By Colby Horton
Shop Site of the Month
Community Car Care - Countryside, Ill.
www.cccautorepair.com
This site offers a professional home page design and navigation system. An online appointment scheduler offers convenience to the site visitor. Consumer tips and news make this site informative. A comprehensive list of services and seasonal online specials add value to this well-organized site.
Web Wise
Implementing a Successful E-mail Marketing Campaign
Marketing is paramount to the success of any automotive repair facility. Most repair shops use direct mail or print advertising for their marketing efforts. But e-mail marketing is becoming one of the most powerful marketing tools available today. This form of marketing is affordable, easy to implement and proves to be highly effective in today's fast-paced society.
With an effective e-mail marketing campaign, your shop's time-sensitive information can be disseminated in minutes and, with the right e-mail marketing software, you should be able to see the results of your efforts instantaneously.
Hopefully, your shop has maintained an e-mail list of your customer base. If not, start now. Most shop management programs allow you to input e-mail addresses. And in turn, most e-mail marketing programs allow you to import this list into their software.
E-mail marketing is an affordable way to make the most of your marketing budget. Because there are no production costs or postage expenses, you can communicate with your customers more often and provide them with as much information as you see fit. You can also place more information in an e-mail marketing campaign. You're not restricted by the size of paper you use in a direct mail program. Because there are no space restrictions, you can better educate your customers on certain aspects of the industry or your repair facility.
One of the best advantages of e-mail marketing is the ability to track the effectiveness of your campaign. The results of direct mail and print advertising are difficult to measure. With e-mail marketing, however, you can easily measure the number of e-mails opened, the number of e-mails returned and the click-through rates. Click-throughs are links within your e-mail marketing campaign that bring your customers to sections within your shop's Web site. This information is important for creating better-targeted campaigns in the future.
In upcoming editions of Net Worth, we'll explain some of the nuances of successful e-mail marketing campaigns. In the meantime, take a look at the Hot Sites of the Month for companies that cater to e-mail marketing. Of course, this is a starting point. Do some research, and find the company that will work best for your shop's needs.
Net Numbers
E-mail usage continues to increase, with 81 percent of consumers reported being online to send and receive e-mail multiple times daily and with 33 percent reporting "constant" usage.
Source: DoubleClick's 2004 Consumer E-mail Study
ASA Web Ways
Automotive Tips
Looking for information to put in your e-mail marketing campaigns? ASA's Web site, www.asashop.org, has an abundance of car care tips for you to use free of charge. The "Automotive Tips" section includes information on understanding OBD technology, advice concerning accidents, important items to carry in your vehicle, understanding brake systems and an archive of past tips of the month. Be sure to credit ASA or other published sources when adding these tips to your e-mail marketing effort.
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Net Worth is written by Colby Horton, ASA's electronic communications manager. He can be reached at (800) 272-7467, ext. 234, or by e-mail at colbyh@asashop.org.
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