Email Marketing In The Auto Industry Is Dead – Why It’s Time to Resurrect It

Very few online auto parts retailers make proper use of email marketing, which means email marketing is dead.

But email marketing works! Which is why we say, “long live email marketing!”

In this article, we’ll explain what a good email marketing program looks like, and how parts etailers and parts manufacturers can leverage email to grow.

How Email Marketing Can Help You Sell More Parts

If you’re an auto parts or accessories manufacturer, these are the types of emails you should be sending:

• Monthly or quarterly newsletters, with information about new products, cool events your company is involved with, great photos of your products installed and/or in use, and an invitation to further the sale (e.g., find a dealer, download a rebate form, etc).
• Seasonal sale announcements, rebate offer news, and/or event invitations.

If you’re an auto parts or accessories retailer, you need to send all of the above plus:

• Cart abandonment emails*, which tell the customer, “You left parts in your cart!”, inviting them to return to the site and complete their purchase. Ideally, you’d send one of these emails after 1 or 2 hours, and another after 24 hours.
• Review request emails, either of specific products or of your business. Reviews help grow future sales, so it’s smart to ask your customers for them.

*NOTE: Cart abandonment emails are not always technically possible. Some ecommerce platforms don’t make it easy to generate these emails.

Aside from the obvious – more sales – there are a number of benefits to email marketing.

• Email is easy to track. Advertising and marketing decisions are often based on “gut” or opinion, but they don’t have to be. Email performance is easily tracked, and that makes it easy to compare and contrast various marketing messages.
• Email builds customer loyalty. Staying “top of mind” is a great way to build a relationship with your previous customers.
• You can promote your content. You’re already creating content for your website, blog, social media, trade shows, advertisements, and mailers. Why not get more bang for your buck and expose customers to that message in another format? They say it takes six to eight “touches” before a customer takes action. Consider email one more worthwhile touch.

Email is one of the cornerstones of online marketing. It can’t be ignored.

Email Marketing Is Kind Of Dead, But It Shouldn’t Be

A surprising number of auto parts manufacturers and retailers either don’t send their previous customers email, or don’t do it regularly. This is a missed opportunity. Email is incredibly affordable, and it’s relatively straightforward to manage. We highly recommend it.