Email marketing is proven to be one of the most effective
marketing tools in the powersports industry, with average open rates of 20
percent and higher!

Communicating on a regular basis with current and potential
clients is important for any business. Email marketing allows you to connect
easily with your consumers with the click of a button. The success of this
marketing tool is entirely up to you; we see dealers dropping a print ad into
their newsletter and sending it out — it’s time to raise the bar!

Brand Image is Everything

Your custom email newsletter should showcase the
dealership’s unique personality. Set your store apart from your competition and
position your dealership as an industry leader. Customers are more likely to choose you
over other dealers if they recognize your name and have seen your brand logo at
least three times before.

Once you have them in your store or on your site, it is
important to keep customers engaged. Existing customers spend 33 percent more than a
new customer, so it is important to make sure they keep coming back.

Use your email marketing as a tool to:

• Keep
  existing clients informed of upcoming events and promotions
• Establish a
  relationship with potential new buyers
• Provide
  product reviews and information to educate your customers
• Offer
  special discounts to VIPs

Optimizing your newsletter by adding images, videos and
links to your web site and social channels makes the content you are conveying
more interesting for the reader and gives you the opportunity to drive traffic
to the information you want your customers to know about.

Email marketing is an inexpensive way to maintain consistent
contact with your customers at least monthly. Utilize your newsletter to send
out additional communications throughout the month targeted to specific customers.

When signing up for email marketing services, make sure that
you read the fine print and know exactly what you are paying for. Your email
marketing efforts should be cost-effective and based on the number of contacts
you have on your list, not how many communications you send out each month.
Signing up with an unlimited plan allows you the flexibility of communicating
when you want, about what you want.

Defining Custom

Take a look at the email newsletter below. The header has
what is referred to as a “dynamic navigation”; meaning it acts just like the
navigation bar on your homepage does. With one click, interested customers can
be directed to your site without ever touching the keyboard.

The body of your newsletter is customizable as well, with the
ability to go from a simple email communication to a more professional look
with ease by adding content blocks such as:

• Welcome
  message
• Article
  blocks
• Featured
  item
• Quick link’s
• Contact info
• Event
  calendar
• Social links
  and more

 

Adding images and videos to your newsletter is extremely
important and a highly effective way to keep your customers engaged. Make sure
to remember to optimize media with tracking links and image descriptions.  

#1 top priority in email marketing: Don’t get stuck in your
customer’s SPAM folder

Protect your client list and choose an email service that
has a no spam tolerance policy. Many powersports vendors offer email marketing
platforms, however we highly recommend that you utilize services that
specialize in email marketing. Sending emails may sound like a cinch, but in
reality there are many rules and regulations surrounding the process, all of
which result in your email getting stuck in the junk and/or SPAM folder of your
customers Inbox – or worse yet, never reaching the Inbox at all because
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) such as AOL, Hotmail, and others block it due
to vendors incompliance with their strict sending policies.

Here are the questions to ask your email marketing provider:

Are your IP addresses whitelisted?

The IP address is like a phone number that is associated
with the server that sends out your email. If the IP address is whitelisted, it
is approved. If the IP addresses become blacklisted it means your emails never
get sent out!

What is your bounce rate?

Are they hard bounces or soft bounces? Have your provider
explain this in detail – this is critical to the success of your campaign and
your ultimate send rate. For example, a hard bounce means the email was
rejected permanently. A soft bounce means the email was sent but may have
received an “Out of Office” reply message from your customer, therefore it will
be resent at a later time.

Have I received any SPAM complaints?

When utilizing a email marketing provider, your contact list
must be an “opted in list” meaning that your clients granted permission for you
to send them email. If you purchased a list, it is unlikely any legitimate
email service will send it for you because that list places them in jeopardy of
being seen as a spammer and therefore their IP addresses will be banned and/or
blacklisted.

Email statistics are Gold

Most dealers never even look at their email statistics
report. This is like throwing money out the window since what is the point of
sending an email – when you don’t even know if anyone is reading it? Or
receiving it? Or clicking on it? Here is what you need to pay attention to, a
process that should not take you more than an hour a month which is worth every
second.

• How many
  customers received your message
• Who
  Opted-out (the best email providers let you actually see their name and email
  address!)
• Who opened
  your email (again, a bit like spying and very fun, check out exactly who opened
  your message – then add these people to a special VIP list since you now know
  they are engaged.)
• How many
  clicks you received on each one of your links and images
• What information customers clicked on and where the link took them
• Did any customers
  share your newsletter information with their social network? (Time for tweet to
  thank them for literally marketing your dealership for you!)

 

Make your newsletter more effective by viewing the
click-through statistics to help you plan future newsletter content. Through
these statistics you can direct relevant content to the customers you know want
it.

Think outside the box. Consider these topics.

• Exclusive
  online only offers or printable coupon for in store only use
• Show off
  your fun side! Throw in a funny joke, random thought or share a recipe from the
  staff
• Feature your
  customers, new vehicle owners and/or regular visitors to the dealership
• Be creative
  and fun but most of all – be consistent and your success is guaranteed!