Marketing a dealership’s precision business can be an ambiguous concept without a clearly defined objective. While many dealerships utilize a mix of digital and traditional brand-building tools, are they really measuring the ROI in terms of revenue and customer retention?

According to the 2019 Precision Farming Dealer Benchmark Study, more than 96% of respondents identified marketing as an important element of their dealership’s 5-year investment plan to grow precision business, including more than 40% who ranked it as the most important area. 

During a dealer-to-dealer panel discussion at the 2020 Precision Farming Dealer Summit on Jan. 6-7, hear 3 dealers share proven approaches to strengthening customer relationships, increasing sales and giving their companies a competitive edge through targeted marketing efforts centered on their growing their precision business.  

Speakers for this panel include: 

Heather Hetterick

Heather Hetterick, Ag Marketing Strategist, Bowling Green, Ohio. While relationships are important and precision staff should be identifying solutions for farmers, the reality is, customers are collecting information online long before you are even aware they are in the market for an product or service. A dealership’s website serves as the gateway to attracting interested farmers and converting them to loyal customers. Hetterick led digital marketing, social media strategies and content marketing at an 11-location farm equipment dealership where she lived the daily challenge of marketing the precision team with interactive, informative and targeted online programs. 

She shares experienced-based examples and research on developing a must-visit precision website presence along with the common mistakes and misinformation which can cause potential customers to click over to the competition. 

Jon Eis

Jon Eis, COO, Eis Implement, Two Rivers, Wis. While consolidation is trending, plenty of smaller organizations are thriving in the precision farming business. As a single-store dealership operating in a highly-competitive area, Eis Implement established its precision business in 2014 as a reliable, yet flexible addition to adapt to customers’ changing technology appetites. This requires a shrewd and creative approach to marketing its ag tech services, a collaborative process that starts with Eis. 

Eis shares his time-tested tactics for how to take the lead on creating multi-purpose marketing programs that connect the money-making dots between your precision team and other departments in the dealership.

Chad Colby

Chad Colby, Owner, Colby Ag Tech, Goodfield, Ill. A perennial pain point in many dealerships is the topic of social media promotion. Nobody denies its potential as a valuable marketing and customer service tool, but two tough questions have prevented many dealers from reaping the full benefits. What kind of content should my company be posting? And who should be in charge of managing it? The pairing of a dealership’s precision farming business and social media offers a prime promotional environment — if properly managed — says Chad Colby. 

As he says, “There’s no coffee shop anymore. Social media is your customers’ new local gathering place where the conversations happen.”

With experience cultivating an active, engaged social media following, Colby shares tips and techniques to crafting powerful social media messages that will directly benefit your bottom line and build your precision team’s brand. 

Co-located with the 28^th Annual National No-Tillage Conference, the 2020 Summit will be held Jan. 6-7 at the historic Union Station Hotel in St. Louis. Among the Title Sponsors making the learning and networking opportunities possible for dealers are Ag Express Electronics, Copperhead Ag, DigiFarm VBN, Laforge Systems, RealmFive, Reichhardt Electronic Innovations, Topcon Agriculture and Yetter Farm Equipment.

For more information and to register for the Summit click here. We’ll see you in St. Louis!