One of the largest syndicates of automotive dealerships in the US worked with us to build an internal marketing system and custom coupon program to 5x revenue in 4 years. Below are some tips and tricks we wanted to share.
What should a dealership look for in an email marketing platform?
Check the dull things first. Can it take feedback from your DMS and CRM without someone exporting a spreadsheet every Monday? Can it trigger dates and mileage, and not only send on a schedule? Can it drop vehicle details into the message? Does it handle unsubscribes automatically across every list?
The Dull Things First
- Takes feedback from your DMS and CRM without someone exporting a spreadsheet every Monday
- Triggers on dates and mileage, and not only on a schedule
- Drops vehicle details into the message
- Handles unsubscribes automatically across every list
After that, look at the journey builder, texting alongside email, and reporting that goes past opens to appointments and repair orders. Deliverability matters as well. That means sender authentication (SPF, DKIM, and DMARC) and list cleaning, because the best campaign in the world is useless in the spam folder.
The best campaign in the world is useless in the spam folder.
How do you connect lead data to customer engagement campaigns?
By treating the lead and the customer as the same record at different ages. The lead system knows what the person asked about, where they came from, and what happened next. When they buy, that record should carry forward with the vehicle, the deal date, and the salesperson attached, so the welcome email comes from the person they actually dealt with.
The lead
What the person asked about, where they came from, and what happened next
The purchase
The record carries forward with the vehicle, the deal date, and the salesperson attached
The welcome email
Comes from the person they actually dealt with
In practice, that's a sync between your lead management system, the DMS and the email tool, keyed on one customer ID. It's data engineering work, and it's the piece most often skipped. Leads that don't buy matter too. They go into the nurture journey with everything you learned about them intact.
Can one platform manage campaigns for many dealerships at once?
Yes, and for groups and agencies it's the only sane way to work. The setup to look for gives each rooftop its own list, branding, sender address and unsubscribe records, with templates and journeys shared from the top. The group designs the lease-end sequence once, and each store sends it under its own name with its own inventory.
| Level | What it owns |
|---|---|
| Each rooftop | Its own list, branding, sender address and unsubscribe records |
| Shared from the top | Templates and journeys |
Two things to check. Opt-outs must be honored for the store the customer unsubscribed from, and group-wide if that's what your privacy policy promises. And reporting should roll up without mixing customer data between stores. If no product fits the way your group is organized, this is a reasonable case for a custom-built platform.
Two Things to Check
- Opt-outs must be honored for the store the customer unsubscribed from, and group-wide if that's what your privacy policy promises
- Reporting should roll up without mixing customer data between stores
How do you keep dealership emails compliant with CAN SPAM?
We're not lawyers, so treat this as a checklist to take to yours. CAN-SPAM doesn't require permission before your email, which surprises people. What it requires is honesty and a way out. The From line and the subject line can't be misled. A promotional email has to be identified as an ad. Every message needs the store's physical postal address. There must be a clear, working unsubscribe, and you have ten business days to honor it. You also can't sell or pass along the address of someone who has opted out.
The CAN-SPAM Checklist
- The From line and the subject line can't be misled
- A promotional email has to be identified as an ad
- Every message needs the store's physical postal address
- There must be a clear, working unsubscribe, and you have ten business days to honor it
- You can't sell or pass along the address of someone who has opted out
CAN-SPAM doesn't require permission before your email, which surprises people. What it requires is honesty and a way out.
Two points catch dealerships. If an agency sends on your behalf, you're both responsible. And purely transactional messages, such as a recall notice or appointment confirmation, are treated differently from marketing. State privacy laws and the rules on texting sit on top of all this, so check those as well.
What email metrics matter most for car dealerships?
Opens are the least trustworthy number on the report these days, since some mail apps load every message automatically and inflate the count. Use them to compare subject lines and for little else. Clicks are better. Better still are the numbers the service manager and the GM care about: appointments booked from an email, repair orders from customers who got a reminder, trade-in appraisals requested.
| Metric | How far to trust it |
|---|---|
| Opens | The least trustworthy number on the report; use them to compare subject lines and for little else |
| Clicks | Better |
| Appointments, repair orders, trade-in appraisals | Better still: appointments booked from an email, repair orders from customers who got a reminder, trade-in appraisals requested |
| Bounces, unsubscribes, spam complaints | Hygiene: if those climb, your sends are hurting you whatever the click rate says |
On the hygiene side, watch bounces, unsubscribes, and spam complaints. If those climb, your sends are hurting you whatever the click rate says.
How does customer engagement drive service revenue and repeat sales?
Through the service lane, mainly. A customer who brings the car back for maintenance is in your building a couple of times a year. They walk past the new models on the way to the waiting room, and an advisor knows their name. When it's time to replace the car, you're the default. A customer who drifted to an independent shop after the first free oil change has no reason to start their search with you.
So the service reminder does two jobs. It fills a bay this month, and it keeps the relationship alive for a sale three years out. That's a fair argument for funding emails from both the service and sales budgets.
How do you measure ROI on dealership email campaigns?
Match the sends to the DMS. Take everyone who received a campaign and look for repair orders or vehicle sales from those customers in a set window afterward. Thirty days for service and ninety for sales is a reasonable place to start. Add the gross, then subtract the platform cost, the agency fee and the discounts you gave away.
The honest version includes a holdout. Keep a random ten percent of each segment off the campaign and compare the two groups. Some customers would have come in for the oil to change anyway, and the holdout tells you how many. A dashboard that joins email and DMS data turn this into a monthly habit.
1. Match the sends to the DMS
Everyone who received a campaign, and the repair orders or vehicle sales from those customers in the window afterward.
2. Add the gross, then subtract
The platform cost, the agency fee and the discounts you gave away.
3. Compare against the holdout
Some customers would have come in for the oil to change anyway, and the holdout tells you how many.
Talk to our team at beetlerim.com , Connect with us on LinkedIn
Where to start
Pick one journey and do it properly. We'd choose the lapsed service customer: everyone who bought from you in the last five years and hasn't had a repair order in twelve months. Pull the list, write three short emails from a named advisor, and measure booked appointments against a holdout. It's a small project, and the result will tell you whether a bigger build is worth it. If you'd like a second pair of eyes on the data side, get in touch.
The Lapsed Service Customer
- Everyone who bought from you in the last five years and hasn't had a repair order in twelve months
- Pull the list
- Write three short emails from a named advisor
- Measure booked appointments against a holdout
Back to all articlesIt's a small project, and the result will tell you whether a bigger build is worth it.
