Bobcat

Challenge

There are more than 600 Bobcat® dealerships in North America with plenty to do. A direct mailing initiative diverts attention away from all of the other tasks at the dealership: selling equipment, maintaining a parts operation and providing top-notch service. Many dealers don't have the time to target their messaging, or the tools to create a professional-looking, brand-compliant mailer. Others don't have the resources to do much marketing at all, and sales suffer as a result.

How do you drive consistent, professional communications, protect your brand and facilitate a positive partnership between Bobcat and its dealers?

Solution

Flint Direct partnered with Bobcat to manage AdCenter®, the Bobcat dealer marketing support service, and its Dealer Direct Mail Program. Working closely with Bobcat, we provide effective, easy-to-use communications that position the dealership and complement corporate advertising.

Bobcat sends dealers an at-a-glance view of an entire year's mail campaigns. Dealers simply decide which mailers to send and then sign up online. From there, we schedule the mailings in an assortment of formats, with messaging targeted to key markets and customers. For maximum impact, dealers can focus on specific markets and precise times of the year. Since the mailers are always brand-compliant, dealers are eligible for coop advertising assistance from Bobcat.

Results

AdCenter allows Bobcat dealers to focus on what they do best: selling equipment, maintaining a parts operation and extending exceptional service to its customers. Because Flint Direct provides marketing materials that are consistent with the Bobcat® brand, the company can also rest assured that it is being presented in a professional manner across its dealership base.

At the same time, dealers can easily choose marketing materials that fit their market, while delivering a powerful, professional message and being assured of co-op reimbursement. Because mailings are produced and sent in bulk, everyone saves. Customers receive attractive, high-quality mailers from their dealership. Dealers get an easy and affordable, measurable direct mailing that reaches their customers, and brings them in the door.

As strategic planning manager for Bobcat® AdCenter, Alex Heiser calls this "just plain smart business. Bobcat preserves its brand with updated images, copy and logos, and dealers get to take advantage of a mass marketing initiative that costs everyone less."

Bobcat is currently utilizing:

• Direct Mail Program
• Engage
• Workbench
• Regional Media Programs
• Online University

Challenge

In turbulent economic times, it was more important than ever for Bobcat Company® to drive traffic to its dealers. After all, its dealers are the lifeline of the company. To boost sales with its major product lines, Bobcat announced a sales promotion at the end of September, 2008. The marketing campaign was built on a “Best Offer in 50 Years” theme that tied to Bobcat's 50th anniversary. The campaign itself was solid. The next step was to ensure that the campaign's resulting leads were solid, too.

Solution

Unqualified leads don't result in sales. Bobcat needed a change in campaign strategy. Bobcat implemented Engage, an automated email marketing solution offered by Flint Direct. Campaign materials were updated to include the URL to a Bobcat-branded landing page. A short survey was embedded in the landing page. Prospective customers were invited to learn more about Bobcat products and register for a 50th anniversary commemorative gift by completing the survey.

Through the survey, Bobcat learned what prospects were interested in, what industries they worked in, what their timeframe for purchasing was and if they wanted a dealer to contact them. Simply put, Bobcat learned if the leads were considered "hot" or "nurture".

Results

With Engage as part of the marketing campaign, the open rate for email messages was 54%, with a 30% click-through rate. Of the 469 impressions, 173 were conversions, resulting in a nearly 40% conversion rate. Dozens of hot leads were routed directly to dealers, and the nurture leads continued to receive email messages from Bobcat. Notably, the messages weren't "one size fits all"; each email was unique based on the prospects' industries and product interests. Consumers demand timely and relevant information, a necessity Engage delivered while breaking through email clutter. In a tough economic climate, Bobcat needed to make the most of campaign efforts and resulting leads.

Engage helped the company do just that.