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Marketing Mulligans: The Key to More Effective Marketing

Published: October 13, 2022 by Kirsten Von Busch

Taking mulligans to increase auto marketing effectiveness

Well, it’s October, so I can finally celebrate National Mulligan Day! Yep, it’s another one of those “national holidays” that I like to write about. This one is excellent timing because I had planned to write about how best to measure marketing campaigns, and as marketers, we all need “do-overs” now and again!

When your automotive marketing strategies don’t go as planned, don’t you wish you could have taken a “mulligan?” Taken another shot at it? It’s okay. In today’s marketing world, it’s normal and critical to measure marketing effectiveness. So, today I am going to write about how “correcting” one’s mistakes is the key to more successful campaigns.

Analyze behaviors — take mulligans and try again

At Experian Automotive, we believe that measuring marketing effectiveness isn’t just about the last touchpoint in the journey (a vehicle sale). It’s also about the many behaviors and touchpoints along the way that offer insight to help you review and “correct” your strategies.

Measure and learn:

  • What drove a consumer to a particular website?
  • What action did they take when they got there? (or didn’t?)
    • Did the consumer see an ad and visit your website? (or did they visit your competitor’s website?
    • Did the consumer end up purchasing a vehicle? If so, was it your brand or your competition?
  • Was it from your auto dealership or your competitor?

To help you understand all the ways you can measure and take “do-overs” on your auto marketing campaigns, we’ve written a complimentary resource Measuring Marketing Performance (Good or Bad) is Critical to Long-Term Success that you can download now. I hope you find it helpful! Remember, mulligans are critical to improving your marketing strategy and campaigns!


History of the Mulligan
No one is 100% sure where the term “mulligan” came from, but one of the most popular stories centers around a man named David Mulligan, who played at the St. Lambert Country Club in Montreal, Canada, during the 1920s. There are several versions of the David Mulligan story–one of them being that one day Mulligan hit a very long drive off the first tee, just not straight, and acting on impulse, re-teed and hit again. His partners found it amusing and decided that the shot that Mulligan himself called a ‘correction shot’ deserved a better name, so they called it a ‘mulligan.’


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