As we've been saying plenty of times throughout this year of stocking difficulties, it's not just our sector that's been effected by the myriad of delays, it's everyone who relies on anything being imported at any stage of the production process.

Also it's important to remember that these hold-ups are not just happening here at home either. Whilst it may be cold comfort, it's worth bearing in mind that dealers of outdoor powered equipment around the globe have been experiencing the same frustrations as our network has.

In this regard, I heard from Service Dealer columnist Sara Hey of Bob Clements International in the States, who had an interesting interaction with a dealer she met at a trade event in Vegas recently.

The quandary that this dealer sought Sara's advice on was should they still be marketing their dealership if they cannot get hold of stock right now?

In short, Sara said her reply was yes - but modified from a 'normal' year.

This sounds like perfectly sound advice to me. We know from hearing from many of our readers throughout this whole weird 18 months, just how important to their dealership it has been to keep their name in front of their customer base. And by the fast-paced, flexible nature of social media marketing, those messages that have been put out there, are able to change quickly to reflect the situation at the time.

In the upcoming issue of Service Dealer magazine for example - which should hit your desks around 1st September - we feature an interview with James Hayes of Hayes Machinery, specifically on his belief in YouTube as a dealership marketing tool.

James tells us, "I’ve heavily invested in YouTube to put our products and our brand out there. 

“Alongside our Facebook and Instagram channels, it’s a very import marketing outlet for us and I genuinely believe it could work for other dealers too."

James does use YouTube to highlight the benefits of specific products he sells, but perhaps more importantly it's used in a more general way to build up a following of potential customers.

There have always been varying reasons for marketing the dealership of course, and crucially not all of them are dependent on having specific wholegood products in stock. Of utmost importance is the promotion of your own brand, to generate recognition amongst your local community.

Sara Hey also says now might be the time to market other areas of your business such as service and parts. She says it's worth bearing in mind that it is believed that most marketing campaigns take 4 to 6 weeks to take effect. So dealers might want to try to use that crystal ball to think how their service and parts departments might be able to cope with an influx of custom that many weeks in the future. To be fair though, at the moment the parts situation over here sounds like it might be as unreliable as the wholegood delivery situation!

However, her general point is a fair one. Keeping up a marketing presence that is flexible and can guide your customers either towards products and services that you know can fulfil, or towards a more general profile raising goal, shouldn't be overlooked in a time of uncertain supply.

There is plenty of free advice and best practice discussion along these lines on the Service Dealer Digital Toolkit. If you've not checked it out yet, or it's been a while since you've logged in, please do so. You may find that helpful nugget that really works for your dealership.

Sara summed up her feelings on why dealers shouldn't be giving up on their marketing this summer by saying, "Whilst dealers may not have physical wholegoods in their showroom, if we can just think a little bit differently about what what we're doing, it will allow us to continue to generate that much needed revenue we need as we move into the second half of the year."

Sound advice I feel.