Why email is (still) so powerful

You are a successful and busy boating industry professional. Maybe you own or manage a boat dealership, or you hold a managerial role at one. It’s likely that you want to market your business and promote your inventory in the most effective way, but you have limited resources. You just don’t have the time to devote to everything, which is why you need to determine which marketing channels are most worthy of your effort.

Email marketing is a method that has been around for a long time, and it doesn’t look like it’s making an exit anytime soon. It’s one of the few ceaseless strategies in digital marketing, and for good reason!

The email inbox is arguably the most valuable channel to reach customers. Unlike a TV commercial or radio spot that may fall on deaf ears, or an online advertisement that can be easily ignored, your email list recipients are most likely going to see your email at the very least. Whether they open it and engage with it or not, you’ve planted a seed in their minds about your dealership and what you have to offer. Emails are a noninvasive way to deliver information, and the nature of email gives customers the decision to further engage with the content or not.

A few tips to optimize marketing emails for the highest chance of engagement:

• Keep it simple. Recipients are likely to get overwhelmed If your email is packed full of content or bursting with different design elements. It may even come off as too aggressive. Less is more – allow recipients to understand the message you’re delivering even if they only quickly skim your email

• Make the message loud and clear. On a similar note, email recipients should have no confusion about the purpose of your email. The subject line presents an opportunity to simplify your message too.

• Include imagery or video for visual impact. Most people are visual learners, so not only will this help pique their interest, but it will also help them remember the content you shared later. Images and graphics are great, video is even better – especially if it can deliver your message in 30 seconds or less.

• Provide a call-to-action. Delivering your message means nothing if email recipients don’t know what to do next. Tell them what to do (ex. attend your dealership’s VIP-only winter boat sales event) and give them a way to do it (ex. a phone number to call and reserve their spot).

Email marketing is a proven method for driving sales and developing a culture of loyalty among your customers. Using marketing automation and data-combing tools to deliver personalized emails is even more beneficial. There are tons of useful and results-driven marketing strategies out there – plus new technologies developing and improving every day – but email marketing has proven its value time and time again.

Lauren Labunsky is the public relations manager for Dealer Spike, a company that provides innovative websites as well as a suite of powerful online advertising solutions that help marine dealers help increase sales and service profitability. For more information, visit www.DealerSpikeMarine.com or call 800-288-5917.