I have not found a great company to get a list from. The concept makes complete sense to me but I hear so many bad things from people that I am not sure what direction to go in terms of conquest. We do conquest direct mail all of the time and it has a great ROI for our store when the piece is right. I would think that e-mail could be even better if it is done right.
I agree completely with your statement about e-mail marketing working. Many dealerships still missing it.
I use Mac Pages to create my own content and probably do two e-mail blasts each week on average. I use them to market my people, my place, and my brand. When you review the CRM each month and look at sold customers, a very large percentage are either retained previous customers who get our e-mail or they are 120 day plus old leads who get our e-mail but have fallen off of "intense follow up" by our internet department.
It's a lot like outbound phone calls, they need to have a purpose. I always hyperlink the graphics to an appropriate web page and some of the items I do on a regular basis are:
* Monthly newsletter personalized from customers salesperson ( I design and send on their behalf).
* Manufacturer themed promotions that tie into national advertising "Ford Truck Month", "Toyota Saved By Zero", etc.
* Service promotions (great retention tool. If they aren't getting it from you they ARE getting it from Valvoline).
* E-mails about upcoming community events that our dealership is involved with. ( We are big on concert promotion and sponsorship and leveraging on our events to raise money for American Cancer Society, National Childrens Cancer Society and Fallen Soldiers. I use our e-mail blasts to spread the word!)
* I also do tailored campaigns to people who own or have expressed interest in certain vehicles. An example would be letting all of my 2008 and newer Ford Escape owners know that there is a good chance we can upgrade them to a remaining 2012 and lower their payment given the current programs.
These are all very inexpensive branding opportunities to people who either have been interested or are interested. Good luck with finding a good local list. Please share if you have any luck!