Hiring for Performance and Influence: How to Build a Winning Dealership Marketing Team

Wasted ad spend, poor customer messaging, and lost revenue. These are just some of the costly consequences of hiring the wrong marketer.

Imagine this: A dealership hires a marketer who seems perfect on paper. Great personality, solid industry knowledge. Six months later, campaign performance is flat, leads are down, and budgets are wasted. Sound familiar? Hiring mistakes in marketing are expensive. But they’re avoidable.

Marketing is evolving faster than ever, and so should the way dealerships hire for it. The demand for skills that barely existed a decade ago, like AI literacy and data-driven decision-making, has skyrocketed. Meanwhile, adjectives like “creative” and “innovative” have gone from buzzwords to must-have skill sets. In fact, according to LinkedIn’s 2025 Skills Report, AI literacy, adaptability, and strategic growth planning are among the fastest-growing skills, and that’s applicable overall, not just in marketing. These shifts demand that dealerships, and the automotive industry as a whole, rethink how they evaluate marketing candidates.

We reached out to some of the brightest minds in automotive marketing and leadership. Their insights reveal how hiring practices are evolving to find marketers who drive real growth and long-term sustainability.

The Power of Communication & Influence in Marketing

Strong communication is the foundation of dealership marketing success. A marketer’s ability to articulate a message clearly can determine whether a campaign resonates with customers, aligns internal teams, and ultimately drives business growth. When hiring for a marketing role, dealerships should evaluate:

Clarity of Response: Can the candidate explain marketing strategies in a way that sales, service, repair teams and customers easily understand?
Adaptability: Does their messaging shift based on audience type: from new vs. existing customers to sales vs. service interactions?
Non-Verbal Communication: Do they display confidence and engagement in conversations, ensuring trust in their messaging?
Listening Skills: Are they able to take feedback, process information, and adjust their approach based on dealership needs?
Problem-Solving: Can they navigate challenging scenarios, such as addressing negative customer feedback or realigning an underperforming campaign?

A marketer who excels in these areas does more than strategically align messaging and create content; they bridge the gap between dealership operations and customer engagement.

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“Great marketers don’t just execute campaigns, they sell ideas internally and externally.” – Kirsten Von Busch

Marketing isn’t just about running ads, it’s about influence. A strong hire must communicate ideas clearly to dealership leadership, internal teams, and customers. The ability to simplify complex marketing strategies and align them with business goals is what separates an average marketer from a transformative one.

Interview Tip: Ask candidates to explain the dealership’s value in 60 seconds. Those who struggle may lack the strategic communication skills required for the role. A marketer’s ability to distill complex strategies into an easily digestible pitch is a crucial indicator of their effectiveness. Stakeholder management is an essential skill for marketers, emphasizing the need for candidates who can clearly articulate their ideas.

Some additional interview questions from Kirsten:

Go Beyond the Numbers (For senior and executive marketing level roles)
- “Beyond just reporting numbers, how did your marketing efforts impact the organization, its customers, and overall brand perception? How did you make an impact?”
- Tests: Leadership communication, storytelling ability, and strategic thinking.
Assess True Motivation
- “What would you do if you didn’t get this role?”
- Tests: A candidate’s long-term vision, commitment, and character.

Hiring a Marketer Who Understands Content as a Trust-Building Tool

“A dealership’s marketing success depends on hiring someone who understands content, not just as a tactic, but as a trust-building tool.” – Kathi Kruse

In today’s landscape, content marketing is relationship marketing. Consumers expect dealerships to provide value beyond just selling cars. The best marketers understand how to leverage content to educate, engage, and build trust. They don’t just post, they create narratives that position the dealership as a reliable resource.

What to Look for: Ask candidates how they’ve used content to engage an audience. Do they have experience building a brand voice, running a blog, or using video marketing? If they don’t market themselves well, how will they market your dealership? LinkedIn’s research shows that branding as a measurable marketing metric is growing in importance, making it critical to hire candidates who see content as a strategic growth tool.

The Cost of Hiring on Personality vs. Performance

“Hiring for likability over skill is a common trap, dealers need problem-solvers, not just good talkers.” – William Camastro

Too often, dealerships make the mistake of hiring marketers based on charisma rather than competence. A strong personality can make for a great first impression, but a personable candidate who lacks strategic and analytical skills won’t generate revenue. Instead, the focus should be on hiring problem-solvers; marketers who can navigate challenges and drive measurable outcomes, not just talk a good game.

Real-World Insight: One dealership shared how a marketer with extensive industry connections was hired, but after six months, there was little impact on lead conversion. Why? The hire had relationships, but not the analytical mindset to optimize campaigns. According to LinkedIn’s 2025 report, problem-solving is a top skill required for modern professionals, proving that dealerships must go beyond first impressions when hiring.

William’s key insights include:

Understanding the True Cost of a Hiring Mistake

A bad hire isn’t just lost salary. It’s wasted training time, poor marketing execution, and lost revenue. By the time a dealership realizes a hire isn’t working, they have to restart the hiring process, increasing the true cost to hire.

Strengths & Weaknesses in an Interview

A revealing question to ask: “Tell me about your greatest strengths.”

Candidates often list generic skills, but what dealerships need is problem-solvers who can deliver measurable value. This can be evaluated by considering character traits to understand inherent strengths and likely real-world applications, as opposed to learned skills. What is listed as a character strength should be considered at the other extreme: a marketer, who displays astute attention to detail and a commitment to following process, may have a harder time adapting their marketing approach without all the information in front of them.

Hiring Mindset Shift: "What Can You Do for My Business?"

Many candidates start interviews focused on salary, benefits, and remote work rather than their value to the business.

Strong candidates demonstrate how they can contribute first. Compensation discussions should follow proven impact.

Why Data-Driven Marketers Matter

“The best marketers don’t just launch campaigns; they track, analyze, and refine them to maximize ROI.” – George Nenni

The days of “set it and forget it” marketing are over. Today, marketing success hinges on data-driven decision-making. The right hire should understand how to analyze campaign performance, track customer behavior, and adjust strategies accordingly. Without these skills, dealerships risk wasting ad spend on ineffective tactics.

Key Question to Ask: “Can you walk me through a campaign you managed and how you measured its success?” If their answer is vague or doesn’t include hard data, they may lack the necessary analytical mindset. Data proficiency is one of the most in-demand skills, reinforcing the need for marketers who don’t just create but optimize.

AI in Marketing: A Must-Have, Not a Bonus Skill

“Dealerships don’t need AI experts, they need marketers who can integrate AI into their workflow to drive results.” – Todd Smith

Artificial intelligence isn’t a futuristic concept. It’s already embedded in marketing automation, personalization, and data analysis. The best marketing hires aren’t AI developers, but they know how to use AI-powered tools to improve efficiency, optimize targeting, and personalize messaging.

What to Look for: Ask candidates to share an example of how they’ve used AI in a marketing workflow. Whether it’s automation for lead nurturing or predictive analytics for targeting, AI-driven marketers will be a step ahead. AI literacy ranks as the #1 fastest-growing skill in the US in 2025, making it a fundamental requirement for modern marketers and especially in data-heavy environments like dealerships.

Industry-Specific Marketing Knowledge

“A strong candidate should understand the nuances of Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 marketing, know how to handle legal disclaimers, and recognize how consumer behavior shifts throughout the month and year.” – Kelli Verdi

Automotive marketing is unique with it's mix of high-pressure timelines, OEM guidelines, co-op requirements, and a hyper-localized buying journey.

Strong candidates need to know how to market across all profit centers—sales, service, and parts—and how dealership culture influences both internal collaboration and customer-facing messaging. To truly assess someone’s industry knowledge, don’t just ask about past roles—ask how they think.

What to look for: Do they know how inventory shortages affect strategy? Can they navigate co-op with confidence? Do they know how to pivot messaging for fixed ops? Can they connect data to strategies that will influence specific local audiences? How would they market to help quickly sell aged or slow-moving inventory that’s racking up flooring costs?

Weak candidates fall back on general tactics. Strong ones understand the dealership’s daily operations, the industry and the modern car buyer journey.

A Practical Example: The Hurdle-Hiring Approach

“Business leaders often say that finding a marketer who ticks all the boxes in hard. This practical approach allows you to focus on testing a specific quality or skill and candidates only move forward if they pass each hurdle.” – Dr Dieter Veldsman

Let’s meet Andy:

Andy is hiring a digital marketer for his car dealership. He’s clear on four key areas that matter most for success in the role:

Experience: Has the person worked in retail or automotive before?
Technical Skills: Do they understand AI tools, content platforms, and SEO?
Behavioral Skills: Can they build trust, communicate well, and solve problems creatively?
Culture Fit: Will they work well with the rest of the team?

Each of these areas becomes a hurdle in the hiring process. For experience, Andy uses the CV as a first filter—candidates without relevant experience don’t move forward. For technical skills, he checks certifications or past roles listed in the CV where candidates might have applied these skills.

Next up: Behavioral skills

Andy sets up two tests. First, he runs a short competency-based interview, asking for real examples that show how the candidate builds relationships and handles challenges. He uses a scoring sheet to ensure a consistent individual response scoring system.

Second, he gives candidates a real problem the team is currently facing. Andy asks them to prepare three possible solutions to these problems, and after they have had 60 minutes to prepare, they present their options to him.

The Final Hurdle: Culture fit

Andy arranges a short interview with two senior team members. Their goal? To determine whether the person would fit into the team and its values. They ask questions about teamwork, work style, and the candidate's values in the workplace.

Why It Works: The hiring hurdle approach helps you stay focused. Instead of assessing everything individually, you break it down into manageable steps. It also gives every candidate a fair shot and ensures you base your decision on what matters for the role.

The High Stakes of the Right Hire

The cost of hiring the wrong marketer isn’t just their salary. The right hire brings strategic vision, data proficiency, communication skills, and adaptability, ensuring your dealership thrives in an evolving market.

Hiring the right marketer requires the right questions, structured assessments, and a forward-thinking approach. Our upcoming Dealer Interview Guide: Marketing Edition will provide the tools and the practical insights that dealerships need to make smarter, more strategic marketing hires.