Is Email Useful for Car Dealers Anymore?

Has email marketing gone the same way as snail mail? Is this still an effective tool for car dealers trying to get your attention?

The fact that nearly everyone that would buy a car has an email account and checks it regularly throughout the day should tell you that email marketing is still an important and impactful tool. The benefits you receive from your email marketing campaign have everything to do with the way you use your email list to attract customers to your dealership.

You Have a List of Potential Customers

The list of email addresses that you have on file represents people who have connected with your dealership in one way or another. While that might mean you’re not sending emails to people that haven’t connected with you previously, you can rely on other marketing campaigns to reach out and cultivate new leads. With your email list, you can improve the loyalty of your customer base and help ensure they come to your dealership when ready for their next ride. Send out emails with offers your loyal customers are interested in, such as service reminders, new model alerts, and helpful advice.

Helpful Tips to Boost Your Email Marketing

Choose the Right Platform

You have to subscribe to an email marketing service before you can send out emails to your list. Find one that works right for your dealership. The service should help you segment your list, offer mobile-optimized templates, give you an easy way to offer customized email messages, and work seamlessly with your CRM software. These are necessary items to ensure you don’t waste time manually performing tasks that should be completed automatically.

Cull Your List for Quality Email Accounts

Your email list might include names that have not connected with your dealership in several years. You may have a large list of names that have not been to the dealership, only showed a fleeting interest in the cars you sell and have probably begun to send your emails to their spam folder. Now is a great time to reboot your list and cull it of the accounts that have not responded to your emails in several years.

Be Consistent with Your Emails

You never know when your customers have reached some of those magic milestones where they need service. If you’re sending out regular weekly promotions to your email list, you’ll see responses, and customers arrive to have those services performed. The emails with service promotions can also talk about the sales promotions offered for new and used models as well. You can gain a lot of traction out of email marketing when you send out weekly offers.

Send Personalized and Triggered Emails

The emails you send out to celebrate different milestones for a customer should be personalized and offer trigger messages that invite a customer to take some form of action. Use your email list to celebrate events with your customers, including when they purchase a vehicle from you, have a birthday, or during the holidays.

The Subject Line Can Make All the Difference

Are there some emails you send to the trash as soon as you see the subject line? It’s probably safe to say that most of us have some of these emails show up in our inbox regularly. You’ve got only a few seconds to grab the attention of your customers with a compelling subject line. The focus of this statement could mean the difference between the email being opened and read or being sent to the trash. No pressure, right?

Segmentation Means a Lot

The email list you’re using to entice shoppers to visit your car dealership needs to be segmented. You don’t want to make offers of small compact cars to customers interested in trucks and vice versa. The segmented list can help you figure out which shoppers visit your dealership and what their habits are when they come to your location. You can send out emails to loyal customers who have their vehicles serviced at your dealership or invite new customers who just made a purchase to allow your team to service their new ride. Segmentation means a lot to your email marketing.

You Send Emails, but You Also Receive Them

The email chain isn’t a one-way street with you pushing ads to a list of customers with no feedback coming your way. It’s likely you have a contact page on your website that allows customers to send you emails. It’s important that you respond to each and every one of these emails when you receive them. Have someone assigned to respond to these emails every day and throughout the day to ensure potential customers are receiving requested communication from your dealership.

Use Actionable Language

You’ve heard of an actionable language called “call to action” messages, and you need this in your email marketing. Whether you use terms like “buy now,” “drive a new car today,” or “schedule an appointment now,” you want your messages to entice your audience to take some form of action right away. Even more impactful than the actionable language is adding a hyperlink that will take your reader to a page that will help them.

Don’t Send Out Emails Without a Strategy

No matter what your goal is with your emails, you need to have a strategy in mind. Are you simply offering information to your customers without a need or action? Do you have several special offers you’re trying to share with your customers? Do you want to entice shoppers to come in and buy a new vehicle? No matter the reason for your email, keep your strategy in mind and ensure your email carries your message.

Your Dealership Needs Email

Email marketing is not outdated at all. It is one of the most useful, affordable, and viable forms of communication and marketing that you can utilize.  The challenge with this form of marketing is ensuring the right email list, strategy, and messages are being sent out when you send out emails to various segments of your list.