Cherry Hill Imports was looking for better performance overall and leadership thought they could get more out of his marketing program. They set a high bar:

• Continue to reach existing and potential customers
• But do it much more precisely. That meant find a way to cut the waste; only spend where there is opportunity (that means less TV and radio)
• And do it for less money than he has spent the year before

The Situation: Cherry Hill's Marketing Spend Was Out Of Line

Toward the end of 2019, Lou and his team questioned the way they were using radio and TV.  His team looked at their spend and realized the group was not getting the return to justify the means.

“That was something that boggled my mind when I realized how much I was getting. And it was really something hard to quantify,” Lou said.  “Every marketing professional will tell ya, ‘You need to have TV and radio, it’s going to give you the frequency you need. You can’t go without it. It drives digital, it’s the backbone behind it.”

They challenged that assumption. “I knew that for us to grow in 2020 and beyond, change had to occur,” Lou explained. They had already made the decision to move to PureCars effective on January 1, 2020. Things got of to a fast start with both sales and fixed ops  showing impressive results.

And then the pandemic hit.  The pandemic’s impact on the car industry changed how Cherry Hill operated.

The Solution: Fresh Eyes, Better Informed Decisions & A Winning Strategy

While the pandemic was a bear for everyone, PureCars provided Cherry Hill with insightful information and smart business advice that helped them reassess and ultimately reset their marketing budget.

• Lou wasn’t sure that they were getting the bang for the buck with their existing SEM strategy and saw a chance to start over with a smaller budget that he could grow over time again.
• PureCars provided insights on Cherry Hill’s competitive landscape.  “Sean (our Senior Strategy Manager) has opened our eyes to who my competitors are in my market.”
• And PureCars helped him work more effectively with other dealers who were actually not competitors. Along with understanding their marketing reach, we studied who was buying search terms. “We had one store who had a 20% impression share in my market – this guy is an hour away from me. I called him up and told him, ‘I don’t know if you know this, but you’re buying search keywords in my area, and we’re not competitors.’ He said, ‘I appreciate it. I just switched companies and they’re  sending me reports showing that my impression share and click through rates are up’. I said yeah, of course, they’re buying keywords in Philadelphia, not in your area. So on the 30k foot level, it does look like they’re doing a better job, but they’re giving you traffic that’s not coming to you. So I helped out a fellow dealer.”
• The other opportunity that Cherry Hill took advantage of was not panicking about used inventory and holding to see how things went.
• Cherry Hill also expanded their social aspects for new cars and added a trade tool component to solicit customers to value their cars. With the current state of the market, most people are in the unique position of working from home and using their cars less. “You have two cars, maybe you’ll unload a car for now, run lean and maybe re-evaluate come 2021,” Lou continued. “We’re seeing customers call us and ask if we’ll buy their car – and absolutely.”
• Cherry Hill started using video more efficiently: “We’re doing a good job putting video out there with PureCars,” Lou shared.  “That was one of my qualms with my other vendor. We would put video out there, and I would have to go to my vendor because I wasn’t seeing it. I hate to say it, but it’s like a radio commercial, but when you’re spending $20k, $30k a month you kind of want to see it to make sure it’s there. I never saw my videos.”
• Cherry Hill put out a 60 second video when they reopened and Lou shared his approval when seeing the live content. “When I switched over to PureCars, immediately, and I’m not a guy that’s surfing the internet a lot, boom there’s my video. I love that I can get a video today, and say, ‘Hey Sean, I got a new video and want to do $1k spend from here.’ It’s always handled.”

The Results: Not Just Better Results But A Better Approach

Since partnering with PureCars, Cherry Hill has become better equipped to handle and understand their marketing reach. With a genuine understanding of who their competitors are, Cherry Hill was able to fix an issue they didn’t see before.

And with a dedicated sales strategist, Lou has someone who can provide the insights he needs to make smarter marketing decisions.

Emphasizing the importance of his relationship with PureCars, Lou shared, “I find I have a good relationship with Sean. Who handles your account really has a big impact on your performance, so please keep him close to my side. I’m only six months in with my partnership, and I’m very pleased. He’s never trying to upsell me. He’s a consultant. Don’t ever change that. It makes our conversations really sincere. He’s giving me business advice, not personal advice.”

About Cherry Hill Imports

Cherry Hill Imports opened its doors in 1978 as a family-owned and operated group in Cherry Hill, NJ—situated near Philadelphia. The group represents six franchises:  Audi, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, Land Rover, Porsche, and Jaguar.

Lou DiMattio is the Director of Operations for the group. He’s responsible for the marketing decision on budgets that ultimately bring ROI and helps monitor top-down operations at each store.