The question isn’t whether or not you should include promotional emails in your monthly automotive marketing plan. According to research from Litmus, email marketing has the highest ROI of all forms of marketing, averaging about $42 in return for every $1 spent. Additionally, 60% of consumers say they’ve made a purchase as the result of a marketing email they received. That casts little doubt that email marketing is one of the best (and least expensive) tools a car dealership has to quickly deliver a message or campaign to a place most people visit every day—their inbox. However, as with everything, there are right ways and wrong ways to do it.
Here are some tips that your car dealership can start practicing today to better target your qualified contacts, increasing their chances of taking a specific action:
Know who you are sending to. The Manifest, a business news and how-to website, surveyed 501 U.S. consumers who receive marketing emails for their “7 Email Campaign Optimization Tips for Small Businesses” study. Of the people polled, they found that 23% opted out of emails because they had never signed up for them. That means almost a quarter of small businesses are emailing people who haven’t given their permission. Not only is that poor customer service, but it could also have legal consequences. Therefore, your dealership should only send promotional emails to qualified contacts in your CRM system.
Don’t overdo it. 59% of the consumers polled in the aforementioned study unsubscribed due to the sheer frequency of emails. In fact, the study also found that 44% of people receive more than 10 marketing emails per day, and 21% get 21 or more. Limiting your deployments to one to two times a month will cut down on inbox clutter, which your customers will appreciate.
One size does NOT fit all. A lot of car dealerships are guilty of “blasting out” one piece of creative to their entire CRM. However, according to ExitBee, 70% of consumers become frustrated when content isn’t relevant to them. Think about it: why would you send an email featuring a lifted crew cab 4X4 diesel pickup to a customer who just recently purchased a hybrid hatchback? Aside from the fact that they already bought a new car a few months ago, it’s highly unlikely they would be interested in a product that’s the polar opposite of what they’re currently driving. So, what can you do? Employ email segmentation to identify and group like contacts based on different criteria, then tailor the creative for each segment. New truck specials for the customers who have had their trucks for 5+ years; service reminders with coupons and/or accessories discounts for customers who’ve purchased within the past year; specific/similar model specials to those who are approaching lease end…and so on. Segmented emails make readers 50% more likely to click on a link within the email. This practice also makes it easier to specifically target people who came in for a test drive or submitted a test drive form on your website but have yet to purchase. Which brings us to…
Make it personal. Research from Epsilon indicates that 80% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase when brands offer personalized experiences. Using personalized subject lines and images that resonate with your customer means they are more likely to open up the email. Highly personalized content lets your customers know that they aren’t just a number…that you really know them and are conscientious of their wants and needs.
Make sure all your contacts actually want to receive your emails. Even though they are in your CRM database, don’t always assume that they want to be on your distribution list. Adopting a double opt-inmethod where the customer 1) offers their email address via an online submission form or on a contact card given directly to their salesperson and then 2) clicking on a confirmation email to verify their info will not only keep your data clean but will also protect you from ever-changing data privacy laws. Brands that rely on double-opt-in have a 13% higher ROI than brands that primarily use single opt-in. And to prevent deliverability setbacks, regularly purge your dealership’s CRM of email addresses that have bounced or unsubscribed.
Refine your strategy by consistently incorporating A/B testing to your email marketing. You can do this a number of different ways, from changing your subject line and/or sender name to varying the layout of your images and the days/times that you send. According to the Litmus research, brands that always include an A/B test in their emails generate an ROI of 48:1.
Is your email mobile friendly? Nowadays, mobile devices account for about 60% of email opens. Keep in mind that what looks good on a desktop may not look as great on mobile. Images and columns often get distorted and can appear stretched out or off-center. If you don’t think this is a big deal, remember that if an email displays poorly, no matter how good the content is, it’s likely to be deleted in under three seconds. Make sure you preview your emails on mobile devices before sending and send yourself a test version to see how it renders on your own device.
CliffNotes, not War and Peace. Keep it brief. Too much information makes it difficult for the recipient to consume your message. And, let’s face it, continually having to scroll down to get to the end is just annoying. Concise copywriting combined with visually pleasing designs will make your email marketing much more effective.
Make it easy to unsubscribe. As hard as it is to say good-bye, you should make it as easy as possible for people to opt out of your dealership’s marketing emails. They may not remember how easy you made it for them in the long run, but rest assured that if the process of unsubscribing is a tedious one, they will never forget, which could cost you their business in the future.
For more information on how to make the most of your email marketing, as well as other marketing strategies, contact Intermark Automotive today!
by Shea Posey, Senior Account Executive/Blog Writer/Compliance & Co-op Specialist
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