As a successful automotive business, you rely on attention-grabbing, lead-nurturing advertising strategies to drive traffic to your dealership. Fortunately, direct mail marketing is one of the most effective ways to engage with your audience and provide them with rewards for choosing your business.
What are some of the automotive mailers that still work?? Well, the marketing experts at Aspen Automotive are here to give you the lowdown on which direct mail solutions are ideal for your company.
With these insights, you’ll be ready to reap the multitude of benefits that come with a strong direct mail marketing campaign.
A Brief History of Direct Mail
Think back to the days before the internet was around. How did you learn about a product release or see the latest fashion trends from your favorite store? You read about it in a catalog or newsletter. This is direct mail marketing.
Direct mail marketing consists of sending a physical letter or piece of mailer directly to the recipient. This type of marketing is used to drive sales, provide updates, and increase brand awareness.
Why Direct Mail Still Works
In simplest terms, direct mail works because of the lack of competition when it comes to recipients seeing your mailers. Many other businesses have abandoned their direct mail strategy for digital marketing, making it difficult to be noticed in the noisy digital world.
That’s because it’s estimated that individuals receive over 100 emails and view more than 60 ads each day. Compare this to the approximately two pieces of mail per day that individuals receive, and it’s clear that direct mail works because of less competition.
In addition to less competition, direct mail works because of its tangible, interactive capabilities. Not only will your recipients physically interact with your mailers, but this mail is also a constant reminder of your dealership. This is because it takes up space in their home. This constant reminder of your dealership helps you see results.
According to the U.S. Postal Service, direct mailers generate 57 percent of campaign responses, with emails lagging at only 6.2 percent.
Direct Mail vs Digital Marketing: Direct Mail in a Digital Era
With the spur of the digital era in recent years, you may be wondering how direct mail still works as a marketing strategy compared to social media and other digital forms of marketing. With individuals spending an estimated 6 hours and 42 minutes online per day, why not turn your strategy to where the people are going?
The reason is because there are many things that direct mail can do that are nearly impossible with digital marketing. Just a few of the direct mail-exclusive capabilities include:
- It elicits emotion: Getting a letter in the mail is like time traveling to simpler times. It makes people remember the good old days. Due to the nostalgic feeling direct mail provides, an estimated 73 percent of people said they prefer direct mail over other types of marketing.
- It’s highly creative: When creating a direct mail campaign, the creative possibilities are seemingly endless. With the option to send anything from a postcard to a three-dimensional mailer, the possibilities are sky high.
- It uses senses: If done properly, direct mail can include all five senses. Digital marketing, on the other hand, can only use up to two senses: sight and hearing.
There are many reasons direct mail marketing prevails in the digital world, thanks to its exclusive capabilities. Now, let’s take a closer look at direct mail and examples of automotive mailers that still work!
Effective Direct Mailers: Things to Consider
The purpose of direct mail is to create brand awareness, provide information, and to have an overall effective marketing campaign. In order to do that, you need to grab the attention of your recipients. In order to do so, you’ll want to utilize the help of professional designers who are experts in color theory and design techniques.
Did you know that 84.7 percent of buyers say that color is what draws them to an object?
This means you’ll want to take full advantage of color theory when sending information to your clients.
Here are some colors and ways they can influence your client’s mood and/or beliefs:
- Red: Encourages appetite and creates a sense of urgency, excitement, or passion
- Orange/Yellow: Increases cheerfulness and is often used to encourage impulse buys
- Green: Associated with health and wealth while balancing body and brain to lead to decisiveness
- Black: Oftentimes associated with power and authority
After choosing your main color, look to the color wheel to build an appealing contrast. Some of the most frequently used types of contrast include monochromatic, complementary, and triple color scheme. Choosing the right contrast or color scheme is just as important as your main color, as each type of color scheme induces different feelings.
Direct Mail Finance Programs
When it comes to purchasing a vehicle, financing is top-of-mind for most buyers. By providing your audience with direct mailers that outline your dealership’s lease and finance programs, you’ll tap into leads that are looking for a special offer on their next vehicle.
Thanks to the incentive included in your advertisement, your potential and existing customers will learn more about the ever-changing deals your automotive business provides, which increases the likelihood of them visiting your dealership.
Plus, our loan and finance direct mailers use real-time credit score data to target your recipients based on the credit score you’re looking to pursue. From there, you can use our Autoproval tool to send Pre-Qualified Auto Loan offers.
In addition to targeting based on credit score, you can also send direct mail based on the recipient’s loan amount. Using the Lease/Loan Enders tool, you’ll receive information on the percentage of loan remaining, how many months are left in the loan, and more.
Choose the Right Automotive Mailer Today!
It’s no secret that the right advertising strategy has the ability to guide your leads along the buyer’s journey and help your business thrive. With the assistance of the professionals at Aspen Automotive, you’ll equip your dealership with the direct mailers that deliver measurable results.
Ready to learn more about the automotive mailers that still work? All you have to do is give us a call or send us an email today!
