As larger dealer groups allocate more internal resources to manage their digital marketing investments, our industry needs to discuss roles and responsibilities for digital marketing execution.
In the graphic above, I started a conversation in my latest book, using this chart, on how a dealer group could organize their marketing team or employees who are performing marketing tasks.
Most active members and readers of DealerRefresh know that dealerships are normally under staffed in regards to their online presence. The roles (Entry Level, Associate, Senior, Manager, CMO) that I use in the chart do not have to be full-time positions; they are roles that are normally shared. However, since dealers are in the e-commerce business, they need to have an internal discussion on how to organize the dealership’s staff based on knowledge and skills.
The responsibilities (tasks) I list under each role are not to imply that that person has to do the work. These roles have to be able to competently manage the implementation of each task and inspect the reports from each marketing investment.
For example, the Associate Level role does not have to do the SEO work but rather has to guide the SEO strategy and be able to inspect the progress from their SEO vendor partner. If SEO is done internally, then this role may have additional responsibilities.
I invite members of the DealerRefresh.com community as well as automotive professionals to chime in here and help build a more complete matrix that can help guide forward thinking dealers about the structure and responsibilities of their marketing department.
