E-mail marketing is a convenient and fast way to market your business to a large number of people at the same time. It’s beneficial to your business to send out e-mails on a consistent basis. If you’re not, you’re missing opportunities with your valued customers!
E-mails are still the preferred way for consumers to receive this type of information – after all, customers subscribe to receive e-mails for a reason! It’s convenient, and you’re providing them with valued information they’re interested in.
I tell every dealer that his or her website is the face of the dealership, and it’s important to always keep it up-to-date. Sending out an e-mail to your customers is an effective method to get visitors back to your website. There are many other online marketing strategies to help drive traffic to your site; sending out an e-mail that provides product information, dealership news, helpful tips, upcoming events and more will engage and inform your customers. Your newsletters should always serve a purpose and the content within each message should be of value to your customers.
E-mails are extremely helpful for keeping in contact with your customers, and you can increase your sales if you’re repetitively reminding your customer about your services, vehicle selection, products you carry and why they should buy from your tire dealership. Most people will not buy a product the first time they see it online, and it helps to send them e-mails every now and then to remind them about its availability.
Putting together a newsletter that’s professional and easy-to-read is very important. We all get bombarded with a ton of miscellaneous e-mails every day, so it does matter how a newsletter is set up and presented to your customers.
Here are a few recommendations to build a better e-mail.
Subject Line
Did you know that the subject line is the most important part of the newsletter? I get hundreds of dealer newsletters every month, and this is the one thing that many dealers miss. The subject line is what a customer sees before he or she opens up the e-mail. Always include the name of your dealership in the subject line.
The message or main tagline should reflect the main content within the newsletter. For example, “ABC Dealership Car Care Night” or “ABC Dealership Winter Tire Sale.” Your subject line should be catchy and eye-grabbing. You only have a few seconds to grab someone’s attention, and the subject line will determine if a customer opens the e-mail or not.
Do not use all caps in your subject line; it’s too in-your-face. Keep it simple and be creative with the words that you use.
E-Mail Content
Content within your newsletter should have an order of importance, and the main promotional message should be front and center. Whatever you promote in the subject line should be the first piece of information a customer sees in the newsletter.
The content displayed within a newsletter should be organized and visually appealing. A cluttered newsletter can confuse a customer, so make sure that your department promotions and announcements have an organized flow.
Most importantly, set up links back to the website so customers can easily get additional information if needed. If you’re promoting products, you should always provide a link to the site for additional information or to buy online. Never make your customers work to find additional information.
When to Send
What is the best time of day to send a newsletter? It depends on your audience and the subject matter of your newsletter. Logically, it doesn’t make sense to send out a newsletter on a Sunday because most people are not checking e-mail.
E-mail marketing experts also have said that sending out an e-mail on a Monday is not recommended because people are getting caught up from the weekend and they’re more focused on their work for the week. Sending out an e-mail Tuesday through Friday is recommended, and you’ll most likely have a better opening rate than sending on a Sunday or Monday. You might have to experiment with your days and keep track of your opening rates when sending out an e-mail. Your best day may change frequently.
Newsletter Frequency
I recommend sending one to two e-mail newsletters a month. Be careful not to spam your customers with multiple e-mails every month. If you’re sending more than four e-mails per month, you may be spamming your customers and bombarding them with too much information. My recommendation is to send out a newsletter the first week of every month with all of the latest and greatest on what’s going on at your tire dealership. Keep it consistent so customers get used to receiving a newsletter the first week of every month. If you are sending out multiple newsletters, the subject for each e-mail should be different. Don’t send out the same newsletter twice.
Be creative and be consistent when you send out your monthly e-mails. Plan ahead and be sure to provide customers with information that you know they’re going to want to check out. Your customers subscribe to receive your newsletters for a reason. Just remember that some newsletters will have a better reaction from customers than other e-mails. Keep up with it and keep track of what’s working for your business.
Peggy Olson is the president/owner of Duo Web Solutions. She has more than eight years of experience helping dealers get more out of their websites. Learn more about Olson and Duo Web Solutions at duowebsupport.com.
