E-mail lists

[Rocco]

Has anyone had success with e-mail lists? If so, how do you keep from being a Spammer?

[Trey]

You are definitely on the right track when you ask your question. And the key is "How do you keep from being a spammer?"

Definition: Spam is irrelevant messages that are not expected by the consumer. Spam is like the telemarketer calling during dinner. Avoid spam or you will risk alienating your customers, and since you are mostly dealing on a local basis this could be detrimental to your business.

Your goal should be to collect e-mails from people that opt-in to receive your e-mails.

Definition: Opt-in e-mail The customer gave you their permission to receive e-mail from your dealership. This is called Permission Marketing and a more in-depth discussion of this concept can be found in the book of the same name by Seth Godin.

There are numerous companies that will sell you e-mails lists. Some are reputable and some are not. You have to do your research, but reputable companies are usually expensive. $200 - $400/cpm (cost per thousand). As you get more targeted, it gets more expensive.

All that being said, you are better off collecting e-mails yourself. They will be local and customers will recognize you when you send them an e-mail.

So how do you go about collecting e-mails?
Give customers as many opportunities as possible and let them know why you want their e-mail. How will it benefit them?
Display a link prominently on the home page of your web site and all other pages
of your site. The top left is an ideal spot as we all begin reading in the top, left to
right. Make it very easy; click on a link and go to a page where the customer
provides their name and e-mail address. You do not need any other information;
you can get this later by building trust and allowing customers to see the benefits
you offer. Be creative. When you are taking customer information for automobile
service, ask if they would like to join your monthly e-mail newsletter that will provide
future service coupons. Give away something and allow people to provide their e-mail
for future giveaways and information about your dealership. Anytime you interact
with a customer becomes an opportunity for you to secure the customers
permission to send them future e-mails.

These are some quick tips to get you started. If you are interested, shoot me an e-mail, and I will get you more detailed information.

Trey Wilkins
trey@actionim.com

[This message has been edited by Trey (edited 10-24-2000).]