't know I'm
- 00:51:16I think like how do we I think that's
- 00:51:18awesome like if you take the most the
- 00:51:21items that you know appeal to most
- 00:51:23people right that whatever it is like
- 00:51:25I'm just making something like rainx
- 00:51:27windshield wipers I don't know anyone
- 00:51:29can buy those right and you do something
- 00:51:31you maybe even brand it like with your
- 00:51:33dealership and you know just do a video
- 00:51:34on like Tik Tok shop or whatever right
- 00:51:37like you said like live shopping like
- 00:51:38hey this you know fits 99% of vehicles I
- 00:51:41think that's interesting because you
- 00:51:42have the brand like you do have the
- 00:51:44brand already you've done the hard part
- 00:51:45or you're doing the hard part the brand
- 00:51:47is the hardest part um so now right now
- 00:51:50like what can you offer the market to
- 00:51:53add value and make some money I think
- 00:51:55super super
- 00:51:57idea yeah I mean I'm also I mean the
- 00:52:00future thing too is I'm working on um
- 00:52:02creating a space like you mentioned that
- 00:52:05there's not a lot of us right so
- 00:52:07creating a space called the automotive
- 00:52:09creative Collective where content
- 00:52:12creators in dealerships can go to ask
- 00:52:14questions and see what's going on yeah
- 00:52:16so creating that space to kind of ask
- 00:52:19questions and share what we're doing
- 00:52:21because I don't assume that everybody's
- 00:52:23watching me because people have their
- 00:52:25own lives to live but if I share the
- 00:52:27content that's like doing really well in
- 00:52:29this community and encourage other
- 00:52:31people to share it um then we're all
- 00:52:34gonna win we're all gonna raise the
- 00:52:35boats together whereas the ties 100
- 00:52:39per. you're doing amazing work man I'm
- 00:52:41excited to see follow your journey
- 00:52:43thanks for coming on and this has been
- 00:52:45uh really really fun so really really
- 00:52:47pumped for what you're doing and uh who
- 00:52:49knows man maybe we'll see you on TV or
- 00:52:51some streaming service on Netflix in the
- 00:52:53next couple of years cuz you got
- 00:52:54something cooking back there so we'll
- 00:52:57see yeah that'll be I I would I would be
- 00:53:00so happy if Ben and Grace get a get a TV
- 00:53:03show that shot at Mohawk Chevrolet I
- 00:53:07would it would be ecstatic I know keep
- 00:53:10us posted I will I'll definitely keep it
- 00:53:13posted for sure all right hope you
- 00:53:15enjoyed that episode please give the
- 00:53:17podcast a rating consider subscribing to
- 00:53:19the show and check the show notes for
- 00:53:20links to what we talked about thanks for
- 00:53:22tuning in I'll see you guys next time
- Content Creation
- Dealership Marketing
- Community Engagement
- Sales Strategy
- Brand Building
- Virality
- Customer Relationships
- Video Content
- Social Media Strategy
- Automotive Industry