Automotive Sales

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Direct Mail Marketing and Advertising Articles

Automotive Direct Mail & Marketing

Have you ever heard someone sarcastically say, “it's not rocket science”? Regarding direct mail, if it is your money paying for it, or you and your team are depending on the gross profit it should generate, it should be taken as seriously as NASA takes “rocket science”.

People have asked me over and over why direct mail works when so many people hate receiving “junk mail” in their mailboxes. Well, I am not a psychiatrist, but I believe the majority of us get some enjoyment from going through our mail each day, reviewing our bills, birthday cards, announcements, letters from friends, relatives and those once in a lifetime offers, also known as junk mail.

Billions of dollars are spent each year on direct mail. Why? It works. Not only for the smallest of dealers, but for the mega dealer groups, too. If you are skeptical, because you did a mailing and it didn't produce the results you expected, then why do you continue advertising in the newspaper? Not every ad has worked for you, yet you continue to advertise there. Given a fair chance, I believe direct mail will out perform all other forms of advertising.

There are many types of direct mail that car dealers can and do use, such as customer retention mailings, service reminders, invitations, prospecting/solicitation mailings, announcements, super sale or special event mailings. Bottom line, these are all done to increase the car dealer's bottom line. Each one makes good business sense, if done correctly.

Like many car dealers, I believe that if the front end of the business is doing well, the rest of the dealership will have a better opportunity to do so. If you need more traffic in the showroom, consider direct mail. It can be targeted toward the best known buyers for your product, or shot gunned out to everyone in your DMA to promote your used car business. Either way, you are making impressions on future potential buyers at a cost per contact that is reasonable for the return.

In future articles, we will dive into how to generate more traffic for your sales force, use of staffed event companies/teams, mining your customer base, service mailing opportunities and many more subjects that can help increase your bottom line.

To learn more about Tom Williams or Budget Direct Mail Inc. Visit www.budgetdirectmail.com or call (317)780-8236 or Email Tom: twillie304@gmail.com