6 Ways Auto Dealers Should Be Optimizing Their Email Marketing

Economic uncertainty and fears of a recession are prompting auto dealers to think creatively about their email marketing strategies. This, coupled with low inventory, increasing interest rates, and high prices is creating an environment where connecting the right buyer to the right offer is increasingly difficult. However, we have some good news. We have 6 helpful tips to help you optimize your strategy to hone in on the right audience and find hidden opportunities.

1- Account for how your email is being filtered: Strict SPAM filters, cookie depreciation, and other digital barriers may mean that your email doesn’t reach your audience’s inbox, so your message can’t reach your audience. Make sure your email is optimized digitally to ensure it has the best chance of not being flagged as SPAM. 

2- Identify consumer targets digitally: It is important to know who your target audience is, which should not be hard to decipher. Identifying which of the emails in your database is your target audience is another matter. An effective way to solve this is to have target audience consumer data profiles. These allow you to find who on your prospect email list is similar to your target audience. 

3-Customize email content: Making your message about the customer is a great way to ensure your email resonates with your audience. Data now allows you to customize your content based on known consumer profiles. This makes the message more personal, which can up your chance at getting engagement and one step closer to a deal. 

4- Avoiding market saturation: Targeting can sometimes lead to multiple emails and ads going to the same buyer. We all have had the experience of having looked at a product once, and then gotten 20 emails about it within 24 hours. Data solutions now have the ability to help avoid such saturation, allowing your message to be heard more and not end up as “digital noise.” 

5- Have an email hygiene strategy: Having an accurate, up-to-date, prospecting list can be key to ensuring you are getting the KPIs you want. Solutions are available that can make cleaning up your email prospect list more effective.

6- Adjust based on performance & suppression reports. Depending on the type, cadences should be reviewed at least monthly or quarterly for performance. Keeping up-to-date with these reports can make it easier to see what is working and what is not, given the wealth of data available generating these reports.

Working in the automotive industry you already know how to create awareness of new and existing offerings, then attract potential buyers. The above steps are a great start. However, there is still more dealers can do to benefit even more including: 

• Assisting omni-channel campaign execution 
• Deliver firm offer of credit via email 
• Gain faster response to offers 
• Enhance email targeting and segmentation 
• Optimize marketing budget 
• Boost email hygiene 
• Assist with email deployment 

Equifax solutions can assist in all these email marketing efforts. Make sure your email data is scrubbed regularly to ensure data is accurate & current and ensure compliance with the CAN-SPAM Act, all while targeting the right prospects who are considering buying a vehicle.