Episode 1 - Tyler Rauch, Marketing Director at Superior Automotive Group

🎙 Episode 1 – Tyler Rauch, Marketing Director at Superior Automotive Group
Podcast: The 100 Marketers Project

Hosts: Andrew Street (Dealer OMG), Matthew Davis (TradePending)
Guest: Tyler Rauch, Marketing Director at Superior Automotive Group

In the premiere episode of The 100 Marketers Project, we sit down with Tyler Rauch—Marketing Director at Superior Automotive Group—to explore how he’s scaled strategy across 16 rooftops, built out an in-house creative team, and cut through vendor buzzwords to focus on what actually moves the needle.

From OEM politics to barbecue sponsorships, Tyler brings a refreshingly honest look at what it really takes to run marketing for a fast-growing group—and why he believes automotive marketing should be treated more like a speedboat than a cruise ship.

⏱ Episode Timestamps:

00:00 – Meet the Hosts & Mission of the Show
01:00 – Tyler’s Role at Superior + Rapid Growth Across Markets
02:30 – Corporate OEM Background: Ford, Chrysler, and Consulting
05:45 – Budget Blind Spots & Auditing Ad Spend the Right Way
07:30 – The Problem with Buzzwords (Especially SEO)
10:00 – The Myth of “Turnkey” Marketing Programs
13:00 – Building a Marketing Team from the Ground Up
15:45 – Managing Social Media Across 16 Rooftops
18:10 – Balancing Brand vs. Performance Marketing
21:00 – Can OEMs Ever Support Grassroots Marketing?
23:30 – Favorite OEMs to Work With Right Now
25:00 – Tech Stack Talk: How Many Tools Are Too Many?
28:00 – Cutting Through the Noise: 13 Vendors Down to 5
30:00 – Most Rewarding Part of the Job: Freedom to Innovate
32:30 – Building Brand Pride in the Local Community
34:00 – Where to Follow Tyler & Superior Automotive Group

🔗 Like what you hear?
Subscribe and follow along as we talk with 99 more brilliant marketing minds shaping the future of automotive retail.

Think you got what it takes to be a guest?
Contact Ashley: ashley@dealeromg.com and lets get your opinion out to the world!

Transcript

00:00:04 [Speaker 1]
We are on a mission to talk to the 100 leading marketing minds in the automotive space.
00:00:10 [Speaker 1]
I'm Andrew Street, owner of Dealer OMG.

00:00:14 [Speaker 2]
Matthew Davis here, chief marketing officer at Trade Pending.
00:00:16 [Speaker 2]
Why are we doing this?
00:00:17 [Speaker 2]
Well, we like automotive.
00:00:18 [Speaker 2]
We like marketers, and we like retail automotive marketers.
00:00:21 [Speaker 2]
Our goal here is to give you the insights into what these leading marketers are thinking, planning, and doing.

00:00:27 [Speaker 1]
Enjoy the show.
00:00:29 [Speaker 1]
Who are you?
00:00:30 [Speaker 1]
Where do you work?
00:00:32 [Speaker 1]
And most importantly, what tasks all fall under your umbrella?

00:00:37 [Speaker 3]
So I am Tyler Rao, marketing director at Superior Automotive Group.
00:00:41 [Speaker 3]
We are headquartered here in Fayetteville, Arkansas, but we've got dealerships in, Arkansas and as recently as last month, Tennessee, Texas, and Florida.
00:00:55 [Speaker 3]
We've also got seven Kubota tractor trailers.
00:01:00 [Speaker 3]
Arkansas, Missouri, and Texas.

00:01:02 [Speaker 2]
How many how many rooftops you're working with their total if you had to add on?

00:01:05 [Speaker 3]
16 now.
00:01:05 [Speaker 3]
16 automotive rooftops and seven Kubota.
00:01:10 [Speaker 3]
And then, I mean, in the last six months, we've added, Kubota rooftop in, in Dallas, and then we added a Mercedes Benz store in Memphis.
00:01:16 [Speaker 3]
So we, we've had a a fun couple of months here, which has been a tremendous learning opportunity for me.
00:01:21 [Speaker 3]
I've always been on the the end of inheriting things after they've happened, but getting to see, some acquisitions take place, one scenario where we kept the name and the another scenario where we changed the name were both also very different for me in terms of how we treat everything from the marketing transition process to budgeting and and all the fun growing pains that come with that.

00:01:44 [Speaker 3]
My background, I mentioned it briefly.
00:01:46 [Speaker 3]
I've I'm in, started in 2008 as an intern at Ford Motor Company, and that led to a job when I graduated in 02/2009.
00:01:55 [Speaker 3]
I started with Ford in corporate finance.
00:01:58 [Speaker 3]
I was at Chicago Assembly Plant, and then I went to Ford Credit, their headquarters in Dearborn.
00:02:04 [Speaker 3]
After a number of years of Ford, I made the switch to Chrysler, which when you live in in, Michigan, it's just a different direction on the interstate.

00:02:12 [Speaker 3]
So I made my way north, ended up at the Chrysler headquarters where I worked in international marketing and sales.
00:02:19 [Speaker 3]
And I was fortunate because, you know, the gentleman who was running international was the individual who ended up taking over the company, when Sergio Marchioni had passed.
00:02:28 [Speaker 3]
So it was a small piece of the pie in the grand scheme of things, but very short visibility, which was nice for me.
00:02:35 [Speaker 3]
Got a lot of good growth opportunities.
00:02:36 [Speaker 3]
And then from there, I went into the field and I called on stores, for a couple years, and I had multiple districts, across the country.

00:02:43 [Speaker 3]
So, you know, we had floated around Michigan, and then we wound up in New Jersey and then North Carolina and now in Arkansas.
00:02:50 [Speaker 3]
So I think we've moved about seven times as a family just with the industry.
00:02:54 [Speaker 3]
Hopefully, this is where we stay.
00:02:56 [Speaker 3]
You know, being on the retail side of the house was an important piece

00:03:01 [Speaker 2]
for me.
00:03:01 [Speaker 2]
It was a bucket list opportunity.

00:03:01 [Speaker 3]
And, you know, when I did leave the manufacturer, I went into consulting for about four years, and I loved working with all the different brands.
00:03:08 [Speaker 3]
And I thought my skill set lent itself well to what the dealers needed and what they were facing.
00:03:14 [Speaker 3]
And that last four years before I came to Superior was just the tools and the belt that I needed to do this job effectively, and they were looking for someone that could do this and was willing to relocate and wanted to be in this chair.
00:03:25 [Speaker 3]
And, quite literally when when I said, hey.
00:03:28 [Speaker 3]
I respect the thirty seven years that you guys had before I got here.

00:03:32 [Speaker 3]
You know, I wanna follow along with the blueprint that you guys have put forth, and they said, bring an eraser because we don't want the same blueprint.
00:03:39 [Speaker 3]
We want things

00:03:39 [Speaker 2]
to work.
00:03:40 [Speaker 2]
Love that.

00:03:41 [Speaker 3]
Yeah.
00:03:41 [Speaker 3]
I know.
00:03:42 [Speaker 3]
I was like, that's it.
00:03:43 [Speaker 3]
Hook, line, and sinker.
00:03:44 [Speaker 3]
When I when I heard bringing a racer, I knew I was the right fit.

00:03:47 [Speaker 3]
So

00:03:48 [Speaker 2]
Look.
00:03:49 [Speaker 2]
When you when you were working at the OEMs and you you changed so an OEM is the major brands, Ford, SCA, now Stellantis.
00:03:56 [Speaker 2]
Did you have to get a different car every time you changed brands?

00:04:00 [Speaker 3]
Yeah.
00:04:02 [Speaker 3]
I mean, at the plant in Chicago, I thankfully, I had a Ford.
00:04:05 [Speaker 3]
But if you didn't have a Ford, they made you park in a lot that would take you almost a mile to get to the office.
00:04:10 [Speaker 3]
I mean, plants are huge and they're old, and there's there's a lot of big lots and space and you have to walk through the plant.
00:04:16 [Speaker 3]
It gets to be very, very time consuming to get to the office.

00:04:19 [Speaker 3]
So, if you didn't drive a Ford, you had to park in the back back, and that was a that was a hike.
00:04:23 [Speaker 3]
And then at Chrysler, thankfully, once I got into the field, they gave us cars.
00:04:26 [Speaker 3]
So I was an early adopter of the Chrysler 200 and the Chrysler Pacifica.
00:04:32 [Speaker 3]
But it was fun.
00:04:33 [Speaker 3]
I mean, I enjoyed I enjoyed getting to drive all those models, and I think it's valuable.

00:04:36 [Speaker 3]
I mean, mean, I know it seems like just like a cheesy perk, but, you know, that's I wouldn't have driven nearly the the volume of

00:04:44 [Speaker 2]
vehicles that

00:04:45 [Speaker 1]
I have if I hadn't spent that time.
00:04:47 [Speaker 1]
It sounds like super formative experiences working with the OEMs, multiple different two two different manufacturers, doing some consultancy work.
00:04:54 [Speaker 1]
It sounds like you were doing, like, marketing with dealers.

00:04:58 [Speaker 3]
Yep.
00:04:59 [Speaker 3]
You know, and I'll and that was where I think I met a lot of the industry partners that I've come to love over the years.
00:05:07 [Speaker 3]
You know, my job was to go through and working with dealers on some of the low hanging fruit that maybe they weren't equipped to handle.
00:05:12 [Speaker 3]
So it might seem silly, but if you walked into the average auto group and said, how much do you spend a month in advertising, and could you prove it to me with invoices?
00:05:21 [Speaker 3]
I think a lot of them would struggle.

00:05:23 [Speaker 3]
I don't know that it's mapped out.
00:05:25 [Speaker 3]
So it's simple enough to know that you're spending this much on your website, this much on on SEO or SEM, and what part of this is fees, and what what is the fee structure?
00:05:34 [Speaker 3]
Is it a flat fee?
00:05:34 [Speaker 3]
Is it a variable?
00:05:35 [Speaker 3]
You know, is it a percentage that, is it a co op?

00:05:38 [Speaker 3]
Is it OEM approved?
00:05:39 [Speaker 3]
Is it not OEM approved?
00:05:40 [Speaker 3]
I don't think most people could tell you that information off the top of their head or have it anywhere, or it's parsed together with, you know, multiple folks.
00:05:47 [Speaker 3]
The controller knows some of it.
00:05:49 [Speaker 3]
The Internet manager knows some of it.

00:05:51 [Speaker 3]
And, that exercise was one of the first things I would do when I walk into a dealership.
00:05:56 [Speaker 3]
And immediately, we found opportunities to not only cut cost and boost efficiency, but create some level of organization and communication that I think serves them well.
00:06:07 [Speaker 3]
So the average client that I had was, probably overconfident in what they were doing, but I think they probably all kinda looked back and said, gosh.
00:06:14 [Speaker 3]
I didn't realize I had so many issues.
00:06:15 [Speaker 3]
And it wasn't even me telling them that they had you know, the the keywords were bad.

00:06:21 [Speaker 3]
Like, I wasn't trying to go after necessarily the nuts and bolts.
00:06:25 [Speaker 3]
I was looking at what I thought were basics.
00:06:26 [Speaker 3]
Like, what are you spending?
00:06:27 [Speaker 3]
Where is it going?
00:06:28 [Speaker 3]
Do you talk to the vendor?

00:06:29 [Speaker 3]
When's the last time they were here?
00:06:30 [Speaker 3]
You know?
00:06:31 [Speaker 3]
Did they did they provide you with information, or did they keep asking you what you want?
00:06:35 [Speaker 3]
That you've never been to a marketing conference.
00:06:37 [Speaker 3]
You don't understand that side of the house.

00:06:39 [Speaker 3]
So vendors asking marketers or asking dealers, you know, hey.
00:06:42 [Speaker 3]
What would you like to see different?
00:06:44 [Speaker 3]
They're like, they're not equipped to answer that question.
00:06:46 [Speaker 3]
Their jobs to sell cars.
00:06:48 [Speaker 3]
So I don't like that an automotive.

00:06:50 [Speaker 2]
I'm I'm shocked to hear that.

00:06:52 [Speaker 3]
Yeah.
00:06:52 [Speaker 3]
Yeah.
00:06:53 [Speaker 3]
I'm not shocked.
00:06:54 [Speaker 3]
Yeah.

00:06:55 [Speaker 1]
Yeah.
00:06:55 [Speaker 1]
Like, you tell me what to do.
00:06:56 [Speaker 1]
Like, I yeah.
00:06:57 [Speaker 1]
I'll give you a cent like, you you should have access to all my stuff already and know it didn't the the main power is pushing.

00:07:05 [Speaker 3]
It was very eye opening.
00:07:06 [Speaker 3]
And then everyone uses the same terminologies, but it they just become buzzwords.
00:07:09 [Speaker 3]
You know?
00:07:10 [Speaker 3]
If if you if someone says, oh, in my prior career, I did SEO.
00:07:14 [Speaker 3]
You know, I that worries me.

00:07:15 [Speaker 3]
I go, what do you mean you did SEO?
00:07:18 [Speaker 3]
Like, did you were you could I could you report anything that you did?
00:07:23 [Speaker 3]
Could you quantify anything that you did?
00:07:25 [Speaker 3]
That's not to knock what they were doing, but it just might tell you that someone goes, oh, hey.
00:07:29 [Speaker 3]
As long as you're saying the buzzwords, keyword, and content, then people will think you did SEO.

00:07:35 [Speaker 3]
It's like but that's not that's not helpful.
00:07:37 [Speaker 3]
And that's not a knock on the person doing it.
00:07:39 [Speaker 3]
It's just a knock on the way that we've made buzzwords seem like it's a the job description.
00:07:44 [Speaker 3]
Know.

00:07:45 [Speaker 2]
Like, the new SEO.

00:07:47 [Speaker 3]
Yeah.
00:07:47 [Speaker 3]
Yeah.

00:07:48 [Speaker 2]
Let's say, we're not gonna go down that rabbit hole right now.
00:07:50 [Speaker 2]
So, with your past working with the major brands and the OEMs, you've you've got a, like, a a more well rounded perspective on this, and you can push back sometimes on Mhmm.
00:08:04 [Speaker 2]
Well meaning suggestions.
00:08:07 [Speaker 2]
Mhmm.
00:08:07 [Speaker 2]
When does that happen?

00:08:08 [Speaker 2]
Why does it happen?
00:08:09 [Speaker 2]
What's something you can share about that?

00:08:11 [Speaker 3]
It happens a lot.
00:08:13 [Speaker 3]
You know, the different brands have different programs, so it's not one size fits all.
00:08:17 [Speaker 3]
But for example, you know, GM will send us I mean, when I say that I get, you know, 10 to 12 a quarter direct mail requests of these, you know, cardholder drops and supplier drop mail drops, and there's a digital component to it.
00:08:32 [Speaker 3]
And, you know, they basically spell it out, and and you guys may not see them.
00:08:36 [Speaker 3]
But the emails that come through that basically say, please reply approval, and we'll get it going.

00:08:40 [Speaker 3]
You know, they make it so easy.
00:08:41 [Speaker 3]
And then the worst the worst words to be combined and put into an industry are turnkey.
00:08:47 [Speaker 3]
Hey, guys.
00:08:48 [Speaker 3]
It's turnkey.
00:08:49 [Speaker 3]
So that's the selling point.

00:08:51 [Speaker 3]
So for example, if

00:08:51 [Speaker 2]
you word.
00:08:52 [Speaker 2]
Let's code word for

00:08:53 [Speaker 1]
Yeah.
00:08:54 [Speaker 1]
It's slippery and easy.

00:08:56 [Speaker 3]
It is slippery and easy, but it also, to me, has kind of become the crutch that that, most vendors are using as a sales pitch.
00:09:02 [Speaker 3]
So it's not here's why, you know, you might you might we might be a little bit more expensive, but it's worth it.
00:09:07 [Speaker 3]
It's basically, hey.
00:09:08 [Speaker 3]
It's easy, so you should do it.
00:09:09 [Speaker 3]
And I I I didn't feel like anybody let me off the hook when I was trying to wholesale Chrysler two hundreds to a dealer in Northern Michigan.

00:09:15 [Speaker 3]
And, and I appreciate that they didn't because now I can look back and and go, I'm not gonna let anybody off the hook either.
00:09:21 [Speaker 3]
If you can make sense of it, I'm okay paying for it.
00:09:24 [Speaker 3]
But turnkey is not the answer.
00:09:26 [Speaker 3]
But to answer your question, Matthew, I'm sorry.
00:09:28 [Speaker 3]
I got a tangent.

00:09:29 [Speaker 3]
I, it depends on the brand for, you know, for some of the Stellantis stores.
00:09:34 [Speaker 3]
When we get an email that says, hey.
00:09:36 [Speaker 3]
Here are some, you know, business center funds that are going to be used for the dealership.
00:09:40 [Speaker 3]
Here are the options with what you can use.
00:09:42 [Speaker 3]
It's not money that is available to us.

00:09:44 [Speaker 3]
Like, if we don't use it, we don't get it.
00:09:46 [Speaker 3]
It's basically co op dollars that they have, that they're willing to spend on our behalf.
00:09:51 [Speaker 3]
And what I know behind the scenes is that they'll say, hey.
00:09:54 [Speaker 3]
You've got $4,000 of, you know, basically funds available to a store.
00:09:59 [Speaker 3]
Whatever the number is, it's calculated differently based on sales.

00:10:01 [Speaker 3]
But there's a huge chunk of that going to the to the vendor.
00:10:05 [Speaker 3]
And I'm not Andrew, I'm sorry.
00:10:07 [Speaker 3]
I know I'm it sounds like I'm I'm making some of the vendors out to be a bad guy.
00:10:10 [Speaker 3]
Yeah.

00:10:10 [Speaker 2]
Beat up on Andrew, not me.
00:10:12 [Speaker 2]
That's fine.

00:10:14 [Speaker 3]
But but I struggle because it's, it's an IV drip for them, and it makes it easy for them to go, well, we know we're gonna have these at bats all month, so why do I have to work extra hard for it?
00:10:23 [Speaker 3]
Doesn't mean they don't have the right platform for it, but it does mean there's a fee structure.
00:10:27 [Speaker 3]
And anybody on an OEM program knows that there's gonna be a, profit center in some capacity for the for the business center, for the brand, and then, obviously, the vendor has to make a little bit of money.
00:10:37 [Speaker 3]
So by the time that we look at that dollar amount, we know it's actually a lot smaller.
00:10:41 [Speaker 3]
So if someone sold you on a, you know, they said, hey.

00:10:45 [Speaker 3]
You can use your funds towards video.
00:10:47 [Speaker 3]
And you say, great.
00:10:49 [Speaker 3]
Do we'll do OTT on the Ram 1,500.
00:10:51 [Speaker 3]
It'll be awesome.
00:10:52 [Speaker 3]
And you think that budget's $5,000 or $4,000.

00:10:55 [Speaker 3]
And then by the time that you realize that's been sliced, the actual money going to OTT is very little, and it's inconsequential in the grand scheme of things with what they're doing.
00:11:03 [Speaker 3]
You also know that they have to build a message for hundreds of dealerships that are doing it.
00:11:08 [Speaker 3]
Right?
00:11:09 [Speaker 3]
So, again, it was turnkey.
00:11:10 [Speaker 3]
When I was selling these programs, it was easy.

00:11:12 [Speaker 3]
I'd say, hey.
00:11:12 [Speaker 3]
They're gonna put OEM approved content across all these major channels.
00:11:16 [Speaker 3]
It's gonna be great.
00:11:17 [Speaker 3]
Well, they're not making a different ad or or spot for hundreds of dealerships.
00:11:22 [Speaker 3]
So Yeah.

00:11:23 [Speaker 3]
You lose a little bit of personality there, which I think is

00:11:25 [Speaker 2]
a problem.
00:11:26 [Speaker 2]
Everything's the same.

00:11:27 [Speaker 3]
Yeah.
00:11:28 [Speaker 3]
So I used to say if you could go to a dealership in in, you know, in Oregon or a dealership in Florida and find very similar ads, obviously, there's gonna be nuances based on the market.
00:11:36 [Speaker 3]
But for the most part, it wasn't it wasn't different.
00:11:38 [Speaker 3]
And, again, I understand for the average store who doesn't have a robust marketing plan or a marketing director or somebody who can help advise them, that might be a godsend.
00:11:48 [Speaker 3]
But we're lying to ourselves if we think that that budget that we're looking at to approve is actually all going to the thing.

00:11:54 [Speaker 3]
So we would say, let's pick something that maybe has a little bit, that that can do a lot more with a little bit less.
00:12:00 [Speaker 3]
So say maybe we think, hey.
00:12:01 [Speaker 3]
Let's do, a Pmax campaign instead of OTT.
00:12:05 [Speaker 3]
We think we can do more with less on Pmax, so let's move the money there.
00:12:10 [Speaker 3]
And and navigating those programs that way because, again, otherwise, you're gonna say, hey.

00:12:14 [Speaker 3]
It's just as easy as enrolling in this form, and it's turnkey so you don't have to worry about a thing.
00:12:19 [Speaker 3]
And then Andrew goes to bed at night and feels great about himself.
00:12:22 [Speaker 3]
I've just learned to pick those programs apart a little bit.
00:12:25 [Speaker 3]
And other times, it's data driven.
00:12:27 [Speaker 3]
They'll they'll ask us for information or they wanna link up to our, DMS, and, you know, we're just a lot more gun shy about that.

00:12:35 [Speaker 3]
We're not prepared to just let anyone have access to what they need.
00:12:37 [Speaker 3]
So most times, we ask them for what they need specifically.
00:12:40 [Speaker 3]
And if we deem any of that information not important, we've stripped it.
00:12:44 [Speaker 3]
And, we'll send them a file so we know that it's capped at what they can take.
00:12:48 [Speaker 3]
And, I mean, I'm sure, you know, we're not on anyone's Christmas list, but, it does feel safer and a little bit more intentional with how we've chosen to do things in the last couple of, of years here at Superior.

00:13:00 [Speaker 1]
Were you able to build out, like, a team of marketers with you at

00:13:05 [Speaker 3]
some point?
00:13:06 [Speaker 3]
Kind of a a yes and no.
00:13:09 [Speaker 3]
So we when I came here, our our team was, it was really just two people.
00:13:15 [Speaker 3]
It was, a woman that we have that is still still works with us, and she had more of a background in traditional media.
00:13:22 [Speaker 3]
And we had a gentleman who's a graphic designer.

00:13:25 [Speaker 3]
And they both, out of born out of just the group growing and COVID, had to learn how to do OTT and pre roll and paid social and make all the graphics and do all the production and, you know, it was they just kind of became, like, their own little agency of sorts, but that after a while gets really hard.
00:13:43 [Speaker 3]
They hired a small team of social media coordinators who were out at the dealerships in each campus, and, they're posting regular content, all organic.
00:13:52 [Speaker 3]
Again, anything paid is coming through our house, but the the social media coordinators would be on the campuses doing their thing.
00:13:59 [Speaker 3]
That's even when it got to be oh, go ahead.
00:14:01 [Speaker 3]
Sorry.

00:14:01 [Speaker 1]
No.
00:14:01 [Speaker 1]
That's awesome.
00:14:02 [Speaker 1]
Like, some people, it's like they have a huge marketing team.
00:14:05 [Speaker 1]
Some people, it's like, it's just me and a bunch of contractors and vendors, and I don't know what the right recipe is.

00:14:12 [Speaker 3]
But Yeah.
00:14:13 [Speaker 3]
I'm I'm wrestling with that now if I'm being honest with you because, you know, even if you're looking at it purely from a headcount standpoint, you know, every time you get a store, you're not gonna hire a social media coordinator.
00:14:23 [Speaker 3]
Now if there's three to four stores on one campus and they can be there all day, that's fine.
00:14:27 [Speaker 3]
You're gonna have plenty of plenty of jobs to do to get content for four stores on a regular basis.
00:14:32 [Speaker 3]
Say we open a store in Memphis, and it's just one point.

00:14:34 [Speaker 3]
Does it warrant having a full time social media, coordinator there?
00:14:39 [Speaker 3]
Probably not.
00:14:40 [Speaker 3]
So we're gonna test our luck getting content from the store.
00:14:43 [Speaker 3]
We're out there visiting.
00:14:44 [Speaker 3]
We try to get as many photos as possible.

00:14:46 [Speaker 3]
We try to do employee spotlights and customer delivery photos, and then we have the stuff that we've created for, you know, paid social.
00:14:53 [Speaker 3]
So, the biggest chunk of my team is social media coordinators, but that's just because we've got the 16 stores.
00:15:00 [Speaker 3]
You you know, we did add a graphic designer, so now we have two graphic designers, which has been helpful because we process all of the tier three content through our house.
00:15:07 [Speaker 3]
So, it's easy for us to get the offers from the stores through a system that we created, And then we take those, and we create all the media that we're gonna push for the for the month, and it's all built in house and pushed out.
00:15:19 [Speaker 3]
So especially if someone said, hey.

00:15:20 [Speaker 3]
We wanted to work with you guys on this, you know, sponsorship.
00:15:24 [Speaker 3]
Do you have a fifteen second spot we can use?
00:15:27 [Speaker 3]
Yep.
00:15:27 [Speaker 3]
And it's this month's offers with the creative that we did with the drone footage from our dealership, so it looks and feels like superior.
00:15:34 [Speaker 3]
But, yeah, it's the team aspect of it's difficult because what happens in six more months if it's two or three more stores?

00:15:40 [Speaker 3]
And then in two years or five years, if it's three or four more stores, and all of a sudden

00:15:45 [Speaker 2]
Tyler, those are the good problems to have.

00:15:47 [Speaker 3]
They're great problems to have.
00:15:48 [Speaker 3]
But but without a crystal ball, it's difficult to know where you need to grow the team.
00:15:51 [Speaker 3]
I mean, you know, I'm looking at it from an efficiency standpoint.
00:15:54 [Speaker 3]
How far can you push with what you have without making it that everybody is just redlining?
00:16:00 [Speaker 3]
And I don't wanna get to the point where there's redlining because then you miss the opportunity for folks to do that little that 10% extra that you're just the little deposits.

00:16:11 [Speaker 3]
Every time a store calls and goes, oh my god.
00:16:13 [Speaker 3]
I need help.
00:16:14 [Speaker 3]
Or, hey.
00:16:14 [Speaker 3]
I realized I made a mistake.
00:16:16 [Speaker 3]
Or, hey.

00:16:16 [Speaker 3]
I have a really good idea, and it's Friday at, you know, 04:30.
00:16:19 [Speaker 3]
And, to have a team that has a little bit of that gas left in the tank

00:16:23 [Speaker 2]
You gotta have that bandwidth open for them.
00:16:25 [Speaker 2]
That's we try to do that here at Trade Penny.
00:16:27 [Speaker 2]
I think Andrew just runs his people into the ground, but maybe he doesn't exactly.

00:16:30 [Speaker 1]
No.
00:16:30 [Speaker 1]
What I feel like what Tyler has built, what you're building and the the headwinds and headaches that you have are, like, so similar to what I'm doing.
00:16:38 [Speaker 1]
Just building a marketing firm really focused on social with DealerOMG.
00:16:43 [Speaker 1]
And the problems of getting, like, new stores are great.
00:16:46 [Speaker 1]
Great problems.

00:16:47 [Speaker 1]
So you're growing.
00:16:48 [Speaker 1]
Sounds terrible.
00:16:49 [Speaker 1]
There's still problems.
00:16:50 [Speaker 1]
There's still problems.
00:16:51 [Speaker 1]
It's like, okay.

00:16:52 [Speaker 1]
We need to get their Facebook admin access.
00:16:54 [Speaker 1]
We need to get their x handle and their Instagram account.
00:16:58 [Speaker 1]
We need to get their TikTok.
00:16:59 [Speaker 1]
We need to get their analytics.
00:17:00 [Speaker 1]
Can we get their historical data?

00:17:02 [Speaker 1]
Can we tap into their CRM?
00:17:03 [Speaker 1]
And by the way, that's all marketing maybe.
00:17:06 [Speaker 1]
Oh, I didn't know that that's okay.
00:17:08 [Speaker 1]
Well, we'll figure that out.

00:17:09 [Speaker 3]
Yep.
00:17:10 [Speaker 3]
Yep.
00:17:10 [Speaker 3]
Yep.
00:17:11 [Speaker 3]
And the and the hard part is if you don't have relationships, you know, partnerships, so to speak, with your vendors, some of those answers are really hard to get.
00:17:20 [Speaker 3]
I mean, we've been fortunate that we've had folks that were willing to or or able to, not willing.

00:17:25 [Speaker 3]
I mean, they were not willing, but they were able to get us the access we needed and hand over some of these accounts.
00:17:29 [Speaker 3]
But then just like the consulting days, you walk into a store and go, hey.
00:17:33 [Speaker 3]
Who's got control of analytics?
00:17:34 [Speaker 3]
And everyone kinda looks at each other and goes, I don't know.
00:17:36 [Speaker 3]
And then you're gonna call the agency, but I just can't and say, hey.

00:17:39 [Speaker 3]
I'm sorry.
00:17:39 [Speaker 3]
Can I have access?
00:17:40 [Speaker 3]
And they're going, oh, I'm sorry.
00:17:42 [Speaker 3]
I don't work for you anymore.
00:17:43 [Speaker 3]
So no.

00:17:44 [Speaker 3]
And they should, but they don't.
00:17:46 [Speaker 3]
And I I experienced that back in the manufacturer days when we would make a change in vendors with some of these turnkey providers.
00:17:52 [Speaker 3]
They would say, no.
00:17:52 [Speaker 3]
I'm not I'm not giving you access to anything, or they would just stop responding.
00:17:56 [Speaker 3]
So, I think that's another point that we could harp on is making sure that the people that you surround yourself with are invested in the same strategy that, you know, you are.

00:18:06 [Speaker 3]
And I'm I'm very proud of that.
00:18:08 [Speaker 3]
And that's one of the things that I think I took through as a strength was knowing that I had good people around me and that when the time was right to make decisions, I trusted the folks that I could get on the phone to say, yeah.
00:18:17 [Speaker 3]
We think that's a good call.
00:18:18 [Speaker 3]
And if we're gonna do it, we're gonna do everything we can to make it work.
00:18:21 [Speaker 3]
So, you know, Trade Planning is a good partner of ours, and we've talked about it briefly.

00:18:24 [Speaker 3]
But Reunion Marketing, they've been a great partner of ours.
00:18:28 [Speaker 3]
You know, forward thinkers that are organized and willing to help and and put the right people, in those chairs has made a huge difference for us.

00:18:36 [Speaker 2]
Let me ask you a a question.
00:18:37 [Speaker 2]
It's one of the eternal debates of marketing.
00:18:41 [Speaker 2]
How do you balance brand awareness marketing spend versus we need leads and we need to sell cars right now spend?

00:18:51 [Speaker 3]
I am, looking at the your hand balance.
00:18:54 [Speaker 3]
I'm more focused on the brand awareness component of it because I I don't know if it's popular, opinion, but I think we have to look back and say, marketers get a bad rap when things go bad.
00:19:07 [Speaker 3]
They don't always get credit when things go well.
00:19:10 [Speaker 3]
And I went, well, then then I don't care.
00:19:13 [Speaker 3]
I mean, I care how we perform, but I'm not gonna hang my hat on a good day or a bad day.

00:19:17 [Speaker 3]
If we sold 15 new cars that afford over the weekend, I'm not gonna go, that was marketing.
00:19:21 [Speaker 3]
Because then if they blown up of you.

00:19:23 [Speaker 2]
That's not

00:19:24 [Speaker 3]
I like how it

00:19:25 [Speaker 2]
yeah.
00:19:26 [Speaker 2]
But

00:19:26 [Speaker 3]
if they, you know, if they hit a goose egg on Tuesday, I'm not gonna go, hey, guys.
00:19:29 [Speaker 3]
I'm sorry.
00:19:29 [Speaker 3]
That's on me.
00:19:30 [Speaker 3]
You know, that would get exhausting.
00:19:31 [Speaker 3]
And I finally said I put putting that ownership on the the the shoulders of the people that, you know, make these decisions is not fair to them, and it's not fair to the stores because you're taking credit away from someone who may have a better process than somebody else.

00:19:42 [Speaker 3]
So, again, I'm not saying that it's not important that we track leads and things like that, but, but, gosh, we're just a day and age where everybody's trying to sell you lead volume, and it's always deeper and more impactful.
00:19:53 [Speaker 3]
And at the end of the day, I think we just need to make sure that we're represented in all the places where people can convert.
00:20:00 [Speaker 3]
Let's give them the opportunity to convert, and then let's double down on brand awareness so they know who we are.
00:20:06 [Speaker 3]
They know we exist.
00:20:07 [Speaker 3]
And in the moment where they're starting to make that purchase, they've at least given us an opportunity.

00:20:11 [Speaker 3]
So, I I mean, maybe I just look at it a little bit backwards, but I would say that that it's made life a lot less stressful because you can be excited and you can get down, but you're not gonna hinge your success on one good day or one bad day.
00:20:25 [Speaker 3]
Instead, make sure you know they've got the opportunity to convert.
00:20:29 [Speaker 3]
Be there and then work on just making sure that everybody under the sun knows who you are and where they can buy a car.

00:20:35 [Speaker 1]
But, Tyler, I like I like the sound of, like, the ownership and the fingerprints that you have on the success of the dealership at a as a whole, not just, like, the marketing.
00:20:44 [Speaker 1]
Because it can be, like, some marketing to say, hey.
00:20:47 [Speaker 1]
If business is great, it's because marketing's killing it.

00:20:49 [Speaker 2]
Right.
00:20:50 [Speaker 2]
If it's slow,

00:20:50 [Speaker 1]
it's because of the sales guys.
00:20:52 [Speaker 1]
We got the leads, and you were telling me where to do some of the marketing.
00:20:56 [Speaker 1]
I didn't wanna do that and do it the opposite way where your hands are off the tough stuff, but they're very in when it's easy.
00:21:04 [Speaker 1]
When when sales are good, it's easy to say that's marketing.

00:21:08 [Speaker 3]
Yeah.
00:21:08 [Speaker 3]
Yeah.
00:21:09 [Speaker 3]
We've I

00:21:09 [Speaker 1]
admire that.
00:21:10 [Speaker 1]
Is there a world ever where you think the manufacturer can coop more grassroots style marketing at a like like, sponsoring the T ball teams and getting the signage at the middle schools and things like that?

00:21:25 [Speaker 3]
You know, there are manufacturers where I can do that.
00:21:30 [Speaker 3]
What I love what I love more of a an account, so to speak, where, you know, you say, hey.
00:21:35 [Speaker 3]
There's a difference in some of the stuff that we wanna do down here, but then there's a layer stuff up here that we think is important.
00:21:41 [Speaker 3]
I would love for the manufacturers to get more involved.
00:21:43 [Speaker 3]
But I've also lived in the world where you realize there are so many dealers.

00:21:49 [Speaker 3]
It would be almost impossible to determine whose thing is important enough to do and not do.
00:21:54 [Speaker 3]
And that's not to say that a a store that sells three or four new cars a month in, you know, a remote part of Northern Michigan is less important in sponsoring their high school's homecoming than the guy in Metro Detroit.
00:22:07 [Speaker 3]
You know, they're both gonna tell you that, you know, there'll be 10,000 people at one game, and there'll be 200 people at the other game.
00:22:12 [Speaker 3]
And you're gonna go, well, I don't know which one's more important.
00:22:14 [Speaker 3]
To one of those stores, that might mean everything.

00:22:16 [Speaker 3]
That might mean everyone in that town knows exactly who's there, and they can't wait to shake their hands.
00:22:20 [Speaker 3]
Then And it might be a bloop on the radar for the other one.
00:22:22 [Speaker 3]
But it's like deciding who your favorite kid is.
00:22:25 [Speaker 3]
I mean, if you open it up, I think you're gonna find that it's gonna get really tricky to try and pick and choose.
00:22:32 [Speaker 3]
But I do think it's a path they should be exploring because I do think it would be great for the brand as well to say, hey.

00:22:38 [Speaker 3]
Regionally, we know that there's gonna be some great chances to get product out there.
00:22:42 [Speaker 3]
And and, again, for the OEMs that have product lineups that we should be proud of promoting, they need to be, doing what they can to to push.
00:22:50 [Speaker 3]
But, you know, again, simultaneously, we're dealing with, you know, a pandemic and inventory issues and then, you know, a tariff.
00:22:58 [Speaker 3]
And then, you know, you just kinda go down the line, and it's like, well, where is that in the pecking order in the grand scheme of things?
00:23:02 [Speaker 3]
And it seems like as soon as we get our feet under us, it's, you know, it's something gets pushed back down.

00:23:06 [Speaker 3]
So, for now, they'll lay on our folders, and we're happy to do it.

00:23:11 [Speaker 1]
What's the coolest manufacturer to work with right now as far as giving you flexibility and ability to Well, it's tough.
00:23:18 [Speaker 1]
Okay.

00:23:19 [Speaker 2]
You heard it here, folks.

00:23:21 [Speaker 3]
Yeah.
00:23:22 [Speaker 3]
They're, they're the easiest to work with.
00:23:25 [Speaker 3]
They've got the best portal, I think, to work through.
00:23:29 [Speaker 3]
The submission process, the preapproval process for me seems pretty easy.
00:23:33 [Speaker 3]
You know, they have a lot more control through their program, a lot of the dig ad stuff, but when you choose to sponsor something, it's it's pretty awesome.

00:23:42 [Speaker 3]
They don't you know, you have to you have to follow the rules, but it it's not like, you know, someone calls me and says, hey.
00:23:47 [Speaker 3]
We'd like to do something, and I think, oh, that sounds fun.
00:23:50 [Speaker 3]
I'm not worried that Mazda's gonna say no because I know that they're cool with the product placement, the correct logo, you know, the right mention of the name, and they've got an awesome product lineup.
00:23:59 [Speaker 3]
So it makes it easy.
00:24:00 [Speaker 3]
I mean, if I was gonna support, you know, high school basketball team, I know there's probably a 100 Mazdas in that parking lot.

00:24:07 [Speaker 3]
If I wanted to support, you know, aspiring young professionals, working their way up through Walmart, you know, they've got these great third row options.
00:24:14 [Speaker 3]
You know, if you want something that's more, environmentally friendly, we've got options for that.
00:24:19 [Speaker 3]
So I think Mazda right now is probably the one that's the most fun to work with.
00:24:24 [Speaker 3]
And then Mercedes has been interesting lately as well.
00:24:26 [Speaker 3]
Mercedes has a slightly different program where there's a lot less rules on what you can do.

00:24:29 [Speaker 3]
They basically provide you with the the resources, and you choose to do what you want.
00:24:34 [Speaker 3]
But, just a slightly harder brand to do fun things with because it's a it's kind of a niche customer at times.

00:24:41 [Speaker 2]
I thought you're gonna say it's because they were a a a German based company.
00:24:44 [Speaker 2]
But No.

00:24:46 [Speaker 3]
I will say we, we just sponsored the, world championship, barbecue contest in Memphis, which doesn't doesn't feel like a on brand for Mercedes Benz.
00:24:58 [Speaker 3]
But, you know, again, in that community with new ownership, it's a huge opportunity for us.
00:25:01 [Speaker 3]
And so it was kinda fun to do something a little bit outside of the, wheelhouse of what we maybe had done in the past with Mercedes.
00:25:07 [Speaker 3]
But, you know, they're fun to do test drive events with cars and coffee.
00:25:11 [Speaker 3]
It's kinda that stuff.

00:25:12 [Speaker 3]
You know, car geeks love that brand.
00:25:14 [Speaker 3]
And if you've got some some eye candy in the product lineup, it's it's fun to get people out because they all love, cracking the doors and taking a peek even if it's all something we all dream of driving, but probably never will.

00:25:27 [Speaker 2]
So, different question for you.
00:25:29 [Speaker 2]
If you had to take a guess, how many tools are in your marketing tech stack?
00:25:35 [Speaker 2]
Oh, gosh.

00:25:37 [Speaker 3]
What do you mean okay.
00:25:38 [Speaker 3]
So give me can you give me an example of a tool that I'm trying to make sure I

00:25:44 [Speaker 2]
Yeah.
00:25:44 [Speaker 2]
There there you could go.
00:25:45 [Speaker 2]
I'll throw some out, Andrew.
00:25:46 [Speaker 2]
You can throw some in, as well.
00:25:48 [Speaker 2]
So, of course, you're gonna think about, like trade pending.

00:25:51 [Speaker 2]
You you got payments products there.

00:25:52 [Speaker 1]
First one that came to my mind.

00:25:54 [Speaker 2]
Yes.
00:25:54 [Speaker 2]
Of course.
00:25:55 [Speaker 2]
For most people.
00:25:56 [Speaker 2]
But but then, you know, you got website.
00:25:58 [Speaker 2]
Maybe you're doing something for equity mining, for chat, and then you layer on all the stuff like, well, think of, like, I'm logging in to, like, Google Ads and Tag Manager and, like, you start to take that whole ecosystem into account.

00:26:12 [Speaker 1]
Once we get cyber cyber, it's DMS.
00:26:14 [Speaker 1]
There's so many

00:26:16 [Speaker 3]
10 to 13.
00:26:19 [Speaker 3]
I and I will say, I mean, maybe that number is high for us because there are ways to get that down.
00:26:23 [Speaker 3]
I mean, if you wanted to say, you know, you could have a, you know, virtual retailing or online retailing product through Roadster, and you could have a trade tool to trade pending, or you could do them both for trade pending.
00:26:35 [Speaker 3]
So, we have chosen to go down a route where I think the mix is important, not only just because of the partnerships, but I like to call it the checks and balances.
00:26:45 [Speaker 3]
So I try not to give any one vendor all of the keys to a specific, tool.

00:26:52 [Speaker 3]
So, you know, I want my website provider to be different from my, you know, paid search and SEO, where I want different to be than trade, and I want to be different than chat.
00:27:00 [Speaker 3]
So, yes, in theory, could you go to a Dealer Inspire or a, or a, you know, dealer.com or or dealer on and say, hey.
00:27:07 [Speaker 3]
I'd love you to be all of my products.
00:27:09 [Speaker 3]
And they would say, gladly.
00:27:11 [Speaker 3]
You know?

00:27:11 [Speaker 3]
And it's one neck to choke.
00:27:12 [Speaker 3]
It's it's easy to have those conversations.
00:27:14 [Speaker 3]
It's turnkey.
00:27:16 [Speaker 3]
But then if there's a mistake, it's a little bit harder to identify when there's a problem.
00:27:20 [Speaker 3]
So I like that right now when I wanna get something done, I can look through that 10 to 15, you know, that list of tools, and I know that everybody has to work together.

00:27:30 [Speaker 3]
And the ones that are willing to do that and play in the sandbox have ultimately proven to me that they're the they're the partners you want on that team.
00:27:38 [Speaker 3]
No one pushes back and says, well, it's not my problem.
00:27:41 [Speaker 3]
You know, I might cc trade pending support, dealer inspire support, and reunion marketing's team and say, guys, I'm not totally sure what happened here.
00:27:48 [Speaker 3]
I'm not sure who controls this piece of the pie.
00:27:50 [Speaker 3]
It might be a color, it might be placement, it might be just the script.

00:27:53 [Speaker 3]
Something is wrong.
00:27:54 [Speaker 3]
And everybody writes back and says, hey.
00:27:56 [Speaker 3]
I took a peek on my end, and everything looks good.
00:27:58 [Speaker 3]
And then someone might say, hey.
00:27:59 [Speaker 3]
That's actually controlled by trade pending, and then their support team's done it ten minutes.

00:28:03 [Speaker 3]
And it's like, great.
00:28:03 [Speaker 3]
We're done.
00:28:04 [Speaker 3]
And I

00:28:04 [Speaker 2]
was hoping everyone would just start pointing fingers and blaming everybody else.
00:28:08 [Speaker 2]
But I just what you describe is actually better.

00:28:11 [Speaker 3]
No.
00:28:11 [Speaker 3]
But it but it's nice to I mean, it's I I it's refreshing.
00:28:14 [Speaker 3]
I mean, I you don't have time to fix problems one at a time.
00:28:17 [Speaker 3]
So sometimes you have to throw bulk things at the the situation.
00:28:20 [Speaker 3]
And if everyone's working on their specific slice of the pie, I think it works really, really well.

00:28:24 [Speaker 3]
So, yeah, it's, it's it's something we've taken across the group too.
00:28:31 [Speaker 3]
So when I got here, we had lots of cooks in the kitchen.
00:28:34 [Speaker 3]
We had 13 vendors doing 20 plus different services, and now it's down to five.
00:28:41 [Speaker 3]
And, those five have really proven to us that they're, again, conversion friendly, easy to work with.
00:28:47 [Speaker 3]
We think the price point is right.

00:28:48 [Speaker 3]
And some of them, we go outside of the manufacturer programs for, and some of them conveniently are part of the program.
00:28:53 [Speaker 3]
You know, would I pay for trade pending outside of the manufacturer program?
00:28:53 [Speaker 3]
Of course.
00:28:53 [Speaker 3]
Is it a bonus if they're part of it?
00:28:53 [Speaker 3]
Yeah.

00:28:54 [Speaker 3]
But, you program, of course.
00:28:58 [Speaker 3]
Is it a bonus if they're part of it?
00:29:00 [Speaker 3]
Yeah.
00:29:00 [Speaker 3]
But, you know, we're not hinging our decision to do business with everybody just based off of how turnkey they are.
00:29:05 [Speaker 3]
And if it's if it's, easy on paper, I want people that wanna play in that sandbox together.

00:29:13 [Speaker 1]
Well, we can wind this down to Tyler, this has been amazing.
00:29:15 [Speaker 1]
And what's, like, what's the most rewarding part of your job right now?

00:29:21 [Speaker 3]
This is gonna sound a little bit crazy, but, this job in the last two years has been it's felt very entrepreneurial in nature, but without all the risk.
00:29:30 [Speaker 3]
So I feel like I'm I've been given the opportunity to take an eraser to an easel with, you know, a blueprint on it that they were looking to change.
00:29:40 [Speaker 3]
And when we say we wanna try something new, we've had support to do it.
00:29:44 [Speaker 3]
When it hasn't worked, we've pivoted away from it.
00:29:47 [Speaker 3]
We've built a lot of strong relationships, and I think we're building a really strong future for the group.

00:29:51 [Speaker 3]
And it makes me really happy to feel like the next thirty seven years are gonna be even better.
00:29:58 [Speaker 3]
You know, I keep joking with people, but I'm not thinking about the next five or six.
00:30:01 [Speaker 3]
I'm thinking about the next thirty seven years.
00:30:03 [Speaker 3]
Like, I don't want I don't wanna feel like we stalled.
00:30:07 [Speaker 3]
Marketing is not a cruise ship anymore.

00:30:08 [Speaker 3]
It's a speedboat, and we have to be comfortable with the fact that it's gonna, you know, it's gonna navigate and the waters are gonna change.
00:30:14 [Speaker 3]
But at the end of the day, we've got the flexibility to do things differently.
00:30:17 [Speaker 3]
And that entrepreneurial type spirit where you get to organize budgets and negotiate deals and work with people.
00:30:23 [Speaker 3]
But at the end of the day, I'm I don't have to write a paycheck and and, you know, I don't have to pay employees and worry about, you know, insurance and things like that.
00:30:30 [Speaker 3]
Like, that's the the sustainable growth of the future has been the most rewarding part.

00:30:35 [Speaker 3]
But because they've given me the flexibility to do it, and I appreciate that very much.
00:30:39 [Speaker 3]
That was the deal from the jump, and they've honored every bit of that.
00:30:41 [Speaker 3]
So, super thankful, but, excited.
00:30:45 [Speaker 3]
I mean, again, thirty seven years feels like a long time, but I'm sure it's gonna come in a flash.
00:30:49 [Speaker 3]
So we'll buckle up.

00:30:50 [Speaker 2]
You is that your thirty seven years or the dealership's thirty seven years or both?

00:30:55 [Speaker 3]
Well, they've so it's funny.
00:30:56 [Speaker 3]
They went into, when I got here, they had been here for thirty seven years.
00:30:59 [Speaker 3]
And we actually are almost my birth my literal birthday and their first year in business, first month, are only a couple days apart.
00:31:07 [Speaker 3]
So now I can conveniently say that every year that I celebrate a birthday and that the auto group has celebrated another year.
00:31:11 [Speaker 3]
But

00:31:11 [Speaker 2]
It is both.
00:31:14 [Speaker 2]
Yeah.
00:31:14 [Speaker 2]
That's great.
00:31:14 [Speaker 2]
I was thinking, man, like, Tyler is really he he's forward thinking if he's thinking about when he's 74.
00:31:20 [Speaker 2]
Yeah.

00:31:21 [Speaker 2]
He can't even think till, like, tomorrow half the time.

00:31:24 [Speaker 3]
Yeah.
00:31:25 [Speaker 3]
I think we're all gonna get stuck if we're thinking about tomorrow because, you know, day to day, week to week, I mean, god, this industry will wear you out.
00:31:33 [Speaker 3]
As you guys know, I mean, it's just takes one big disruptor after the next, but it kinda feels like that's the constant now.
00:31:39 [Speaker 3]
And, again, having that entrepreneurial type mind, it makes you feel like, you know, you either change or you fall away.
00:31:47 [Speaker 3]
And I and they're just not prepared for that for the latter.

00:31:49 [Speaker 3]
I'd much rather be in the driver's seat with this thing going forward and, continue to connect with people and build a brand that people are excited about.
00:31:56 [Speaker 3]
You know, when a neighbor buys a car in your neighborhood and they can't wait to tell you about it because they bought from Superior.
00:32:01 [Speaker 3]
I mean, those are the little things where you're like, okay.
00:32:03 [Speaker 3]
We did it.
00:32:03 [Speaker 3]
Maybe that customer didn't know who we are, and now they do for something.

00:32:07 [Speaker 3]
Maybe it was a sponsorship.
00:32:08 [Speaker 3]
Maybe it was being my neighbor.
00:32:09 [Speaker 3]
Maybe it was just their shopping experience.
00:32:12 [Speaker 3]
They got so tired from a competitor or buying out of state that they decided to try something new.
00:32:16 [Speaker 3]
And and, when you can see that one person change their mind, you know, that's gonna mean one or two other people might give you a chance, and it's it's, it's thrilling when you know that you're gonna get a few extra opportunities.

00:32:27 [Speaker 2]
I love it.
00:32:27 [Speaker 2]
It seems like a seems like a great place to start to land this plane.

00:32:31 [Speaker 1]
Let's do it.
00:32:32 [Speaker 1]
I love the new car at the neighborhood with the dealer plates on it.
00:32:36 [Speaker 1]
I think that's the coolest marketing.
00:32:38 [Speaker 1]
I love seeing a new car with dealer plates and seeing where they got it.
00:32:41 [Speaker 1]
I don't know if you should win the game.

00:32:42 [Speaker 3]
That was the thing.
00:32:43 [Speaker 3]
I'm sorry.
00:32:43 [Speaker 3]
I'll do this all day if you guys let me.
00:32:45 [Speaker 3]
When we when I got here, we had every every car was, other than the high lines, was delivered with our drivesuperior.com group site.
00:32:53 [Speaker 3]
And I went there and I said, well, we don't we don't do anything with the group site, but that's the that's the plate that goes home with everybody and half the people don't change it.

00:33:01 [Speaker 3]
So I said, why don't we focus on the group site and try to make that better, more conversion friendly?
00:33:06 [Speaker 3]
Let's get tools on there like chat and trade and, you know, virtual retailing and see if we can't drum up some extra opportunities there.
00:33:12 [Speaker 3]
And so that like, those are just little decisions.
00:33:14 [Speaker 3]
It seemed like super obvious, but, you know, it wasn't happening before I got here, and I'm thrilled to say that we're we're doing more with that now.
00:33:20 [Speaker 3]
And it's Oh, yeah.

00:33:21 [Speaker 3]
Two to 4,000 at bats every month.

00:33:23 [Speaker 1]
So why not?
00:33:24 [Speaker 1]
I can hear the pride.
00:33:25 [Speaker 1]
I can hear the fingerprints you've got on the marketing, and and it feels good.
00:33:30 [Speaker 1]
Tyler, what's a way people can follow you?
00:33:32 [Speaker 1]
LinkedIn or what's the best way to look

00:33:34 [Speaker 3]
at it?
00:33:35 [Speaker 3]
Me specifically or the auto group?
00:33:36 [Speaker 3]
I was gonna say because I'm I'm not as exciting on social media as I probably should be.
00:33:40 [Speaker 3]
But, but, yeah, we've got we've got we've got accounts for every dealership.
00:33:45 [Speaker 3]
So, yeah, we're, drivesuperior.com.

00:33:48 [Speaker 3]
It's your group site with Superior Automotive Group on on all social media handles.
00:33:53 [Speaker 3]
We're heaviest on Facebook and Instagram.
00:33:56 [Speaker 3]
We've got, we've got a couple pretty funny Twitter accounts out there.
00:33:59 [Speaker 3]
We've got a social coordinator too that do a good job of keeping it light.
00:34:04 [Speaker 3]
But, yeah, we're we're all over the place.

00:34:05 [Speaker 3]
But, yeah, if you guys are, ever interested in reaching out, I I don't know if you can provide my email, somewhere in in this, but I'm Yeah.

00:34:12 [Speaker 2]
We'll we'll be careful with

00:34:13 [Speaker 1]
you in the comments.

00:34:15 [Speaker 2]
Yeah.
00:34:15 [Speaker 2]
Hey.

00:34:15 [Speaker 3]
I had after hours, Matt, I had, one guy reach out.
00:34:18 [Speaker 3]
I was thrilled.
00:34:18 [Speaker 3]
I couldn't believe it.
00:34:19 [Speaker 3]
I was like, yes.
00:34:20 [Speaker 3]
One person invites you.

00:34:21 [Speaker 3]
You know you know how it works.
00:34:23 [Speaker 3]
So I was happy.

00:34:24 [Speaker 2]
Absolutely.
00:34:25 [Speaker 2]
Thank you, Tyler.
00:34:26 [Speaker 2]
We appreciate it.

00:34:28 [Speaker 1]
Loved it.
00:34:28 [Speaker 1]
And this is Matthew Davis, Trade Pending.
00:34:31 [Speaker 1]
I'm Andrew Street, Dealer OMG.
00:34:33 [Speaker 1]
That is a conversation with the first of 100 marketers.

00:34:38 [Speaker 3]
Thank you, guys.

00:34:39 [Speaker 1]
Hope you enjoyed this conversation.
00:34:41 [Speaker 1]
If you did, please subscribe to the show.
00:34:43 [Speaker 1]
It helps us get out to more people like you.
00:34:45 [Speaker 1]
And if you know somebody or you're somebody that's a sharp marketer in automotive, please reach out to us.
00:34:51 [Speaker 1]
We'd love to feature you on the show.

00:34:53 [Speaker 1]
Reach out to Ashley at Dealer o m g dot com.