Andy Barton joins Marketing Delivery

We are delighted to welcome Andy Barton to the team here at Marketing Delivery. Andy has taken up the position of Regional Account Director to look after clients in the North of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Andy brings a wealth of experience working for manufacturers and their agencies for brands such as Nissan, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, Chrysler-Jeep.

Initially working with existing clients such as the GK Group, Andy is also bringing new clients to the business through his extensive network of contacts in the automotive industry.

Key Staff Appointment As Marketing Delivery Rolls Out New Service Offering

Marketing Delivery has appointed Clara Dennison to manage the development and delivery of its new SmartMail Social CRM product, the ground-breaking initiative which offers automotive businesses a managed service for integrated Facebook, emarketing and database management. Existing SmartMail users such as Barnard & Brough, Baileys and Ancaster are the first to see the benefit of the Social CRM service, and Cambria will soon be embarking on a trial for its Grange and Dees brands. Clara brings 16 years’ experience of marketing and communications to the role, along with a passion for cars and bikes. She’s worked with major high profile brands including Direct Line and Bradford & Bingley and she’s spent the last eight years at MoreThan where, latterly, she was responsible for developing and monetising the company’s social media activity across Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. So far, Clara loves her new role, commenting: “I’ve had a passion for cars and bikes from a young age and I’d gained my car, bike and pilot's licences by the age of 25, so I’m lucky to now have a job that combines my passion with an insatiable interest in social media. Plus, the team at Marketing Delivery are a great source of inspiration and entertainment!”

Jeremy Evans, managing director of Marketing Delivery, added: “This is another key appointment for Marketing Delivery as we continue to grow the business apace. The success of SmartMail across the motor trade has led a natural progression into social media as we integrate yet more communications channels and tools for dealers into one managed service.

“Facebook may seem like just another fad to many – or at least just another thing on the to do list – but it’s powerful and it’s not going to go away so the dealers that acknowledge this and use it to their advantage will win. With SmartMail Social CRM, we manage everything for them so the language is the same and the look, feel and tone of voice is consistent.”

Introducing our first White Paper.

Following the publication last year of our Conversion and Retention chapter in the AM Guide to Running a Profitable Dealer, we have been asked for the same, or similar information on a regular basis.

We have amended the chapter slightly and are now publishing it as our first White Paper.

Click Here for the White Paper on Conversion and Retention.

We plan on publishing more so if you would like us to cover a specific subject, please tell us by emailing us.

A new team is offering a one-stop-shop service for all aspects of car, van and bike dealership marketing. The Dealer Marketing Service does what it says on the tin; it offers expertise across the full spectrum of dealership marketing activity.

The umbrella service is aimed at dealerships wanting to deal with just one point of contact for all of their marketing and promotional activity, rather than a series of disconnected contacts. This joined-up approach will help to ensure consistent messaging across all communications channels – website, e-marketing, social media, press ads, etc – enabling dealers to be cohesive in their approach to customers, old and new.

The service has been masterminded by Jeremy Evans, managing director of Marketing Delivery, which provides specialist eCRM, digital marketing and marketing measurement products to the motor trade. Other suppliers that have signed up to be a part of The Dealer Marketing Service network are:

• KCS Group – print, fulfilment and press - www.kcs-group.co.uk
• My Web Application – websites and stock feeds - www.mywebapplication.com
• M&PC – creative and copywriting - www.thedealermarketingservice.co.uk/M&PC
• MarketingFile – data - www.marketingfile.com
• My Marketing – telemarketing - www.my-marketing.co.uk
• Progressive PR & Marketing – PR and media relations - www.progressivepr.co.uk

Jeremy explained: “We’re replicating what we see from manufacturers’ marketing services departments, with several agencies working on their area of expertise under a common umbrella. We each retain our specialism and the dealer continues to work with their original point of contact but we have the structure in place to enable each of us to use the other experts in the network if and when we need them.”

Franchise workshops throughout the UK can now benefit from a new deal between Shell Lubricants and Marketing Delivery, the specialist automotive marketing company that will offer preferential rates on eCRM and database marketing systems.

As part of the deal Marketing Delivery is offering up to 25% off the price of the aftersales module of SmartMail , the email and SMS system for promotional activity and customer communication. A team of eight field sales staff will offer access to SmartMail for Shell Lubricants’ existing customers and as a bonus for renewals or add-on for new customers.

The deal includes use of the full suite of features encompassed in SmartCall, including non-geographic 0844 numbers and SMS or email triggers for missed calls and voicemails.

The extent of the preferential rates available is dependent on the number of outlets in the dealer group but could result in as much as a 25% discount.

Jonathan Ellis, Automotive Lubricants Sales Manager for Shell UK commented: “We are constantly looking for ways to improve the service for our customers and offer dealerships added value. We work with them to help communicate product benefits - be it a particular service or specialist product – and effective communication with the end user is a big part of that”.

Jeremy Evans, Managing Director, Marketing Delivery added: "I am delighted that Shell Lubricants have chosen us for this project. It is a fantastic opportunity for more dealers to get involved with SmartMail."

Dealerweb added to SmartMail.

We have now completed work on a data extract process with our friends at Dealerweb. Dealerships using the Dealerweb showroom system can now have the benefit of SmartMail processes to help improve conversion and CSI scores. The SMartMail trioggered email and SMS processes work off data entered into Dealerweb so there's no double keying needed - it all happens seemlessly and automatically.

To find out more about Dealerweb, click the logo below

AM Aftersales conference

Jeremy was one of the speakers at the AM Aftersales conference in Oxford earlier in April.

Speaking about the importance of data collection, processing and the legalities involved Jeremy made the point that the wider retail industry places a massive priority on data collection to enable communication with customers to drive business growth. The good news for dealers is that the information exists in Dealer Management, Showroom and Aftersales systems already in use. The trick is to access and use that data correctly.

Jeremy gave a brief run-down of a typical aftersales CRM cycle using SmartMail and went over some of the do's and don'ts of data collection. Referring back to an earlier article in AM - Top Tips for Data Capture - Jeremy pointed out some of the common pitfalls he has seen in dealerships around the country.