Back to the Future & Smart Marketing Decisions | C-4 Analytics Webinar

How a Strategic Marketing Plan Can Save Your Dealership

This webinar, originally presented by C-4 Analytics on the Digital Dealer platform, uses a simple metaphor from the movie Back to the Future to explain a critical concept for modern marketers. Just as Marty McFly's note from the future saved Doc Brown, this presentation provides a "pre-internet note" to help dealers make smart decisions today. This isn't a sappy tribute; it's a hard-hitting look at the reality that digital and traditional marketing have converged, and your success over the next 3-5 years depends on the decisions you make now.

The missing link tying it all together is the strategic marketing plan, a cornerstone of business that has been lost in the digital age.

The Problem: A Digital Hodgepodge

In the past, dealers worked with a single, trusted ad agency that served their store for decades. This agency never worked with their rivals, ensuring a clear, focused effort. But with the rise of the internet, this model broke down. Dealers began using a hodgepodge of conflicted digital vendors and point solutions—companies that do only SEO, only PPC, or only social.

This has led to a major problem: a dealership can lose a sale to a rival not because of price or product, but because the collective digital presence of its vendors fails to motivate a customer to buy. This happens when:

• You use a large-box digital company that serves your rivals. How can you expect to win when you're using the same playbook?
• Your various point-solution vendors aren’t talking to each other. Your SEO company, PPC company, and social media company are working in silos, not as a unified team.
• Your local agency doesn't have the tech, data, or scale to truly compete.

This isn’t a digital problem; it's a marketing problem.

The Solution: A Strategic Marketing Plan

To win today, every element of your online presence must be re-engineered to support a single, strategic marketing and media plan. This isn't about throwing money at different vendors; it's about a fully integrated, holistic approach that unites all your efforts.

The strategic plan starts with a consultation, not a sales pitch. Your partners need to understand your business goals by department, your market position, and your competitive landscape. They should be using data from OEM reports like Sales by ZIP, Pump-in/Pump-out, and Competitive Make Registrations to guide every decision.

A complete strategic plan should cover:

• Media Planning: An integrated approach to both online and offline media.
• Website Optimization: Ensuring your site is ready to convert traffic.
• Content & Creative: Using a consistent message and brand identity across all platforms.
• Conversion Mechanisms: Optimizing calls-to-action and landing pages.
• Strategic Execution: Constantly reviewing and adjusting the plan based on real-time data and market dynamics.

This plan gives you a roadmap to attack your market, ensuring that every dollar spent is working toward a shared goal: generating more happy customers and making a better profit. The future of marketing is not "digital marketing"—it's just marketing. And it's all come back together.

Watch the Full Webinar

For a deeper dive into these topics and to hear directly from Rob Stoesser, Vice President of OEM Relations, watch the full webinar below.