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 There’s a good chance that if you’re reading this you’ll remember the old “You’ve got mail!” quote from AOL years ago. That was back when email was new and exciting. When you opened AOL and heard that, you got a little excited… I mean only players got email back then.

Fast forward to today and email is an old hat. We’ve all figured out that the guy from Nigerian isn’t really royalty and isn’t going to make us a multi-millionaire. 

Fool me once…

Anyway, the internet is an interesting place, and sometimes it’s easy to get lost chasing the latest thing and losing sight of what is the most effective thing. And, there’s a big difference between the two.

As a dealer, it can be really easy to get caught up in the enthusiasm of a well-meaning Marketing Manager who thinks that you’ll be able to rule your market with Snapchat, Instagram, or some other newly developed way of connecting with people on the internet. The truth is, the numbers don’t lie, and while it’s certainly okay to test the waters of new technologies, it’s important to invest heavily in time and energy on what we know has a track record of performance.

At Powersports Marketing, we talk about the importance of new customer acquisition (increasing market share) and retention (repeat business from customers) pretty extensively because they are foundational elements of something else we talk about a lot – predictable growth.

We’ve proven over and over in dealerships across the country that focused efforts using proven methods, allows dealers to take control of their business and grow, even when others are not. That’s big.

Email is easily the biggest hammer in that toolbox. This past year, Emarys & WBR Digital released a report on digital tactics that drive customer acquisition and retention in SMBs, and the results are very interesting. 

According to those surveyed, 81% replied that email marketing was the best way for customer acquisition, and 80% advised that it was the best tool for retention. 

For comparison, those same respondents ranked organic search at 62% and paid search at 59% for acquisition. Social media ranked 44% for retention.

This makes email the #1 way to acquire and retain customers. Combine that data with the hundreds of studies that show email has the highest ROI of any other marketing method, and all of a sudden what was old is new again.

I don’t know about you, but if I’m sitting in the driver’s seat at a dealership, there would be a whole lot of emails going out.

That said, shot gunning out emails non-stop can backfire. What’s important is to send timely messages using an email program that helps you by starting with a look and feel that is relevant to your audience and contains tools that allow you to personalize, segment, and schedule your efforts so that the recipients are more motivated to respond.

Well, call it a shameless plug, but so be it. Firestorm Email is the culmination of years of research and software development, and I can proudly say that if you are in the powersports industry and aren’t using it, you’re settling for less than the best.

Firestorm Email was designed by motorcycle enthusiasts, for motorcycle enthusiasts, and has pre-built themes and elements that are powersports specific – not generic graphics that are “cute” and clumsy across lots of business models.

Pre-built themes and elements also means that you don’t have to spend time trying to create or steal other graphics to create your email. It’s a quick click-and-go, which saves a ton of time.

Also, with the recent addition of Firestorm Onboarding to our arsenal, it’s possible to identify individual visitors to your website to see what they were most interested in, to follow up, and close deals. Oh, and we’ve also got the hook up on a new website platform.  It’s pretty amazing, too.

If you aren’t currently doing a lot of emailing, you need to be. If you struggle to come up with what to say, or how to make your emails visually engaging, please let us know. We have what just might be the perfect solution for you – and sending emails is really a non-negotiable. We can make it easy.

One last thing. As I said a couple of months ago, the digital landscape has really changed, and if you want to see what is happening, as well as new best practices given the latest developments, you need to sign up for our Fall Marketing Boot Camp. 

Everything is changing, and we have a new curriculum as well as a new speaker or two, so if you’ve never been – come, and if you’ve been before – come again. It’s gonna be great. 

Talk soon,

Brad