While most marketing today involves digital channels like social, paid digital, and of course, email, there is still an immense opportunity to be found in direct mail marketing – especially for car dealers. As email inboxes fill up for customers, paper mail is seeing a reduction in volume, and sending physical advertisements can help you cut through the marketing noise that consumers today are experiencing. In this article, we’ll outline the potential for increased trade-ins that direct mail can offer. We’ll provide you with five best practices to get your strategy started, including ways of identifying customers who are primed for a trade-in and methods for personalizing your message to each customer to encourage them to upgrade to a new vehicle.
What Opportunity Does Direct Mail Offer for Acquiring Trade Ins?
Direct mail offers the opportunity to delight customers, as people today enjoy getting mail, and it actually is outperforming other channels for brands that don’t have much brand awareness. In fact, 50% of consumers over age 35 say direct mail feels more important than email communication, and 62% of customers said direct mail inspired them to act. And with email seeing low open rates, the 72% of customers reading direct mail on the same day they receive it is an astonishing figure.1
5 Best Practices for Your Direct Mail Campaign
If you’re considering starting out with direct mail, you may be wondering where to start and what techniques are proven to be successful. Here are five?? key strategies to keep in mind as you launch direct mail as one of your marketing channels.
1. Keep a clean list
For those dealers who are making the most of email marketing, this tip may sound familiar. Keeping a clean and well-targeted list is key to having a successful ROI with your direct mail campaign. Sending out a post card to everyone on your list will result in wasted printing and postal costs, with many of those going to customers who are not ready or interested in buying a vehicle at this time. To keep a clean list:
- Organize by category so that you can easily sort by type of customer, past purchase vehicle, timing of most recent purchase, price of recent purchase, vehicle size, home address location, and more. This will allow you to segment and target portions of your list with suitable marketing.
- Merge any duplicates you have in your database to avoid printing and sending twice, and delete anyone with inaccurate information, out-of-date details, or who hasn’t communicated or purchased from your dealership within a given expired timeframe.2
- Focus on customers who have owned their vehicle for 3-5 years to hit a demographic that is most likely to be ready for a new vehicle upgrade in the near future.
2. Engage contacts using personalization
Similar to how it is not effective to send a blanket campaign to your full list of contacts, generic messaging doesn’t work either. Taking a personalized approach will more successfully build relationships with customers and catch their attention. How can you do this in a direct mail format? First, use first names wherever possible. If the mail includes a greeting, personalize it with the recipient’s first name so they feel you are truly reaching out to them. Beyond that, include details about their last purchase, such as the make, model, year, and timing so that they realize you are reaching out for a reason. Messaging like “Are you interested in upgrading your 2018 Toyota Rav4? ” followed by trade-in vehicle options you have available could successfully spark interest.
3. Provide bonuses for trade-ins
Once you’ve inspired your customers to consider a trade-in, you want to also ensure they are motivated to trade in with your dealership and not begin to look elsewhere. This can be achieved when you offer a trade-in bonus. There are two options with trade-in bonuses to consider: 1) exclusive offers where you offer an additional amount to their trade-in value only to customers who respond and bring in the direct mailer; or 2) limited promotions where you create urgency by making the bonus available for a set time frame.
4. Be transparent about trade-in values
While you’re getting your customers potentially excited about the idea of a trade-in, you also want to remain honest and transparent about those trade-in values to maintain trust and long-term loyalty. To achieve this, make it simple for them to view their trade-in value by creating a QR code on the post card that takes them right to the valuation tool on your website. This means they’ll come to you for the trade-in with accurate and mutual expectations that match what you are likely to offer. A tool like ClearCar can offer this pricing and help dealers and buyers get on the same page.
5. Remember it’s a strategy, not a one-off
Like with your other prospecting efforts, it’s important to remember these direct mail pieces are part of a wider strategy and not intended to be sent off in a solo effort. This means it’s important to follow up with your customers and offer additional touchpoints. Reach out with a phone call or email to reiterate the message and find out if they have any questions. Be sure to reference the piece of mail so they feel you are clued into all the communications and know that you are purposeful with your contact.3
Use ClearCar to Simplify the Trade-In Process
Direct mail can be a strategic way to generate more trade-ins for your dealership. By keeping in mind a few best practices, you can launch a successful strategy to supplement your trade-in sales efforts. And while you do so, remember that pricing transparency is key to fostering customer trust. Tools like ClearCar can help you get there. Schedule a ClearCar demo here.
Sources
- Lob. 2022. “The State of Direct Mail: Consumer Insights.” Lob. Retrieved August 16, 2024. https://www.lob.com/ebooks/2022-state-of-direct-mail-consumer-insights
- McAdams Graphics. 2021. “Keep Your Direct Mail Marketing List Clean for Better ROI.” McAdams Graphics. Retrieved August 16, 2024. https://mcadamsgraphics.com/how-to-clean-direct-mail-list/
- HubSpot. “The Ultimate Guide On How To Write A Follow-Up Email.” HubSpot. Retrieved August 16, 2024. https://www.hubspot.com/sales/follow-up-email
