Automotive Email Marketing: Our Top 5 Email Marketing Strategies to drive Customer Retention in 2024

Published: January 2024

Guest Post: Charlotte Murray, Commercial Director at Marketing Delivery

As an automotive marketing professional with over 20 years under my belt, I’m all too familiar with the challenges faced by marketers on how to stand out from the crowd when it comes to email campaigns.

We know that many consumers readily research a new car purchase for months in advance of choosing which make and model to go for, then deciding where to buy from – a decision which could be made based on a combination of availability, price, reviews and experience.

But this is just the beginning, the real challenge for retailers is keeping customers engaged post-purchase. Yes, they have routine servicing and MOT reminders to consider, but there’s so much more that retailers can do to engage with their customers during the ownership cycle, building the relationship, not only securing aftersales revenue but also future purchases, reviews and recommendations.

Here I’ll share with you the Top 5 strategies we saw last year that you too can add to your 2024 email marketing toolbox.

1. Second Handover

How many times have you bought a tech product only to get it home and have to plough your way through a manual to understand how it works? Well, a vehicle is just the same.

A typical vehicle handover can take over an hour, and with all the onboard technology we have in modern vehicles, there’s a huge amount of information to digest.

Sure, all customers have a driving licence, so jumping behind the wheel post-handover is not a problem, but what happens a few weeks down the road when customers are exploring all the new technology with only a manual or even YouTube for help?!

How did Marketing Delivery help?

We were delighted to support one of our clients in launching their Second Handover programme, where customers are invited back to the dealership to ask any questions they may have about their new vehicle.

Operationally the appointments differ, some will re-visit the original sales executive, with others meeting a member of the aftersales team – depending on the customer’s requirements. But the customer feedback is the same across the board and it’s nothing but positive!

This is a simple but effective communication strategy that immediately helps to strengthen customer relationships post-handover.

Top Tip: Make sure you’re using an email address that customers can reply to and give them the opportunity to provide comments so you can arrange the right member of the team to conduct the appointment.

2. Vehicle Protection Upsell

With so much for customers to think about when signing an order form, and committing to such a huge purchase, we know that vehicle protection products such as tyre and alloy insurance can be difficult to sell at point of order.

And on talking to one of our clients, they shared with us that, in the first 6 months of 2023, only 22% of overall protection product opportunities converted to a sale.

How did Marketing Delivery help?

Through integrating with the retailer’s protection provider, Premia Solutions, Marketing Delivery are now able to identify all available opportunities to sell insurance products post-delivery.

By cross matching the customer and vehicle details of recent sales to active insurance policies, we can identify the remaining opportunity and dynamically target any customers with carefully customised content, personalised to their vehicle and individual needs. By giving customers the opportunity to reconsider relevant protection products when they are under less perceived pressure, our client has already seen a positive uplift in post-delivery insurance sales.

Top Tip: Insurance products are still a considered purchase, and our results shows that offering a ‘Find out more’ call to action, driving customers to videos and written information, drives better results than ‘Buy it now’.

❗️We’re more than happy to explore integration partnerships with any other third-party service providers. Take a look at our Partners page to see who we already work with.

3. EV (Electric Vehicle) Customer Journey

As EV adoption continues to rise, albeit at a steady pace, it’s down to retailers and workshops to help educate and inform motorists on EV ownership and maintenance.

Aftersales revenue typically supports overhead absorption so retention beyond the handover is critical. And with differing maintenance cycles for EVs, it’s important to give EV motorists new and compelling reasons to stay engaged with aftersales departments, securing relationships as well as revenue.

How did Marketing Delivery help?

We have recently worked with one of our key clients to help reframe their CRM plans to assist consumers within three additional categories in the transition to EV:

• Prospects considering EV over traditional ICE vehicles
• New EV owners
• EV owners in a maintenance cycle

These three consumer categories now receive bespoke email communications relevant to their transition from ICE (internal combustion engine) to EV, with new and informative content to help build trust and reassurance.

At enquiry stage, we include information relevant to the initial decision and the consumer’s potential considerations, with links back to the retailer’s website for further detail to demonstrate expertise and build trust. We also keep undecided customers engaged with social media adverts and email stock alerts specifically featuring electric vehicles.

For new owners, the Second Handover invitation has proven a popular option, giving customers the opportunity to visit an EV specialist to ask any questions they may have early on in their ownership journey.

From the six-month stage, where marketing permission exists, customers receive frequent newsletter emails to communicate important updates relevant to EV drivers such as changes in tax and legislation. All customers are regularly offered free, seasonal safety health checks, but these EV specific newsletters also include a reminder to customers that, whilst their routine servicing schedules may be less frequent, their safety items such as tyres and brakes still need regular inspections.

Finally, as technology advances and adoption grows, it is no secret that we anticipate more EV safety recalls. We now have the option to add OEM safety recalls into any customer journey, be that EV or traditional ICE, to assist retention of and reactivation of customers.

Top Tip: It is important to note here that none of this would be possible without accurate data which enables us to ring-fence EVs, and their current and prospective owners. We would urge retailers to look at data processes as a priority to understand if and how they could do the same. If a process isn’t in place already, you might want to add this to your 2024 agenda!

4. Safety Recall

With the looming hangover of the new car supply issues of recent years, we know that the vehicle parc is aging, meaning that our VoiceBox Aftersales clients are always on the lookout for new and creative ways to reactivate lapsed service customers.

Our recent work in conjunction with the SMMT has helped one client reactivate 11% of their lapsed customers and generate over £130k additional revenue by alerting customers to outstanding safety recalls.

Top Tip: Ask Marketing Delivery for a no-obligation safety recall data audit to give you an idea of the potential opportunity in your database.

5. Data Quality

Okay, so perhaps this is not strictly speaking an email marketing strategy, but it’s certainly an ingredient in the recipe for success, and one that we regularly discuss with our clients as part of our account management service (which is included, btw).

Marketing effectiveness will always be under the influence of your data quality so being on top of things like MOT dates and changes in vehicle keeper will help any retailer maximise their marketing efforts and ultimately improve ROI.

MOT Dates
Our research found that, on average, 40% of MOT dates held by franchise workshops are out of date meaning reminder emails were landing at the wrong time and that outbound calling efforts were being wasted.

All VoiceBox Aftersales clients benefit from MOTBox, our exclusive solution which continuously cross-checks a retailer’s entire customer database for accuracy against more than 30 million MOT records held by the DVSA.

Change of Keeper

Our recent data audits have shown that on average around 28% of vehicles had changed keeper, in some instances this equates to tens of thousands of vehicle movements that have taken place.

As with MOT reminders, these change of keeper updates are crucial if you want to maximise your marketing and outbound calling efficiency.

You don’t have to be a VoiceBox user to take advantage of our vehicle data cleanse so get in touch for a free, no-obligation data audit to give you an idea of your current vehicle data quality.

Keyloop users can also benefit from our Keyloop Approved Partner status meaning we can automotically push updates back in to your DMS, saving valuable administrative resource.

Top Tip: Make sure you’re keeping one eye on your marketing consent rates. If a customer no longer owns a vehicle, you no longer have Legitimate Interest to contact them. But if you have marketing consent you do!

Summary

Modern automotive retailers juggle a multitude of different data sources, but by choosing the right marketing automation partner, this data can be leveraged to deliver exceptional customer communication strategies, with a host of unique, personalised email and SMS.

At Marketing Delivery, we are trusted by over 500 UK retailers to communicate with the right people at the right time; complementing existing processes to improve efficiency and maximise ROI.

Check out some of our recent Case Studies or get in touch to arrange an informal chat or a demonstration.

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