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The short answer to how frequently you should be sending emails is once per week, or at least once every other week.  If you think that sounds like too much, or would take too much work – you’re doing it wrong.  This article is dedicated to the best practices of sending email, and making it easier for dealers to do it the right way. 

Harley released a study about a year ago that concluded a customer must be ‘touched’ 29 times before they buy a motorcycle. A touch is outbound marketing including email, direct mail, text, voicemail blasts, salesperson phone calls, etc. Here at PSM, our goal is to help clients touch their Buying Base (active customers, inactive customers, and conquest prospects) 52 to 104 times per year. 

While email can’t reach everyone, it is a big part of touching active and inactive customers. Therefore, most dealers think the main purpose of email is to stay in front of their customers, increase loyalty, build their brand, and enhance their image with ‘pretty’ emails.  While email can certainly fulfill each of these, they’re simply happy byproducts of sending out good emails consistently. The main purpose of email is to generate website traffic. Everything else is secondary. 

So, here are some tips on how to get more folks clicking in your emails and visiting your website:

1. Add more links. Every picture in your email should link to your website, and don’t forget text! The most consistent high Click Through Rates come from emails that have “Click Here” in several places (or some variation). Yes, some customers will figure out that a picture is clickable by hovering their mouse over it, but in marketing, people want to be told what to do. Plus, blue text that’s underlined (hyperlink) draws more clicks.

2. Don’t segment your list. “But… but… but… everyone says to segment your list!”  I know, and here’s why you shouldn’t do it.  Basic logic tells you that segmenting a list means dividing it, so you’re reducing the number of people you’re sending to. The outcome is less clicks. Now, don’t get me wrong, there is a time and a place for list segmentation for select emails (i.e. VIP customers, etc.). It should just be limited, and your weekly emails should go to everyone. Tip #3 makes this possible...

3. Include something for everyone. New & used inventory, service, and PG&A. You can also include event information and/or custom offers in some emails.  The default email we recommend (see image) has a section for New Inventory and Pre-Owned Inventory with 3 in-stock units listed. Dealers add make and model above the photo, and the words “Click Here” below it that links directly to that unit’s page on your website. If you have on and off-road motorcycles, ATVs and side-by-sides, include a diverse representation in your email. You can have 6 units under the new and/or pre-owned sections if you need to.

For the service and P&A sections, we recommend “Click here to visit our <department name> request page!” If you add other custom images, be sure they include a Click Here button and link it to your website. Call 1-877-242-4472 to see a full email and results.

4. Avoid having a back-to-back-to-back stack of custom images. This is the most common way to build an email today, and it reduces opens and clicks. Our Firestorm Email system has almost 200 different themes to choose from. Once a theme is chosen, you can choose a done-for-you template, or drag-and-drop different sections of text/images combinations enabling you to easily build a custom email in minutes.  Our themes are designed by dealers for dealers… no more sending emails that look like they’re for Nancy’s Bakery or ABC Accounting Company.  

For a quick demo of our Firestorm Email system call 1-877-242-4472, or visit www.powersportsmarketing.com/firestorm-email

-Tory