Hi. I'm Doug Lessells. On behalf of everyone at SalesFuel, we welcome you to this month's features Sell Smarter Award — where we honor excellence in media sales.

Inspiration can strike at any time. For Hayes Hora, Key Accounts Manager at Commercial Appeal, it was on his way to work. 

“I drive past a local car wash on the way to work and I knew they had multiple locations,” said Hora. “Through research, I found their parent company ownership and their marketing director's contact information.” 

Hora’s research was a mixture of trend and marketing insights gathered from AdMall. He was able to compile information about people who pay for car washes. He also learned about residents of northern states who frequently use car washes to prevent rust that comes from the use of de-​icing salts on highways. 

“Using AdMall to identify trends of the most popular makes and models of vehicles in the past three years allowed us to present creative tailored to their target audience,” said Hora. 

“Car [wash business’] main challenge are other competitors who are physically closer to their target audience,” said Hora. “The choice of car wash is primarily based on convenience and how close they are to the vehicle owner. Local competition is fierce, so marketing with lucrative offers to new car owners was paramount.” 

Hora pitched and closed a deal that included Facebook smart social ads, targeted digital display to new vehicle owner audience segments, site and search retargeting, AccuWeather-​powered weather-​triggered ads that display within zip codes after a storm subsides, and targeted email blasts.

Hora’s new client has seen a significant lift in car washes at their 55 total locations. They agreed to a six-​month digital campaign of $66,000.

To read more about this winner, along with submitting your own story for a chance at a Sell Smarter Award, please visit SalesFuel​.com/​SSA.