Live discussion with senior digital marketing execs from Dream Motor Group and Titus Automotive Group

Outsell announced today that it will co-host a webinar with Automotive News on August 9, 2018 about marketing strategies that apply to single-point dealers and multiple stores. The live webinar, titled “Dealership Marketing Strategies: Group vs. Single Store,” features experienced speakers Amy Rothenberger, Director of Marketing & Business Development at Dream Motor Group, Courtney Titus Barr, Digital Marketing Manager at Bruce Titus Automotive Group, and Jess Johnson, Senior Dealer Success Representative at Outsell.

Single-point dealers and groups alike are looking for more modern-day techniques to market smarter and use marketing automation driven by Artificial Intelligence to create more individualized customer engagement and efficient marketing plans. AI-driven marketing automation delivers 1:1 marketing that consumers expect today and allows dealers to create lasting relationships with customers while leaving the heavy lifting to marketing automation.

This webcast will provide dealer attendees with examples of real-world tactics and an overview of the solutions they used that resulted in marketing success as well as the relevant challenges they faced throughout the process. Attendees will also learn more from an expert point of view on:

• Expert points of view on developing a modern marketing organization
• Real-life stories about what works and what doesn’t when it comes to analyzing marketing efforts
• Practical advice on how to capture the most value from dealership marketing investments

Who:
Amy Rothenberger, Director of Marketing & Business Development at Dream Motor Group, Courtney Titus Barr, Digital Marketing Manager at Bruce Titus Automotive Group and Jess Johnson, Senior Dealer Success Representative at Outsell. Moderated by Hannah Lutz, F&I Editor at Automotive News.

What:
“Dealership Marketing Strategies: Group vs. Single Store”

Where:
Online webcast at registration link

When:
Thursday, August 9, 2018 at 2:00 pm ET

 

Outsell Sees Significant Growth in Q2

Outsell announced today that auto dealers’ pressing need to improve and measure the impact of digital marketing programs helped it drive significant growth in new dealer group business, and expansions with existing customers.

Financially, Q2 was another solid quarter for Outsell, with bookings ahead of plan. Direct revenue growth for the first half of 2018 grew 43 percent over the same period last year, and the average deal size during the first half of 2018 was 36 percent higher than it was for 2017.

“Dealers are very receptive to our message of providing automated, individualized customer engagement,” said Mike Wethington, Founder and CEO of Outsell. “Dealers continue to tell us that while many vendors are talking about Artificial Intelligence, Outsell is the only one delivering, with marketing solutions that are grounded in AI yet easy to use. We are masking the complexity of AI to put the technology within reach for dealers.”

During Q2, Outsell also won six prestigious awards related to its work:

• Gold Stevie® Award in the 16^th Annual American Business Awards® in the category Marketing Campaign of the Year – Automotive Vehicles.
• Digiday Content Marketing Award in the category Most Original Email Campaign.
• 2018 Communicator Award Distinction in the categories Campaign-Business to Consumer for Integrated Campaign and Campaign-Promotional for Integrated Campaign.
• Gold 2018 Summit Creative Awards in the category Integrated Consumer Campaign.
• Interactive Media Best in Class Award from the Interactive Media Council in the Automobile category.
• Web Marketing Association’s 2018 Internet Advertising Competition Award for Outstanding Achievement in Internet Advertising in the category Best Automobile Integrated Advertising Campaign.

Features AutoHook powered by Urban Science, Dolan Auto Group, and Fenton Family Dealerships

Outsell announced today that it will co-host a webinar with Automotive News on June 26, 2018 about how auto dealers can optimally target cross-channel communications by leveraging artificial intelligence to improve marketing effectiveness and drive more business. Titled, “You Don’t Need Super Powers to be Effective with Email Marketing,” the webinar features speakers David Metter, Co-Founder & President, AutoHook powered by Urban Science; Lucas Neiderer, Senior Marketing Manager, Dolan Auto Group; George Thompson, Director of Operations, Fenton Family Dealerships; and Jon Petron, Vice President of Advanced Services at Outsell.

Consumer expectations are increasing at the speed of light. How can dealers possibly get ahead if they are not listening to their consumers and connecting with them in ways that they expect today?

Join these industry experts as they explore how optimally targeting communications, refining your content, and putting the focus on data are paramount to every dealer’s success in 2018, especially with email marketing. More sophisticated marketers are segmenting their campaigns – just as they did with direct mail in the past – while the savviest dealers target consumers utilizing artificial intelligence to deliver individualized content automatically.

Attendees will learn how to:

• Develop an effective email marketing approach
• Improve their processes for reengaging prospects and unsold leads
• Prevent customer defection by refining email retention strategies
• Go beyond email with cross-channel communications

Who:
David Metter, Co-Founder & President, AutoHook powered by Urban Science; Lucas Neiderer, Senior Marketing Manager, Dolan Auto Group; George Thompson, Director of Operations, Fenton Family Dealerships; and Jon Petron, Vice President of Advanced Services at Outsell

What:
“You Don’t Need Super Powers to be Effective with Email Marketing”

Where:
Online at: https://onlinexperiences.com/scripts/Server.nxp?LASCmd=AI:4;F:QS!10100&ShowKey=52620&AffiliateData=%5boutsell%5d

When:
June 26, 2018 at 2:00 pm ET

Integrated digital marketing campaign created for Toyota Wins Gold Stevie®, Digiday, and Communicator Awards

Outsell announced today with agency partner DSplus, that it was named the winner of a Gold Stevie® Award in the 16^th Annual American Business Awards®, received a Digiday Content Marketing Award and a 2018 Communicator Award.

Award Highlights for the 2018 Toyota CH-R Launch Campaign co-created by Outsell and DSplus:

• Gold Stevie® Award in the 16^th Annual American Business Awards® in the category Marketing Campaign of the Year – Automotive Vehicles.
• Digiday Content Marketing Award in the category Most Original Email Campaign.
• 2018 Communicator Award Distinction in the categories Campaign-Business to Consumer for Integrated Campaign and Campaign-Promotional for Integrated Campaign.

“I want to thank the judging committees for recognizing the work once again produced by Outsell and DSplus. Over the past several years, we have developed effective integrated marketing campaigns to help Toyota launch new models including the Camry and Highlander and now the CH-R,” said Michael Wethington, President and CEO, Outsell. “This well-executed campaign is another great example of how dealers are benefiting from modern-day integrated programs that improve customer interaction and test drives which ultimately leads to a surge in sales.”

The 2018 Toyota CH-R Launch Campaign

In 2017, the all-new 2018 Toyota CH-R was about to launch and DSplus and Outsell were tasked to create awareness, encourage test drives and drive sales for 200+ participating Toyota dealerships across North America. For several months prior to the launch, each dealer sent teaser emails regarding CH-R in order to gather behavioral data and measure interest in the new 2018 model. The subsequent launch campaign consisted of three main elements. First, a targeted initial trigger email to spread awareness and send traffic to a second element – a custom Toyota CH-R microsite. Consumers were encouraged to schedule a test drive and browse local dealers’ inventory via the exclusive microsite. The third launch element was a targeted follow-up drip email to consumers who engaged in the initial email and microsite.

The overall goals were to drum up excitement, create new dialog with interested consumers and close the deal on a new Toyota CH-R. The results were impressive: more than 200,000 consumers interacted with the CH-R launch emails and microsite, moving thousands of CH-Rs off the lot for participating dealers, resulting in close to a million in sales. To view examples of the award-winning campaign emails and microsite, visit 2018 Toyota CH-R Launch Campaign. Outsell provided the technology behind the campaign, a marketing automation platform driven by artificial intelligence that increases customer engagement and drives more revenue by transforming how dealers engage with customers and prospects throughout their individual lifecycles.

“The nominations submitted for The 2018 American Business Awards were outstanding. The competition was intense, and those recognized as Stevie Award winners should be immensely proud of this accomplishment,” said Michael Gallagher, president and founder of the Stevie Awards.

“I like how this campaign focused on strong creative and a micro targeted approach to auto sales. Also, good sales metrics tied back to the campaign,” read feedback from a Stevie ABA judge that evaluated the Outsell and DSplus 2018 Toyota CH-R Launch Campaign nomination.

The American Business Awards are the U.S.A.’s premier business awards program. More than 3,700 nominations from organizations of all sizes and in virtually every industry were submitted this year for consideration in a wide range of categories. Stevie winners will be presented with their awards on June 11^th in New York City. Earlier this year, Outsell and DSplus’s 2018 Toyota CH-R 2018 Launch Campaign received a Bronze Stevie® Award at the 12th annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service for Outbound Marketing Program of the Year. Details about The American Business Awards and the list of 2018 Stevie winners are available at www.StevieAwards.com/ABA.

The Digiday Content Marketing Awards recognize content that connects brands to audiences across various channels including mobile, social, video and others. Winners were announced at the awards gala on May 9 at Sony Hall in New York City. To view the complete list of 2018 Content Marketing Award winners, please visit https://digiday.com/awards/286819/.

The Communicator Awards is the leading international awards program recognizing big ideas in marketing and communications sanctioned and judged by the Academy of Interactive & Visual Arts, an invitation-only group consisting of top-tier professionals from acclaimed media, communications, advertising, creative and marketing firms. Founded over two decades ago, The Communicator Awards receives over 6,000 entries from companies and agencies of all sizes, making it one of the largest awards of its kind in the world.  A list of the 2018 Distinction winners is available at https://www.communicatorawards.com/winners/

About DSplus

DSplus connects brands, retailers and customers to help sell more cars. Using sharp insights and spot-on analysis, we put the right offers in front of the right people at the right time, so dealerships can turn shoppers into buyers – and buyers into loyalists. With our team of steadfast, hands-on account managers, award-winning creative whizzes and ultra-analytical social strategists, DSplus is ready to work with any Toyota and Lexus dealership to start driving sales. Check out our website or contact us at supprt@dsplus.com to learn more.

Outsell is the AI Marketing Platform for the Auto Industry

Outsell announced today that high demand for AI features helped fuel swift growth for the company in Q1 2018. Direct-to-dealer sales were particularly strong, thanks in part to the recent introduction of Outsell’s newest platform, Outsell 5.0.

Launched at the NADA conference in February, Outsell 5.0 is enhanced with even more artificial intelligence capabilities, providing automotive dealers with unprecedented insight into buying behavior and the ability to take targeted content to the next level, with automated, multi-channel communications that are individualized to each person’s exact preferences.

Other highlights from Q1:

• The NADA show was Outsell’s most successful to date in terms of booth traffic and customer/prospect engagement, with hundreds of dealers visiting the booth during the event. On the first day of NADA 2018, Outsell exceeded its traffic for the entire 2017 show.
• During NADA, Outsell won an Automotive Website Award (AWA) in the category of Marketing Automation.
• Outsell also won several other awards during the quarter including a Bronze Stevie Award for the 2018 Toyota CH-R launch campaign, helping to cement Outsell as the industry leader in AI-driven Marketing Automation.

“Outsell 5.0 fulfills our brand promise of being the best AI-driven marketing platform for the automotive industry,” said Mike Wethington, Founder and CEO of Outsell. “The feedback from dealers and automotive industry leaders was consistent; everyone loved its intuitive user experience, new features and capabilities. We’ll build on that success with more AI features throughout 2018 and beyond.”

Session features expert Brian Pasch of PCG Companies and Paul Schnell of Wilsonville Toyota & Wilsonville Subaru

Outsell announced today that its Vice President of Marketing Valerie Vallancourt has been invited to speak at Digital Dealer 24, moderating a panel titled, “Finding Your Next Customer: It’s All In the Data.” Panelists are Brian Pasch, Founder at PCG Companies and Paul Schnell, Digital Marketing Director at Wilsonville Toyota and Wilsonville Subaru, the largest Subaru store in the U.S.

Consumer data is rich with insight. Dealers can leverage the data in their CRM and DMS systems by applying simple artificial intelligence, data mining and other techniques. This session covers how to retain more customers, increase conversions, improve engagement and find your next customer by better understanding a dealer’s in-house data.

Session attendees will:

• Learn data techniques to better analyze and understand their in-house data.
• Gain a checklist of items to bring to their next marketing meeting to address how to best leverage in-house data and improve marketing communications at the dealership.
• Learn directly from a dealer about how they used new methods to analyze their own customer data and achieve results.

Who:
Valerie Vallancourt, Vice President of Marketing at Outsell; Brian Pasch, Founder at PCG Companies; and Paul Schnell, Digital Marketing Director at Wilsonville Toyota and Wilsonville Subaru

What:
“Finding Your Next Customer: It’s All In the Data”

Where:
Digital Dealer 24 in Orlando, Fla.

When:
Thursday, April 12, 2018 from 11:10 AM to 12:00 PM

Session features senior marketing exec from Gettel Automotive Group

Outsell announced today that it will co-host a webinar with Automotive News on March 29, 2018 about how auto dealers can leverage artificial intelligence to improve marketing effectiveness and drive more business. Titled, “Don’t Sit on Autopilot: How to Improve 1:1 Marketing with Artificial Intelligence,” the webinar features speakers David Kelly, Chief Marketing Officer at Gettel Automotive Group and Valerie Vallancourt, Vice President of Marketing at Outsell.

Dealers don’t have the bandwidth to micro-manage marketing communications through every individual’s lifecycle. Artificial intelligence allows them to create lasting relationships with customers while leaving the heavy lifting to marketing automation. Rather than putting marketing on autopilot, the most successful dealers strike a balance between automation and dealer-controlled communications to provide consumers with an Amazon-like experience.

This session will explore the challenges and opportunities of delivering that type of experience, and include tips from dealers who are advancing their marketing efforts to effectively engage consumers in their primary market area. Attendees will learn how:

• AI-driven marketing automation delivers 1:1 marketing that consumers expect today
• Effective lifecycle management drives customer retention and reengages unsold leads
• Utilizing micro-targeted opportunities amps up marketing efforts in specific segments that may be lagging

Who:
David Kelly, Chief Marketing Officer at Gettel Automotive Group and Valerie Vallancourt, Vice President of Marketing at Outsell

What:
“Don’t Sit on Autopilot: How to Improve 1:1 Marketing with Artificial Intelligence”

Where:
Online at https://onlinexperiences.com/scripts/Server.nxp?LASCmd=AI:4;F:QS!10100&ShowKey=49223&AffiliateData=%5boutsell%5d

When:
March 29, 2018 at 2:00 pm ET

Outsell 5.0 takes individualized content to the next level

Outsell announced today a major upgrade of its solution at the NADA 2018 conference, taking place Mar. 22-26, 2018 in Las Vegas.

Outsell was the first marketing automation provider in automotive to utilize artificial intelligence (AI) to help improve relevancy and targeting. Its AI brain tracks the behavior of individual consumers (both customers and prospects), forming a predictive model of their future behavior, and fueling Outsell capabilities such as buyer detection for identifying in-market shoppers and Inventory Mover for matching prospects with specific inventory.

Outsell’s newest platform – Outsell 5.0 – has been enhanced with even more artificial intelligence capabilities, providing automotive dealers with unprecedented insight into buying behavior and the ability to take targeted content to the next level, with automated, multi-channel campaigns that are individualized to each person’s exact preferences.

In addition, Outsell is expanding its Equity Mining capabilities with 5.0. Outsell utilizes a machine-learning formula to provide equity value estimations, and display them on consumer and prospect profile pages, which enables sales staff to identify and reach out to consumers with positive equity.

“Dealers now expect AI features in their marketing automation platforms, and Outsell offers the first such platform that enables dealers to cover both customers and prospects at once,” said Brian Pasch, CEO of PCG Companies. “It’s no longer necessary for dealers to have different tools for each audience – it’s a major step forward.”

“Artificial intelligence is a key tool for auto dealers, and Outsell has made it seamless and easy to use with Outsell 5.0,” said Mike Wethington, Outsell’s founder and CEO. “We have masked all the complexity and added predictive analytics features that are transforming the way auto dealers communicate with customers and prospects. No one has more experience with AI in automotive than Outsell.”

The Outsell 5.0 platform features:

• A new dashboard that highlights for dealers in-market shoppers, current campaign performance, and ROI of individual campaigns in terms of linked sales/service – making it easy for dealers to quantify the revenue impact of each campaign.
• Customized campaign and targeting recommendations that dealers can choose to send with one click.
• The unique ability to easily create AI-driven micro campaigns for a select, targeted audience.
• Powerful new filters such as ‘move a model’ and ‘need to find a trade in’ that help dealers meet their goals. Outsell provides a list of people the dealership can contact who will likely convert on specific models or a list of people who own a specific vehicle and are likely ready to trade up.

All the new features are designed to make it easier than ever for automotive dealers to identify in-market shoppers, proactively reach out to them, deliver individualized communications on autopilot, and sell more vehicles and service appointments.

Chip Alvey, Corporate Operations Supervisor at Outsell customer Oxmoor Auto Group, said, “Outsell already provided tremendous value to our dealership in terms of helping us individualize campaigns to specific customer preferences. But the new features in Outsell 5.0 will help us take individualization to the next level, with AI-driven campaigns. We’re really excited to roll this new version out in our stores.”

Outsell will demo Outsell 5.0 publicly for the first time at NADA 2018. Stop by booth # 2196C for a demo, or make an appointment by visiting outsell.com/nada2018. See a video highlighting Outsell 5.0 here.

Toyota CH-R Campaign Honored with Bronze Stevie Award

Outsell announced today with agency partner DSplus, that it was presented with a Bronze Stevie® Award at the 12th annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. The 2018 Toyota CH-R Launch Campaign won the award in the Sales Achievement – Outbound Marketing Program of the Year category.

The Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service are the world’s top honors for customer service, contact center, business development and sales professionals.  The Stevie Awards organizes seven of the world’s leading business awards programs, also including the prestigious American Business Awards^SM and International Business Awards®.  The awards were presented to honorees during a gala banquet on Friday, February 23 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, NV. More than 2,500 nominations from organizations of all sizes and in virtually every industry were evaluated in this year’s competition. The average scores of more than 150 professionals worldwide in seven specialized judging committees determined winners.

The 2018 Toyota CH-R Launch Campaign
The all-new 2018 Toyota CH-R was about to launch and DSplus and Outsell were tasked to create awareness, encourage test drives and drive sales for over 200 participating Toyota dealerships across North America. For several months prior to the launch in 2017, CH-R teaser emails were sent via each dealer’s sales database in order to gather behavioral data and measure interest in the new 2018 model. The subsequent launch campaign consisted of three main elements: First, a targeted initial ‘trigger’ email to spread awareness and send traffic to a second element – a custom Toyota CH-R microsite. The consumers were encouraged to schedule a test drive and browse local dealers’ inventory via the exclusive microsite. The third launch element was a targeted follow-up drip email to consumers who engaged in the initial email and microsite.

The overall goal was to drum up excitement, create new dialog with interested consumers and close the deal on a new Toyota CH-R. The results were impressive: over 200,000 consumers interacted with the CH-R launch emails and microsite, moving thousands of CH-R’s off the lot for the participating dealers resulting in close to a million in revenue sales. To view examples of the award-winning campaign emails and microsite, please click here: 2018 Toyota CH-R Launch Campaign. The technology behind the campaign is Outsell’s marketing automation platform that increases customer engagement and drives more revenue by transforming how dealers engage with customers and prospects throughout their individual lifecycles.

“We are thrilled to see another Toyota campaign created by Outsell and DSplus recognized with a prestigious Stevie Award. I want to congratulate everyone including the developers, creative, production, and account teams that produced this highly unique and effective multi-faceted campaign,” said Michael Wethington, President and CEO, Outsell. “The well-executed campaign proved to be successful for Toyota Motor North America and is a model example of original use of digital marketing that helped the dealers compete in a crowded SUV market over a short period of time with an impressive ROI.”

“I can only imagine that car sales have to be the hardest sales job in the world. With many brands looking alike trying to distinguish yourself from your competitors seems insurmountable. The program developed took traditional marketing with a new spin and emojis,” read feedback from a Stevie judge that evaluated the Outsell and DSplus 2018 Toyota CH-R Launch Campaign nomination.

“All of our Stevie Award winners should be proud of their achievements. Independent professionals around the world have agreed that their accomplishments are worthy of our public recognition,” said Stevie Awards president Michael Gallagher.

Details about the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service and the list of Stevie winners in all categories are available at www.StevieAwards.com/sales.

About the Stevie Awards
Stevie Awards are conferred in seven programs: the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, the German Stevie Awards, The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards®, the Stevie Awards for Great Employers, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Stevie Awards competitions receive more than 10,000 entries each year from organizations in more than 60 nations. Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about the Stevie Awards at www.StevieAwards.com.

Sponsors of the 12th annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service include HCL Financial Services, Rant & Rave, Sales Partnerships, Inc. and ValueSelling Associates, Inc.

Overall company revenue up 23 percent for the year

Outsell announced today that it achieved double-digit growth in revenue in 2017, with an 87 percent increase in direct-to-dealer revenue and a 23 percent revenue increase in its core business.

New AI-driven solutions helped drive Outsell’s swift revenue growth.

“AI is going mainstream for auto dealers,” said Mike Wethington, Outsell’s founder and CEO. “Whereas two years ago we had to explain to dealers what AI was, now they are asking for solutions grounded in artificial intelligence – and that’s been great for our business. No one has more experience with AI in automotive than Outsell.”

Highlights from the year:

• Launched a new addition to its AI-driven marketing platform: Inventory Mover, the industry’s first inventory recommendation engine that automatically sorts through consumers in a dealer’s DMS and CRM, extracts data on in-market shoppers, predicts which VINs will appeal to each consumer, and dynamically shows unique live inventory recommendations to each consumer via automated, individualized communications.
• Launched Outsell Social Ads, adding another channel to its flagship platform that helps dealers reach the unreachable in their database, attract new buyers to their store, and keep active in-market shoppers engaged with relevant, eye-catching ads on the world’s most popular social platform – Facebook.
• Formed its first Customer Advisory Board. Comprised of Outsell dealer customers representing major auto brands and varying dealer sizes, its mission is to ensure that Outsell maintains a deep understanding of dealers’ marketing challenges and needs so that it can continue to provide the most effective marketing automation solutions.
• Made enhancements to its core platform to help dealers gain a single view of customers.
• Promoted CTO Bryan Harwood to President. Harwood is a six-year veteran of Outsell who’s been instrumental in driving Outsell’s recent growth and success.
• Received the AWA award naming Outsell a top Marketing Solution for Automotive Dealers as well as being named one of the 10 Best Small Companies in Minneapolis.

“2018 is shaping up to be another exciting year full of growth opportunities,” said Wethington. “There is a strong demand for AI-driven marketing solutions that help dealers and OEMs better anticipate customer needs and smartly communicate with them in an individualized, relevant way throughout their lifecycle.”