Generac co-op funds can be one of the most valuable marketing resources available to a generator dealer. Unfortunately, many dealers reach the final months of the year with thousands—or even tens of thousands—of dollars still available and no realistic plan for using them.
That was the focus of our latest Power Source webinar, Getting the Most Out of Your Generac Co-op Funds. John Tedesco walked generator dealers through a practical strategy for turning available co-op funds into consistent lead generation, stronger local visibility, and measurable business growth.
The central message was simple:
Don’t wait until the end of the year and ask how you can spend your remaining co-op funds. Start with your business goals, build the right marketing foundation, and create a plan for using those funds strategically throughout the year.
Generator dealers are busy—especially when storms, outages, and hurricane season create a sudden increase in demand. Marketing planning can easily get pushed aside while the team focuses on estimates, installations, service calls, and existing customers.
The end of the year, however, arrives quickly. Without a clear strategy, co-op funds are often:
Dealers also need to remember that a co-op balance is not the same as a total marketing budget. If an eligible campaign receives a 50% reimbursement, a dealer with $10,000 in available co-op funds may need to make approximately $20,000 in qualifying marketing investments to use the full balance.
That becomes difficult to accomplish strategically when planning does not begin until the final few months of the year.
Before investing heavily in paid advertising or direct mail, generator dealers need a foundation that can turn attention into actual opportunities.
During the webinar, John organized this foundation around three priorities: driving leads, maximizing conversion, and optimizing results.
Dealers should build a balanced lead-generation system that includes:
Organic search, paid advertising, and the company’s existing database should work together. Relying on only one source can leave the company vulnerable when demand or advertising costs change.
Generating traffic is only useful when the dealership can convert that attention into calls, forms, appointments, and estimates.
The website should be easy to navigate and provide clear ways for homeowners to take the next step. Strong reviews, a visible phone number, short forms, chat options, prompt responses, and automated follow-up can all improve the percentage of leads that become real sales opportunities.
This is especially important during busy periods. Automation can acknowledge a new inquiry and keep communication moving until a team member is available.
Dealers should know what they are spending, where leads originate, how much each lead costs, and how many leads become estimates and installations.
Call tracking, form tracking, campaign reporting, and CRM data help determine whether the marketing is producing an acceptable return. Without that information, it is difficult to decide where additional co-op-supported spending should go.
The webinar also reviewed several resources available through Generac’s marketing program.
Consistent company information across online directories helps search engines and homeowners verify that a dealership is legitimate. The company name, address, phone number, hours, and website should be accurate everywhere they appear.
This program can also create valuable links and consistent local signals across the web. Dealers should confirm that it is active and that the information being distributed is correct.
Generac’s Front Page website can serve an important supporting role. It provides an approved Generac-branded presence and can help facilitate customer registration for eligible warranties and promotions.
However, John cautioned against treating a templated Front Page site as a complete replacement for a dealer’s primary website. A custom website gives the company more control over its own brand, local content, services, conversion tools, tracking, and long-term search visibility.
The strongest strategy is typically to let the primary dealer website and the Generac Front Page site serve their respective purposes.
The Front Page program may also include support for updating and optimizing a dealer’s Google Business Profile. Because the profile plays such an important role in local visibility, dealers should take advantage of that support if they do not already have a team actively managing it.
Once the marketing foundation is in place, dealers can begin layering in additional campaigns. The webinar focused primarily on paid search, paid social media, and direct mail.
Google Ads can capture homeowners who are actively searching for generator installation, repair, or maintenance. These prospects often have immediate intent, making search advertising an important part of a balanced lead-generation strategy.
Dealers that sell multiple generator brands should separate their campaigns by manufacturer. A Generac installation campaign should not be blended with Kohler, Briggs & Stratton, or other manufacturer campaigns.
Clear campaign naming makes it easier to document the amount spent promoting Generac products and submit accurate supporting information. Dealers can also separate campaigns by service, including:
Each campaign should direct visitors to an appropriate, trackable landing page with a dedicated call-to-action.
Meta advertising can help dealers reach homeowners before they begin actively searching. It is particularly useful for storm preparation, local awareness, maintenance promotions, financing offers, and generator education.
John recommended creating advertising that builds the dealership’s brand—not creative that makes the manufacturer so dominant that homeowners remember Generac but forget the local company that placed the ad.
The dealer and Generac branding should follow current co-op requirements, and creative should be submitted for approval when required. The final campaign should still give homeowners a clear reason to contact the local dealership.
Postcards remain valuable when they are targeted intelligently. Instead of sending an expensive blanket mailing to an enormous radius, dealers can focus on more relevant audiences.
One strategy is to mail postcards to the neighbors surrounding recent generator installations. Those homeowners may have already seen the company’s trucks and team working nearby, making the postcard a second or third brand interaction instead of a completely cold introduction.
Other options include:
Direct mail can be especially effective when coordinated with Google, Facebook, and remarketing campaigns.
The webinar demonstrated why the size of the remaining balance and the number of months available matter so much.
For a dealer with roughly $5,380 in available co-op funds, a four-month Facebook campaign with a gross spend of approximately $12,000 could potentially use most or all of the remaining balance, depending on eligibility and the approved reimbursement rate.
The dealer would still be making a significant out-of-pocket investment, but the available co-op could help support a focused campaign during the final months of the year.
A much larger balance creates a different challenge. Even with substantial monthly investments in Facebook Ads, Google Ads, neighborhood postcards, and targeted radius mailings, the sample strategy would use only about $20,000 of the available co-op during the final four months.
Nearly $50,000 could still remain unused.
The problem is not a lack of possible advertising channels. The problem is that spending too much too quickly can overwhelm campaigns, produce diminishing returns, or generate more leads than the dealership can handle effectively.
This is why a large co-op balance needs to be addressed in January—not September.
Marketing campaigns perform better when they have time to collect data, build recognition, and improve. Dealers should avoid depleting the entire annual co-op balance early and then abruptly shutting off campaigns.
Instead, build a monthly allocation that can remain active throughout the year. The budget can increase around storms, hurricane season, spring preparation, or other periods of opportunity, but the core program should remain consistent.
A balanced annual plan might include:
The right mix will depend on the dealership’s market, goals, capacity, available co-op, and existing marketing program.
The webinar did not treat co-op planning as an isolated exercise. The available funds should support the company’s larger business plan.
Start by identifying:
For example, a company targeting $1.5 million in annual revenue would need an average of $125,000 per month. At an average installation value of $15,000, that equals approximately eight installations per month.
If the dealership closes about one-third of its qualified opportunities, it would need roughly 25 leads to produce those eight installations. From there, the dealer can estimate the marketing investment required and determine how co-op funds can help support it.
This is a stronger approach than choosing marketing tactics first and hoping they produce the desired result.
Power Source created a free Generac Co-op Allocation Calculator to help dealers turn these ideas into an actual spending roadmap.
Dealers can enter their:
The calculator shows the estimated gross marketing investment, projected co-op usage, out-of-pocket spending, and remaining balance by month. Dealers can adjust the numbers until the plan spreads spending appropriately across the year.
[USE THE FREE GENERAC CO-OP ALLOCATION CALCULATOR]
If your dealership still has funds available, start with these steps:
The goal is not simply to spend every available dollar. The goal is to use co-op funds to support marketing that helps the dealership generate leads, win installations, build recurring service relationships, and strengthen its brand.
If you are unsure how to allocate your remaining balance—or want to build a complete plan for next year—Power Source can help.
During a free marketing review, our team will evaluate your current strategy, local market, advertising, website, tracking, and available opportunities. We’ll help you identify where your co-op-supported investment may have the greatest impact.
[REQUEST YOUR FREE GENERATOR-DEALER MARKETING REVIEW]
Power Source is an independent marketing agency and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Generac Power Systems. Co-op eligibility, reimbursement percentages, creative requirements, program availability, and submission rules may change. Dealers should verify current requirements and obtain any necessary approvals before making marketing investments.