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The Internet is the fastest growing marketing medium in the automotive industry as many of the car buyers spend more time online than traditional media like TV, newspapers or radio. Many auto dealers today say that Internet has provided them with the highest return on investment (ROI) in the recent years. According to a survey from Autobytel, one hundred percent of respondents in their survey reported their Internet strategies helped them through many challenging times and a majority (79.5%) of them reported that Internet has been their highest ROI. Almost all (96%) of dealers predict that the Internet will play a larger role in their marketing in the next five years.
So, it makes a huge sense to invest in online marketing channels. E-mail marketing is one of the most effective marketing channels of Internet to promote products services. According to Borrell Associates, car dealers are expected to increase their online ad spending by 8.6%, significantly in e-mail, social networking and video campaigns. If implemented correctly, e-marketing can result in increased sales, downloads, inquiries, registrations etc.
Although e-mail marketing has become a very popular tool among many dealerships, some of them are still unsure about the benefits e-mail marketing. Here is a list with some of the main benefits of e-mail marketing for auto dealerships:
Trackable form of communication
E-mail marketing is a trackable form of communication. It helps you to determine how effective your campaign has been. You can track and monitor the information including the number of e-mails sent, e-mails opened, who opened, who clicked and which links they clicked on etc. This data enables you to assess the success of e-mail campaigns and helps you to improve your approach towards marketing your dealership.
You can track an exact return on investment using properly executed e-mail marketing campaign. It is often reported as the most effective online marketing tactic, next only to search marketing.
Contact customers on regular basis
While new sales or new customers are great, maintaining regular contact with existing customers is also important for any auto dealership. But many times, dealerships focus only on the initial sale and forget the customer. They do not understand the lifetime value of a customer.
Keeping in touch with customers on a regular basis through a good e-mail marketing campaign, informing them about various services and products will increase the frequency of generating repeat purchases from them. People who are receiving your e-mails may not be ready to buy your products or services right away. But they are more likely to remember and come back to you while buying.
Cost effective
For many auto dealerships, one of the useful and cost effective methods to communicate online with consumers is e-mail marketing. When compared to other marketing channels, launching an e-mail marketing campaign is extremely cheap. E-mail marketing is many times cheaper than advertising with traditional mass media. You need not spend huge amounts of money on printing or postage expenses. It is said that e-mail marketing is around 20 times cheaper than direct mail.
Increases customer loyalty
Winning new customers is more expensive and exhaustive than retaining your existing customer base. E-mail is a great way to inform your customers about new offers and products at your dealership. It enables you to personalize and greet each and every customer. You can also send them personalized greetings on their birthdays, anniversaries and festivals to make them feel special; this improves their loyal towards your dealership.
You can send newsletters, latest information of automobile sector, news, offers etc. through e-mails to make their lives easier and also to improve their loyalty towards your dealership. Informative e-mail newsletters and other e-mails build awareness, contribute to branding, strengthen relationships, encourage trust and cement loyalty among the prospects.
Target large number of customers
E-mail marketing allows you to reach out to millions of people throughout the globe. There is no geographical limitation to e-mail marketing. Though you can reach global audience with other advertising channels like radio, TV and printed media, they are very expensive compared to e-mail marketing. Moreover, e-mail marketing allows you to narrow your audience by targeting the prospective customers. You can build custom lists to reach only those who might require your services or products in a matter of seconds.
E-mail marketing is a cost effective, highly responsive and opportunistic medium for communicating with prospective customers. It can bring huge benefits to your dealership, if executed in a correct way. Many auto dealerships are already reaping its benefits. Go ahead, initiate an extremely targeted and effective e-mail marketing campaign to increase your profits.
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