Partner Profile: Eide Automotive
Auto Client Sees Consistent Success Through Decade-Long Partnership
Ten years ago, a small marketing team that handled just one dealership found themselves part of a growing dealer group that needed digital marketing running for multiple locations.
It didn’t take long to realize, as the saying goes, that “no man is an island.” With so much to do and so few people to do it, managing everything was a challenge.
Justin Harmon, the Marketing Director for the Eide Automotive Group, had the digital marketing expertise but needed more hands to bring his plans to life.
The start of a partnership between the Eide Automotive Group and 9 Clouds began in November 2014, when the Eide Automotive Group had just one store location and another on the way. As of the end of 2024, Eide now has eight (and counting!) different locations across North Dakota and Minnesota.
How Our Partnership Works
Every month, Harmon and his Marketing Manager, Anna Michaud, build a multi-platform marketing plan for each dealership that’s tailored to the location’s inventory.
Between the two of them, they can’t build out and manage every campaign, so that’s where our team comes in.
With our partnership, we’re responsible for:
- Social media advertising on Meta (Facebook and Instagram), Snapchat, and TikTok
- Lead tracking, reporting, and ROI
- Monthly marketing plan meeting and bi-annual in-person client meetings to review 6 month performance
Our team also works closely with outside, approved vendors for a couple of the Eide locations. To get full use of co-op dollars, Eide needed to run ads through a specific vendor — not a problem for us!
9 Clouds stepped in as an ally to make sure best practices, brand messaging, and ad settings were all up to standard. We still report and check analytics on these outside campaigns to make sure everything is running and seeing similar results we see from our own campaigns.
The Benefits Of Our Partnership
The sales cycle for an automotive customer can last anywhere from a few days to several months, depending on available inventory and the customer’s need.
Keeping that (plus the competitive and fast-paced nature of the automotive industry) in mind, the Eide Automotive Group is always looking for opportunities to stay ahead of the game and be an industry leader.
“Having a long-term relationship with a digital marketing team is very valuable for the Eide Automotive Group. Our long history with the team at 9 Clouds has allowed us to better market our stores. 9 Clouds has a much deeper understanding as to how Eide likes to market its products, services and most importantly, our culture.
– Justin Harmon, Marketing Director for the Eide Automotive Group
This relationship has allowed us to have our marketing messages deployed faster and more efficiently. The quick turnaround creates greater lead opportunities for our sales teams and managers. As a growing company, the Eide Automotive Group has come to rely and appreciate the expertise of the team at 9 Clouds.”
Recently the Eide team opened a store in St. Cloud, Minnesota, which falls into the Twin Cities marketing area, making it more expensive to get the same caliber of results that we expect from our traditional digital platforms.
The solution? Use newer advertising platforms, like TikTok and Snapchat, to promote vehicle inventory alongside the Meta ads we knew performed well. By running ads on platforms that don’t have as much advertising competition, we’ve been able to drive new, quality traffic to the store’s website with minimal increase in ad spend.
Think auto ads couldn’t perform well on TikTok or Snapchat? Think again.
How do we maintain a standard for ad performance and web traffic?
We’re regularly checking and optimizing campaigns as they run, and we do an end-of-campaign performance analysis and data report each month. This ensures that we’re getting as much traffic to the site as possible.
Help Us Help You
Are you looking for an extension of your team to support your business’s digital marketing work? Let’s chat!
From smashing industry benchmarks to lead and sales increases, 9 Clouds does more to ensure that you’re meeting (and exceeding) your business goals.
Our current client retention average is 4 years, but we have multiple clients (from all sorts of industries) who have worked with us for longer.
See why our clients choose us — and continue to stay with us.
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