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What is Dealership Templated Mail?

In short, dealership templated mail is direct mail that’s specifically designed to reflect your dealership’s brand. Instead of collaborating with your automotive advertising agency to build each mailer from scratch, pre-designed dealership templates give you the ability to modify preset elements, remove old details, and replace the message with fresh copy for your upcoming campaign.

For the most part, dealership direct mail templates come in a variety of formats—from postcards and letters to flyers and more. That way, you’re free to choose the platform that works best for your dealership’s automotive marketing efforts and your customers’ needs.

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Cuts Down on Design Time

Not only does dealership templated mail cut down on creation time, but it also makes it easier for your team to adjust automotive mailers to align with the needs and lifestyles of your various target audiences.

Rather than creating separate mailers that are personalized to each of your target markets, dealership mail templates make it simple for your team to edit the photos, text, colors, graphics, and more of your automotive direct mailers to suit the lifestyles of your customers.

What does that mean for your dealership? It means less time spent crafting your direct mail campaign and more time spent reaping the benefits of this data-driven marketing method.

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Better Layout

More often than not, templated direct mailers are put together by an experienced team of designers from an automotive marketing agency, such as Aspen Automotive.

That means that the structure of your mailers is built to grab attention and keep your consumers interested until they decide to take action.

For instance, templated mailers feature clear, easy-to-spot calls to action—the phrase that drives clients to your dealership—that stand out from the rest of the copy on your dealership’s direct mail, so your buyers will know exactly how to engage with your team.

Likewise, dealership templated mail is designed to put the most important information center stage on your advertisement, like personal URLs (PURLs), QR codes, and other tools that your leads need to participate in your offer.

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Enhanced Performance Analysis

Thanks to your dealership’s pre-built, customized template, you’ll always have a place to incorporate trackable information that helps your team analyze how your campaign performs.

From total cost to sales data and customer response rate, dealership templated mail provides your automotive business with the ability to measure the performance of each direct mail marketing campaign. That way, you can capitalize on the aspects of your strategy that worked best.

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Choose Your Template

As mentioned, one of the great things about templated mail is that the bulk of the work has already been done for you. All you have to do is choose one of the pre-made templates that you think would appeal most to your audience.

From there, you’ll customize the template, so your information is accurate. Once that step is complete, it’s time to decide who’s getting your newly designed direct mail.

 

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Select Your Targeted Area

When you’re sending out direct mail, you want to use data to help see a jump in your profits. There are many different points you can base your mail on. Some of these examples include:

• Demographic
• Zip code
• Household income
• Marital status

For those who want to see even more results, pairing with a data technology company, like Epsilon®, is a great option. Using a data solutions company can help you home in on your target audience, along with the help of tools like Real Time Credit Score Data.

This lets you pull information from a frequently updated list of credit scores, which is perfect for those who are looking to run a pre-approval loan marketing campaign.

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Track Your Results

Now that your mail is created in no time at all with the help of a template, and you have decided where your mail is getting sent to, you can now sit back and watch the benefits roll in. Although, you’ll want to track the results of your mail campaign to determine how successful it was.

You can track the response rate of your campaign for a general idea of its success, or you can determine the return on investment (ROI) for a more detailed look at the results. Both can be calculated using simple equations.

With these equations, you can easily see how well your campaign performed, which is helpful for future campaigns.

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Beyond the Template: Direct Mail Content

A template consistent with your brand starts your dealership direct mail off on the right foot. However, there’s more to success than just the template. The content of your letter matters, too, and we have some tips to ensure your direct mail content is always on point!

1) Benefits in the Headline

We say clever headlines are overrated. Whether it’s an email subject line, the article subheadings on your website, or indeed, a direct mail letter, the most effective way to snag your readers’ attention is the oldest, simplest tactic: State your benefits.

A headline with at least one benefit is more likely to engage your readers and hold their attention long enough, so you can make your offer. It should allude to your most important message—the takeaway you want your readers to have.

2) Perfect Body Copy

We’ll allow that your copy doesn’t have to be perfect, but it must be well written. In the world of direct mail, well written means short, sweet, and to the point.

On top of all that, it must also be compelling. The most effective dealership templated direct mail accomplishes this rare balance by using these strategies:

• Bullet points to communicate benefits (like these!)
• Strong action verbs at the beginning of each bullet
• Get to the point in the first or second sentence

3) Don’t Forget Your CTA

Ah yes, the call to action. Vital for any piece of marketing, but especially essential for automotive direct mail. Your templated mail should guide your reader to the next step with a call to action, or CTA—using on-brand language or slogans if relevant.

You never want to leave your reader guessing as to what their next step forward should be. Let them know exactly what they need to do to take advantage of your offer, whether it’s calling your dealership or signing up for a promotion online.

4) White Space—Lots of It

Visual communication relies on white space—and dealership templated mail is visual right down to its roots. So, embrace the power of white space!

White space makes content more scannable. The reason is simple: It allows readers to digest content bit by bit and sections it off into more legible chunks. An uninterrupted block of text, by contrast, is more likely to turn off and intimidate your audience.

5) Say Yes to Postscripts

Your templated email should leave room for a postscript. The letters “P.S.” are a last-minute opportunity to hammer home your offer and the final words the reader will be exposed to, so make them count! Emphasize your message one last time.

Interestingly, the postscript is also one of the first items readers tend to look at. Because it is set away from the rest of the copy—appearing after the signature—it makes a stronger visual impression. We call that a double whammy!

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