Auto Care ON AIR

Marketing Skills That Move The Automotive Aftermarket

• Auto Care Association • Season 1 • Episode 93

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A revolution is happening in aftermarket marketing: The Automotive Communications Council (ACC) is coming under the Auto Care Association, and with it a stronger community for communicators who turn complex parts and fitment into stories people actually understand. We brought together ACC’s current president, Leyla Saad of ZF Aftermarket, and industry veteran Lance Boldt of AutoNet TV to unpack what works now, what to stop doing, and how to build loyalty without fluff.

We start with the real challenges marketers face in the bays and boardrooms: translating dense catalogs and cross-references into quick, useful messages; designing long-form content that fuels search, sales enablement, and social; and choosing the right channels for shop owners, counter pros, and decision-makers. Leyla shares deployment tactics and project management lessons from the trenches, while Lance breaks down a practical storytelling frame that makes the audience the hero and turns complexity and downtime into beatable villains.

From ACC’s conference highlights... like making purchasing simpler and auditing what generative AI thinks of your brand... to the daily habits that keep you sharp, this conversation is packed with actionable ideas. We cover loyalty programs that actually matter, planning content for multi-market reuse and translation, and the value of taking tasteful risks to stand out. You’ll also hear why rest and reflection time unlock better ideas, and how treating B2B as B2P helps every message land with a person who needs clarity, not jargon.

If you’re ready to level up your aftermarket marketing with smarter content, stronger community, and a clearer voice, you’ll find plenty to put to work today. Subscribe, leave a review, and share this with a teammate who’s ready to try something bold.

Learn more about ACC here: https://www.autocare.org/acc

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Jacki Lutz:

I heard Lupe Fiasco uh show goes on. Do you guys know this song? Yeah. It's on it's been on my like exercise playlist for like it's a good one. Since it came out. Like I think since I had an iPod, you know, like forever. Um, but uh I could rap like the whole thing, the whole hallway.

Leyla Saad:

Very nice.

Jacki Lutz:

Yeah, I know I showed off a little.

Leyla Saad:

My workout playlist is like um Up Down by T Pain. That's a really hype song. Like really hype. When you're on the Stairmaster, it's like a really good one. Burpees while he does it.

Jacki Lutz:

Stairmaster. That'd be a fast burpee. Up down, up, down. I don't do burpees. I can't. Do you do burpees, Lance?

Lance Bolt:

I do this. I can and I can go both basically. There we go.

Jacki Lutz:

Welcome to Auto Care on Air, a candid podcast for Curious Industry. I'm Jackie Lutz, Content Director at the Auto Care Association, and this is Cardpool Conversations, where we collaborate on today's most relevant power skills. We are all headed in the same direction. So let's get there together. Hey, welcome everybody to another Cardpool Conversations. I'm excited about this one because it's about ACC, which we're going to talk all about. But I have the current president of ACC with me, Layla Saad. She's now the marketing coordinator of ZF Aftermarket. Welcome, Layla. Thank you. To your first podcast, potentially. Ever. Yeah, and you're going to nail it. And Lance Bolt, um, who's been around ACC for a while. I'm gonna let him talk about that, but also the co-founder and VP of production development for Autonet TV Media. Um, seen him, I'm sure he's a familiar face to many. You've been you've been hopping around uh show like autocare shows and events for years since I've been in the aftermarket. So awesome to have you guys on. Um, Leila, let's start with you. Want to tell us a little bit about your tenure in the aftermarket?

Leyla Saad:

Yeah, absolutely. Um, I'm a little bit newer. Um I joined the aftermarket uh right out of college, 2020. Um Jackie was actually my first boss. So uh Jackie hired me into the aftermarket actually um in Troy, Michigan. So we started out working together at Sensata Technologies, um, a trader TPMS solutions brand. Um I did that for maybe three and a half years, and then I came over to ZF Group, uh, specifically in the aftermarket side, um, focusing a lot on the commercial vehicle space. Um, so I do that and I'm also involved in uh a couple industry associations, namely, you know, of course, Automotive Communications Council, where I'm currently the sitting president. So it's been great. Um short, short, but really fulfilling so far.

Jacki Lutz:

Yeah. Yeah. I've done a lot. And I wasn't planning to tell this story, but I kind of forgot about it. I met or I knew about Layla because your resume came across my desk and I saw that you went to the high school that my one of my best friends taught at. So I called her and I asked for a reference for her, and she's like, oh, hire her, hire her. Yeah. But it just tells you be careful who you're mean to in life, you know? Like when you never know.

Leyla Saad:

That is my largest takeaway ever. You just do not know where things will cross. Right. If I was a bad student, yeah, I don't know if I'd be sitting here right now.

Jacki Lutz:

But luckily, you luckily I did good. Luckily, you were a star then, yeah. A star now. Yeah. And another fun fact, we hired uh Layla on to the marketing team at Trader, and I was like eight and a half weeks pregnant. So I basically hired her and then ran away for a fucking.

Leyla Saad:

It was also March 2020. So I started during COVID. Yeah. So they mailed my laptop and I was learning how to do stuff from my childhood bedroom.

Jacki Lutz:

So it was you survived your first months in the industry. Everything else is like downhill for the rest of your career. Yeah. Yeah. Still here, still thinking. And then Lance, tell us a little bit about you.

Lance Bolt:

Well, I I was an estate tax planner for 20 years and helping rich people move their money, and then the tax law changed, and yeah, you didn't need any help because the the law to basically took it away. So we looked at it uh for another industry to kind of move into my partners and I, and I loved automotive and and we had a focus group and stuff, and uh we ran a number of things past them, and this is what stuck uh doing uh on-screen programming in uh service center waiting areas.

Jacki Lutz:

Yeah, and then how long have you been doing AutoNet?

Lance Bolt:

Uh it's been it's uh 21 years now. Yeah.

Jacki Lutz:

Yeah so how long have you been in the industry?

Lance Bolt:

Okay, so that was the first time. I gotta go to the tip.

Jacki Lutz:

Yeah, and then how long have you been a part of ACC?

Lance Bolt:

I started right away. Uh I you know, we were looking for mentors and and found Tom Marks. Yeah. And uh and he said you need to go to ACC. So I I went there within months of and and have been there ever since.

Jacki Lutz:

So a good 20 years of ACC for you. So you have a lot of history of of this organization. And um how long has ACC been around though?

Lance Bolt:

I my uh my understanding it was in the mid-40s, uh 1940s, and that and it was uh both uh OEs and aftermarket folks at that time.

Jacki Lutz:

Okay. And then it was so I'm sorry, I'm getting ahead of myself a little bit, but let's talk a little bit about what ACC is, so that people that don't know will know for the rest of this conversation. But the exciting news and why we want to talk a little bit about ACC and why we want to talk about, you know, we're gonna transition this into some relevant marketing skills of today. But the reason we're so excited to talk about it is because the Auto Care Association just acquired, or I would even argue reacquired, uh ACC. So um it's gonna become uh an amazing community of the Auto Care Association available to our members. We're so excited about it. So we just want to talk a little bit about it. But tell us a little bit about both of you, uh, what ACC is and why people should care.

Leyla Saad:

Yeah. Absolutely. Well, ACC engages marketing and communication professionals in the aftermarket through a variety of ways, um, learning, training, development, personal and professional development, and networking. I think at the heart of ACC is the networking, the friendships and um community that is really made. So yeah, Lance.

Lance Bolt:

I would agree with with that and especially the networking part again. That was that was just uh a wonderful way to uh meet industry leaders, but also other participants in the aftermarket.

Jacki Lutz:

Yeah. Um ACC was actually the first community I was ever involved in, ever. So I don't even know how long that was ago. I don't even want to say it out loud anyway, so it's good that I don't remember. But um, it was immediately like I think there's something about marketers. Not everybody in the company they think they know. It seems like sometimes everybody thinks they know how to do marketing right, but like something connects marketers together where it's like we all know each other's struggles and like the dynamics of being a marketer, especially in this industry, the challenges, all that kind of stuff. There's something about getting all those people together in a room and being able to lean on each other. And like so many of the phone calls that I've made over the years, when I have something I'm trying to figure out at work with with marketing, it's an ACC member. So it really is all about the neck networking. Um, and it's so exciting that it's coming back under autocare. It was under autocare at one point.

Lance Bolt:

Well, kind of unofficially. Uh we we worked uh the Car Care Council was which is no longer operating. Uh they provided a couple of people from the association to help us with all the management and and uh provide a lot of service. Uh uh and and at some point someone at uh at AutoCare said, Why are we paying for these guys? And so we became independent and uh uh but still have always been very well supported by autocare. Yeah, yeah.

Jacki Lutz:

And it feels so cool to like welcome ACC under the umbrella. I served as president for ACC right before COD COVID, like 2019. Um, and I remember those these conversations were happening back then, and then COVID hit, not a priority anymore, you know. So this like resurface, which is amazing and true. Layla, it's so cool that you get to it feels like a legacy, like now you get to see this through. That's amazing. Um, and you've done a great job. Um, so just to give people an idea, let's talk a little bit about the type of content that EC provides. Um, I know every conference I've attended has been top-notch and you walk away. But the the best thing is is that you can go to so many marketing conferences, but only a fraction of it is actually applicable to the automotive aftermarket dynamics, right? And maybe it's a lot of it seems to be B2C, you know, and a lot of what we do is B2B at certain levels. So um, let's talk a little bit about ACC's content.

Leyla Saad:

Yeah, absolutely. Um, we worked really hard every year um with our annual conference to put together a really well-rounded agenda. Uh, just thinking to our past uh conference uh this spring in Minneapolis, we we covered a lot of different topics. One of them, we did everything from like um we heard from the Lift Garage, who um is a garage that provides car repairs for low-income individuals, um, to we had someone come speak from Polaris, uh talking about how to make purchasing easier for our consumers, which, you know, in an industry where some of our stuff is so, of course, so technical, um, we have to talk about how can we make people or how can we help people make the right decision and understand, okay, but what part number do I actually need and why? Uh everything from that to we talked about why you need to know what gener uh generate generative AI thinks about your brand. Um, talking about like um, you know, when you search your company's name on Chat GPT, where is it getting that information? Right. And like how can you optimize your web presence so that when it's pulling data, it's showing, showing people what you want it to show people. So really covering everything from like human elements to you know nonprofits to the technology of today. And yeah, so I felt like we all walked away with a lot of different topics in mind.

Jacki Lutz:

And sounds fantastic. Yeah. And things that are really difficult to navigate on your own. So yeah, that that's fantastic. So it kind of brings us to our actual, you know, professional development topic today. Um, of just, you know, what are some of the most relevant marketing skills that are really needed to be successful in the automotive aftermarket? And I feel like I got two incredible people to be here to talk about it. Um so what are some of the most relevant skills you guys think uh marketers need to be thinking about? Stare down.

Lance Bolt:

What uh Lance Loses. I lose I lost. I uh I'm I'm not on the you know, like the deployment of the marketing stuff, uh, but uh content. I mean it's things have to very quickly tell a story. Your message has to be very accessible and relevant. And um gotta work really hard sometimes to do that. Yeah you know, in the longer form the content. We we do a lot of videos uh for marketers and and you really have to watch your seconds and make them count.

Jacki Lutz:

Yeah, content's huge. I feel like you could do a whole episode just on the context behind content. Um, and it's something you always have to stay uh updated on, um and and stay kind of like stay in the know. Like I struggle with that because I'm not a big social media user that usually surprises people, but I'm like I I you know I do a lot on LinkedIn, but like Instagram, I'm a year in. Like I'm still trying to figure out Instagram, it stresses me out. You know, Facebook, I don't really use, I use it more to like stay in touch with old classmates. You know, I don't post on it, I don't do but like I try to be on these platforms just to see what's happening. I still don't have a TikTok. It's a terrible thing to like admit, but like you know, it's it's so important to like see what people are doing in in content. And when you mention long form content, that's huge, and I think that that's a gap in this industry because it's scary to like take on a lot. That's a big reason why we started this podcast is we didn't have a long form content that was consistent that we could chat up and use everywhere all the time, you know. So long form content is a huge one.

Leyla Saad:

Yeah. Speaking about content, you know, I think one of the most important skills, you know, um Lance was saying he's not so much on the deployment side, whereas deployment is most of what I do is kind of it's it's very project management. That's how I feel. It's like combining a lot of different components and delivering it, is really what I'm in charge of. Um, and you know, I work so cross-functionally with category managers, with salespeople, with engineers. And the biggest thing for me is how to simplify the content and make it quickly accessible. Like you've got a couple of seconds to get a message across. And, you know, I'll be given a super large part number table and uh, you know, with application information, cross-reference information. Um, and it's on me to make it enjoyable to read and, you know, easy to read and to help pull out what's what's interesting about these part numbers, right? We can't just, it's not just a catalog, it's supposed to be something engaging. And, you know, you have to work really hard in marketing to take this technical information and make it interesting, whether it's a video or a flyer or a social post. Um, yeah, it's just a really important skill to be able to take technical, you know, automotive information and make it digestible. Yeah, digestible and like yeah, um fresh.

Jacki Lutz:

Yeah. Because I know I came from the supplier world. Yeah, um, obviously. And you know, we did TPMS. Yeah. And I always joke, like, I used to have a monthly article in Babcox and we talk about TPMS, and I'm like, I don't know how else to say it. I did that for five years. And then like, I just don't know. And that was before Chat GPT, so I I kind of pat myself on the back for that. But I'm like, I just don't know how else to spin this guy, you know? Like, yeah. Um, so I think that that's a little bit of creativity there. Yeah. In perspective, because you really gotta put yourself in the in the audience of who you're trying to talk to and what their current level of technical knowledge is, and like how do you how do you get at their level? Okay, that's a great one. So how do I'm just curious if you have an answer to this or not, but how do you do that? Like, how do you look at that and simplify it?

Leyla Saad:

Well, I think first thing you really, which is another important marketing skill, is really understanding your audience and meeting them where they are. So you have to understand who you're trying to speak to and you can kind of figure out the medium to deliver the message from there. So if you're talking to shop owners or, you know, people behind the counter or the people that are actually turning the wrench, um, depending on that, you know, you choose your your method of you know of delivery, whether it's gonna be print media, um, which, you know, is more popular with the people who are more hands-on. They still prefer to, you know, read the magazine on the counter at their workshop. Or if you're talking, you know, more B2B, you know, decision makers, you're gonna want to look at LinkedIn ads. And so um just really, you know, trying to get super granular with who your audience is and making sure that uh that's the right delivery platform for them. It's like a multimedia approach. Yeah.

Jacki Lutz:

Yeah, absolutely. What else? What about branding and storytelling? Because that that's becoming huge in every industry. It just seems like it just keeps getting bigger. Like, you know, it used to be content is king. That was it still is, but I think, but like that was all over the place five years ago. Marketers, I just think a marketing conference said content is king. Um, but now it's becoming more like storytelling, um, brand, you know, getting people like more involved in your brand, you know, creating fans of your brand. It's more emotional. It's like there's so many like thousands of ways to do that. Um that's so relevant. It's it's less seen in our industry, but still so relevant. Are Sapphiers thinking about that stuff?

Leyla Saad:

I think so. I mean, I know, you know, we heavily invest in our network, in our network support programs and our loyalty programs to, you know, and and encourage our field, our field teams to be out there, you know, going face to face with our customers, because I think I think that takes it one step further than, you know, um just an online campaign. Uh, you know, I think loyalty programs, network programs where we, you know, deliver swag right to right to our workshops. Um, we give them exclusive benefits, you know, for being a part of our network, whatever it may be. Um, I think that really helps drive loyalty when we you know help brand them and tell them, you know, you are a you are a preferred uh a preferred partner of ours. We we love the work that you do when you get our thumbs up of approval. I think that really helps drive loyalty. Um so yeah, I would say I would say suppliers do look at, you know, how to make our customers feel seen and really part of you know our family. Yeah.

Lance Bolt:

I think one of the things we've been doing for quite a while now is uh the hero's journey. And that's something we always keep in the back of mind. And the hero isn't our product, our hero isn't uh you know what we're selling, our hero is our audience. And and uh and you know, there's there are the the villains, whether it's uh complexity or you know, rust or whatever the villain is, and uh we help guide the our viewer takes on the role of being the the hero and coming up with a solution. And that's that's sometimes hard to do in 20 seconds, it's easier to do in three minutes. But the the idea is to make it uh uh so that the person that you want to have take action is motivated to take action. Sometimes that motivation is I've got to learn more, but sometimes we've got we've presented enough that they can make a decision there. Aaron Ross Powell Are companies approaching you and telling you that this is what they want, like this hero story, or is this something that you're having to explain and Well we explain we we kind of have you know a Powell before we get going and we talk about these kind of things and and uh different alternatives and and see what's resonating with them. We try to encourage them to, as you say, talk with other departments and divisions. That's sometimes hard. And uh but that initial that initial kind of plan results in, okay, here's kind of a write-up of what we understand, and here's maybe two or three ways we could approach it. And I think that pre-planning of the content is what really makes it a home run eventually.

Leyla Saad:

Yeah. Absolutely. I think uh I like that hero message, and I think I I think something that i is a really easy one for us as automotive suppliers and you know, just all of us in the aftermarket industry that, you know, is more of is an inspiring message for our audience is that you know what we do every day keeps keeps us moving, right? I mean, we're all about mobility and uh mobility uptime, whether it's you know, a passenger car or a commercial vehicle, you know, the parts and services we are we are offering imp impact all of us on a daily on a daily basis. So absolutely it's it's an e you know, an easy and understandable and a thousand percent true message.

Jacki Lutz:

So yeah. Um I couldn't agree more. And I was just as you guys were talking, it kind of made me think of another skill that I think marketers need to have permission to have sometimes. And that's I don't want to say that we're not good good, naturally good critical thinkers, but I think it's important, especially for people that come into this industry. It is so complicated and a lot of things end up falling into like, well this is just so it's always worked. Like print, you know, like I'm not saying we don't do that, but like there's a certain audience that loves print, you know, and you truly need to understand that that that really is a thing. But I think it's so important for marketers to look at all the things that you do look at your budget and just really assess like is this the best way? And that's mostly because technology changes so much and then people's appetites change so much that if you're not can like constantly you know looking at the direction you're heading and constantly looking at what you're putting out there and is it still relevant? It's really easy to get outdated. It's really easy to like get lost in the mix because you're not staying you know staying up with the flow. You know, and I think there's a lot of opportunity for marketers in this industry because sometimes it does feel like those marketing trends move slower here. Like we're the last to try it, you know? Um there's a lot of opportunity for uh marketers to kind of be the first to introduce certain things to the aftermarket which would make your company look similar right yeah absolutely I think like two things came to mind with that one is like why are you grinning?

Leyla Saad:

No two fun things came to mind. One, that's the beauty of you know um having you know young fresh perspectives um yeah in the industry because you know as technology keeps evolving no one knows better than you know the youths about about the new platforms that are coming out and you know that's why it's important that we have communities like like ACC you know to keep to to keep creating senses of community um to create welcoming spaces for new faces and you know that that helps drive you know ingenuity uh for companies and then second is to this is so random but take more vacation time especially marketers because you cannot you know the more you get bogged down the longer you spend time staring at you know your laptop screen the less and less um inspired you'll be you know and I I just think about when you say you know we need to stay stay up to date the way to do that is to be out in the world. So true to be seeing to be seeing what's going on. So yeah those are my my my two key points. That's a great point.

Lance Bolt:

Yeah that's really good. Yeah advice I wish I had followed I go and I look at my PTO and it's always like uh like a 10 to one ratio of sick versus fun.

Jacki Lutz:

Yeah right I'm I'm better when I take like in the summer we're very fortunate at Auto Care Association we do have an you know a great you know benefits with a time off and I and I work a lot of four day weeks and I take a Friday off and I find that during the week a lot of times I'm literally just trying to meet my deadlines. You know like it's just a lot of like kind of like repetitive the same work and I just you know the social media needs to go out we need to figure out what we're doing next week and there's just like you know you kind of have like the system in place. But my Fridays are like usually when you you have the time and the brain capacity to think about the new ideas and think about like what's working and what's not and it's when I it's usually when I kind of think about okay everything we're doing right now we could we wouldn't have time to try anything new right it's when I can think about okay what should we drop you know like yeah it's not always about doing more sometimes it's like stop doing the stuff that isn't isn't as productive of as some other things some of the other things that you could be doing.

Leyla Saad:

Yeah absolutely I think a lot of the time people think marketing is just you know making something pretty which I don't I do not like that quote at all. Yeah they send you something and just say oh marketing will make it look nice. Like we do a lot more than just make it look pretty but um a lot of what you know I'm sure a lot of marketers can relate to this it's not always a large part of our job is isn't creativity. It's you know we're in charge of our budgets. We have to issue POs you know we have to you know work on putting together catalog data, right? And so it's important we do have time in the week uh for creativity because otherwise exactly like you said you're just focused on hitting your deadlines you know and you know your creativity starts to dwindle and that's the whole point of my role is to creatively get a message out there. Yeah. And you you keep getting bogged down with your daily tasks which are very important to keep you know keep the lights on you start to that's where you could start to fall behind on marketing trends. Yeah.

Lance Bolt:

And and I think planning in advance is really important because you can you know for you know five percent more time or something like that you can come up with a whole new deliverable if you've planned in advance. So you know where could this be used? What other departments? Uh is this going to Mexico or Quebec? And if so maybe you can get that budget to pay for the translation and stuff you know and so we you know we just try to come up with some practical synergy but then also you know how can we leverage what we're doing to get you the most content for what you know for the book.

Jacki Lutz:

Yeah absolutely and you know another thing I really would love to see in this industry and specifically for the marketers is I would love to see a little bit more risk taking. And it's scary a lot like a lot of the bigger companies like Z After know like they're gonna be a little bit more conservative. But I feel like it's so easy to stand out right now in the industry. It doesn't take that much bravery but it takes a little bit that people aren't used to taking right now. But to just to do things that are a little bit crazy, like a little bit wacky, you know, that kind of like stand out a little bit more. And I would love to see our industry start doing that kind of stuff because you know we talk all the time about the void we have with with people coming into this industry. And it's such a fabulous place to be. But I that's why I'm so excited for ACC to come back to come under the autocare umbrella because um these this group is who we want to help spread that message. And they don't have to be spreading the message of the industry necessarily but by spreading the message of their companies in more trendy ways and in more forward thinking ways, that's going to make our industry look more forward thinking, more exciting. It's gonna bring people more people in that are creative as well because they're gonna be like this is a space where we can try things you know and I I would love to see our marketers leaning into that a little bit more.

Leyla Saad:

Yeah I see a lot of creativity on um some of the the trade show pages especially on LinkedIn I see I see like um the heavy duty aftermarket week official page uses a lot of memes. I think it's very funny I see a lot of Michael Scott you know the office references on there. Apex does a good job of um you know using they do the little deals and things that I think it's great. I see a lot of creativity around trade shows um ACPN too yeah absolutely that's a great one they have a lot of personality in their social media it's so refreshing and it's very very funny and um absolutely I think because you know you see that personified or that personification of a lot of B2C brands you know where they very much they have people commenting under the Pepsi account on random videos you see online that say things like Slay we support this and it's like what is Pepsi doing here but it's hilarious. You know and um where appropriate I think automotive brands can definitely definitely start to yeah you know start to poke a little more fun at ourselves.

Jacki Lutz:

I would love to see you know yeah yeah like a McDonald's Burger King feud yeah but like the automotive aftermarket version.

Lance Bolt:

Exactly so it's like yeah Wendy's and my doll said that ongoing thing for a decade.

Jacki Lutz:

Yeah yeah I love it. I love the same with Pepsi and co yeah like they're just friendly banter but it's yeah it's awesome.

Leyla Saad:

So I think uh there's definitely room for that and again it comes with fresh perspectives you know so yeah so get to work yeah um believe it or not we have to kind of lay on this plane um or park this car.

Jacki Lutz:

Yeah there you go to them um so just curious before we do um how do you guys is it podcasts that you listen to like how do you and I know you're not on the necessarily the execution side Lance but I know you stay you have to stay kind of updated with with what's going on. So what how do you guys do that?

Leyla Saad:

Well for me I'm honestly subscribed to a ton of newsletters especially from uh people like social media agencies, digital agencies um content creation uh and um industry publications um but especially for staying on trend with stuff I I do um subscribe to a lot of like like we'll bring a social media agency to talk about trends at our ACC conferences. I always keep in touch with those people um those those agencies because they they'll deliver you know weekly or monthly content on what's the latest pulse on social media so I do that. And then also honestly scrolling LinkedIn um you get a ton of you get a ton of cool ideas from you know marketers highlighting what their brands are doing.

Lance Bolt:

I save a lot of posts uh take a lot of screenshots so yeah yeah awesome yeah the uh the LinkedIn I I do daily uh the other thing though is I've just subscribed to uh gazillion newsletters you know so anything endeavor media or Badhawks or uh or Crane does and and you just see what's going on and sometimes it's just a quick blast through but there's always one or two things that you say oh I like how they do that or this is something really that we can build on.

Jacki Lutz:

Yeah that's a great one and it's also kind of brings a good point that it's so important for marketers to stay in tune with the stories of the industry not necessarily that pertain just to their competitors or just to their customers or just to them but the industry as a whole because you don't know how many you know you could connect a lot of the things that are being talked about you know whether it's a a a challenge if it's right to repair or something like that. And aligning your brand to those things and like looking like a solution provider and you know knowing those things. So newsletters yeah that's huge. Definitely stay in tune with our our big media companies here in the aftermarket. So I usually just go around the room and see you know what, you know, usually humans have the capacity to probably take away one thing that we talked about. So what do each of you hope that it is for me stay connected.

Leyla Saad:

I think um marketers often you know sometimes we're a team of one sometimes we're a team of maybe three or four if we're lucky and I think it's important you stay connected through opportunities like through ACC, through the various autocare communities um because you know you really form more friendships that way and you can learn from each other. And um just staying connected keeps you you know having people to go to for advice uh for inspiration to air your grievances, whatever it may be. But yeah staying connected in your industry super important.

Jacki Lutz:

That reminds me because like usually how um and I don't know what it'll look like moving forward frankly but I know in the ACC conferences, the first session you guys usually do is um oh what do you guys call it?

Lance Bolt:

Um house business something like that.

Jacki Lutz:

I think it's something more clever but I can't think of what it is. But really you just kind of going around the room and talking about what ails you know exactly what you're struggling with in your company and it's always really validating right to know like okay your company's not unique in that there's budgeting constraints. You know you're not in the wrong place just because you don't get the budget you want. That's everywhere. You know like hearing those kinds of things are really validating. Yeah.

Lance Bolt:

I I think the most important attitude is it's like stay thirsty my friends. I mean it's just constantly learning if you if there's a sector you don't understand uh there's always content and webinars and learning for that uh if you if you're gonna break into a different sector you all of a sud start going to their conferences and and so um to me that's that's knowledge is power and just keep bringing it in and and take good notes so you don't forget it and share it with your team.

Jacki Lutz:

Yeah yeah that's a great one um I kind of want to make a point just because we kind of hit on it but we didn't talk about it but you know we talked about how a lot of the conferences you go to or a lot of the information you get tends to be like 90% of it feels like it's B2C and we use that term and some of the business that's done here is definitely B2C. But an older term now is B2P, business to person. And I think that that goes along with when we talk about getting outside of our comfort zones a little bit as an industry, as marketers in this industry, um remember you are still talking to people at the business, right? So the more human you can make your brand, the more trustworthy you can make your brand, the more um absorbable your content is it's going to help that person lead their business to yours. So at the end of the day, there's not a I mean there's differences in what the content should be to a B2B business, but it doesn't always have to be a different execution of it. So just be thinking that way and that way we can kind of bring bring this you know craft up in our industry.

Leyla Saad:

Well thank you guys so much for this this was awesome thank you for having us my first podcast so I know and you did fabulous this wasn't your first podcast was it?

Jacki Lutz:

No it's my first podcast really I love I wish I had known that you guys were both so calm and cool you were so calm and cool I really thought that you had done this a thousand times well thank you guys so much. Yeah thanks thanks for tuning in to another episode of Autocare on air make sure to subscribe to our podcast so that you never miss an episode. And don't forget to leave us a rating and review. It helps others discover our show. Autocare on air is proud to be a production of the Autocare Association dedicated to advancing the autocare industry and supporting professionals like you. To learn more about the association and its initiatives visit autocare.org

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Behzad Rassuli

Host
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Jacki Lutz

Host
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Michael Chung

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Stacey Miller

Host