Your business relies on effective, profitable advertising strategies to engage your current customers and encourage potential leads to choose your dealership.
Well, as a time-tested advertising method, direct mail marketing provides you with a host of benefits that’ll drive business to your showroom.
Regardless if you’ve used direct mail marketing before or are just getting started, it pays to learn more about how to make the most of this results-driven advertising approach.
That’s why the team of marketing experts at Aspen Automotive is here with a few tips for direct mail marketing that have already helped more than 10,000 other car dealerships. With the help of our team, not before long will your company be reaping the benefits of a successful direct mail campaign. Let’s jump right in!
What is Direct Mail?
Before we can jump into our direct mail marketing tips, we first have to go over what exactly direct mail is.
In simplest terms, direct mail is a form of marketing whereas your dealership sends something physical in the mail directly to your client. The information that’s sent to your current or potential clients could include information about seasonal or holiday promotions, loyalty promotions for returning customers, loan/finance promotions, and much more.
In order to run a successful direct mail campaign, you must do your research! Without researching your targeted audience, your campaign will likely not be as successful. We’ll touch more on research in just a moment.
You may be wondering, though, why you should send out physical mail when everything digital now? Isn’t that the opposite of what everyone else is doing? You’re exactly right. Everyone else is turning to digital or social media marketing, which leave less competition for you.
It’s estimated that an individual receives somewhere around 100 emails per day and sees about 60 ads per day. Imagine trying to stand out in a world where hundreds of companies are all fighting for the same thing? Why not forge your own path and make a name for yourself through direct mail?
In addition to far fewer pieces of mail being sent per day—it’s estimated around two pieces of mail per day—you also have a better shot at standing out thanks to the seemingly endless marketing options you have. What makes direct mail even better is that it can pair flawlessly with interactive or digital marketing, too! It’s truly a win-win for your dealership.
Reach Your Customers at the Right Time
Now that you have a better understanding of what direct mail is, when it comes to creating your strategy, first and foremost, you want to be sure that the direct mailer you’re sending is reaching customers who are in the market to purchase a new vehicle.
By engaging with your audience at a time when they’re on the lookout for a dealership, you’ll increase the likelihood that they’ll visit your showroom.
How do you know when your potential clients are ready to buy a car? We use several data solution tools, so you always have the most updated and relevant information. When you’re looking to draw clients into your showroom to purchase a new car, our Autoproval tool is just what you need.
With the help of this lead, you’ll be provided data on a customer’s contact information and credit score. From there, you can send them a completely personalized mailer letting them know they’ve been pre-approved for a car loan. This tool even allows you to choose what range of credit scores you’re looking to target.
Thanks to the timely nature of this data, you’ll send out your direct mailers when your audience is most likely to opt into a tempting promotion or visit your showroom to browse your inventory.
All in all, using tools that help you reach your customers at the right time improves the chances of your dealership attracting more business.
Know Your Audience
On top of sending timely direct mail advertisements, it’s crucial to learn more about who your ideal audience is.
Start by identifying the demographics of the audience who has the highest chance of opting into the offer on your direct mailer. Some of the information you’ll want use to discover more about your customers are:
- Age
- Gender
- Income level
- Purchasing history
- Occupation and more
After you’ve determined the lifestyles of your potential clients, it’s time for you to choose a mailing list.
For the most part, using a specialty mailing list is an effective way of pinpointing the audience that’s likely to participate in your promotion or program. These mailing lists include your targeted customers that fall under your selected demographics.
Otherwise, custom mailing lists provide you with the ability to choose the specific customer criteria included on your final mailing list. That way, you’ll reach the audience who will benefit from your business’s incentive.
Consider the Delivery
No matter who your audience is, you want to consider the format of your automotive direct mail. Maybe your advertising message is better suited to a small easy-to-digest postcard, or maybe you’re hoping to get car shoppers interested in a new model by sending them a comprehensive vehicle brochure.
By ensuring that the information that you plan to send to your customers is couched in a complimentary format, you’ll increase the readability of the material for your customers and, thereby, improve the chances that they’ll reach out to your team to learn more. According to the 2018 DMA Response Rate Report, letter-sized direct mail generated a 15.1 percent response rate.
Some of the other automotive direct mail formats that keep consumers engaged are:
- Postcards
- 3D mailers
- Oversized envelopes
- Catalogs and more
Carefully Craft the Design
Before your dealership’s targeted audience even reads the message included on your automotive direct mailer, they’ll notice the layout and design of your mailer. The key to grabbing the attentions of your customers is to choose a design that’s colorful yet clean. Instead of filling every inch of your direct mailer with text, opt for graphics or white space.
In addition, an attractive direct mail design makes your mailer stand out from the other items that your targeted audience receives in their mailbox. Here are a few factors to consider when putting together your next automotive direct mail campaign:
Color: Color evokes emotion. That’s why, if you’re hoping to put your consumers at ease while they’re reading your direct mailers, you should focus on warmer colors, like reds and oranges. Likewise, if you want your message to have a calming effect on your audience, splash your mailer with touches of blues and greens.- Materials: To ensure that your auto direct mail has a lasting effect on your buyers, it’s essential to mix up the materials you use to create your mailer. Instead of using regular paper for each direct mail campaign, push your strategy to the next level by opting for glossy or textured paper. Doing so only adds to the appeal of your dealership’s mailers.
- Size: Going beyond the format of your direct mail campaign, the size of your mailers is equally as crucial to your response rates. They key is to vary the size of your automotive direct mailers frequently. Not only does this keep your audience excited about what they might receive from your dealership next, but it also helps your brand stand out from other businesses.
Thanks to your dealership’s decision to focus plenty of time on the design process of your automotive direct mailers, you’ll see solid returns on your design-driven investment once your mailers arrive in your customers’ mailboxes.
After working hard on your eye-catching design, you want to ensure that it’s produced with high-quality materials. Think about it: you wouldn’t spend your time planning and sketching out a masterpiece just to draw it on printer paper with a dull pencil, would you? The same is true about your direct mailers.
Fortunately, we have the largest printing facility in the industry. Our state-of-the-art production center uses only the highest of standard when creating your mail. What makes our production studio even better is that most projects can be created and sent to the post office within 72 hours of design approval!
This means your clients will have their hands on your masterpiece in the blink of an eye.
Make it Interactive
These days, customers expect to be delighted with high-tech tools that are personalized to their needs and lifestyles.
So, while you’re putting together your direct mail marketing strategy, consider adding innovative, lead-generating tools that’ll make it even easier for your customers to engage with your business.
For example, Personalized URLs boosts the chances of your clients participating in your offer by directing them to a web address that contains their name. This type of mailer sends a unique URL to your client which often contains their name. After accesses their own landing page, your client will see their name, recent buying history, service reminders, redeemable coupons, or whatever information you want them to have.
Getting mail like this makes clients feel more valued, which can increase your dealership’s positive brand awareness. Additionally, by pleasing your audience with customized information, you’ll improve the chances of your customers opting into your offer. As a result, your dealership will receive a solid return on investment and drive more traffic into your showroom.
Start Direct Mail Marketing with Your Dealership Today!
Nothing beats the feeling of a successful advertising strategy that boosts your dealership’s sales and helps your customers find exactly what they need.
Luckily, the team of marketing masters at Aspen Automotive is here to guide you through the process of creating an effective direct mail marketing strategy by offering innovative data solutions, state-of-the-art direct mail technologies, and customized designs.
To get started, all you have to do is give us a call or send us an email today!
