BTA Office Technology Publication
Fisher's Marketing Director discusses today's best marketing tactics
Memorable Marketing: Dealerships Share Insight Into Their Strategies
BTA Office Technology Magazine, Written by Brent Hoskins
6 minute read - Marketing Strategies
Internally, they call it the "Fisher's Filter." It is, essentially, the set of traits and goals required for any marketing initiative to move forward within Fisher’s Technology, a second-generation dealership based in Boise, Idaho, with 10 additional locations across three states. “It must be fun, resulting in happy customers and happy employees,” explains Haley Grigsby, director of marketing. “Plus, it must reflect that we are experts in our field and that the technology we offer is easy to use, fast and reliable. If it does not fit into that model, it does not go out the door.”
What constitutes “marketing” at Fisher’s? “Our main goal is to ensure that our brand can be found easily and is top of mind,” Grigsby says. “The objective of our marketing team is to acquire new customers, promote our brand and grow our new markets while maximizing our ROI — spending the right money and getting the best return that we can.” Today, the “shining star” of Fisher’s marketing focus is educational, digital content via social media — “cost-effective marketing that is very trackable,” Grigsby says. "The content cannot be salesy; everybody can see right through that." Likewise, when sharing expert knowledge, if it feels like you are bragging about your dealership rather than providing value, that gets really old so fast. Instead, the base of the content needs to be about the problems we are solving for businesses.”
Haley Grigsby
Fisher's Marketing Director
“In defining what is most successful — meaning, what has brought in the most sales — it is definitely the online content that we’re doing now, hands down,” says, Grigsby.
The focus on educational, digital content is paying off, but Fisher’s marketing is not a “one-trick pony,” Grigsby says. “In defining what is most successful — meaning, what has brought in the most sales — it is definitely the online content that we’re doing now, hands down,” she says. “However, we have also hosted events that have been super successful. In fact, we’ve done a technology show [drawing more than 300 attendees] that we actually passed off to a local organization because it grew to be too big for us to handle anymore.” Fisher’s still participates in the technology show and maintains such in-person initiatives as a key part of its marketing strategy. “Fisher’s likes a good party,” Grigsby says. “We’re doing tailgates at some local colleges; that’s been super fun and builds brand awareness among educated buyers. We’re also all about golf tournaments and we try to make them fun; for example, taking photos of foursomes and printing them on-site.”
Still, Grigsby emphasizes, it is online marketing that provides the best results. “It is difficult to measure in terms of where all of these leads originate — a prospect could have seen us at an event and then decided to Google us — but so far in 2021, 94% of our successful leads have been online leads. Those are closed deals; 94% from online sources.” Grigsby also notes that brand recognition is driving online searches for Fisher’s. “For almost 60% of our searches online, people are typing in our company name,” she says. “So, people know our brand; that’s how they are getting to our website to learn more about us.” Another notable percentage shared by Grigsby has resulted in Fisher’s close attention to the millennial buyer, reflected in the dealership’s marketing efforts. “I’m talking about people born between 1981 and 1995, so, 26 to 40-year olds,” she says. “I’m a millennial. We consume digital content though social media, videos and reviews. That’s how we make buying decisions. It doesn’t matter if it’s a consumer product or B2B, that’s where we’re finding information — and we’re finding that information before we even reach out to a company. With that in mind, consider this: 73% of [working] millennials are involved in the technology purchasing processes of their companies.”
Grigsby notes that the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in many people retiring from their positions. “Guess who’s coming into those positions, making changes and evaluating what kind of technology is being used?” she says. “So, there is this ‘refresh’ of things happening. If you are not engaging with millennials — and there are a lot of people engaging with them in the form of content, via social media, videos and reviews — then you are missing the boat, and you’re going to miss the boat for future buyers as well.”
