Dick Scott Automotive Launches QR-Code Blitz

Submitted by Nichole Scott, Director of Operations at Dick Scott

Having just come out of one of the most challenging times in the automotive industry, it is imperative that businesses count their pennies and get creative about how they spend money on advertising and marketing. At , we have learned that the days of spending tens of thousands of dollars on full-page newspaper ads and other so called traditional media is over. Our advertising and marketing efforts must be trackable, accountable, and direct to our consumers. Today, our customers are much more savvy — they have to be reached under their terms, using the latest technology. 

Being in charge of the marketing and operations for Dick Scott Auto Group, I understand how imperative it is to stay at the forefront of the latest marketing trends. We have been part of the Plymouth community for over 25 years and during that time we have learned that we must constantly do things differently to grab the attention of our customers.  We have embraced social media and used popular sites like Facebook and Twitter to both attract and stay in touch with our customers. 

Recently, we partnered with another local business, Dealer Concepts (www.dealerconcepts.com), to help us develop a QR strategy to take our social media efforts one step further. QR codes (those funny little black and white squares that get scanned with a smart phone) are showing up everywhere.  We have found that more than 70 percent of our customers have smart phones. Through a simple and free app, they can scan our QR codes and be connected back to our dealership's mobile website.  Our goal is to make it as easy as possible for our customers to interact with our store.  By directly sending them to our mobile website, they can access our latest specials, view our inventory or access important phone numbers to reach our various departments. 

And of course, we had to announce our new QR-code campaign in a really big way.  To do this, we recently hung a GIANT 10’x 10’ QR code on the side of Dick Scott Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram on  Ann Arbor Road in Plymouth.  We have not checked with the Guinness Book of world records, but it is definitely the largest QR code in Southeastern Michigan!  We now also give away a new QR T-shirt with every new and used car purchase and  take a picture of all customers during the delivery process and upload this picture to our Facebook page. Just like our Facebook, Linked In and Twitter logo, our custom QR code is included in all our advertising and marketing. 

So, next time you're in the area, grab your smart phone, download a FREE QR app and stop by Dick Scott to support your local business.  Who knows, we may even give you a FREE T-shirt to wear around town.