Increase Open Rates for Your Automotive Email Marketing Campaigns

The shotgun approach to automotive email marketing is the best way for your dealership’s message to end up being marked as spam.  Working with our dealers we have found that targeting email messages to customer based on their specific vehicle models tend to have higher open rates than those blanketed approaches do.  Below are three ways your dealership can target your automotive email marketing to increase open rates.

Recently we have found a lot of success in getting customer feedback for our dealers.  Using an automotive survey in an email message will increase interaction between your dealership and your customers.  People generally enjoy being able to give their feedback and your dealership can use this as way to improve your customer satisfaction.  Once your customers finish your dealership’s survey you can reward them with coupons by driving that traffic back to your website.

Most dealers tend to use automotive email marketing to promote their sales events or their ridiculously low lease rates.  Every now and again it is nice to reach out to your past and potential customers with a greeting.  Greetings are a great way to keep your brand fresh in the consumers eye.  By reaching out and wishing your customer a Happy Birthday or Merry Christmas might not generate a lead in the short term, but they will remember that the next time their ready to schedule a test drive.

Another great way to stay in contact with your customers is by reminding them of service.  A recent poll we conducted shows that customers overwhelming prefer Email for Service Reminders by 88%. You can drive traffic to your lot by sending out email messages with incentives to get their tune up at your dealership.

If your dealership is looking for ways to keep that top of the mind awareness for your vehicle inventory and automotive services we suggest using Surveys, Greetings and Service Reminders in your Email Marketing Campaigns.  Each of these are great ways to increase open rates while reducing unsubscribe rates of your dealership’s automotive email marketing.

PAUL POTRATZ

Increase Open Rates for Your Automotive Email Marketing Campaigns

The shotgun approach to automotive email marketing is the best way for your dealership’s message to end up being marked as spam.  Working with our dealers we have found that targeting email messages to customer based on their specific vehicle models tend to have higher open rates than those blanketed approaches do.  Below are three ways your dealership can target your automotive email marketing to increase open rates.

Recently we have found a lot of success in getting customer feedback for our dealers.  Using an automotive survey in an email message will increase interaction between your dealership and your customers.  People generally enjoy being able to give their feedback and your dealership can use this as way to improve your customer satisfaction.  Once your customers finish your dealership’s survey you can reward them with coupons by driving that traffic back to your website.

Most dealers tend to use automotive email marketing to promote their sales events or their ridiculously low lease rates.  Every now and again it is nice to reach out to your past and potential customers with a greeting.  Greetings are a great way to keep your brand fresh in the consumers eye.  By reaching out and wishing your customer a Happy Birthday or Merry Christmas might not generate a lead in the short term, but they will remember that the next time their ready to schedule a test drive.

Another great way to stay in contact with your customers is by reminding them of service.  A recent poll we conducted shows that customers overwhelming prefer Email for Service Reminders by 88%. You can drive traffic to your lot by sending out email messages with incentives to get their tune up at your dealership.

If your dealership is looking for ways to keep that top of the mind awareness for your vehicle inventory and automotive services we suggest using Surveys, Greetings and Service Reminders in your Email Marketing Campaigns.  Each of these are great ways to increase open rates while reducing unsubscribe rates of your dealership’s automotive email marketing.

PAUL POTRATZ

Want to see an example of an automaker getting on board with social media marketing? Buick is striving to appeal to the social media generation with its latest promotion, Quest for the Keys, integrating location-based social sites like Foursquare, Gowalla, and Facebook Places as well as Twitter and a custom Facebook application. This promotion involves a scavenger hunt in major cities around the US in which people use social sites to find clues to win money or even a new Buick. They can also enter from home with a Facebook trivia game.

This promotion shows a well-developed automotive social media strategy that takes advantage of multiple platforms to appeal to as many people as possible and engage the millions of people using social media across the nation. Members of younger demographics who might not otherwise consider a Buick as their next car will get involved in tweeting and using these social sites to enter to win.

Dealerships can learn from this example to come up with smaller-scale promotions around their communities. Car dealers need to take advantage of location-based social media advertising to engage people who might not normally connect with them. Also, a promotion like this encourages people to post on their Facebook and Twitter profiles (especially if they know they could win), giving added exposure to a dealership.

Paul Potratz

Want to see an example of an automaker getting on board with social media marketing? Buick is striving to appeal to the social media generation with its latest promotion, Quest for the Keys, integrating location-based social sites like Foursquare, Gowalla, and Facebook Places as well as Twitter and a custom Facebook application. This promotion involves a scavenger hunt in major cities around the US in which people use social sites to find clues to win money or even a new Buick. They can also enter from home with a Facebook trivia game.

This promotion shows a well-developed automotive social media strategy that takes advantage of multiple platforms to appeal to as many people as possible and engage the millions of people using social media across the nation. Members of younger demographics who might not otherwise consider a Buick as their next car will get involved in tweeting and using these social sites to enter to win.

Dealerships can learn from this example to come up with smaller-scale promotions around their communities. Car dealers need to take advantage of location-based social media advertising to engage people who might not normally connect with them. Also, a promotion like this encourages people to post on their Facebook and Twitter profiles (especially if they know they could win), giving added exposure to a dealership.

Paul Potratz

Ever wonder how many people really see what you post on your car dealership's Facebook page? Facebook recently added features to its Insights for business pages, offering new opportunities to see how people are connecting with pages.

 

Now, you can see how many people saw a post or interacted with it by commenting or liking, and also which posts got the most views and interactions. The new Facebook Insights also lets you see interactions, new likes, and more for any specific period of time you choose. This tool will let you see what kinds of posts are the most popular.

You can fine-tune how you write posts and what kinds of links you share. In looking at Facebook pages that our Automotive Ad Agency manages, I found that informal posts unrelated to automotive sales got the most interaction. For example, last week, posts asking about favorite and least favorite Christmas songs received many comments on one page.

To access Insights for your dealership's Facebook business page, just click "Edit" right below the profile image, and then "Insights" along the left side. If you're not satisfied with the stats for your page, contact us today for help building a social media following for your auto dealership.

 

Paul Potratz

Ever wonder how many people really see what you post on your car dealership's Facebook page? Facebook recently added features to its Insights for business pages, offering new opportunities to see how people are connecting with pages.

 

Now, you can see how many people saw a post or interacted with it by commenting or liking, and also which posts got the most views and interactions. The new Facebook Insights also lets you see interactions, new likes, and more for any specific period of time you choose. This tool will let you see what kinds of posts are the most popular.

You can fine-tune how you write posts and what kinds of links you share. In looking at Facebook pages that our Automotive Ad Agency manages, I found that informal posts unrelated to automotive sales got the most interaction. For example, last week, posts asking about favorite and least favorite Christmas songs received many comments on one page.

To access Insights for your dealership's Facebook business page, just click "Edit" right below the profile image, and then "Insights" along the left side. If you're not satisfied with the stats for your page, contact us today for help building a social media following for your auto dealership.

 

Paul Potratz

Advice for Auto Dealerships Facing Recalls

In the past few years, almost every auto manufacturer has announced some kind of recall for its vehicles. Your dealership needs to have a social media plan in place to minimize damage from the bad news and be proactive about fixing the problem. You can take advantage of social media to address the issue. First, create a custom tab on your Facebook page about the recall. Talk about the qualifications of your service department and provide a graphic people can click to schedule an appointment. Next, talk about it on social pages like Twitter and Facebook (including both business and personal pages). Let customers know that you're ready to schedule appointments for them to bring in vehicles for inspection and repair. Give them a phone number, email address, and link to a web contact form to provide as many options as possible. Finally, make a plan to talk about the integrity of whatever vehicle is under a recall. Post video and text testimonials talking about reliability and also the ease of repair for people who did experience problems. When you are proactive about addressing a recall, people will see that your dealership is honest about problems while providing a path to solve them. Social media helps auto dealers like you to reach people in your network of customers and encourage them to come back to you for service.

Advice for Auto Dealerships Facing Recalls

In the past few years, almost every auto manufacturer has announced some kind of recall for its vehicles. Your dealership needs to have a social media plan in place to minimize damage from the bad news and be proactive about fixing the problem. You can take advantage of social media to address the issue. First, create a custom tab on your Facebook page about the recall. Talk about the qualifications of your service department and provide a graphic people can click to schedule an appointment. Next, talk about it on social pages like Twitter and Facebook (including both business and personal pages). Let customers know that you're ready to schedule appointments for them to bring in vehicles for inspection and repair. Give them a phone number, email address, and link to a web contact form to provide as many options as possible. Finally, make a plan to talk about the integrity of whatever vehicle is under a recall. Post video and text testimonials talking about reliability and also the ease of repair for people who did experience problems. When you are proactive about addressing a recall, people will see that your dealership is honest about problems while providing a path to solve them. Social media helps auto dealers like you to reach people in your network of customers and encourage them to come back to you for service.