What better way is there to celebrate dads everywhere this June 19th than a Father’s Day promotion in your parts store? Father’s Day is nothing to scoff at—in 2014, consumers spent more than $12.5 billion, and the number rises every year. Whether you run sales or do a special sweepstakes, you can take your share of the profit by planning something special.
At the most basic, you could do an all-around parts sale to celebrate the holiday. It’s simple to set up and won’t take much time, but it’s also not the most exciting thing you could do. Instead, run your sales alongside one or more of these cool promotional ideas.
Best yet, most of these Father’s Day promotion ideas will work on your eCommerce parts store and inside your physical dealership. Whether you set up hybrid online/in-store promotions , promote on eBay, or run everything separately, you can really up the excitement level by offering something special.
Create a Gift Guide
A lot of automotive DIYers probably picked up their love of working in the garage from time spent with their dad. Help them figure out a gift for Father’s Day with a list of gift ideas (on sale, of course!) mainly focused on the DIY scene to really boost some father-child bonding time.
You can also target upgrade buyers with a list of great accessories to spruce up Dad’s ride. Which performance upgrades are the most popular? Coming up with these lists can be as easy as looking up what sells the best.
Along the same lines, you can boost sales with special “care packages” that include all the necessary materials to do a standard maintenance check or tune up.
When certain items are bought together, it triggers the discount—which saves your customer money and earns you more sales.
Hold a Photo Contest
Invite your customers to send in photos of Dad with the kids! People love to engage—especially when it means a chance to win. A social media platform like Twitter or Instagram is usually a good place to receive and organize all the submissions, especially because other customers can see the photo contest and join in.
To make things more exciting, set a theme like “funny” or “superheroes” or “Dad with his car”… anything you want! When it comes to choosing a winner, you can choose one yourself, randomize the process, or have people vote on their favorite.
When it’s all over, make sure you have something fun to offer as a prize. A gift card (for your dealership, a restaurant, or somewhere else) is a great standard, but there are plenty more options.
The main point of a photo contest is to promote your dealership and create a positive reputation for yourself, so it’s okay if your prize isn’t directly related to your dealership. Customer loyalty pays off in the long run!
If you’re running this inside your physical dealership, something like “free oil changes for a year” (or car washes, or tire rotations, etc) can work as a double bonus—that family will be visiting your store regularly, and if you consistently offer great service and a positive customer experience, you might just have some new loyal customers that go to you for all their vehicle needs.
Run a Father’s Day Sweepstakes Giveaway
What’s more exciting than a chance to win something cool? You can run a holiday sweepstakes in your brick and mortar dealership, online, or both. This will drive traffic to your dealership or website, since everyone wants a chance to win.
The rules to enter is up to you. For your eCommerce parts store, asking for a customer’s email address is a great way to build your mailing list—something that will pay for itself in the long run.
As for in-store entries, grab a bucket and have customers fill out a card with their name and number. To encourage them to buy more, offer additional entry cards depending on how much they spend.
As for the prize, find something valuable enough to draw in customers. This could be anything from tickets to an upcoming car show to dealership-related services or discounts.
Again, remember how much of a boost this is to your dealership’s reputation. Even if you take a temporary hit paying for a prize, the sales and improved customer loyalty from your Father’s Day promotions will definitely pay off in the long run.
General Tips:
No matter what promotions you decide to run on Father’s Day, a few general practices will help you be successful no matter what you decide to do.
Let customers know about your sales.
Send a promotional email to your mailing list, for starters. If you’re on Facebook or Twitter, let that crowd know as well. You can also add banners to your actual parts site. Let the world know what you’re offering!
Run the promotion for more than one day.
Not all dads will be available on Sunday, so running your sales for the weekend or the entire week will give everyone a chance to participate. When it comes to sweepstakes or photo contests, running the promotion for a week or more will give people time to enter.
Consider offering more than one prize.
For sweepstakes and photo contests, it might be best to offer more than one prize. You can have a huge “grand prize” along with smaller ones. Having more winners means having more customers who are happy with YOU, and as a result more likely to shop with you in the future.
Plus, it’s easy to offer a prize like “30% off your next order” or “free shipping,” which winners can access with the promo code you provide them.
Prize ideas:
We’ve mentioned a few ideas already, but here’s a full list of suggestions that should get car-loving customers everywhere excited to participate:
- Discounts (% off, free shipping)
- Gift certificates (your dealership, a restaurant)
- Free service X amount of times (oil change, car wash, tire rotation)
- Tickets to a car show, an automotive museum, etc
- Free tool or gadget (toolbox, car care kits, car chargers, work gloves)
- Vehicle upgrades (sound system, Bluetooth kit, GPS navigation)
At the end of the day, a great promotion will leave everyone happy. There’s not much time before Father’s Day this year (it’s on Sunday, June 19!), so get started right away!
