A new year is upon us and that means new opportunities and possibilities for both your customers and your dealership’s success. Fortunately you know how to create success for your dealership, improve customer retention, effectively solicit new business at a low cost, and sell and service more vehicles to increase revenue. Sounds simple enough. Here is a creative way to help you do just that. This week’s campaign idea plays on the New Year and will help you move additional vehicle inventory from your lot.

Out with the Old, In with the New
I know you’ve heard this old saying time and time again, but it’s mostly used in reference to spring cleaning and not the New Year. Well put a new spin on it. The new year is a time to renew and refresh, just like spring, so it’s a perfect time to communicate with customers about sprucing up their current vehicle with a new 2015 model.

Target Ready-to-Buy Customers
The important thing about a campaign like this is that you have to target the right audience. Since the average consumer is keeping their new vehicle for approximately 93 months, or about 8 years, you’ll want to take that into consideration when creating your list. Also, think about the average length of a new vehicle lease and target customers who may be ready to swap out their ride. Reaching customers at the optimal time is key to eliciting a response.

Restock Used and Move New
A campaign like this will help you make a resolution to move your vehicle inventory. Not only will you stock your pre-owned lot with quality vehicles that have been serviced at your dealership, but you’ll move additional new vehicle inventory as well.

What are you waiting for? Start your new year off right with a profitable resolution.

A new year is upon us and that means new opportunities and possibilities for both your customers and your dealership’s success. Fortunately you know how to create success for your dealership, improve customer retention, effectively solicit new business at a low cost, and sell and service more vehicles to increase revenue. Sounds simple enough. Here is a creative way to help you do just that. This week’s campaign idea plays on the New Year and will help you move additional vehicle inventory from your lot.

Out with the Old, In with the New
I know you’ve heard this old saying time and time again, but it’s mostly used in reference to spring cleaning and not the New Year. Well put a new spin on it. The new year is a time to renew and refresh, just like spring, so it’s a perfect time to communicate with customers about sprucing up their current vehicle with a new 2015 model.

Target Ready-to-Buy Customers
The important thing about a campaign like this is that you have to target the right audience. Since the average consumer is keeping their new vehicle for approximately 93 months, or about 8 years, you’ll want to take that into consideration when creating your list. Also, think about the average length of a new vehicle lease and target customers who may be ready to swap out their ride. Reaching customers at the optimal time is key to eliciting a response.

Restock Used and Move New
A campaign like this will help you make a resolution to move your vehicle inventory. Not only will you stock your pre-owned lot with quality vehicles that have been serviced at your dealership, but you’ll move additional new vehicle inventory as well.

What are you waiting for? Start your new year off right with a profitable resolution.

As 2014 quickly comes to a close, we begin to reflect on the year and look towards 2015 as a year of new opportunities and possibilities. But before we put 2014 behind us, there is still time to reach out and connect with current customers and bring new business to your door. Check out these three ways to end 2014 with a bang.

Make a Resolution
Everyone makes some kind of New Year’s resolution, whether it be to lose weight, stop a bad habit, or simply be a better person. Think about making a resolution to your customers. I’m sure you have standards in your Sales and Service Departments and may have some new standards that either customers have asked for or you’ve recently implemented. This is your chance to communicate these standards to your customers and make a resolution to them to provide top-notch service in the new year.

Gather Feedback
Along the same lines, the new year provides a perfect opportunity for you to ask customers for their feedback about your services, personnel, and their ownership experience. This will make them feel like you care, but will also provide you helpful insight into your business. You can use this intel to make changes to your business and learn where there may be opportunities for your employees to grow and improve your processes.

Go Social
New Year’s is another time of year where you can gain additional exposure from your social media marketing. Think about asking followers to post their New Year’s food spread, decorations, drink of choice, or even their midnight kiss. Be sure to remind followers to drive safe and call a cab to get home if needed. You could also offer information about local cab services or offer these services in one of your new 2015 models.

Provide Year End Incentives
Everyone knows the end of the year is the best time to buy a vehicle. Ok, maybe not everyone knows that, but they should. Inform customers that your entire 2014 stock must go before the end of the year and provide exclusive offers that are only available at your dealership. Make sure your campaign conveys your dealership “why buys” – why they should buy from you versus your competitor. Not only will you increase end-of-the-year sales, but you’ll also move those 2014s off your lot to make room for your new inventory.

The end of the year brings about the time for change and to renew and refresh for the new year. Be sure to take advantage of this opportunity to communicate with customers to stay top of mind and drive additional traffic and revenue to your door.

As 2014 quickly comes to a close, we begin to reflect on the year and look towards 2015 as a year of new opportunities and possibilities. But before we put 2014 behind us, there is still time to reach out and connect with current customers and bring new business to your door. Check out these three ways to end 2014 with a bang.

Make a Resolution
Everyone makes some kind of New Year’s resolution, whether it be to lose weight, stop a bad habit, or simply be a better person. Think about making a resolution to your customers. I’m sure you have standards in your Sales and Service Departments and may have some new standards that either customers have asked for or you’ve recently implemented. This is your chance to communicate these standards to your customers and make a resolution to them to provide top-notch service in the new year.

Gather Feedback
Along the same lines, the new year provides a perfect opportunity for you to ask customers for their feedback about your services, personnel, and their ownership experience. This will make them feel like you care, but will also provide you helpful insight into your business. You can use this intel to make changes to your business and learn where there may be opportunities for your employees to grow and improve your processes.

Go Social
New Year’s is another time of year where you can gain additional exposure from your social media marketing. Think about asking followers to post their New Year’s food spread, decorations, drink of choice, or even their midnight kiss. Be sure to remind followers to drive safe and call a cab to get home if needed. You could also offer information about local cab services or offer these services in one of your new 2015 models.

Provide Year End Incentives
Everyone knows the end of the year is the best time to buy a vehicle. Ok, maybe not everyone knows that, but they should. Inform customers that your entire 2014 stock must go before the end of the year and provide exclusive offers that are only available at your dealership. Make sure your campaign conveys your dealership “why buys” – why they should buy from you versus your competitor. Not only will you increase end-of-the-year sales, but you’ll also move those 2014s off your lot to make room for your new inventory.

The end of the year brings about the time for change and to renew and refresh for the new year. Be sure to take advantage of this opportunity to communicate with customers to stay top of mind and drive additional traffic and revenue to your door.

In case you didn’t notice, the holidays are quickly approaching and before you know it, they will be here and gone. If you haven’t started, you need to get your holiday marketing plans together to connect with customers and drive additional traffic to your dealership. Read on to learn three easy ways to leverage the upcoming holidays in your customers’ marketing.

Communicate Happy Holidays
Probably the easiest way to spread holiday cheer is by sending a heartfelt communication to customers to let them know you appreciate their business and wish them well during the holiday season. This communication should include any hour changes your dealership has for the upcoming holidays. A simple thoughtful message like this will demonstrate you care and go a long way in building customer loyalty.

Get Social
Another great way to spread holiday cheer is by turning to your social media channels. Think about hosting a contest on your Facebook page or even Twitter account. The contest can be for the best lights display, ugliest sweater, or most ridiculous gift, whatever you choose. Ask your social community to post pictures of these items and then award the individual who gets the most likes or retweets. This type of communication will build engagement among your social community and extend your campaign’s reach.

Give Back to Your Community
Lastly, a great way to spread holiday cheer is by pitching in and giving back to you community. You could organize a toy drive, collect canned foods for a local food bank, or even donate money to a local organization for every vehicle purchased or serviced throughout the holiday season. By pitching in and spreading holiday joy for individuals who need it most, you’ll see increased traffic and revenue during the holiday season.

No matter what decide for your holiday marketing, you need to start planning your strategy now. Anything from a simple thank you to a contest will bring your dealership increased brand awareness and improved customer satisfaction to drive more traffic to your dealership this holiday.

In case you didn’t notice, the holidays are quickly approaching and before you know it, they will be here and gone. If you haven’t started, you need to get your holiday marketing plans together to connect with customers and drive additional traffic to your dealership. Read on to learn three easy ways to leverage the upcoming holidays in your customers’ marketing.

Communicate Happy Holidays
Probably the easiest way to spread holiday cheer is by sending a heartfelt communication to customers to let them know you appreciate their business and wish them well during the holiday season. This communication should include any hour changes your dealership has for the upcoming holidays. A simple thoughtful message like this will demonstrate you care and go a long way in building customer loyalty.

Get Social
Another great way to spread holiday cheer is by turning to your social media channels. Think about hosting a contest on your Facebook page or even Twitter account. The contest can be for the best lights display, ugliest sweater, or most ridiculous gift, whatever you choose. Ask your social community to post pictures of these items and then award the individual who gets the most likes or retweets. This type of communication will build engagement among your social community and extend your campaign’s reach.

Give Back to Your Community
Lastly, a great way to spread holiday cheer is by pitching in and giving back to you community. You could organize a toy drive, collect canned foods for a local food bank, or even donate money to a local organization for every vehicle purchased or serviced throughout the holiday season. By pitching in and spreading holiday joy for individuals who need it most, you’ll see increased traffic and revenue during the holiday season.

No matter what decide for your holiday marketing, you need to start planning your strategy now. Anything from a simple thank you to a contest will bring your dealership increased brand awareness and improved customer satisfaction to drive more traffic to your dealership this holiday.

The holiday travel season is in full swing, with an expected 90% of travelers opting for a road trip over air travel. What does this mean for your dealership? Now is the time to prep your customer’s vehicles for their holiday journeys. Here are three easy ways you can keep your dealership top-of-mind, build brand recognition, and drive additional service business to your store.

Remind Customers of Maintenance
This idea is probably a no brainer, but I want to make sure to state it. Deliver a communication to customers about needed maintenance on their vehicle before holiday travel. Think about offering a Holiday Road Trip Service Package, wherein your team would perform and check all vehicle elements to ensure they arrive at their destination safely and without hassle.

Offer Assistance
The holidays bring about a lot of busy work and things to keep straight, which means, your customers may forget some key elements when hitting the road this holiday. Remind them of the manufacturer’s roadside assistance information and if you have a local towing company you work with, be sure to provide their contact information to customers as well.

Be Helpful
Road trips, even around town, can be downright frustrating. Remind customers of apps like Waze or Roadtrippers that can spot traffic, law enforcement, restaurants, hotels, and more. These apps are incredibly helpful when hitting the road and can be a great suggestion to customers who have never used them before.

Be sure to start planning your holiday travel marketing soon - with over 90% of travelers expected to use their vehicle, it presents a perfect opportunity to reach out with relevant marketing. Not only will you increase your service drive traffic, but you’ll also build customer loyalty by offering great travel tips.

The holiday travel season is in full swing, with an expected 90% of travelers opting for a road trip over air travel. What does this mean for your dealership? Now is the time to prep your customer’s vehicles for their holiday journeys. Here are three easy ways you can keep your dealership top-of-mind, build brand recognition, and drive additional service business to your store.

Remind Customers of Maintenance
This idea is probably a no brainer, but I want to make sure to state it. Deliver a communication to customers about needed maintenance on their vehicle before holiday travel. Think about offering a Holiday Road Trip Service Package, wherein your team would perform and check all vehicle elements to ensure they arrive at their destination safely and without hassle.

Offer Assistance
The holidays bring about a lot of busy work and things to keep straight, which means, your customers may forget some key elements when hitting the road this holiday. Remind them of the manufacturer’s roadside assistance information and if you have a local towing company you work with, be sure to provide their contact information to customers as well.

Be Helpful
Road trips, even around town, can be downright frustrating. Remind customers of apps like Waze or Roadtrippers that can spot traffic, law enforcement, restaurants, hotels, and more. These apps are incredibly helpful when hitting the road and can be a great suggestion to customers who have never used them before.

Be sure to start planning your holiday travel marketing soon - with over 90% of travelers expected to use their vehicle, it presents a perfect opportunity to reach out with relevant marketing. Not only will you increase your service drive traffic, but you’ll also build customer loyalty by offering great travel tips.

Every business needs customers, right? Keeping customers loyal to your business and ensuring they come back to you for future purchases involves a retention marketing strategy. Although this type of strategy is incredibly important and needed for a successful business, today we are going to focus on developing a conquest marketing strategy.

Now I know what you’re thinking, “You tell us all the time - it costs five times more to acquire a new customer than to keep an existing one.” This is a very true statement; however, there comes a time for every business when you have to look outside of your current database and acquire new business to grow your current customer pool and increase revenue. What if I told you that acquiring new business doesn’t have to be so costly? In fact, dealers who use OneCommand’s conquest email solution have seen a $15 return on investment for every one dollar spent. Today I’ll share a cost effective conquest marketing strategy that brings additional sales and service customers to your store.

Go with Email
First things first - let’s take a look at how you can simply reduce marketing costs. We all know that material cost can be a big money pit, by leveraging email you can reduce this quickly. Let’s compare an email with a direct mail conquest campaign. Typically, email costs about a fraction of a penny to deliver, whereas a direct mail campaign can cost up to a couple dollars per piece. If all other costs are equal (purchase price to acquire a list, creative design cost, etc.), a delivery channel like email can save you a lot of money.

Present Clear Offers, Calls to Action, and Dealer Info
No matter who you are, everybody loves a good deal. Check out Groupon or Living Social if you don’t believe me. This is the very reason you’ll want to design your conquest email accordingly. Think about having big bold call outs for pricing and to get noticed. You’ll also want to make sure you have clear calls to action in your email piece. This will help drive recipients to your website to increase web traffic, but also get them thinking about how they would customize their ride of choice or schedule their appointment. Along those same lines, be sure your dealership information is clearly presented on your email piece. Lastly, you’ll want to make sure you have your offers, calls to action, and dealer info arranged in an aesthetically pleasing design with striking visual components to grab a reader’s attention.

In-Market Data
This step can be a little difficult to achieve on your own simply because you may not be able to query in-market conquest databases. However, if you work with a company that provides email data to you, ask if they have a way to target in-market buyers in your area. There are also a handful of companies out there who are able to provide this data to you, or contact us, OneCommand, and we can help. Once you have the in-market data, be sure to bounce it against your database to exclude any current customers. By doing this, you’ll ensure you aren’t spending money on marketing to the customers you already have.

Test and Try Again
One of the best things about utilizing email marketing is being able to test a particular element and if it doesn’t produce the desired results, change the element and try again. Think about testing different subject lines to achieve better open rates, or change up your calls-to-action or placement of links to increase click-through rates. If you are seeing a lot of spam complaints, bounce rates, or unsubscribes, think about changing up creative and ensure your emails are SPAM compliant. At the end of the day, email is a great medium to get outside the box and really see if what you are doing is working and achieving the desired results.

Check Campaign Effectiveness
Like all marketing, it’s only as good as its results, and the same is true for conquest marketing. Don’t be alarmed, however, if your results aren’t up to par with your typical customer email results. You have to remember these are conquest customers - they don’t know you or have a relationship with you, so the results will always be lower. A benchmark to go by for conquest open rate is 5%, where as a click-through rate is typically 3%.

But an open rate and click-through rate are only as good as the revenue they drive to your dealership. To really determine your conquest email’s effectiveness you’ll want to wait about 30 days, then take your initial data and bounce against your purchase and service records from that time period. Be sure to match against name, email, phone, and any other information you have available and then you will know not only the success of your creative and content, but also your marketing efforts as a whole.

Start Your Conquest Email Marketing
If you’re looking for a cost effective way to attract new buyers in your market area and influence them to purchase their next vehicle or service their current vehicle with you, then conquest email marketing is for you. You’ll lower your current conquest marketing budget by leveraging a cheaper delivery channel, you’ll increase your dealership’s brand awareness, and you’ll drive additional sales and service revenue to your door.

Every business needs customers, right? Keeping customers loyal to your business and ensuring they come back to you for future purchases involves a retention marketing strategy. Although this type of strategy is incredibly important and needed for a successful business, today we are going to focus on developing a conquest marketing strategy.

Now I know what you’re thinking, “You tell us all the time - it costs five times more to acquire a new customer than to keep an existing one.” This is a very true statement; however, there comes a time for every business when you have to look outside of your current database and acquire new business to grow your current customer pool and increase revenue. What if I told you that acquiring new business doesn’t have to be so costly? In fact, dealers who use OneCommand’s conquest email solution have seen a $15 return on investment for every one dollar spent. Today I’ll share a cost effective conquest marketing strategy that brings additional sales and service customers to your store.

Go with Email
First things first - let’s take a look at how you can simply reduce marketing costs. We all know that material cost can be a big money pit, by leveraging email you can reduce this quickly. Let’s compare an email with a direct mail conquest campaign. Typically, email costs about a fraction of a penny to deliver, whereas a direct mail campaign can cost up to a couple dollars per piece. If all other costs are equal (purchase price to acquire a list, creative design cost, etc.), a delivery channel like email can save you a lot of money.

Present Clear Offers, Calls to Action, and Dealer Info
No matter who you are, everybody loves a good deal. Check out Groupon or Living Social if you don’t believe me. This is the very reason you’ll want to design your conquest email accordingly. Think about having big bold call outs for pricing and to get noticed. You’ll also want to make sure you have clear calls to action in your email piece. This will help drive recipients to your website to increase web traffic, but also get them thinking about how they would customize their ride of choice or schedule their appointment. Along those same lines, be sure your dealership information is clearly presented on your email piece. Lastly, you’ll want to make sure you have your offers, calls to action, and dealer info arranged in an aesthetically pleasing design with striking visual components to grab a reader’s attention.

In-Market Data
This step can be a little difficult to achieve on your own simply because you may not be able to query in-market conquest databases. However, if you work with a company that provides email data to you, ask if they have a way to target in-market buyers in your area. There are also a handful of companies out there who are able to provide this data to you, or contact us, OneCommand, and we can help. Once you have the in-market data, be sure to bounce it against your database to exclude any current customers. By doing this, you’ll ensure you aren’t spending money on marketing to the customers you already have.

Test and Try Again
One of the best things about utilizing email marketing is being able to test a particular element and if it doesn’t produce the desired results, change the element and try again. Think about testing different subject lines to achieve better open rates, or change up your calls-to-action or placement of links to increase click-through rates. If you are seeing a lot of spam complaints, bounce rates, or unsubscribes, think about changing up creative and ensure your emails are SPAM compliant. At the end of the day, email is a great medium to get outside the box and really see if what you are doing is working and achieving the desired results.

Check Campaign Effectiveness
Like all marketing, it’s only as good as its results, and the same is true for conquest marketing. Don’t be alarmed, however, if your results aren’t up to par with your typical customer email results. You have to remember these are conquest customers - they don’t know you or have a relationship with you, so the results will always be lower. A benchmark to go by for conquest open rate is 5%, where as a click-through rate is typically 3%.

But an open rate and click-through rate are only as good as the revenue they drive to your dealership. To really determine your conquest email’s effectiveness you’ll want to wait about 30 days, then take your initial data and bounce against your purchase and service records from that time period. Be sure to match against name, email, phone, and any other information you have available and then you will know not only the success of your creative and content, but also your marketing efforts as a whole.

Start Your Conquest Email Marketing
If you’re looking for a cost effective way to attract new buyers in your market area and influence them to purchase their next vehicle or service their current vehicle with you, then conquest email marketing is for you. You’ll lower your current conquest marketing budget by leveraging a cheaper delivery channel, you’ll increase your dealership’s brand awareness, and you’ll drive additional sales and service revenue to your door.