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Follow on Google News | The Evolution of a Dinosaur –From “Direct Mail” to “Smart Mail”The concept of wasted distribution has always been rather easy to understand but to some, fixing the problem has posed a more difficult problem. If this is so in your dealership the good news is you’re not alone in this struggle.
Direct mail has been a staple in most dealerships monthly ad budgets for over four decades now. Matter of a fact I have a copy of a mail piece framed in my office for a Ford dealer in NJ from 1926, and honestly with the exception of the vehicles and art work not much else has changed. 1. Direct Mail vs. the world… Direct mail works. The reason it has been used by so many dealers for as long as it has is because of ROI. Statistics show that direct mail has outperformed all of its prehistoric competitors consistently for decades when comparing ROI. In a study for Advertising Age, Lightspeed Research determined 42% of marketing professionals said direct mail is the best advertising vehicle for providing ROI. Direct Mail beating out a second place internet who received 19%, with TV, cable, newspaper, and radio all coming in at anemic single digit numbers! Direct mail also won out when asking how consumers preferred to receive information weighing in at 31% with nearest competitor following at a distant 24%. 2. Facing Extinction Though it boasts the top spot with more than double the percentage of its nearest competitor…direct mail faces the need to make a change and make it quickly. In an era where technology rules without change “Direct Mail” would most certainly face extinction. We’ve seen it happen with many other prehistoric advertising vehicles such as television, radio, and newspaper. With the growing uses of DVR’s and Sirius and XM radio, and now with vehicles introducing Pandora radio access TV and radio commercials have lost much of whatever little punch they had…but unfortunately they haven’t lost the cost still weighing in at the most expensive. Then there is newspaper that has an average reader age of 59, while most major domestic and import makes have an average buyer age of 39. So they’re not even hitting the majority of their buyers at all. If they happened to get lucky and hit a correct age buyer they would have to get even luckier to have that customer read the section where their ad is listed and then pick them from the lot of dealers in the same section. NOW THAT WOULD BE WHAT I CALL GETTING LUCKY! So what to do about direct mail… 3. The birth of “Smart Mail” When you have something that boast the ROI that direct mail consistently does, it is hard to keep it down. Winners have a way of rising through the adversity and the ash heap of extinction and just when you think it’s over and your looking at the end of an era…It evolves! It only makes sense right? You take a product that American’s pick as the number one way they prefer to receive advertising and you take the top ROI producer and you give it a makeover. That’s right you take “Direct Mail” a prehistoric Dinosaur by itself and you deliver it in a way that consumers wish to receive it…and you give them the ability to respond using the conveniences that they are accustomed to using on a regular basis. There you have it…the birth of “Smart Mail”! Imagine receiving the mailer and then having the ability to choose your preferred method of response. Whether you want to walk-in, IVR phone (24/7), text, online, email, or even by using a QR code? It is revolutionary…” 4. ROI in your PMA So what is the result? Let’s just say that when you take the top ROI producer in direct mail and you add all of the “Smart Components” turning it into a lean mean advertising ROI machine the results are what you would expect. With Smart Mail, response rates have doubled, sales have tripled, and customer retention has grown exponentially. Get Smart and evolve your dinosaur today and learn more about how you can implement “Smart Mail” into your dealership and gain higher ROI in your PMA today. http://imperialpressdirect.com End
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