Five-Star Marketing for the Tri-Star

It is only recently that automobile dealers have been trying to reach their customers directly through digital channels. However, getting an in-house team can be resource-intensive, time-consuming, and may not yield significant results. This is where a brand management company like BLeap comes into the picture, with its vast experience and expertise in implementing strategies and writing success stories.

The authorized dealer Sundaram Motors of the luxury car brand – Mercedes Benz, had approached us in the first quarter of 2020 to revamp their digital marketing strategy. They wanted to engage with potential customers directly over the web. But who are these customers, and where are they likely to come from? Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Google search are a place for growing the consumer market digitally. But how exactly are we going to engage with them? We had a brainstorming session with the client and chalked out a customized plan for them.

Customer engagements would include high-quality video content, creatives for special days, WhatsApp adaptations, accessories, and service. Other creative content was to be made around referrals, extended warranty programs, and micro-targeting. Sending out carefully crafted customized SMSs to current customers was another way in which we planned to build and maintain brand loyalty. A Facebook shop would be set up for easier checkout and enhanced visibility of their products. A landing page was created for the purpose of running SEM campaigns which we would regularly update in accordance with changes in the scheme. With all this in place, we were ready to get started. We did have our fair share of success initially but we also did face some challenges which we met and overcame through our nimble and dynamic approach of adapting quickly.

We launched a campaign surrounding the New Car – Roadster. Over the first three quarters, we saw steady growth in visibility (measured in terms of Impressions, Link Clicks, and Reach). But we experienced an 87% bounce rate from social and 70% from paid search. We immediately took note of this and reallocated the budget to Google Ads. Facebook page likes also decreased over the time period. There was a decrease of over 700 from Jan 2020 to Dec 2020. A regular page-like campaign with a minimum budget of 5000 INR/month was suggested to be used to increase/maintain followers. The average cost per lead on Q2 from Facebook was around 100 INR and the cost per lead from Google was over 1000 INR. So, we suggested increasing the budget for lead generation ads of Facebook in the 3rd and 4th Quarters.

There were some extremely positive results too. The number of people who viewed Sundaram Motors’ posts on social media increased considerably over time after our engagement with them. 273 (in ‘19’) to 676 (in’20). Paid posts also garnered increased attention from 2,320 (in ’19) to 13,553 (in ’20). Average reactions had increased from 16 (’19) to 52 (’20). In total, 1400+ leads were sent from FB at an average CPL of 350 INR.

Our content for Sundaram motors was well-received by netizens. Quarter-wise popular content formats are given below:

  • Customer car inauguration
  • Photo Montage
  • Parking lawns, Beachside view
  • Customer servicing, EMI

We also suggested the use of influencers, based on popularity and the type of videos they should create. Customer testimonials and experiences were also captured to drive popularity.

We consistently ran Google ads campaigns and successfully in Q4, we increased the CTR by 3.87% and reduced the Avg. CPC by Rs. 3.4. Also, the Benz-related keywords had an impression share of 90% in Dec ’20 when it was 86% in Jun ’20. Over 95% of the traffic came from mobile. Paid Search, Display, and Social Media drove 72% of the total traffic. New users accounted for over 88%. On YouTube, 204 new subscribers joined us in 2020.

Through our consistent efforts, we were able to drive traffic to the client’s website, social media pages and drive potential business. Overall, the campaigns have been a massive success and they continue to be a valuable client to this day.

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