Newsletters

[JesseJ]

My owner would like us to send out a newsletter each month. Apparently they had one in the past before I was here and had minimal results.

Does anyone have any experience or results with newsletters. What type of content should be included. Should you be hitting your whole database?

I have had a little success with bulk mail in general in the three months I've been here, but we don't necessarily have a formal process in place. I'm not sure what to send out a mass email about if we don't have any specials or promotions going or new incentives.

Just looking for kind of general advice. Thanks in advance.

 

[Jerry Thibeau]

If working in a dealership my newsletter would look like this:

1. Feature article about a vehicle with pictures and links back to your website (specials page).
2. Article about a service, such as how to properly detail your car. With a link back to a service special for those who don't want to do it themselves.
3. Article about your dealerships charitable activities for that month with photos.
4. Dealership wish list. List some vehicles that the dealership is currently looking to purchase for the pre-owned lot. Have a link to your online appraisal tool.
5. Article about any upcoming sales or promotions.
6. Feature article about a customer. Perhaps you sell a car to a person that owns a business, do a little article about that person and their business and include a coupon.
7. Recognize your employee of the month.
8. Video links for any of the above.

That's all I can think of for now. Speaking of newsletters, I need to get cracking on mine. If you'd like to sign up for my newsletter, you can do so here: Phone Ninjas Newsletter Just register for Ninja Tools and you'll be on our mailing list.

 

[Jason]

If working in a dealership my newsletter would look like this:

1. Feature article about a vehicle with pictures and links back to your website (specials page).
2. Article about a service, such as how to properly detail your car. With a link back to a service special for those who don't want to do it themselves.
3. Article about your dealerships charitable activities for that month with photos.
4. Dealership wish list. List some vehicles that the dealership is currently looking to purchase for the pre-owned lot. Have a link to your online appraisal tool.
5. Article about any upcoming sales or promotions.
6. Feature article about a customer. Perhaps you sell a car to a person that owns a business, do a little article about that person and their business and include a coupon.
7. Recognize your employee of the month.
8. Video links for any of the above.

#8 For Sure. Every month we send out a newsletter for our entire group that includes pretty much everything that Jerry touched on above. We always have at least one custom produced video in the newsletter, and without fail, it is always the most viewed and acted upon message. Our pre-owned inventory is usually the second most clicked link, and after that, clicks & views start to drop off.

One thing I would personally avoid are the "off-topic" articles. Think, "Top 10 BBQ Tips for Summer" type pieces. It seems almost everyone still does this (I subscribe to ALOT of dealership newsletters!) but seriously...do I really want to get my grillin' tips from a dealership? No thanks.

Remember, a newsletter is all about providing value. Something you could do that I guarantee your competition isn't, is to actually ask your customers, prospects, friends & family what type of info they'd like to see in your newsletter.

Just my 2 cents, take it for what it's worth

 

[JesseJ]

Thanks Jerry and Jason!

Jerry - I actually am already registered on phoneninjas. It's great. I use your scripts all the time. I just signed up for the newsletter. The only way I could find to do it was to fill out the request to mystery shopped. It seems like this could be quite a time consuming task. I'm more than capable of doing all of this, but do you see a good return on the time spent?

Jason - Do you have a link for an example of one of these videos? I'm not sure I'm picturing the type of video your describing correctly. Also, how are you tracking clicks?

Thanks again to both of you!

 

[Jeff Kershner]

Jesse, can you elaborate on "I have had a little success with bulk mail in general in the three months". I'm curious to your delivery, open and click through rate.

What service was your dealer using in the past?

Jason, not disagreeing with you but our most clicked through article last month was a recipe for buffalo chicken dip. Go figure. It actually beat out our link to used cars.

Newsletters take time to time to build a "voice" and this is only if you have someone at the dealership that has the ability to do so. Most dealers do not, so the dealer newsletter too often becomes a typical sales an service promotion email. I would challenge your dealership to take your newsletter to another level most can not accomplish and build such a following and voice around it that your sales and service links are NOT the most clicked on.

 

[Mitch Gallant]

I agree with Jeff and his point that you need a voice and that it will take time to develop. I believe you need a good idea of your overall marketing vision and how your newsletter fits into that big picture.

I've been thrashing and struggling lately as I move further away from a sales position and to more of a director role and one of the "big picture" things that continues to flick me on the end of the nose is the fact that you can't start a project like a newsletter by simply asking what to do and looking for the tactics, you need to know what your dealership stands for, what your whole team is deeply passionate about and what areas you're absolutely kicken ass in. If you know the answers to those then you can base some solid content around it that will have a genuine voice... the tricky part is only you and your team can answer those questions.

Once you got that then look to some of the solid tactics Jerry has thrown at you and include some of the sizzle that only your store can bring.

 

[JesseJ]

Jeff,

That's the issue. We aren't formally tracking bulk mail. I'm not even sure how to do so. As far as success, I'm talking about a couple of bulk emails that I sent. They were styled along the lines of a personal inquiry more so than an advertisement and to my surprise I got a number of responses and actually quite a few sales out of each mailing.

We have not used any service for this in the past. I am fairly certain I can build a newsletter with a little work at it. I am a writer/journalist on the side so I think parts of it should come naturally. I can definitely seek the help of others at the dealership regarding content.

 

[Jerry Thibeau]

I just signed up for the newsletter. The only way I could find to do it was to fill out the request to mystery shopped. It seems like this could be quite a time consuming task. I'm more than capable of doing all of this, but do you see a good return on the time spent?

Registering for Ninja Tools puts you on the newsletter distribution list.

Jason - Do you have a link for an example of one of these videos? I'm not sure I'm picturing the type of video your describing correctly. Also, how are you tracking clicks?

You or some other person who presents well will be the star of your video, thus enhancing the newsletter piece with a visual. Most newsletter services will provide you with reports showing click rates.

 

[Juls]

I am sort of doing the same thing. I just had a rep from IMN come in. Does anyone have any experience with them?

 

[jdavidson]

I am sort of doing the same thing. I just had a rep from IMN come in. Does anyone have any experience with them?

I have heard good things about them from several different sources. We have been hesitant to sign with them until we had enough email addresses to make it worth while. It is something that we are looking very closely at right now for the near future though.