By: Laura Limosana, Account Manager
We’ve all heard it, “You have 8 seconds to make an impression on a customer.” With this knowledge, it’s hard to ignore the need to create email marketing campaigns that immediately capture a customer’s attention. The Service Manager at Acura of Tempe wanted to start increasing customer repair orders via email; our team knew they needed to develop strong content to accomplish this task.
In an effort to increase the visits from lost soul clients, we created two service campaigns. One targeted customers who had not been in for service in 5 months. The offer was for $10 off an A1 or B1 Service. The other targeted customers who had not been in for 11 months. The 11-month email gathered an 18% open rate and a 3% click to open rate. The 5-month email resulted in a 23% open rate and a 10% open rate.
It’s worth noting that although the designs differed, both emails were more engaging than emails sent in the past. This new approach to email design was risky, but it paid off in the end. The strong results persuaded the dealer to set these as recurring emails going forward, meaning messages are sent as soon as the customers hit the designated threshold.
Acura of Tempe has seen great improvement with sales-driven email campaigns, as well. By analyzing the data of each send, the Dominion specialist works to determine the graphics and offers that resonate best with the dealer’s audience. In turn, the dealership saw a 66% increase in sales from the email campaigns in 2018 versus this time last year.
Below are some important take-a-ways when thinking about your next sales or service email campaign.
Are you focusing on the right email for the right person with the appropriate timing? Segmentation is a vital part of email marketing. Don’t waste time on people who aren’t interested because the message was sent too early or too late. This increases the risk of opt-outs.
Focus on providing relevant content in order to drive dealership traffic and sales. Nurturing the customers with dynamic content that pertains to them will make the email more effective and increase your engagement and conversion rates.
Implement these basic principles into your strategy to shorten the sales cycle and bring customers in sooner, thus increasing your RO dollar totals. Make every second count!
For help with your dealership’s email marketing and to get results like Acura of Tempe, call 877.421.1040.
