Email marketing is a force to be reckoned with, as approximately 4 billion people worldwide are currently using email. An email marketing campaign can generate a return on investment (ROI) of $38.00 for every dollar spent because it can reach nearly half of the world’s population.
Though social media marketing can offer a return of 100% – 200%, it should not be considered the only communication vehicle to reach a large audience. Email is now the primary platform for 58% of adults, so email marketing is also a great way to provide a high ROI.
However, less than one-third of dealership owners utilize email marketing campaigns. Of these few dealers that plan to utilize email marketing in the future, only 4% have a strategy in place for the time being.
One reason dealers steer away from choosing email campaigns is because they are time-consuming and demand a lot of work. However, what they don’t know is that deploying an email campaign can generate a 3,800% ROI.
Another benefit of email marketing is the capability of Automation, which is made possible by some aspects of digital marketing such as email campaigns. With the right tools, you can start spending less time and resources to achieve your dealership goals of lead generation and returning customers.
Email marketing automation
Automation is the key to success with email marketing since it attracts the right audience at the right moment. It’s a proven strategic method that boosts your click rates 119% more than manual broadcasting.
Despite the ease of deployment, initiating your campaigns is not an easy task. To be successful, you’ll need a combination of strategy, the right Team capable of execution, and a specific set of tools. Email Marketing Automation for Dealers can be optimized using the following tips:
1. Segment Customers Depending On Their Needs
Most dealers are approaching their email list as a mere list of contacts and not focusing on the main task of email marketing – building a solid email list. The result in doing so is that most emails end up in the spam folder with no one opening their emails. Then the worst-case scenario, if you are continuously sending emails that end up in a spam folder, you risk your domain being blacklisted on servers.
So to start, you’ll want to segment your audience based on their initial searches and target each segment with a different message. Grab their attention by providing discounts or a different service on offers they haven’t responded to recently. This will help to re-engage them with your brand while also bringing more awareness to help them take action. Be inventive!
2. Improve Email Marketing to Increase Rates
Fourteen different studies suggest that Tuesday is the best day to send emails and that the best time to send them is around 10 a.m. in the morning; however, your own experience may differ.
While checking mailboxes on Tuesday may be the most proven efficient method, customers don’t always think the same every day. Also if your strategy and content for the campaign aren’t providing something the customer actually wants, you won’t be seeing much ROI anyway.
You may be surprised, but testing different times of the day for your audience’s convenience might work out best for you. There is no one answer for this – try multiple times to see what works best for your dealership in getting the most engagement.
3. Putting Automation to Good Use
It is tempting to design an email that includes a lot of enticing visuals for a better chance of selling your story. However, given the increasing popularity of messaging apps that block visuals, most of your audience is interacting with content through text-based conversations. What’s the point of creating a beautiful infographic or visual if no one will see it?
When you give your audience a space to feel comfortable, they are more likely to engage with the credibility of your message. Your readers will see that you have spent the time drafting a letter and not just slapping some keywords in the headline.
4. Understand Why Choosing to Give a Choice Is Important
As it is, a pushy salesperson can make people’s skin crawl. Nobody wants to see those emails coming from your account. It’s better to create clever ways to ask for a customer’s feedback than to assume that they’ll follow the same routine you used before in approaching them.
5. Give Your Market the Content They Need
It is easy to lure visitors onto your website with Google Analytics and CRM services. Rather than focusing on what you want, check out the data – what do other people want to see most? It might be that they check out the FAQ pages. Or an offer on a popular car is what they are after. Then build your strategy and content based on that.
6. Get The Right Automated Responses
The average open rate of email newsletters is 86%, resulting in an effective conversion rate. Ensure your first impression impacts greetings that are sent while you are fresh on a prospect’s mind. Triggered emails let the recipient know when they have completed the sign-up process or downloaded content.
7. Test Automation
It’s okay if you’re not sure how your marketing emails are converting. Try different ways by testing out different font styles, adding an offer, changing the subject line, etc., and testing that. The possibilities for optimizing your email marketing campaigns are endless. A/B test every single letter until you reach 100% conversions.
This is impossible, but keeping the 100% goal in perspective – or another achievable percentage – will help you accomplish your goals.