Let's start with a quick introduction. I've
been with ARI Network Services as the
director of marketing for just about a
year now. Before making the move to ARI,
I worked as the editor of a publication
much like this that served the powersports
industry for a little more than a decade.
I've dedicated my career to helping
retailers like you improve your business.
Where do I get my intel? A lot of it comes
straight from the trenches, and in my year
at ARI, I've had the opportunity to learn a
lot from the dealers who we serve.
That's why I'm kicking off my
contributions to OPE magazine with some
real-world digital marketing advice from a
pair of outdoor power equipment dealers.
You likely face many of the same
challenges that these two dealerships do
— seasonality; limited time and financial
resources; and competition from big box
and online mega-retailers. I asked both
of these dealers for their advice on high-
impact efforts you can make to move
the needle on your digital marketing this
winter, taking the realities of your business
into consideration.
I first had the pleasure of chatting
with Brian Hollopeter of Medina Tractor
in Medina, Ohio. Brian's educational
background in information technology
has made him the go-to digital marketing
guru at his family-run dealership. Here
are a few pro tips from Brian to consider
implementing at your dealership:
Diversify your online brand: While
the dealership's name may be Medina
Tractor, a majority of its sales come from
lawn mowers. "There was a stigma that all
we dealt with was tractors," said Brian.
So a few years ago, the dealership
purchased the domain www.Medina
Mower.com and created a mirror of
its main dealership website at www.
MedinaTractor.com with a mower empha-
sis. "When people are looking for local
mowers, 'lawn mowers' is always going to
be one of the keywords," said Brian.
Having the keyword "mower" in
this secondary website helped boost the
dealership's search rankings and busted
the perception that it was a tractor-only
destination.
Do you depend on a single website
domain? If you do, you might be missing
out. Consider alternative domain names,
and talk to your website vendor about
how you can diversify your online brand
with additional domains.
Open an online parts store: "We don't
really like being controlled by the weather,"
related Brian. "That's always been one
of the biggest problems — our revenue
depends solely on the weather. If there's
a drought or if it's wet, you can see it on
the balance sheet, but we also knew that if
it's snowing in Ohio, it doesn't mean the
grass isn't growing in Florida or Texas, so
we launched outdoorpartspower.com."
Creating this e-commerce-only destina-
tion created an additional year-round profit
center for the dealership without a huge
resource investment. By selecting a turnkey
e-commerce website solution that includes
manufacturer catalog data, Medina Tractor
has been able to make it easy for its online
customers to find and buy what they need
without a lot of support.
30 OCTOBER 2014 OUTDOOR POWER EQUIPMENT www.outdoorpowerequipment.com
Feature Story | Website Solutions
Dealers doing it right
Real-world marketing advice from the
dealership trenches
■ By Colleen BrouSil
Above left: Home page of www.MedinaTractor.com Above right: Home page of www.MedinaMower.com
