How Email Marketing Will Help You Make the Most of Memorial Day
Memorial Day Weekend is just around the corner, and May vehicle sales are projected to be higher than ever. According to NADA’s Annual Data Report, May took the lead in the race for monthly new-vehicle sales last year.
Plus, new-vehicle sales were up 11.4% from May 2013 to May 2014. If this trend continues, May 2015 should be the biggest month of the year for sales, and Memorial Day Weekend might just be the perfect weekend to make those sales happen.
Are your marketing efforts taking advantage of this forecast?
To make sure you’re ready to maximize Memorial Day 2015, you need the right tools and the right showroom traffic – at the right cost. Enter email marketing. It’s inexpensive, fast, and flexible, and we also believe it to be the best solution for bringing in more Memorial Day traffic.
Here are 3 reasons why:
1. You can creatively engage your customers
Every email your dealership sends to customers is an excellent opportunity for you to interact with them. Some general rules to follow when designing your email campaign include highlighting the vehicle deals you are currently offering, nailing the subject line, and making sure your call-to-action and contact information are highly visible.
But to take full advantage of Memorial Day Weekend’s high new-vehicle sales, you need to work harder to stand out from the crowd and truly engage your customers.
Incorporate the red, white, and blue into your email design, but use it in an original way to differentiate it from the other B2C emails your prospects are receiving. We also recommend getting creative with your offers, such as including an exclusive email incentive like a coupon graphic that promises buyers 12 free oil changes.
Remember that Memorial Day is about honoring those who have given their life to secure our freedom and protect our country. Write a few words in remembrance and gratitude, and include them on any of your marketing materials related to the holiday to establish yourself as a company that shares the same values as your customers.
Seek to benefit your community and position your dealership as an altruistic force in the neighborhood. Promote campaigns about your dealership wanting to make sure every veteran memorial has a flag or flower on it, hosting a cookout, or sponsoring a Memorial Statue or plaque in your hometown.
2. You can reach the right audiences at the right time
According to Pew Research Center, 53% of Americans used their mobile devices in May 2013 to go online and check their email, which positions email marketing as a great way to reach consumers on their mobile devices this May.
And to make sure your emails are reaching the right target, you can use in-market data to send email to actual car shoppers in your area, which will help you bring more genuinely interested Memorial Day traffic into your showroom.
You can send your email more than once, without breaking the bank
To ensure that your dealership is at the forefront of your Memorial Day shopper’s mind, we suggest an email drip campaign (a sequence of emails designed to be sent over a narrow course of time).
A successful email drip campaign involves two things:
- Highly relevant content messages that are sent to individuals who have expressed interest in the subject matter of your email and offer true value to the customer so that they look forward to reading emails from you.
- Carefully timed delivery of emails to avoid overloading the customer with information too frequently, or losing customers’ attention by being too infrequent or too unpredictable.
Learn more about choosing the right email frequency for your drip campaign in this article: 4 Questions To Guide Your Dealership’s Email Frequency
To really maximize your sales this May, you should be positioning your drip campaign around Memorial Day Weekend. We recommend a hype campaign at least two weeks before, a reminder campaign the week of, and a “last call” email immediately after.
Written By Brooke Jensen
Brooke handles all of Dealers United’s digital marketing. In addition to her love for design and copy, Brooke also adores her two dog-like kittens, playing the electric violin, and walking barefoot around the office.
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