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13 November 2024
Automotive Email Marketing: What is it and Why is it Important?
EUROCOC team
13 November 2024
10 min read
Automotive email marketing is a very important element of the digital promotion strategy for car dealers, essential to build strong relationships with their customers and to turn potential buyers into actual customers, thus gaining a competitive advantage in the market.
In this article, we will look in more detail at the significant importance of email marketing for car brands and dealers, analysing how different email campaigns can be adapted to meet various needs and objectives.
Before delving into this topic, it is important to note that if your car dealer offers the possibility of purchasing vehicles imported from other European countries, it is essential to include the certificate of conformity among the documentation provided at the time of purchase.
This certificate is, in fact, necessary for the Motorizzazione Civile in order to proceed with the registration of the vehicle, thus allowing it to circulate legally in Italy for an indefinite period. An efficient and fast way to obtain this document is through the service proposed by our EUROCOC portal, which allows you to submit your request conveniently online and receive the certificate directly by courier within a few working days.
What is Automotive Email Marketing?
Automotive email marketing is a specific branch of digital marketing that focuses on promoting automotive products and services by sending emails.
This strategy is particularly effective for car dealers, as it allows them to send personalised communications to potential or existing customers with the aim of increasing sales, improving loyalty and keeping buyers up-to-date on the latest offers, new model arrivals and after-sales services offered by the car show itself.
According to research by Statista, there are currently 4 billion people using email on a daily basis and it is estimated that this number will increase to as many as 4.6 billion by 2025.
Why is Automotive Email Marketing Important for Dealers?
After a general understanding of what automotive email marketing is, let’s now take a more in-depth look at the specific benefits a car dealer can gain from implementing these campaigns.
1 Bringing More Traffic to Your Car Show Website
Email newsletter campaigns are an effective way to increase visits to your website: as prices, models and promotions change frequently, sending email updates can motivate your audience to check for news directly within your portal.
2 Encourage Customers to Take Action
When a person is considering buying a car, they don’t usually just visit a dealership and directly conclude a purchase. Rather, they need to be encouraged or ‘convinced’ to take an action.
Email marketing campaigns are, in this respect, excellent tools to further motivate customers to take such action, which may include visiting the dealership, seeking further details on leasing plans, exploring available financing options, or asking about various editions and packages available for the chosen car model.
3 Increasing Revenue Through Cross-Selling
Vehicles represent significant purchases and buyers are often interested in purchasing additional products that can enhance or increase the functionality of their chosen model.
Using automotive email marketing, dealers can increase their revenues by offering insurance packages, incentivising the purchase of options and promoting newer models.
4 Best Channel for Communications
Email is an excellent medium for interacting with both current and former customers due to its personal nature and relatively low cost. Consider, in fact, how expensive it would be to communicate with each customer by phone or to have dedicated sales staff to perform this action.
Furthermore, for dealers who operate across multiple locations, it is extremely advantageous to have a single email database for all customers and to use this tool to send communications.
What types of email campaigns can be sent?
Automotive email marketing allows for a wide range of campaigns, some of which can be fully automated and triggered based on certain actions taken by users, while others can be designed according to specific objectives.
Welcome Emails
Welcome emails play a fundamental role in any email marketing strategy, as it is during this phase that customer interest is at its peak.
The objective of these communications is to make a positive first impression and offer a memorable experience to new subscribers, encouraging them to maintain a lasting bond with the brand.
These welcome campaigns can also be configured to be sent automatically through the email marketing platform. Simply create them once and then set up an automation that is triggered every time a new subscriber joins your contact list through sign-up forms or pop-ups on your dealership’s website.
Welcome emails usually thank subscribers for their interest and invite them to find out more about the brand by going directly to the car show’s online portal, with a clearly visible and easily accessible call to action (CTA) button.
Promotional Emails
Promotional emails form a very important part of the communications sent out by car companies.
These campaigns can relate to the launch of new models, offers on inspections or maintenance services at favourable prices, invitations for test drives and promotions on after-sales products.
For this type of communication, it is crucial to use personalisation to ensure that the message is as impactful as possible for the recipient. For example, if a customer has shown interest in a certain type of car via the dealer’s website, such as a sedan, the newsletter sent to them should focus on that type of vehicle rather than an SUV, in order to be more relevant and effective.
Online Surveys
Online surveys are extremely beneficial for any business, as they provide valuable data on customer opinions. These tools can also provide suggestions for possible improvements or highlight less satisfying aspects of the experiences of those who have visited the dealership.
To create a survey, there are various platforms such as Typeform or SurveyMonkey that can be easily integrated into email campaigns.
In addition, online surveys can be used to gather information about customers’ preferences before they make a purchase, providing salespeople with useful data to refine their sales techniques.
Service Reminder Emails
Another type of automotive email marketing campaign useful for maintaining your brand visibility are maintenance reminders for previously purchased vehicles.
These types of communications are not perceived as ‘promotional’ and show customers that their satisfaction is important to you. They are reminders to carry out periodic checks, scheduled oil changes and maintenance appointments.
It is important to consider that some car owners may not remember when it is time to service their vehicle. Consequently, many will be ready to book an appointment directly via the action button in your email as soon as they receive the notification.
Therefore, it is essential to simplify the process as much as possible: a clear action button (CTA), an attractive image and a text inciting action are the best choice for the content of the message to be sent in this case.
Updates and technical reminders
Sometimes, car recalls are necessary for maintenance or updates, and dealers can inform owners of this situation by sending personalised emails instead of phone calls.
This method is also effective for communicating the need for vehicle technology upgrades, as is often the case with Tesla or Mercedes brands, for example.
5 Tips for Improving Your Automotive Email Marketing Strategy
Having understood what different types of automotive email marketing campaigns dealers can use, let’s now look at what strategies your car showroom can implement to improve the whole process.
1 Collect Email Subscriptions
To get started with automotive email marketing, you first need to collect the email addresses of potential customers.
An easy way to do this is to place a newsletter subscription form on the dealership’s website.
We also recommend adopting the double opt-in method, which requires users to confirm their willingness to receive your emails.
This method helps keep your list clean and reduces the number of unsubscriptions, ensuring that your subscribers are genuinely interested in receiving your communications.
You can also use social media to expand your email list. For example, you can create ads on Facebook or Twitter in order to attract new customers and collect additional email addresses.
2 Segment your Contact List
Effective automotive email marketing requires you to customise communications for your subscribers.
To do this, you need to segment your email list using information gathered through sign-up forms and direct interactions with your brand.
The customisation of your email campaigns depends on the information you have in your CRM about your subscribers. You can segment your list based on, for example:
- Demographic data such as age, gender and location.
- Specific interests, such as favourite car models.
- Purchase history and purchase intentions.
- Preferences on the type of emails subscribers want to receive.
Also consider differentiating new prospects from regular customers to further refine your communication strategies.
3 Keep your list clean and up-to-date
In the field of email marketing for car dealers, it is common for some customers to change their email address. It is important, therefore, to remove old addresses from your list in order to prevent problems such as high bounce rates when receiving communications.
The first step is to check regularly for undelivered emails.
Another good practice is to set up an automation system that can help keep your contact list clean. For example, you can set up a system that automatically removes those who do not interact with your emails for an extended period of time.
4 Create Attractive Email Headers
The email subject line is key to attracting attention and increasing the open rate of your campaigns. To ensure that your email is opened, the subject line must be intriguing.
According to research published on HubSpot’s blog, the most effective email subject lines are those that arouse curiosity, present promotional offers and are tailored to the specific interests of each recipient.
You could also include emoji that relate to the automotive industry, but in moderation to avoid looking like spam. Another strategy is to make the subject matter slightly mysterious, perhaps hinting at special offers or discounts.
Remember, however, to always be clear about what the recipient will find within the email and to be transparent about the content.
5 Optimise Campaigns for Mobile Devices
With more and more people reading emails on their mobile devices, it is crucial to ensure that your email campaigns are optimised for smartphones and tablets.
Today, almost half of all emails are opened on these devices, so if your communications are not easily readable on mobile, you could lose important contacts.
In this situation, subscribers might ignore your messages or even worse unsubscribe from your mailing list. Fortunately, most email marketing services allow you to create responsive communications and give you the opportunity to preview how your communications will look on mobile devices before sending.
It is also useful to send a test email to make sure your campaign displays well on different platforms before reaching all your subscribers.
Automotive email marketing is an essential tool for car dealers wishing to improve customer engagement and increase sales.
By customising campaigns, keeping the contact list up-to-date and optimising emails for mobile devices, car dealers can make the most of this powerful dealer marketing channel to build lasting relationships and efficiently promote their products and services.
