Taylor Automotive Group partners with PureCars and doubles down on digital retailing, implementing a bold strategy in the face of the COVID-19 Crisis. End results are big wins for the group, including one Kia dealership breaking the top 30 Kia dealers nationwide for April sales.

THE SITUATION

Along with the rest of the industry, Taylor Automotive Group had to think fast and act even faster at the onset of the COVID-19 Crisis. Located in Pennsylvania, where sales volume decreased nearly 80% the week following the statewide stay at home order, the group was faced with two options: a) turn the lights off and wait it out, or b) roll up their sleeves and work harder than ever to keep the lights on; they opted to go with option b.

Knowing that their ability retail cars digitally was vital to their success, the marketing team set to work. Within days, they launched video chat, virtual appointment scheduling, online trade-in appraisals, and clearly visible safety procedures like free pickup and delivery across all their websites.

Simultaneously, the team trained sales and BDC personnel on the importance of lead response times, revised call scripts, and safe contact with customers.

While the dealership made key operational changes, and difficult decisions on personnel, their strategy team at PureCars worked on the advertising side of things. We reviewed real-time sales and service performance, compared this to dealership performance, and measured engaged shopper volume by metro and brand. With this information, we made strategic recommendations on how to best reduce, reallocate and reactivate spend to minimize cost and maximize output.

“You get control by being the dealership that goes above and beyond to take care of people. What [we] had to do the past 2 months was around the clock work to get us where we are [and it] has been a monumental undertaking.”

David Gruhin, Digital Marketing Director

Taylor Automotive Group consists of five dealerships: three KIA Dealerships, one Chevrolet Dealership, and one Toyota Dealership. Of the three Kia dealerships, two are located in Ohio and one in Hermitage, PA.

Taylor Automotive Group’s mission is to grow its base of customers and owners
by showing how much they care about their existing customers and shoppers
who want to experience 1st class customer service for themselves.

For more information about Taylor Automotive Group, visit https://drivetaylor.com

THE SOLUTION

With sales showrooms closed at all PA stores, the primary goal for advertising shifted from in-store visits to interactions with online tools (video chat, trade-in, etc.). To drive the most qualified shoppers to the website, PureCars made strategy
recommendations based on “4 Rs:”

Using our “4 Rs” methodology, PureCars recommended the group reduce spend on search and reallocate to social media channels like Facebook, which are experiencing record-breaking engagement due to shelter in place orders.

The combination of hard work, creativity and operational improvements, coupled with PureCars’ data-driven strategy and ad execution, resulted in big wins for Taylor Automotive Group.

Review

Taking a data-first approach, we reviewed brand and metro-specific sales and service trends, as well as shopper volume, comparing them to dealership performance. From there, identified the biggest opportunities to capture demand wherever possible.

Reduce

We recommended a budget reduction as we observed reduced sales and service volume, as well as increased cost efficiencies in a less crowded auction. We projected the group could effectively capture available demand reducing their budget by about 30%.

Reallocate

We tailored a strategic reallocation of budget across various ad channels, weighting spend toward unprecedented shopper volume in social media and tactics that netted the most engagement with the dealer’s online tools like video chat and trade appraisal.

Reactivate

Let’s roll! Once we agreed upon spend levels and tactics, we reactivated ad spend, optimized to fire on all cylinders.

Review

Taking a data-first approach, we reviewed brand and metro-specific sales and service trends, as well as shopper volume, comparing them to dealership performance. From there, identified the biggest opportunities to capture demand wherever possible.

Reduce

We recommended a budget reduction as we observed reduced sales and service volume, as well as increased cost efficiencies in a less crowded auction. We projected the group could effectively capture available demand reducing their budget by about 30%.

Reallocate

We tailored a strategic reallocation of budget across various ad channels, weighting spend toward unprecedented shopper volume in social media and tactics that netted the most engagement with the dealer’s online tools like video chat and trade appraisal.

Reactivate

Let’s roll! Once we agreed upon spend levels and tactics, we reactivated ad spend, optimized to fire on all cylinders.

Review

Taking a data-first approach, we reviewed brand and metro-specific sales and service trends, as well as shopper volume, comparing them to dealership performance. From there, identified the biggest opportunities to capture demand wherever possible.

Reduce

We recommended a budget reduction as we observed reduced sales and service volume, as well as increased cost efficiencies in a less crowded auction. We projected the group could effectively capture available demand reducing their budget by about 30%.

Reallocate

We tailored a strategic reallocation of budget across various ad channels, weighting spend toward unprecedented shopper volume in social media and tactics that netted the most engagement with the dealer’s online tools like video chat and trade appraisal.

Reactivate

Let’s roll! Once we agreed upon spend levels and tactics, we reactivated ad spend, optimized to fire on all cylinders.

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THE RESULTS

Download the full case study to get more details on Taylor Automotive Group’s strategic, data-driven approach with PureCars, and how it helped them beat the market by 25 points, hit 98% of their April 2019 sales volume, and finish the month in the top 30 Kia dealers nationwide.

“We made the decision early to shift budget from search to social and it paid off. Gubagoo’s reporting, shows PureCars Facebook is a big origination source for us right now.”

David Gruhin