Member Article

Winter Opportunity To Reach Out

Winter gives car dealerships a perfect chance to engage with potential customers, according to direct marketing expert Tony Kemp.

Tony, the brains behind Hello Market, the leading online direct mail tool, said: “A mailshot with advice on winter motoring and a special offer for seasonal vehicle checks is an effective way of connecting with customers.

“Dealerships can target individual customers with relevant messages for their age group and mobility needs. So whether they have a young family, clock higher mileage and so tend to get through more tyres, or are customers who have expressed an interest in changing their car to a 4x4, each can be sent a mailshot which is pertinent to them.

“Personal and relevant communications can contain really useful individual advice and makes the customer feel loved and so more likely to use that dealership. All a great mailshot needs is a good hook and the effective use of the data available to make it a much greater success.”

Tony had more hints and advice for dealerships looking to improve their communications:

Personalise everything possible. Hello Market allows communications to be individualised to a previously unknown level – make the most of this and the available data to speak directly to each potential customer. Remember research suggests that 80 per cent of direct mail is more likely to be opened if it is personalised. (1)

Think about the images. Match the sort of picture to the profile of the customer. For example, a family car to someone likely to have small children or a 4x4 to a rural address.

Make it easy for your branches and sales personnel to create their own mailshots to keep in touch with customers. Head office or marketing can create and control the templates that are in Hello Market allowing branch managers to simply add client data to individualise the mailshot.

Use data insights to identify opportunities for communications to enhance customer loyalty. These range from the obvious – the anniversary of a customer’s previous new car purchase, a new/ improved model launch, a service visit – to the more thoughtful soft touch to keep you front of mind such as a birthday card.

Tony added: “Think strategically around your customer. You know a lot about these people – use that knowledge to target offers and campaigns which are much more likely to bring business your way. The data varies the communication, offers and images automatically, so making it simple to do multiple campaigns cost effectively all at once.

“It is now entirely possible for small dealerships as well as big firms to customise direct mail right down to the individual letter, offers, and images without the need for big print runs. This levels the playing field allowing all dealerships to communicate one-to-one every single day as there are no minimum print runs or charges. If dealers want to mail just a few people each day – then they can do so hassle free and extremely cost effectively.”

DMP’s Hello Market platform allows businesses of all sizes to create tailored, personalised, dynamic printed direct mail campaigns. Pictures and offers are all driven by the data and one data file can be used to create one campaign with unlimited possibilities. Hello Market software is free to use online and users only pay for what they print and mail. There are no set up costs and no minimum run charges, so it’s ideal for every organisation to use for some or all of its communications requirements.

-ends-

(1) DMA 2015 Response Rate Report

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by DMP .