During the past two years, the hottest advertising tool of sub-prime car peddlers has been the thirty-minute television infomercial. The reason is simple-when properly written and produced, this format works! It yields stacks of apps in less than an hour. Several companies offer infomercials with prices fluctuating from $4,000 to $9,000. Many use local management in "interview" or "telethon" formats. My favorite pitch is the "Big Special Credit Sales."
Infomercials are available to dealers from production and advertising companies, sub-prime lenders and software companies, as well as 1-800 service providers. It's always best to own the rights to use the infomercial in your market with no strings or long-term contracts.
The ideal infomercial contains the following ingredients:
1. Simple Message-repeated over and over
2. Credible, Informative Format-these customers are credit-challenged, not stupid
3. Quick Approval Procedure-before arriving at your dealership
4. Third Party Recognition-self-praise is non-effective
5. Urgency-Call Now!
6. To this mix add a quality 1-800 response company
The time buy is equally important, but I'll cover that in the next issue of DEALER magazine.
Dennis Randall is a writer/producer and is the president of Automotive Sales and Promotions. If you have specific questions or require more information about this subject, please check the appropriate box on the reader response form on page 3.