Dealer Marketing Programs
Analytics tell you who to reach and where to grow. Execution is what actually moves inventory. Through our parent company, Element Three, we deliver both.
Dealer marketing programs are the strategy, creative, media, and technology that help an OEM market with and through its dealer network, including co-marketing (co-op) programs. Sextant delivers these with its parent company, Element Three, a B2B marketing agency built for the OEM-dealer model. Sextant supplies the dealer and consumer analytics; Element Three supplies the marketing execution.
Sextant + Element Three
Sextant joined Element Three in 2026. Element Three is a B2B marketing agency that has spent nearly two decades navigating the space between manufacturers and their dealers, the B2B2X model, across RV, marine, powersports, commercial vehicles, heavy equipment, and dealer-distributed brands.
The combination is the point. Sextant brings dealer network and consumer analytics most agencies don't have. Element Three brings the brand strategy, creative, media, and technology to turn that intelligence into programs your dealers actually run. Instead of explaining your channel to a generic agency, you spend your time advancing it.
Element Three is a B2B marketing agency specializing in go-to-market strategies that drive channel growth for manufacturers with complex distribution. As Element Three's analytics arm, Sextant connects dealer network intelligence, propensity modeling, and market data directly to marketing execution, so targeting, creative, and media are informed by who is actually likely to buy, and where coverage and demand exist.
Everyone Wants to Move More Units. Why Is It So Hard?
OEMs and dealers both believe they own the customer relationship, and both are right. The OEMs that win build the channel in collaboration with their dealers instead of competing with them or treating them as the point of sale. That mindset is what a strong dealer program is built on.
Even committed OEMs get stuck on three barriers. Changing how partners receive and use funds feels risky and hard to administer, so nothing changes. The dollars available can feel too small to be worth the effort, so dealers don't engage. And a one-size-fits-all program doesn't flex to fit every dealer, so pilots stall before they scale to the broader network.
Dealer and co-op programs most often stall for three reasons: the complexity and perceived risk of changing how funds are administered, dealers viewing the available funds as too small to justify the effort, and rigid one-size-fits-all designs that don't fit a diverse dealer base. The result is unused budget and programs that never scale beyond a pilot.
Beyond Co-Op Management
Most programs treat dealer marketing as fund distribution or a menu of co-marketing services, and it shows in the numbers. About $14 billion in co-op dollars go unused every year. Studies find 64% of local affiliates don't fully use the funds available to them, 9% use none at all, and 55% say the funds may not be worth the effort required to claim them.
We take a different path. With Element Three, we help OEMs architect, activate, and analyze relationship-driven program ecosystems that make dealers successful partners rather than passive recipients. That means empowering local efforts with the full depth of corporate marketing tactics and coordinating every activity, so each dollar invested works harder and generates measurable, incremental revenue.
A dealer or co-op program is how an OEM funds and enables local marketing through its dealers. Most underperform because they focus on distributing funds rather than building the channel. The stronger approach architects a full program ecosystem: strategy and fund design, the infrastructure to run it, coordinated activation of corporate marketing tactics locally, and measurement that ties activity to revenue, so participation rises and every dollar is accountable.
A Comprehensive Dealer Program Solution
We architect, activate, and analyze the full program, from strategy and infrastructure through execution and measurement, with a continuous feedback loop that turns execution insights back into program improvements.
Program Strategy & Design
Program assessment, dealer segmentation, fund modeling, benefits design, and roadmapping that set the program up to fit your network, your maturity, and your goals.
Infrastructure Development
The technology platforms, integrations, dealer portals, and reporting infrastructure that make a program simple to run, easy to enroll in, and measurable at scale.
Dealer Coordination
Program promotion, dealer onboarding, benefits enrollment, and ongoing dealer support that get participation up and keep dealers engaged over time.
Benefits Activation
Executing the marketing that moves inventory on the OEM's behalf: paid media, direct mail, email and SMS, SEO and AEO, reputation management, point of sale, trade shows and events, and more.
Program Administration
The operational and financial back-end, from agreements and compliance to claims processing and funds management, that keeps an active program running cleanly.
Performance Management
Program KPIs, adoption tracking, and OEM and dealer reporting that show what's working across the network and feed the next round of design decisions.
Dealer Program FAQs
Most programs stall on three barriers: the complexity and perceived risk of changing how funds are administered, dealers seeing the funds as too small to justify the effort, and one-size-fits-all designs that don't fit a diverse dealer base. This is why an estimated $14 billion in co-op dollars go unused each year and roughly 64% of local affiliates never fully use the funds available to them.
Last reviewed: June 2026
Make Your Next Network Decision with Data Behind It
From open point analysis and dealer performance to consumer targeting and CSI, we help commercial vehicle, powersports, RV, marine, and heavy equipment OEMs act on evidence instead of instinct. Every engagement starts with a free discovery conversation about your network, your data, and the decision in front of you.
Brands Tracked
Our national dealer tracking database monitors add/drop activity across 55+ motor vehicle brands.
Reports in IDEAS
Over 500 separate reports implemented in IDEAS.
Industries Served
Commercial vehicles, powersports, RV, marine, heavy equipment, and multi-location businesses.
