As a marketing manager or an owner of an auto dealership, there are ways to increase your return on investment and reach your target audience. Direct mail marketing may be the answer! On average, dealerships spend 16% of their advertising budgets on digital channels, but research shows that personalized direct mail marketing can deliver a much higher ROI. With direct mail, you can send targeted messages to potential customers, track the performance of your campaigns, and even supplement your online, radio, and television ads. Direct mail is an affordable and effective way to market your dealership and stand out from the competition.
The Power of Direct Mail Marketing in the Automotive Industry
When it comes to reaching your target audience and driving sales, automotive direct mail marketing is a powerful tool that shouldn’t be overlooked. In fact, research has shown that personalized direct mail can deliver a much higher return on investment for auto dealerships compared to digital channels. But what makes automotive direct mail marketing so effective? Let’s take a look at some stats:
- Response rates for direct mail are significantly higher compared to other advertising channels. According to the Data & Marketing Association, the response rate for direct mail to a prospect list is 5.1%, compared to just 0.6% for email. This means that direct mail has the potential to generate more leads and attract new car buyers.
- Direct mail allows for a personalized approach. With automotive direct mail marketing, you can tailor your message to specific segments of your audience. By analyzing data and targeting individuals who are likely to be interested in your dealership, you can create highly targeted campaigns that resonate with potential customers.
- Automotive direct mail marketing can also complement your other advertising channels. By combining direct mail with your online, radio, and television ads, you can create a cohesive and multi-channel marketing strategy that reaches your audience differently. This helps to reinforce your brand and increase the likelihood of conversions.
Why Automotive Direct Mail Marketing Works for Dealerships
Direct mail marketing allows dealerships to specifically target customers within a certain geographical radius. This is especially beneficial for attracting local customers who may not be as responsive to online or digital advertising. Direct mail can also be used as a supplemental marketing strategy to reach customers who are already engaging with the dealership’s regular paid digital channels.
By combining digital and direct mail campaigns, dealerships can reinforce their messaging and increase the likelihood of conversions. Furthermore, direct mail provides an opportunity for dealerships to send personalized offers and messages to potential customers. Whether it’s targeting individuals interested in electric vehicles or families in need of a larger vehicle, direct mail allows for highly targeted and tailored campaigns that resonate with recipients.
Another advantage of automotive direct mail marketing is its ability to target customers based on income. This enables dealerships to promote both new and used inventory to individuals within specific income brackets, ensuring that their message reaches the right audience.
The Benefits of Using Direct Mail in Conjunction with Other Advertising Channels
Direct mail is a powerful advertising tool on its own, but when used with other advertising channels, it offers even greater benefits for auto dealerships. The high response rates of direct mail can supplement the conversion rates from paid search and social media advertising. By reaching potential customers through multiple channels, you increase the likelihood of capturing their attention and driving them to take action. Direct mail can serve as a reminder or reinforcement of your online advertising efforts, ensuring that your message stays top-of-mind.
A direct mail campaign can reinforce the trust and credibility that an auto dealership has established through its strong online presence. When customers receive a personalized direct mail piece from a dealership they are already familiar with, it enhances their perception of the brand and increases their likelihood of engaging with the offer.
Your direct mailing list can also be used in your online advertising campaign to create custom audiences and segments. By targeting individuals who have already shown an interest in your dealership through their response to a direct mail campaign, you can optimize your online advertising spend and increase the effectiveness of your overall marketing strategy.
By combining the power of direct mail with your other advertising channels, you can maximize the reach and impact of your marketing efforts. Automotive advertising is all about creating a comprehensive and cohesive strategy that resonates with your target audience, and direct mail plays a crucial role in achieving that goal.
Identifying and Targeting Your Ideal Audience with Direct Mail Campaigns
To effectively reach your target audience and drive sales, it’s crucial to identify and target your ideal audience with your direct mail campaigns. This means understanding the needs and preferences of car buyers, as well as the type of customers who bring their vehicles in for service and repairs.
One way to target your audience is by utilizing customer demographics. This includes factors such as age, gender, household income, marital status, geographical location, and whether they use their vehicles for recreational or commercial purposes. By identifying these key demographics, you can tailor your messaging and offers to resonate with specific groups of potential customers.
Developing an automotive target market strategy is another effective approach. This involves analyzing your customer data, such as purchase history and customer behavior, to identify patterns and preferences. With this information, you can create personalized campaigns that speak directly to the needs and desires of different consumer segments.
Targeted audience marketing works because it allows you to cater your messaging to individuals based on what you already know about them. This makes your campaigns more relevant and compelling, increasing the likelihood of engagement and conversion.
Many dealerships have found success through targeted advertising, which is why it continues to be a widely used strategy. By leveraging automotive direct mail marketing to identify and target your ideal audience, you can ensure that your messages are reaching the right car buyers at the right time, ultimately driving growth for your dealership.
Types of Personalized Direct Mail Campaigns That Might Work Well For Auto Dealerships
Leasing Opportunities
According to Kelly Blue Book, the number of people who lease a car has dropped to 19% in 2022 from 34% in 2019. However, leasing is still a very attractive means for cash-savvy individuals to drive a new vehicle without sinking a lot of money into a new car payment. Here are some ways to target these people:
- Target areas that are upper middle class, yet are close enough to urban areas where individuals might not pile miles on their vehicles.
- Look for individuals who are single or married but with no children. These might be people who want a newer vehicle but don’t have quite enough money for a huge downpayment or monthly payment.
- Social media sources, like LinkedIn, might also let you find contact information for people who have enough income to lease a new vehicle, but not quite enough income to afford a brand-new vehicle.
- Our proprietary platform includes integration with Mapfire to help you target the right people for your direct mail campaign.
Trade-In Offers
Trade-in offers will likely apply to people who are very frivolous with their income. As a rule of thumb, a person’s price tag for a vehicle should be about 35% of their annual income. Someone who makes $50,000 per year can afford a $17,000 vehicle. So if you are targeting by income, people in the $40,000 to $70,000 per year bracket might be a perfect fit for a direct mail campaign that is personalized towards trade-ins.
Send Your Direct Mail Campaigns During the Best Car Buying Times
There are certain times of the year when it is ideal to buy a new vehicle. The final months of the year are traditionally good for direct mail because you likely want to move the current model year inventory off your lot. Any three-day weekend is also a good opportunity for your dealership to start planning a direct mail campaign. For example, Memorial Day is on a Monday. The preceding Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday would get the best response rate for your direct mail campaign.
Work With Every Door Direct Mail® For Your Direct Mail Marketing Efforts
Your dealership can benefit from direct mail marketing. Our platform can help you plan and execute your campaign from start to finish. And, best of all, it’s affordable. You can send 50,000 postcards for fliers at just $.29 per household, reaching your target audience and maximizing your ROI.
