Email campaigns are an extremely effective way for car dealerships to prospect, nurture, and retain leads. It allows for numerous different types of messaging to a targeted audience, provides in-depth analytics, allows for A/B testing minor details, and yields a higher ROI than other marketing channels. One study concluded that email achieved a 28.5% ROI compared to other marketing channels.
Email marketing campaigns for car dealerships are only as effective as the messages that are included in them. There is a fine line between being informative and too salesy in emails and if your messages become too much of the latter, those unsubscribe rates are going to go sky-high.
To keep your audience engaged and continually moving through your marketing and sales pipeline, these are the three most important email marketing tips to keep in mind
3 Email Marketing Tips for Car Dealerships
Know Your Audience
The first aspect of a successful marketing campaign is to know and understand your audience. If you have one large list that includes prospects, leads, existing customers, and more, the first thing you need to do is segment your list.
As you segment your list, ensure that the information you have for each contact is as up-to-date as possible. If you purchase lists from a third-party provider, ensure that you at least get their first name, email address, and phone number. If you can get their address and last name as well, that becomes even more powerful.
Segmenting your contacts into different lists allows you to specifically target different contacts based on where they are in the buying process. A lead who receives a “thank you for your continued support” email is irrelevant and will most likely lead to an unsubscribe. A long-time customer who receives an email mentioning a first purchase will rub them the wrong way. This may seem like a tedious and time-consuming task, but properly segmented lists will pay dividends in the long run.
Be Personal
While sending a personal video in an email to every one of your contacts would be a stretch, at least including their first name creates a personal touch. This is why having a contact’s first name is so important. Most email management systems allow you to add a personal touch to your emails, but if you have a powerful CRM, that should allow you to add personalization to your emails too. When compared to non-personalized emails, personalized emails were opened at a 6x higher rate.
Items you can include in your emails to add a personal touch include:
- Adding their name in the subject line
- A personal greeting “Hi (First name)
- The type of vehicle they last purchased or are interested in
- A significant date in the contact’s life (birthday, anniversary, date they purchased a car)
- Including who the email is from (name of your employee)
You want your emails to stand out from the rest in your recipient’s inbox. Ask yourself- are you more likely to open an email with the subject line “hey there, we’ve got a deal for you” or the subject line “hey (first name), new Chryslers arrived today”?
Stay On Top of Your Emails
There is nothing worse than sending an email and not receiving a response for days. If you are a customer and need assistance, you want a reply. If you have questions, you want a reply. If you are sending emails, ensure there is someone who can respond to them in a timely manner.
Many of today’s email management systems send alerts to designated employees when an email is received, if you have a system, make sure they are receiving those alerts. There should be a backup employee who receives the alerts as well just in case the other employee is unavailable for days on end.
Email Marketing for Car Dealerships
Ready to take your car dealership’s email marketing to the next level? Market Doctors is a trusted car dealership marketing company who has been providing its services for over 20 years. We understand how to create action-driving messages that are relatable and beneficial for your audience to increase your brand’s awareness and sales.
As one of the most trusted forms of marketing, our team’s email marketing strategy will provide your car dealership with cutting-edge graphics, catchy subject lines, action-driving content, and information on how to get in touch with you. Emails are one of the best ways to stay front of mind with your customers and our strategy has proven to be effective time and time again. See how we can help today.
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