Boo! One of the scariest things I hear from dealers is ?I?ve tried direct mail, and it doesn?t work for us.?
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Many of those dealers are foolishly making marketing decisions absent of, or in dire conflict with, facts, data, and evidence. Instead they are making ego-driven, emotional, ?monkey see, monkey do? decisions based on hearing their competitors on the radio, seeing them on TV, or passing their billboards on the interstate.? Or worse, they are listening to ill-informed employees and oblivious OEM reps with no understanding of direct-response marketing or business math. It?s frightening. It?s marketing propaganda?and it runs rampant amongst dealers.
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A little known truth is that nearly every great company has built their business on the back of good direct-response marketing using direct mail and the telephone. In fact, right here, right now, in the middle of the information age, good ol? direct mail is still a 45.2 billion dollar industry.? Ironically, even online marketing giants like Google and Facebook both spend millions on direct mail. The Internet Retailer Conference and Exhibition, who tout themselves as the world?s largest E-Commerce event, is sold via a 32-page direct mail piece.
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Non-profit research states, ?Nothing out-performs direct mail for new donor acquisition. Non-profits wish that social media, web sites, email, etc. could do this job as well, but so far, extensive experimenting by the entire non-profit world has failed to come up with any way to survive and grow without relying on direct mail.?
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Why? Because it works.
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According to Epsilon research, 60% of consumers say they enjoy checking their mailbox and receiving mail (and my guess is motorcycle enthusiasts receiving motorcycle related messages pumps at least another 15% into that figure). The same study concludes that 65% say they receive too many e-mails to open them all. The USPS data says that 98% of consumers retrieve their mail from the mailbox the day it is delivered and 77% sort through it the same day.
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For the past 39 months my team and I have created (on real paper) and mailed (with a real stamp) this newsletter, consistently through the middle of one of the most challenging recessions our industry has experienced. During that time, we?ve grown year over year by nearly 50%.
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But? the secret of direct mail isn?t in the media itself. It?s in the message (your ad copy), the market (your list), the timing (when you send it), and the multi-faceted approach (how you integrate it with other marketing channels for your dealership).
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Some dealers mistakenly view our Sharp Shooter campaigns as a stand-alone direct mail effort. While direct mail is the PILLAR, it?s just one component of a comprehensive evergreen marketing strategy.
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Here?s how it works.
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First, we evaluate your entire dealership buying base. This is defined as your data base (current customers) and those who live in your market area and ride what you sell, but haven?t? done business with your dealership (conquest customers). We immediately exclude the more than 90% of the population who aren?t enthusiasts.
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Then, once we?ve identified your entire buying base, we develop a methodical strategy to touch your most viable target audience a minimum of four times per year via a ?drip? marketing approach.
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For example, if you have 10,000 customers on your house list and 5,000 conquest customers for 15,000 total records, we would split your total list into three separate lists of 5,000 each. Then each month we would market to that one third of your buying base via our Sharp Shooter multi-channel system with direct mail as the main pillar.
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It?s a process similar to farming. You have to plant the seeds and the then stay committed to the process by watering and fertilizing ? repeatedly; not just once. Ultimately your harvest makes it all worthwhile.
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After a full year, you?ve touched your entire buying base 4 times, which is the best way to grow market share, reactivate lost customers, and increase the frequency of purchases from your existing customers.
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And the best time to get started is right now! More than 50% of discretionary income is spent during the holidays, and there is no better time to plant your first batch of seeds than Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas.
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Don?t be scared; call us today at 877.242.4472 to get started with a proven marketing strategy that will harvest genuine, qualified sales leads!
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