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Email Marketing Products - recommendations?

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J

jmoses

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Apr 30, 2010
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Joe
#1
I wanted to get some opinions on the various email marketing solutions available out there. Popular companies I've seen from searching the forum seem to be Constant Contact and MailChimp, But the threads I found seem to be older. Jeff seemed to have overall positive words for Constant contact back in 2010. Has any dealer been recently using CC, Mailchimp, or something similar that they could share their results with? I know the success of any marketing product depends largely on how each dealer uses them, especially after reading Alex's article on opt-in email marketing.


We don't necessarily want to just blast our whole database every time, so it would be nice for the product to have the ability to tap into the DMS and filter our audience as needed (I'm assuming most would have this ability?). Also, are there products you've found that make it easier than others to import your own targeted List exported from the CRM or DMS?


Any feedback/opinions appreciated!
 
#2
MailChimp > The Rest. We harvest all CRM e-mails, throw them in mailchimp, let users unsubscribe as they see fit. Every month add new list ontop of existing list, ie. new sales, new service customers, etc. Plus we have a sign up for our newsletter CTA on the website and we get about 15 people added a month from it. We can do the same thing with our CRM, but it's e-mail software really really lacks.
 
#3
There is another thread on the forums here that have quite a bit of feedback in regards to different email management/marketing services.

There are several email marketing companies you can use outside of our industry but you loose any integration to your CRM/DMS.

Email Marketing Software from Bronto
Email Marketing Solutions from Constant Contact
Email Marketing Software, Email Newsletters and Autoresponders by AWeber
HTML Email Marketing from MailChimp
Email Marketing and Social Media Marketing Software - iContact -- just acquired by Vocus

Anymore, most services provide the ability to segment your lists by any defined category.

This also depends if you're looking for Do IT Yourself or considering the option of having someone manage your lists while also designing your email marketing pieces.

I'll throw 1to1News and AutoRevenue into the mix here. Malinda with 1to1News offers a newsletter service but she also provides targeted campaigns based on engagement behavior with the newsletter - My dealers have been extremely satisfied customer of Malinda's for awhile now. AutoRevenue is geared more towards the service retention side but could be a consideration.

Take a look at 3Birds - they too have a very impressive newsletter / email marketing service.
 
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#4
We are about to start with Driving Loyalty. One of the best concepts I've seen. They provide equity marketing with a monthly email message containing the customer's current trade value and what the payment would be on a new model(s). Everything is personalized for each customer.
 
#5
Jeff Kershner said:
There are several email marketing companies you can use outside of our industry but you loose any integration to your CRM/DMS.
Click to expand...

It's really is a shame that some DMS/CRM companies don't integrate with those email marketing companies such as MailChimp, CC, AWeb, etc.. Most of those companies have API's that can integrate into other CRM's like SalesForce and SugarCRM. They are email marketing companies; they provide a solid, yet innovative platform for running email campaigns. That's what they do, and they probably do it the best. Why not lean on them instead of re-inventing the wheel?
 
#6
At one point Autobase CRM (yup, Autobase) had a light integration with ExactTarget. This integration allowed us to stand out with our email marketing efforts when I was with MileOne. I'd assume they still offer this integration.
 
#7
Email marketing has come a long way in the automotive industry. As Mr. Kershner kindly mentioned, one of the most experienced players in email marketing is @utoRevenue (now part of Dominion Dealer Solutions Marketing Services) and I've been a part of that legacy for about 4 years now.

So email marketing comes in many different flavors, most simply categorized by the following:

a) those programs that dealers administer themselves
b) those programs that dealers rely on a 3rd party to administer

To administer an email marketing program you need 3 components:
1) a list
2) some creative
3) a sending engine

You can combine all or a few of these into one platform to get the job done but all must be of good quality to be successful. Your list can come from a CRM, your DMS, or a 3rd party but ideally that list is maintained for opt-ins. Creative can be as simple and templated as a Constant Contact campaign or as customized as your resources allow... simple html skills can go a long way. Last, a GREAT sending engine is an absolute necessity - many use 3rd party providers like an Exact Target (used by Autobase) or a MailChimp, or dozens of other commercial providers.

To rely on a 3rd party to administer, you need the same components but those will be provided by the 3rd party so you may have to do nothing more than pick up your phone once or twice a month, request a campaign proof, answer some targeting questions, and approve a campaign within 48 hours... most dealers we see prefer this method (including Mr. Kershner back in the day) given their extensive demands within the walls of the dealership.

Ask yourself what resources and tools you have to manage #1, #2, and #3 and you likely have an answer to which program is best for you, either (a) or (b).

Great companies should offer solutions to address either full or self-service solutions, such as Dominion Dealer Solutions, and should be willing to work with dealers to educate them about sound email marketing goals and methods to meet them.
 
#9
As far as email marketing for dealerships goes, Dominion is the best. Not only do they do all of the work for you (creating the campaigns, targeting your database, etc.) but you also get superior reporting. I worked for Dominion for two years, and always saw value in the reports but it was not until I started working at a dealership that I realized how unique & beneficial they were. I have yet to find a vendor who can provide the reports and the consultation that Dominon and the @utoRevenue team do.
 
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