If you’re running email campaigns as part of your automotive digital marketing strategy, you might be wondering how to get more out of your email marketing. There are some ways to improve email marketing success, and we’ve compiled them here for you.

UTILIZE YOUR SUBJECT LINE & PRE-HEADER TEXT

The subject line is going to be the first thing a client sees when they receive an email. This line is used to grab the user’s attention and make them want to click open. You want to release an offer that customers will not resist or give them some exciting news. For example – when it comes to dealership marketing, using a monthly payment, low APR finance rate, or an all-new vehicle announcement will prompt users to open the email.  These types of subject lines will work even better if you have a segmented email list that fits the buying habit of your customers.

Optimizing your pre-header text to support your subject line is another way to ensure open rates. Many users are opening on mobile, so having a pre-header text provides another reason to open. Using urgency or making this text personal is a plus!

HAVE A GRAPHICALLY PLEASING EMAIL

There are many different types of emails designs depending on who the target audience is. Some email designs have more text, and others are more graphic-based. No matter what kind of email you are sending out, you want to make sure that it draws in the audience. It should be clean, to the point with the messaging, include photos, interactive call to action buttons, and a continuous color theme.

MAKE SURE IT IS MOBILE-FRIENDLY

In today’s digital world, most people are checking their emails on their mobile devices. This is a key factor in creating an email. If your email does not fit the proper size for mobile, it is at risk of getting that automatic delete. People are served upwards of 300 plus emails per day. With that many incoming, you want yours to stand out while fitting nicely on the smaller screen. Each email needs to be effective for any device that it’s opened on.

MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ACCURATE LANDING PAGES & WORKING LINKS

Accurate landing pages that are linked are what’s going to keep the user on your website. You want each section of your email to link back to your website. The email will be the first step of your client interaction, but your landing pages will determine whether there will be more interaction or a possible sale. You want to make sure that your landing pages mimic what is in your email and provide the user with more information.

Every email that has HTML coded within it – needs to be tested properly before the official launch. If you have an email full of graphics, but broken links, it defeats the purpose of the email. Once you’ve sent yourself a test of the email, take your time to go through each link within the HTML. You want to test your emails with all campaigns, even if they are just text.

Tracking your links is going to be very beneficial for seeing what your users are doing. It gives you insight into what pages they are visiting, or if they click away from them. It helps with future campaigns and to see what is working, and what isn’t working. This coding and linking helps us as automotive digital marketers determine what works best for our client’s audience and improves overall conversion tracking.

TEST YOUR EMAILS

Test everything when it comes to your email campaigns. A/B testing will benefit in seeing what small changes help increase rates. A/B testing is a way to see what is working for your emails.

You test different versions of a single email to see how small changes can impact the results by changing the subject line, content, creative, or times to send. Don’t change too many things at once. You want to keep it subtle, so you know what works moving forward. Changing the subject line can help you increase click-through rates, changing the call-to-action buttons and positioning in the emails can increase click-through rates.

Compare the results after a few different tests. This will help gauge what times your audience is actively engaging with the content, and when it helps increase potential sales.

FINDING YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE

TARGETING YOUR AUDIENCE: Finding your target audience can take time and it isn’t always easy. You should have a base level of your audience, and who they are but you want to get to know them better. You must learn about your target audience and their buying habits to be able to curate an email that will attract them. Using demographics such as age, gender, company position, income can tell a lot about a person’s wants and needs. Depending on the email, the target audience can differ.

WHEN TO SEND THE EMAIL: Finding the best time to send your email campaign to your target audience is going to be done by testing. There are no specific days that will work for every business. Tuesday and Thursdays have seen better engagement for some. There are different times you can test. Early morning – to capture the clients who check their emails first thing in the morning. Mid-Day – to catch who check their email during lunch. Late afternoon – for those who need a pick-me-up. Early Evening – for those during/after their work commute. However, every email list is different. Some marketing standards will work for some, but not all businesses. You need to understand your audience and know what days and times work for them.

CLEANSE YOUR LISTS: When you find your target audience and build email lists it’s helpful to keep it clean. A list that is up to date, clean, and exactly the audience you want will help you have higher engagement rates. If you are sending an email to someone who regularly does not open or read emails, that can negatively affect your campaign. Remove subscribers who haven’t opened an email and focus on those who are opening and engaging.

PERSONALIZE YOUR EMAIL

Personalizing your emails to directly incorporate your target audience can give you a better chance at click-through rates. There doesn’t need to be many different ones – start with the basics. Adding in their first name is a good way to catch the user’s eye and attention. Adding it into the subject line is a bonus!

Along with personalizing the email, it’s best to have your email campaign come from a personal email. Most people are more likely to open and engage with emails that come from a person or company. It can push a client away just seeing no reply as the sender’s email address. Not being able to contact you directly through that email, can steer users away.

HAVE A CLEAR CALL TO ACTION

Having a clear call to action is significant for success in email marketing. It doesn’t matter what type of traffic you are looking to drive in, if the user can see the call to action within a few seconds of looking over the email. The buttons usually use bright colors with good placement for the best engagement. They have large text that is easy to read, but you don’t want to go overboard. Keep it short and simple but create urgency. Use the action-oriented text on the buttons to grab the attention of the users.

If you’re thinking about adding email marketing to your advertising mix or think it might be time to revamp your current strategy, D2D can help you with all of the pieces outlined in this blog as well as develop a clean professional look for your emails. Contact us today online or call 877-958-4524.

With summer coming to an end, also brings the crunch time for the last push for vehicle sales in the summer. It’s no doubt this summer has been an usual one with inventory issues, but it’s still a popular buying time if you have a car customers wants! Dealerships can help boost business by doing a special sales event for the last holiday for the summer, Labor Day! This holiday becomes critical because it’s the last big business holiday for the summer season. Don’t let opportunity pass you by, take advantage of it! Make your dealership stand out against the rest and with a fun and creative plan to tackle the holiday weekend.

Get a Plan

Work with your automotive digital marketing agency to figure out the best way you want to celebrate the holiday weekend. Do you want it to just be for the holiday weekend itself, or do you want the sales event to be all month long? There is no wrong answer, both campaigns have certain benefits! Doing a Labor Day Savings Event all month long makes creates notice of what specials and incentives you are offering to your customers throughout the month. By doing this your emails or ads don’t get lost it the million other emails from other companies that blast customers during the holiday weekend. Another option is having a Labor Day Savings Event just for the weekend itself. Once the holiday is over, switch to a Labor Day Savings Event All Month Long. This can catch customers by surprise how the deals are still going!

However, doing a Labor Day Savings Event the weekend of Labor Day carries its own perks. Your creative can change from an End of Summer Savings Event to a Labor Day Savings Event to show urgency and change. This creates an idea of a limited time event on those specials, even if your specials have stayed the exact same from late August. You can add to the excitement by doing a special Labor Day offer on a vehicle or adjust your prices to make people want to run out and see the vehicle before the deal is gone.

Stand Out Against the Crowd

Since Labor Day is such a big push for end of summer business you are going to want to stand out against the crowd. Talk with your automotive digital marketing agency and make your creative fun and exciting! Yes, red, white, and blue are the typical “go-to” but that doesn’t mean it has to be typical. Have exciting graphics of flags, banners or busts to make copy pop. Different shades of red and blue that are more vibrant stands out and catch the viewers’ attention. However, there is a fine balance. Too many stars, stripes, and graphics can also bring in the problem of being too busy and make the text hard to read or where to point a viewer’s attention to.

Certain manufactures come with certain guidelines, so not everyone may be able do certain bright colors or graphics. That’s fine! Our art department is there to make sure your designs pop while abiding by the guidelines all without you having to worry. Even if the creative has to be adjusted to meet the criteria of the brand guidelines, using the right photos and colors can complement your brands identity while still representing the holiday.

Summer is a great time to gain sales as everyone is out and about in the nice weather. Don’t let a holiday opportunity pass your dealership by, create an excitement for just the holiday weekend or celebrate all month long to create awareness of your offers against other dealerships. All in all, make your advertising stand out against the crowd and have fun with it!

Here at D2D we have Account Managers that are organized and dedicated to help you succeed. Our Account Managers are backed by a Design Department that thrives for creativity and making your advertisements come to life from a vision you may have. If you need assistance making sure the sales opportunity Labor Day can bring doesn’t pass you by, contact us today.

It has been a little over a year since the entire world turned upside down because of a little thing called the Coronavirus. While the world is slowly returning back to some level of normalcy, many people and businesses are still feeling the impact. The automotive industry is certainly no exception. Not only has the virus caused a ripple effect on inventory, but it has also changed the way the market and consumers purchase and react to advertising.

From what we’ve seen, collected data on and implemented over the first half of this year, we have a few tips for you to prepare your dealership for the second half of this year!

PREP YOUR STAFF!

You probably have meetings at least twice per week with your staff. What are you covering? Are you reviewing the same information you always have? This likely includes deals in the pipeline, sales goals, sales incentives and leads. Have you talked to your team about what they are seeing on the lot? What are the objections from potential customers? Are they changing the narrative of what brought them to your dealership or why they will or won’t buy? The market is in a very different place right now and people are looking and reacting differently than we’ve ever seen before. Are you having this open conversation with your sales staff so they can provide potentially valuable insight?

PREP YOUR LOT AND SHOWROOM!

Do you have half the amount of cars on your lot than you normally do? I bet you’re nodding your head or rolling your eyes right now because who doesn’t?! A good thing to keep in mind is that car sales are retail sales. What do they constantly do at a retail store? Update the display. The same is true for your car dealership. Updating the way you have the cars sitting on the lot, changing around the order, and even getting creative with how you display your inventory could make it seem like you have more than you do and draw attention to your lot and certain vehicles.

PREP YOUR ADVERTISING!

With market changes and consumer behavior throwing everything off, it’s very important that you sit down and review your marketing strategy. Social media is very important right now and the viewership and usage is at an all-time high. Is your automotive marketing agency taking advantage of this? Are you advertising vehicles you no longer have in inventory? These are just some of the vital questions you should be reviewing with your digital marketing company. If you haven’t done this lately, we suggest setting up a meeting with your advertising team ASAP! Find out what’s working for your dealership, other dealerships they work with and what the industry itself looks like in terms of consumer behavior. Now might be the time to switch it up!

If you need some guidance to get your dealership headed in the right direction for the last two quarters, D2D is here to help. We can evaluate your current strategy and provide some tips and recommendations going forward. We can also help prepare you to talk to your current agency with a full list of questions to ask to make sure you’re getting everything you need. Contact a digital expert today!

If you’re looking for some more info on preparing your dealership for the ever-changing market conditions, download our Used Car Sales Checklist to help you shift your strategy!

To the outside world automotive advertising might seem simple: We are cheaper and better, so buy a car here! However, those of us in the automotive industry know it is much more complicated than that. If you’ve been pitched by advertising companies or have been to an automotive conference, you know that there are at least 21 touch points before someone makes the decision to purchase a car and step foot into a dealership. That means you have be on your game when it comes to marketing. Below are some common automotive marketing mistakes you’ll want to be sure to avoid.

1. LOW LOW PRICE!

While it might be tempting to just push the absolute lowest price out there and put it all over your ads whether online, in broadcast, or even in print. However, this can be a big mistake. Don’t get me wrong, you definitely want to be aggressive with your pricing, but it should be realistic. The prices you advertise should be numbers your sales team can actually match and include specials from the manufacturer like 0.9% APR and conquest cash as well as a manageable amount due at signing. Believe it or not, most customers can spot those “fake” payments from a mile away!

2. All Your Eggs in One Basket

Many dealerships find something that works and then rely solely on that piece of advertising. Whether that’s a credit mailer, a lease return campaign, a 3^rd party provider, or paid search, it’s never a good idea to rely on one thing. For starters, the market right now is in a very strange place. People aren’t reacting in the same way they once were to advertising methods. That means if you’re relying on one or two things that typically always worked, now you have to start from scratch. You should also consider those good ole’ touch points. If you’re focusing everything toward one or two things, how are you hitting those other 20, or 19 touchpoints for a potential customer? It’s a good idea to have a healthy marketing mix.

3. Marching to Your Own Beat

You’ll definitely never hear me say this in any other capacity but marching too much to your own beat in this scenario can be a mistake. If you or your automotive marketing agency are trying to come up with outlandish ideas for headlines and creative, you might be putting in more work than is needed. It’s always a good idea to stand out from your competitors but think back again to those touch points. Utilizing the same headline and look as the manufacturer when they offer something is a good way to get the first 5, 8, 10 touchpoints done for you! Get a little further with your advertising by playing off the factory. You can still put a local feel on your ads and of course, you want to have a solid marketing mix to make sure you get in front of that customer in a more effective and faster way than your competitors.

These common mistakes are just that – common! So, if you’re making them now, don’t feel bad! Just sit down with whomever is in charge of marketing for your dealership or your automotive digital agency and restrategize. One or two changes could go a long way. If you feel like you’re making some of these mistakes and more or aren’t quite sure how to course correct we are here for you. Contact us today online or by calling 877-958-4524 to get it right. D2D is here to help!

Have you ever found yourself asking: How can I keep up with the everchanging website technology? If you have, then Website Watchdog may be right for you! In this blog, we’re going to dive deeper into what our product, “Website Watchdog”, offers, and what it means to have someone actually watching your website for you.

Being aware of the moving parts of your website takes time, energy, and knowledge. We are trained and proficient in finding the constant changes on your website that may come from your OEM dealer, different hands that have a part in uploading and editing your monthly and daily fluctuations, or errors that may just be a technical glitch. Questions such as: “Have I checked the mobile website this month?” “Are my phone numbers routing correctly?” and “Did I lose co-op dollars because of a bad landing page?” can now evaporate as you acquire the peace of mind that comes with having a Website Watchdog. Those broken links and out of date specials will be fixed in no time!

For customers, consistency is key. And for you, compliance is. Avoiding violations and fines that come from not having the correct creative will benefit you with time and money. Having an automotive website management tool like Website Watchdog will ensure all the traffic generated to your site sees updated information, the best pricing, easy to navigate pages, and can submit a lead with ease. Having a fresh pair of eyes on the same website that you probably look at day after day can spot errors that your brain is already trained to overlook! We have a dedicated, rotating team that picks up these errors in record time. Sites monitored by D2D Website Watchdog hit below average bounce rates, have 100% coverage and the highest level of consistency for monthly campaigns.

With Website Watchdog, both functionality and website design are top priorities – keeping the user (your customer) in mind. Not only do we check to make sure what you have is already working, we also make suggestions on how your website could operate better. We advise changes based on our experience of working with high performing websites and our marketing solutions that have a proven track record. Now more than ever, people are utilizing the power of online shopping- and this makes it crucial for you to have an online presence that will make an impression, for your website to answer the questions that car buyers have, and for you to have clear calls to action that gets you results.

Your website is the first impression for many of your potential customers. Capture more customers faster with a website that is straightforward, consistent, and eye-catching. A great visual design matters: it only takes a matter of seconds for a customer to decide if they’ll stay on your website or not! The more time they spend shopping around on your website, the more information we have that we can pair with some of our other marketing solutions, to track your customer and capture them (see: Advanced Retargeting). Let us help you create a reputation that you’ll be proud of! If you’re questioning whether or not Website Watchdog is right for you, then it probably is! Let us take away your website worries and contact us today at 877-958-4524.

Earth is our home and collectively we need to protect, preserve, and restore it. April 22^nd is Earth Day, a day to celebrate the anniversary of initiating environmental change. Earth Day is a reminder that caring for our planet needs to be ongoing because change does not happen in a day. For over 50 years, people have been fighting for different aspects of environmental change, with the focus of this year’s Earth Day being Restore our Earth. Restoring our Earth focuses on innovative technologies and processes to repair our planet. There are a variety of creative ways to make environmentally friendly decisions, regardless of their size; the impact is what counts. Together we can take steps to reduce waste, go green, and allow our planet to flourish for generations to come. This effort of course includes the automotive industry.

As we know, the transportation industry is a major player in releasing CO2 emissions and other greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere causing increased air pollutants. Fortunately, standard gas guzzling cars are not the only option on the automotive market. The world’s brightest minds have been creating and discovering new technologies for sustainable electric and hybrid automotive solutions for years and continue to modify and improve the process. Electric (EV) and hybrid cars reduce pollutants and allow for a cleaner form of transportation, moving us in the right direction to preserve our planet. When making your next car purchase, consider the greener alternative and drive electric.

Electric cars are just one way that we can reduce the carbon footprint of the automotive industry. Another method of preserving our planet is buying a used car to save on production materials and reduce the release of toxins into the air. It is important to note that older cars may need more maintenance if they have prior issues, so considering the past and future life of the car can make it a viable option to consider when determining what car to buy.

Our world has forever changed due to COVID-19 and has resulted in many working from home temporarily or permanently. The decrease of automobiles on the road allowed our planet time to recover and breathe. As more and more people are getting vaccinated, and states and businesses are opening back up to the public, we are beginning to resume to a state of normalcy. With that normalcy comes an increase of cars on the road, but we can minimize it. As we get back out, take the opportunity to reconnect with friends, family, and coworkers by carpooling to work and events after quarantining for over a year. Socializing and bonding is good for the mind and carpooling is good for the planet.

Now is the perfect time to start advertising your EV and hybrid inventory. Earth Day might only be celebrated on one day of the year, but it certainly sparks the conversation for the weeks to come. If you have electric and hybrid inventory, now is a great time to sit down with your automotive digital marketing agency and strategize your advertising efforts for these vehicles.

Of course, in addition to the methods listed above, there are multiple other ways to make a difference when trying to get from point A to point B. If the situation is COVID safe, consider taking public transportation like a bus, train, or subway to decrease the number of cars on the road, BUT for the sake of your dealership sales, we will focus on those EV and hybrid vehicles!

As a dealership manager, this Earth Day you can also take time to reflect on your current choices and consider if there are any new environmentally friendly opportunities you can add into your daily routine. Whether it is skipping on a plastic straw or purchasing an electric vehicle, every decision has a lasting impact and collectively we can make a difference. As we recover from separation during a pandemic, we need to come together to restore our earth because there is no Planet B!

To learn more and get involved in your local community, visit the official Earth Day website! For help on strategizing the advertising for your EV and hybrid vehicles, contact us today.

As a 21st century car dealer, you’re undoubtedly familiar with Google’s core advertising products and offerings. You pour thousands of dollars per month into SEM campaigns to capture audiences searching for your products and display banner ads to capture the in-market audience traffic after they’ve moved on to another web page. These tried and true mediums are part of the recipe for advertising success, but Google is cooking up something new that just might become a staple in your balanced advertising plan. They’re called Discovery Ads.  They’re a little different from your traditional Google Ads mediums, and they’re slated to play a bigger role in the future of Google Ads.

Discovery ads are built from the ground up with the mobile user in mind. They feature compelling images, informative headlines and mobile interactivity similar to Facebook’s carousel ads. With their emphasis on image quality and interactivity, Discovery Ads enable advertisers to tell a story with their advertisements and meaningfully reach higher funnel customers to kick start their purchase journey.

Mobile advertising’s rapid ascent over the last decade is no secret. It seems like every marketing seminar is full of mobile buzz words and advertisers are always looking to capture more of the mobile traffic boom.  Google Discovery Ads are geared specifically towards mobile with their placements and design.  They appear on three of the top mobile destinations in the world: Google Discover, YouTube and Gmail.

Google Discover is Google’s news feed app, and with 800 Million monthly users and growing, it is an extremely popular place to get news about all of your interests. In prior blog posts we’ve discussed the sheer scale of YouTube’s influence on the modern internet. It’s currently the second largest search engine behind Google itself, and every single day over 1 Billion hours of YouTube videos are consumed, and in the average month 80% of 18-49 year-olds watch a video on YouTube at least once. And finally, Gmail is by far the most popular browser email client and Google’s Gmail app is the second most popular email app with 38% of the market share, coming just behind Apple Mail’s 40%. With the immense size of their market share, you can see how gaining exclusive access to ad placements on these extremely popular mobile platforms is a huge advantage for any modern car dealership.

So, what is the focus and intent of Discovery Ads? Discovery ads are an excellent way to reach higher funnel customers and kick start their car buying journey.  While SEM ads and traditional display ads are a great way to get your best prices in front of lower funnel buyers, they’re a bit limited in their ability to convey information beyond that.  The synergy of multiple images and text snippets in Discovery Ads allows dealers to tell a visual story and generate interest in higher funnel customers, while the seamless integration of Discovery Ads into their favorite mobile sites and streams means more engagement.

For example, let’s say your OEM is launching a new model, which will be available in 6 months. Creating Discovery Ads for that model now and hi-lighting the features is a great way to build awareness and interest in the community while filling your upper funnel with demand for the release. If all goes well, when it comes time for those high funnel customers to transition to lower funnel customers, they’ll associate your dealership with the new model and seek to purchase from you.  A continuously re-filled upper funnel is the key to keeping your lower funnels full of potential customers, and the best way to do that is get in front of potential customers early and stay in front of them for the whole buying journey.

As an Automotive Digital Marketing company, this is something we’ve been watching closely, and with the introduction of Discovery Ads, Google has not only given advertisers medium to display their offerings, but a new dimension to their advertising strategies.  Discovery Ads allow advertisers to tell a visual story, unobtrusively tap into an enormous mobile market, and touch and guide higher funnel shoppers on the beginning stages of their purchase journey. The end result is a better ad experience for the customer and an extremely valuable high funnel touch point for the advertiser; both of which lead to a more painless buying journey and sales process. If you’d like to learn more about adding Discovery Ads to your advertising plan, reach out to our digital team today here or call 877-958-4524 and we’ll be happy to help you!