"When we share a post via Apostle on our personal channel, then the reach is as much as 7x greater than when we share it via the Van den Udenhout’s corporate pages."

Mark Bastiaansen
‍Commercial Director at Van den Udenhout

About Van den Udenhout

Audi, Volkswagen, SEAT, ŠKODA, and Volkswagen commercial vehicles. Car company Van den Udenhout has a wide selection and is also specialized in leasing, insurance, e-bikes, and much more. That’s why their marketers have many stories to tell, which they share with multiple audiences, through various channels. Their objectives are clear: greater visibility, more interaction with customers, and more (after)sales. How do they go about it? 

Challenge: improving visibility

A big job was waiting for marketer Oscar van Geffen and his colleagues. A challenge they saw growing just over a year ago. "First we noticed that the algorithms of social media platforms - especially those of LinkedIn - were limiting the reach of corporate accounts," Oscar explains. "A little later, the showrooms were also visited less because of COVID. Fortunately, these developments coincided with the introduction of Apostle. That way we could still remain visible!"

Approach: brand ambassadors

Working with brand ambassadors appealed strongly to the Van den Udenhout marketers. "Pedal to the metal and see what it brings us: that was my reaction," says Oscar. "Immediately afterwards, we defined a strong content strategy with Apostle, in which each brand and service is covered. This really gives structure to our social media activities." 

The next step was onboarding their employees. After all, they are the ones who have to share stories through their personal social media accounts. The power of this approach? A message immediately lands in the right network. Think, for example, of a lease consultant in 's-Hertogenbosch who has many business connections in the same city.

Results: a reach of millions

A well thought-out plan? Check. Eighty onboarded employees? Done. This allowed the ambassador program to get off the ground. "Since then, employees who participate have been suggested an average of one or two posts a week through the Apostle tool," Oscar explains. "About sixty of them regularly share posts in their timeline. And the beauty of it is that it only takes a few clicks. Pure convenience and great online reach."

And it shows: the statistics show that the car company has a reach of millions through their networks. Meanwhile, Van Udenhout has 104 brand ambassadors, who have shared 5481 messages and reached 4,110,750 people. Customers are also talking to their employees about it. "We’ve proven that it works. Customers in the Eindhoven Audi showroom referred to our social media activities! It's impossible to express in euros how much it brings in, but that it brings us something, is clear."