Best Email Marketing Practices

Email Marketing

When you’re looking to start an automotive marketing campaign for your dealership, there are many options. One of these options is to utilize email marketing. Although, with individuals receiving over 100 emails a day, how are you supposed to make yours stand out?

At Aspen Automotive, we’ve mastered the art of email marketing and want to share this knowledge with you. In this reference guide, we’ll discuss the best email marketing practices so you can see the best ROI for your dealership. Let’s get started!

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What is Email Marketing?

email marketing Email marketing is a form of internet or digital marketing that includes sending emails to individuals. It’s a fast and relatively inexpensive form of marketing that lets consumers know of dealership updates, your products and services, and more.

Email marketing is one of the most popular forms of marking. What makes email marketing so popular? Here are three reasons email marketing is a favorite when it comes to marketing:

  1. Accessible anywhere: Gone are the days of sitting down at a desk and reading through all your emails. Thanks to smartphones, email is accessible anytime, anywhere. Many people have their email set up on their phone to receive instant notifications when an email is delivered.
  2. Instant delivery: Unlike with other forms of marketing, email marketing is immediately sent to the recipient. There’s no delivery delay. As soon as you’re ready launch your campaign, it will take only seconds to reach the recipients.
  3. Customizable options: Thousands of emails are sent each day. Email marketing gives you the freedom to customize your campaign, attract the eye of the recipient, and stand out from the crowd.

Typically, email marketing campaigns are sent through a contact list. These can be created through newsletters, eBooks, and other content that requires potential customers to fill out a form with their contact information. Doing this lessens the risk of being marked as spam.

The purpose of email marketing is to grow a relationship with your target audience.

Email Marketing Trends

The world of email marketing is ever changing. Financial and cultural events play a major role in influencing marketing strategies. That’s why it’s important to always stay on top of some of the trends in the marketing industry.

Let’s take a look at some of the most common trends in email marketing and how you can alter your campaign to align with these trends!

Personalization is Key

Email MarketingPeople crave human interaction and connections. Personalizing the email campaigns is a great way to make this connection with potential customers without meeting face to face. Personalization is a simple as adding thank you and welcome emails. You can also add the recipient’s name to the email to make it feel personal.

Another way you can personalize your emails is through embracing empathy. Try to better understand your customer’s pain points, their buying journey, and aim to understand them better. All of this can help build a stronger relationship.

Know When Enough is Enough: When to Send Emails

With email marketing being such a popular choice, individuals may feel overwhelmed with the number of emails they receive a day. Prepare for time-sensitive emails that provide last-minute updates about your dealership if need be, but also know when the best time is to send your non-urgent content.

Experts say that emails sent at 11 a.m. have the highest open rate.1 But that doesn’t mean that’s the best time to send your emails. Your audience may do better with early-morning or late-night emails. Find the time that works best for your dealership.

How to Send Effective Marketing Emails

Now’s the time to put these trends to the test and create your own marketing campaign. But you want a campaign that brings in results, so how do you send effective emails to your clients?

Thankfully, it’s just as easy as sending an email to an old friend. As recommended, you’ll want to be personable in your email, but also have a reason for sending the email.

Perhaps you’re informing your audience about all the new vehicles coming to your inventory over the next few weeks, or maybe you’re sending a list of service specials to expect in the upcoming month.

Once you’ve decided what content you’re sharing with your audience, you’ll want to refer back to your contact list. Now’s the time to decide if you want to send a mass email to everyone on your contact list or if you want to segment your list for an even more targeted campaign.

Segmented contact lists essentially are just smaller groups within your lists. Some examples of email marketing segments your list may have include:

  • Credit Data Average income
  • Credit scores
  • Age
  • Marital status

By segmenting, you can more specifically tune your emails to your audience. For example, individuals with lower credit scores could receive mail about your flexible financing programs.

Best Email Marketing Practices

Now that you have a better idea of what email marketing is and how you send emails, let’s take a look at some of the best email marketing practices so your dealership can see the best results!

Avoid ‘No-Reply’ Email Addresses

When you send emails to recipients on your contact list, they reserve the right to opt out of your emails at any time. When ‘no-reply’ is the sender, it prevents the recipient from replying to your email or opting out.

Having a sender like noreplay@yourdealership.com is against the CAN-SPAM legislation, which could result in legal actions.

Keep Calls to Action Above the Fold

The term above the fold refers to the age of newspapers. When the newspaper was folded, you wanted the most important information to fall above that fold line. That way the readers would see it, even if they didn’t open the newspaper.

In terms of email marketing, this area refers to the top 200-250 px of your email.

Use Incentives

The bottom line is that people like stuff, especially when it’s free. So, including an incentive in your subject line—like “Save $100 Now” or “Free Oil Change with Purchase”—can increase open rates by up to 50 percent.

Start Your Email Marketing Campaign Today

Are you ready to increase your dealership’s sales by adding an email marketing campaign into the mix? If so, let the experts at Aspen Automotive make this a simplified process. Curious to learn more? To start your email marketing campaign, simply give us a call or send an email today!

 

1https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/best-time-send-email-report-2015?=&_ga=2.141218610.1693432634.1531769354-1791073514.1499368195