• DD-Square-Logo_resized
  • ATTEND LAS VEGAS
    • Attendee
      • Registration & Pricing
      • Agenda At-A-Glance
      • Exhibitor List/Floor Plan
      • Sponsor List
      • Hotel & Travel
      • Hosted Dealer Program
      • FAQ
      • Mobile App
    • Exhibitor
      • Exhibit/Sponsor
      • Advertising Opportunities
      • Exhibitor Resources
      • Exhibitor Tips
    • Education
      • Overview
      • Show Schedule
  • ABOUT
    • Conference Overview
    • Best Of Awards
    • Become a Speaker
    • Press Inquiries
    • Partnership Programs
    • Health & Safety
    • Contact Us
    • Get Updates
  • RESOURCES
    • Webinars
    • Downloads
  • NEWS
    • Auto Retail News
    • Digital Editions
    • Press Releases
    • Submit Editorial
    • Subscribe
  • .
  • ATTEND LAS VEGAS
    • Attendee
      • Registration & Pricing
      • Agenda At-A-Glance
      • Exhibitor List/Floor Plan
      • Sponsor List
      • Hotel & Travel
      • Hosted Dealer Program
      • FAQ
      • Mobile App
    • Exhibitor
      • Exhibit/Sponsor
      • Advertising Opportunities
      • Exhibitor Resources
      • Exhibitor Tips
    • Education
      • Overview
      • Show Schedule
  • RESOURCES
    • Webinars
    • Downloads
  • ABOUT
    • Conference Overview
    • Best Of Awards
    • Become a Speaker
    • Press Inquiries
    • Partnership Programs
    • Health & Safety
    • Get Updates
  • NEWS
    • AUTO RETAIL NEWS
    • PRESS RELEASES
    • DIGITAL EDITIIONS
    • SUBMIT EDITORIAL
    • SUBSCRIBE

Las Vegas: Oct 17-19, 2023

REGISTER NOW EXHIBIT / INQUIRE
Q

NEWS:

Dealer Management | Dealer/GM News | Trending Industry News
April 26, 2016

How One Dealership Found the Recipe for Success in Customer Engagement

Posts:
Dealer Management | Dealer/GM News | Trending Industry News
April 26, 2016

How One Dealership Found the Recipe for Success in Customer Engagement

Getting your customer’s attention and engaging with them can be a tough task these days. There is so much competition from other marketers — customers are constantly barraged with messages from every side and in every way.

Social media reach has decreased, digital marketing is ever more challenging and direct mail sometimes goes straight into the trash. This leaves some dealerships pulling their hair out due to the lack of response from their customers and prospects.

However, dealers that think outside-the-box a little bit have had great success engaging with their customers. The key is to really interact with your customers and provide something they want that is not just a pure sales message.

In 2011, Howdy Honda set its eyes on Facebook and ran a contest requesting holiday cookie recipes from its fans in exchange for bonus service reward points. The contest’s goal was to engage their customer base while driving incremental service traffic through bonus service reward points. The contest was run for two weeks at the end of November and saw 48 recipe submissions. They then took these recipes and created an e-book which was downloaded over 900 times. Due to the response they received, they repeated the contest in 2012 with the same format and ended up increasing engagement with 68 submitted recipes and an e-book which was downloaded 1,728 times.

That’s incredible branding and engagement! Howdy Honda then further upped the ante and asked participants to add a story concerning the origin of the recipe, along with a sentence or two about the customer’s experience as a Honda owner. Then, in 2014, they added seasonal service coupons and a discount for submitting a recipe and further engaged the customers by allowing them to vote for the best recipe, with the prize being a $250 Howdy Honda branded gift card.122 recipe submissions were received and over 1,000 customer voted online. This time, rather than an e-book, they printed softcover recipe books and handed them out as gifts in the service drive. This, now traditional, contest was a winning success for Howdy Honda. It engaged their customers and promoted their brand.

In an attempt to transform things away from a strictly seasonal promotion, the dealership added a summer picnic grilling recipe book along with the same contest, voting and prize for the winners. This year, they’ve also added a design contest for a new Howdy Honda tote bag.

Howdy Honda set out to do what every great marketing strategy desires – to engage its customers and market to them in a way that, well, doesn’t feel like marketing. Part of their success is their loyalty program and their membership base since adopting their loyalty program in 2008 – which is a little over 63,000 members — and they are adding an additional 400+ each month due to the success of their promotion. This is a fantastic way to engage a captive membership base.

Every year the dealership has run these promotions it has increased customer engagement. The trick in implementing any contest or promotion is to make it engaging and one that fits your demographic. In addition, as with any branding play, ensure that you are consistent with any deployment. Howdy Honda customers look forward to these engagements as is evident in the increased engagement year after year. You may not see massive viral success in your first attempt. But, remember, with a consistent and committed strategy, you too can win the war for your customer’s attention. And that, my friends, is the recipe for success.

Dealer Management•Dealer/GM News•Trending Industry News

SHARE

Share on Email
Share on Linkedin
Share on Facebook
Share on Pinterest
Share on Twitter
← Previous Article Next Article →
Posts Industry Press Releases

One View Integrates with Autosoft to Enhance Document Digitization for Auto Dealerships

One View becomes certified partner of Autosoft’s Partner Program – providing seamless integration between both systems One View, an auto industry-specific data solution specialist, announced the integration of its document management system with
Posts Marketing & AdvertisingTrending Industry News

How Does Google Analytics 4 Impact Call Monitoring?

Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is here, and Universal Analytics (UA) is a thing of the past. So, what is the big difference between GA4 and UA, and what does it mean for dealerships and their automotive call monitoring solutions? Universal Analytics (UA) o
Posts Industry Press Releases

One View Integrates with Autosoft to Enhance Document Digitization for Auto Dealerships

One View becomes certified partner of Autosoft’s Partner Program – providing seamless integration between both systems One View, an auto industry-specific data solution specialist, announced the integration of its document management system with
Posts Dealer Ops & LeadershipTrending Industry News

Three Key Areas to Focus on for Fixed Ops Success

A well-managed BDC can significantly impact sales, raise service profits, and increase retention, but achieving success in this field requires three key ingredients: Focus, People, and Consistency. Without these elements working in tandem, even the m
Posts Dealer Ops & LeadershipTrending Industry News

Astroturfing: What it is and Why Your Dealership Should Avoid it

Astroturfing is organized activity that is intended to create a false impression of a widespread, spontaneously arising, grassroots movement in support of…something…that is in reality initiated and controlled by a concealed group…or corpora
Posts Uncategorized

Cracking the Code: Driving Team Action Post 1-on-1s

Ever left a meeting whether it’s with your team or a 1-on-1, on cloud nine, believing your team was all set to conquer the world, only to find their enthusiasm fizzling out days later? The challenge lies in converting intentions into actions amidst
Posts Sales & Variable OpsTrending Industry News

How End-Of-Year-Sales May Impact Auto Finance Digital Transformation Strategies

Following a challenging sales environment in 2022, a noticeable recovery in the automotive sector has stabilized in 2023. This year, even as supply chain problems subsided, new challenges emerged, such as the persistent risk of a potential recession,
Posts Industry Press Releases

Mopar and Petra Automotive Products Partner to Launch New Maintenance Products to Dealers Across North America

Petra Automotive Products, the fastest growing premium automotive products manufacturer in the world, is proud to announce 11 of their best-in-class products will be launched under the Mopar® brand for Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep®, Ram and FIAT® dealers

NEWSLETTER

SUBSCRIBE

DEALER MAGAZINE

Dealer Magazine March/April 2023 Issue Featuring an Interview with NADA 2023 Chairman
MAGAZINE
Digital Dealer Logo White
FOLLOW US ON
  • Follow
  • Follow
  • Follow
  • Follow
  • Follow
© 2023 Emerald X, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
ABOUT    CAREERS    AUTHORIZED SERVICE PROVIDERS   DO NOT SELL MY PERSONAL INFORMATION   TERMS OF USE   PRIVACY POLICY