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Bright Ideas

The pursuit of knowledge is a noble quest. Start your journey here.

Clark Rutledge

Clark has been working in the Automotive Industry for over 8 years working both on the floor as a salesperson and manager. He understands the specific needs and fast paced customer service required of Automotive Dealers. Following in his father’s footsteps, his goal is to help other dealers see the same growth and success he has seen using the tools offered by Right Idea Media & Creative.
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Recent Posts

6 Do's and Don'ts of Geofencing

Posted by Clark Rutledge on 6/6/18 8:57 AM

Geofencing is an extremely useful and diverse marketing strategy that can be used to advertise your business in an extraordinary way. Utilizing geofencing correctly can increase awareness and traffic to your business through ads and alerts sent straight to people’s phones. However, if you’ve been using geofencing, and have found that you aren’t receiving the results you hoped for, we have some some tips to help you out.

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Topics: Digital Marketing, Mobile Marketing

Online Reviews: The New Word of Mouth

Posted by Clark Rutledge on 2/19/18 1:37 PM

Today's consumer values convenience over loyalty. If your business isn't easy to find or highly ranked in searches, customers will just go to your competitors who are. Online reviews will boost your local SEO and build trust and loyalty with your customers.

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Topics: Online Presence, Review Generation, SEO, Videos

Why You Should Embrace Bad Reviews

Posted by Clark Rutledge on 2/2/18 12:00 AM

Even the best of businesses will inevitably find themselves on the receiving end of a bad review. It’s not the end of the world - sometimes, it’s not even your fault. But bad reviews offer the chance to see your business through the eyes of a customer. Here are three steps below to determine what to do when you receive negative feedback.

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Topics: Online Presence, Review Generation

Word-of-Mouth is a Pre-cursor to Online Search

Posted by Clark Rutledge on 1/26/18 2:14 PM

 

For most businesses, word-of-mouth coverage plays an important role in marketing strategies. But for your potential customer, a word of recommendation from a family member or friend isn’t the straight path to your business you might imagine it to be.

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Topics: Online Presence, Local Listings, Home Service Professionals, Search Engine Marketing

Does Your Dealership Back Your Marketing in the Showroom?

Posted by Clark Rutledge on 12/8/16 4:16 PM

Your showroom equals your brand. What story are you telling? Consistency is key; whether you’re baking a cake, perfecting your golf swing, or promoting the branding of your dealership. If you don’t think consistency is important, I’d like to sway you.

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Topics: Automotive, Automotive Strategy, Retail Automotive, Automotive Marketing

The Importance of Appointment Setting for Car Dealerships

Posted by Clark Rutledge on 12/2/16 4:21 PM

Consumers today are looking to streamline everything they do. Making a large purchase, such as a vehicle, is included in that streamlined-hopeful process. Quicker is better. What many consumers may not realize is that the car buying process can be streamlined, with appointment setting. Whether early on in the search process or the day of the purchase, setting appointments ensures that customers wants and needs will be acknowledged and met.

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Topics: Internet Sales, Automotive, Automotive Strategy, Retail Automotive

Why Dealerships Are Losing 20% of their Customers

Posted by Clark Rutledge on 11/1/16 7:00 AM

At any given moment, there are hundreds of things going on at your dealership. Paperwork, sales, test drives, phone calls, meetings, the list goes on. It’s easy to look around and see all these things happening around you. But, what about all the things that are happening that you can’t see? Namely, the customers contacting you through your website — those ever-present internet leads.

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Topics: Internet Sales, Automotive, Automotive Strategy, Retail Automotive

Automotive Series: 4 Ways to Hold Your Vendors Accountable

Posted by Clark Rutledge on 10/7/16 11:09 AM

Smooooooth like butter is how you’d like your dealership to run —  no hurdles, no setbacks, nothing. BUT we all know that’s not how it works out. The best thing you can do is to ensure everything in your power is working like a well-oiled machine. One of the parts of your machine is your vendors. Depending on many factors of your dealership: size, location, specialties, market, etc., your number of vendors many vary. No matter how many vendors your dealership works with, accountability is key.

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Topics: Automotive Strategy, Automotive Marketing

Automotive Series: 4 Must-Have Metrics to Evaluate Your Sales Process

Posted by Clark Rutledge on 9/8/16 5:40 PM

The pros will tell you, it’s all about the follow-through — baseball, golf, selling vehicles; whatever it may be. Your game is only as good as your follow-through. And in order to have a solid follow-through, there must be procedures in place to measure and find areas of improvement before and during the follow through. The evaluation aspect is simple: assess the outcome, e.g., did a vehicle get sold. But to assess the outcome is where it gets complicated, you must dig through the different metrics and ratios to determine where your dealership can grow.

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Topics: Automotive Strategy, Automotive Marketing

Automotive Series: What is Geofencing & How to Use It

Posted by Clark Rutledge on 8/18/16 8:00 AM

Imagine customers are in your competitor’s showroom looking at a vehicle and hop on their smartphone to check a few more price points. They get on their phone and see a deal from your dealership with a similar vehicle at a lower price point. Next thing you know, those same customers have walked through the door of your showroom wanting that great deal.


A geofence creates that exact opportunity for your dealership. Let’s take a look at what geofencing is and how to use it.

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Topics: Digital Marketing, Automotive Strategy, Mobile Marketing, Automotive Marketing