Email appending – Is it worth it?
Of course, it might seem like in the era of instant messaging and social media, regular email is outdated as a class. But think again. About half of the world's population is expected to use e-mail very actively this year. In fact, the question is how to incorporate email into your marketing strategy in the most effective way. And, I must say, this is a rather interesting question: if other forms of electronic communication are constantly becoming more complicated, then email remains the same simple.
Start by collecting the data you need
For email marketing to be effective, first and foremost you need a database of your subscribers, containing the necessary, detailed and obtained in a legal (and most importantly, ethical!) Way. Quite often, difficulties begin already at this stage. Of course, buying an email list is much easier than writing your own honestly. In addition, it will be quite easy to collect only partial data from your subscribers.
Email marketing will be an effective and useful tool for your sales and service teams. But you can use it only if you accumulate enough data about your customers (past, present and future). To collect data, you will need to add GDPR-compliant forms to your website. Not only that, you will have to explain to people why they should provide you with their personal data, and also tell how you will process it.
You can also get this data offline. For example, during a test drive, your employees may ask the customer for their email address and explicit consent to receive marketing communications.
By starting to create a database of recipients of your mailings, you can use it to turn email messages to your dealership customers into something truly personal - for example, you can wish them happy birthday, or send notifications about the sale of the car models they are interested in. or remind about the date of the upcoming T / O, and so on.
Don't forget about cars
The importance of personalization cannot be underestimated. This is why your followers' vehicle data should be the real gem of your database.Today's shoppers are used to personalized emails. And it is likely that letters from a car dealership about new models, for example, available for ordering city SUVs, will receive a much higher response from those who are interested in cars of this type. It is also true that your customers will surely feel and appreciate the attention from your brand if you send them automatic reminders to replace brakes, due dates of next inspections or renewal of leases.
While studying the topic of email marketing, you will probably come across the concept of segmentation more than once, but in the context of the auto industry, segmentation is possible only if your database contains data not only for customers, but also for their cars.
Using the power of modern cloud-based CRM systems designed specifically for the automotive industry, you can automatically route customer data (actual and potential) to integrated industry automated marketing systems. There, the detailed data collected (model selected, engine preferences, demographic data, etc.) can be segmented and used for specific marketing campaigns. All of this, in turn, will allow you to more effectively influence purchasing decisions made by customers.
Adapt emails for mobile devices
It is estimated that 46% of all emails are read on mobile screens, so you just need to do everything possible to make your emails look great even on small screens.It's not enough just to compose your email perfectly. It is not enough just to send it to the target audience. If recipients cannot read your letter normally from the screens of their smartphones, then all your efforts will be in vain.
Of course, most modern email marketing systems are capable of automatically adapting emails for mobile devices. However, this does not eliminate the need to test everything thoroughly before shipping.And don't expect problems displaying marketing emails on smartphone screens to scare away potential and current customers! Everything has to be mobile-friendly these days - and email too.
Take advantage of automations and triggers
One of the best things about email marketing is that it automates a lot of the tedious manual work.
Here are some of the things you should look out for:
Automation, which is the ability to automatically send emails at regular intervals. With their help, you can connect with people who have visited your showroom in person, with potential customers who have visited your site, with regular customers or those who signed up for a test drive. All of these will help you gradually build trust in your brand.
Triggers, which are special events or actions after which your email marketing system will automatically send emails to the appropriate recipients. These events may include signing a contract, viewing a new model, or booking a test drive online. In fact, the use of triggers allows us to talk about event marketing, which identifies key events in the buyer's life cycle and activates a targeted message at the right time.
Smart use of automations and triggers can help you build quality relationships between customers and the dealership, both at the time of sale and after, with a minimum of effort on the part of your employees.
One last thing: don't forget to answer!
By using email marketing techniques and techniques competently, you will certainly receive responses from customers. This is why you shouldn't use email addresses that contain something like “no-reply”; it would be much better to organize work in such a way that real people react promptly to customer requests.
Research shows that 23% of customers change their dealership when they experience insufficient interaction. With our advice, you can avoid this problem and discover a form of marketing that really deserves to be part of your promotion strategy.