Driving Success with Activator Pro

Dealership Goals

Jim Hudson Ford’s main focus is to increase its overall sales to a goal of 30 monthly sales by an additional 5-7 units monthly with Activator compared to automotiveMastermind, which averaged 23 monthly sales. The dealership also aimed to achieve 15 net new vehicle acquisitions, resulting in additional used car sales.

Jim Hudson sought a partner for more engaging marketing campaigns than automotiveMastermind provided. The company is focused on increasing vehicle buyback messaging, engaging customers across multiple channels, and targeting the right audience at the right time to create personalized, meaningful connections.

• Sales Goals:
  • Achieve 15 net new vehicle acquisitions and additional used car sales per month from Activator’s Buyback Journey.
  • Increase overall sales to a goal of 30 monthly sales by an additional 5-7 units monthly with Activator compared to automotiveMastermind, which averaged 23 monthly sales.

• Service Goals:
  • Increase service engagement through the Service Journey and Lost Service Journey.

Featured Solutions

Dynamic Customer Data Platform: The CDP, powered with Salesforce, provides the dealership with the data management, customer insights, and marketing automation needed to execute successful sales and service campaigns and engagement strategies.

Data Management Layer: Ensures accurate and up-to-date customer data by continuously deduplicating records, and identifying malformed data and spam traps. This helps dealerships avoid messaging misfires and ensures relevant communication reaches the right customers.

Automated Multichannel Journeys: Engages customers throughout their entire lifecycle by targeting segments of the dealership's customer base, generating handraisers, and increasing sales and acquisitions.

Custom Campaigns: Tailored monthly campaigns allow the dealership to highlight specific needs, such as inventory, special offers, buybacks, and sales and service promotions, to drive immediate results.

The Activator Advantage

It's not just about flashy ads or mass email blasts. Activator takes a data-driven approach to connecting with customers through multiple channels—email, SMS, direct mail, and soon social media—so that no opportunity is missed. For Jim Hudson Ford, this means over 13,000 customers who are only reachable via SMS or direct mail are still engaged and converted into active leads.

By managing outdated customer records through continuous email verification processes and identifying 169 spam traps and 43 invalid email addresses, Jim Hudson Ford now avoids messaging misfires when sending marketing via its Buyback, Lease, and Equity journeys.

Activator's data-driven approach has enabled Jim Hudson Ford to achieve significant results across sales, service, and customer engagement metrics:

Buyback Journey Engagement:

• Open Rate: 49.6% average, highlighting high customer interest and engagement.
• Click Rate: 5.7%, demonstrating strong interaction with the content.
• SMS Reply Rate: 11.0%, indicating active communication and responses from customers ready to take action.

The dealership's Buyback Journey alone is a game-changer, consistently driving a high volume of handraisers—those past customers who have shown a keen interest in buying, selling, or scheduling a service. The more handraisers, the more vehicles acquired, allowing Jim Hudson Ford to meet and exceed their monthly acquisition goals.

Vehicle Acquisitions:

The dealership's vehicle acquisition rates, driven by the Buyback Journey, directly correlated with the number of handraisers each month, peaking at 51 new acquisitions in March 2024. These numbers continue to exceed the dealership's goal of adding 7-8 additional used car sales per month and building the dealership's pre-owned inventory. This store now averages 43 units monthly, exceeding its previous provider, automotiveMastermind, by an impressive 20 units on average.

Custom Campaigns

Jim Hudson Ford's monthly custom campaigns are crucial to its ongoing success. These campaigns allow the dealership to promote specific models, promotions, and service offerings to targeted audiences. These campaigns meet and often exceed the dealership's additional revenue goals.

June Campaign Highlights:

• The June campaign, featuring 2023 Model Year Clearance Specials, reached nearly 3,000 customers with an impressive 38% open rate and a 5.1% click-to-open rate. The campaign led to seven vehicle purchases, including five direct purchases and two trade-ins, generating $311,790 in revenue.

July Campaign Highlights:

• The July campaign maintained momentum, achieving a 36.6% open rate and a higher 7.2% click-to-open rate. This resulted in three vehicle purchases (two direct and one trade-in) and $103,709 in revenue.
  
  

Real People, Real Results

A standout example of Activator's impact is the success story of John D., who engaged with the dealership's June Custom Campaign featuring a 2023 Ford F-150. After receiving the email on June 10, John opened it multiple times and clicked through to learn more about the vehicle.

The dealership followed up with a soft credit pull on June 19, leading John to purchase the F-150 the next day, trading in his 2018 model. Another customer purchased this trade-in in July, illustrating the seamless integration of marketing, customer engagement, and sales that Activator facilitates.

Demand More From Your Dealership Marketing

Instead of chasing a score, why not listen to what your customers tell you through their interactions with your dealership marketing? Activator's Hybrid Customer Data Platform and Multichannel Journey Builder, powered with Salesforce, is the industry-leading solution redefining equity marketing. Salesforce helps build strong customer relationships, grow revenue with a single source of truth, and drive productivity with automated marketing processes.

Activator has given Jim Hudson Ford the tools to keep up with and thrive in a changing market. Through smarter, data-driven marketing that feels personal and relevant, Jim Hudson Ford is not just meeting its goals—it's redefining what's possible. If you're a dealership looking to break free from traditional marketing and connect with customers in a way that truly drives results, Activator is the partner you need. It's time to unlock your dealership's full potential and experience the Activator difference.