There was a time when an effective direct mail campaign or an ad in the newspaper would drive enough consumers to your dealership to keep the salespeople busy from open to close. Things have changed, however, and the effectiveness of direct mail and newspaper advertising is on the wane as new forms of advertising, such as email blasts and text messaging take their place. Dealers were unsurprisingly skeptical of these new forms of advertising that came with the communications revolution, but as new companies and technology have emerged it has become increasingly clear that dealers need to embrace the communications revolution in order to succeed.

 

One reason that many dealers have continued to use direct mail even though email blasts are more cost effective is the ability to target your direct mail pieces. Fortunately, as technology has progressed, companies have come to the forefront with targetable email lists. One company, Advertising Concept Enterprises, has a new product called Market Blaster with lists that can target:

 

1.       General addresses of persons 18 and older

 

2.       Homeowners

 

3.       Parents

 

4.       Males 18 to 30, males 30 plus

 

5.       Females 18 to 30, females 30 plus

 

6.       Small to mid size businesses

 

7.       Household incomes over or under $100,000

 

A question often asked is how reliable are the lists? This is a reasonable concern, but these lists in fact are very reliable as they are developed from data gathered by credit card companies and sold to various data resellers as part of an email opt-in program.

 

While it’s true that some direct mail lists are more targetable than this, the cost of an email blast is significantly less expensive than a direct mail blast, there is no limit on the number of emails you can send (50,000 or 250,000 it’s up to you), the results are directly measurable, and there are other benefits too.

 

The results of dealership advertising are typically measured by the number of sales or leads directly attributed to the form of advertising used by the individual dealer. This method, however, is shortsighted. A great number of dealers spend their ad budgets on expensive advertising, such as billboards and television ads, but are unable to attribute any sales directly to them. Usually, name recognition is the only result. Using a program such as Market Blaster to do email blasts, a dealer can get two results: name recognition coupled with an offer to sell. Both are measurable, because the dealer will be able to track the number of visits to his website as well as leads generated through an offer in the campaign. And better measurability leads to a greater return on investment.

 

The effectiveness of email blasts has also increased as email blast providers have fine-tuned their approach and figured out what consumers need to see in order to convince them to respond. One lesson Advertising Concept Enterprises has learned has been that it is all about the offer generated as far as lead generation is concerned. In order for the ad to be viewed on an extensive basis, there must be a good offer to sell. This is what peaks consumers’ interests and leads to a greater number of looks and responses.

 

Advertising Concept Enterprises is also working on techniques to make consumers feel more comfortable giving out their personal information online, which has been an issue with many consumers. If you would like to hear more about email blasts and how they could benefit your company contact Denny Inboden at 817-729-4700.