THE CLIENT
Audi Charlotte is part of the local, family-owned organization Donald Automotive Group and is located in Matthews, North Carolina. It is an award-winning Audi dealer serving the greater Charlotte area. Audi Charlotte prides itself on its involvement with and support of the community. It is with their commitment to excellent customer service and focus on their core values that they have secured the spot as the #1 Audi Dealer for the last 16 years in North Carolina. Audi Charlotte has most recently been recognized as the 2018 DealerRater Dealer of the Year Award and received a 2018 DealerRater Consumer Satisfaction Award.
THE MISSION
Audi Charlotte came to us in July of 2016, when their sales and digital traffic were just not quite where they wanted them to be. They were not getting enough monthly traffic to their website and their sales numbers did not reflect the outstanding quality of the dealership.
A part of this, we felt, was due to their minimal branding in the community as well as their lack of a strong digital presence. Therefore, our mission was to drive more traffic to Audi Charlotte in every way possible. Mass Media needed to totally rewrite their marketing plan to effectively increase their sales with a comprehensive advertising strategy that included a heavy digital focus and branding the dealership through traditional media such as commercials and ads in order to increase their monthly sales and web traffic.
THE PLAN
In order accomplish these goals we set with Audi Charlotte, we needed to first establish their brand within the community as more than just a car dealership – it’s a staple of the Charlotte area. By carefully crafting a new slogan – “You Belong in an Audi” – and generating memorable advertising with a unique yet sophisticated voice in commercials, as well as fresh creative, we helped to seamlessly weave them into the fabric of the community of Charlotte. As for across-the-board marketing, our general focal point was to communicate to people that they belong in an Audi, emphasizing the fact that their vehicles are top-of-the-line, technologically advanced and available at surprisingly affordable prices.
A new, redesigned website was also at the top of our to-do list; our goal being to make it more user friendly, interactive, and more optimized for search engines to help increase web traffic numbers. We began composing regular social media and blog posts, as they are an essential ingredient to keep the dealership involved and in constant communication with the Charlotte community. We also implemented a vigorous digital marketing campaign led by our in-house team of Google AdWords professionals that consisted of retargeting digital ads, online videos and email blasts.
THE TOOLS
- Redesigned website to be more user friendly, more interactive, more engaging and optimized for search engines,
- A comprehensive digital advertising strategy with retargeting ads, email blasts and videos
- Social media and blog posts to continue the conversation with past and prospect customers
- Designed trade show booths, banners, and tents for events to further expose the Audi Charlotte brand to the public
- Memorable and fresh new slogan and traditional advertising that helped to solidify and establish the Audi Charlotte brand
THE PAYOFF
The results of our comprehensive marketing strategy to increase monthly sales and web traffic for Audi of Charlotte were almost immediately noticeable. Since July 2016, Audi of Charlotte’s monthly sales have increased and they have continued to climb the sales rankings. Their website sales also increased, and their monthly website traffic increased by an astounding 335 percent, jumping from an average of 5,000 views to more than 27,000 views a month.
