Katherine Donovan's Posts - DealerELITE.net2024-03-28T17:36:10ZKatherine Donovanhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/KatherineDonovanhttps://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2535858758?profile=RESIZE_48X48&width=48&height=48&crop=1%3A1https://www.dealerelite.net/profiles/blog/feed?user=3qqz0kcunj8vu&xn_auth=noImproving Your Email Subject Lines!tag:www.dealerelite.net,2011-09-26:5283893:BlogPost:2252142011-09-26T02:04:21.000ZKatherine Donovanhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/KatherineDonovan
<p>Today, the average corporate user sends and receives over 110 messages daily! With all that email, even the world’s greatest message will fall victim to “right click / delete” without a subject line that inspires a reader to open it! </p>
<p>Here are a few quick tips to help you write a subject line that will get your customers’ attention:</p>
<p>1) <b><u>Be clear</u></b> – With so many emails and so little time let them know why they should open yours. </p>
<p>2) <b><u>Be…</u></b></p>
<p>Today, the average corporate user sends and receives over 110 messages daily! With all that email, even the world’s greatest message will fall victim to “right click / delete” without a subject line that inspires a reader to open it! </p>
<p>Here are a few quick tips to help you write a subject line that will get your customers’ attention:</p>
<p>1) <b><u>Be clear</u></b> – With so many emails and so little time let them know why they should open yours. </p>
<p>2) <b><u>Be concise</u></b> – Many mobile devises, desktop email clients and webmail services vary the length they allow for subject lines depending on configuration. For instance, if you are using right-hand preview pane in some webmail services, you can be limited to only 27 characters!</p>
<p><b>3) </b> <b><u>Be Relevant</u></b> – Send targeted emails that are specific to your customer and their needs! This will not only improve your open rate, but significantly help reduce “opt outs”</p>
<p>4) <b><u>Be consistent</u></b> – As you start to develop value with your customers, you will want them to remember you. Use the same format, words or naming convention whenever possible in your subject lines.</p>
<p>5) <b><u>Don’t forget the “from”</u></b> – OK, I Know this is not the subject line, but it makes a big impact AND will legitimize the subject line. For instance, if you are asking a customer to come in for a service, make sure the “from” represents a service manager, director or service writer!! </p>August 1959!tag:www.dealerelite.net,2011-04-13:5283893:BlogPost:804162011-04-13T15:30:39.000ZKatherine Donovanhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/KatherineDonovan
<p>Like many small, hometown dealerships Matt Saxe Chevrolet in Belle Plaine, MN, he has a wall dedicated to the pictures of the dealership over the last century! I love looking back at the old pictures, seeing how the towns have changed, the people in the pictures, the pride of the local car dealer... but one picture in particular caught my eye. The date on the picture was August 1959. It showed the dealership proudly displaying 8 beautiful Chevrolets outside and a large sign that said…</p>
<p>Like many small, hometown dealerships Matt Saxe Chevrolet in Belle Plaine, MN, he has a wall dedicated to the pictures of the dealership over the last century! I love looking back at the old pictures, seeing how the towns have changed, the people in the pictures, the pride of the local car dealer... but one picture in particular caught my eye. The date on the picture was August 1959. It showed the dealership proudly displaying 8 beautiful Chevrolets outside and a large sign that said Inventory Clearance Event! </p>
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<p>Here we are 50 plus year later and we still use the same marketing. Sure, the inventory for most of these dealers would be 10 times that amount now and this “event” would have also feature, TV, Radio internet and a direct marketing campaign, but all that said, we are still putting a simply putting up an “Inventory Clearance Event” sign and hoping our customers stop long enough to see it. </p>
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<p>I am not suggesting that these campaigns do not have their place; there has to be a reason we have been running this same campaign in August for over 50 years! That said, I believe that these messages merely “interrupt” the consumer as opposed to creating a dialog. When that picture was taken in 1959 the Keup Brothers were running the dealership and the entire town (as well as the small towns around it) considered that dealership to be “their dealership” and they likely considered the town to be “their customers.” Now, we must earn that right, we must communicate to our customers and we must do it in a meaningful way, a way that holds the customers interest equal to our own - The right message, at the right time, with the right media (or media’s). </p>Gamification: Coming to a dealership near you soon!tag:www.dealerelite.net,2011-03-27:5283893:BlogPost:749012011-03-27T15:26:49.000ZKatherine Donovanhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/KatherineDonovan
<p><b>Gamification</b> is the use of game play mechanics <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-msn_0-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamification#cite_note-msn-0"><span> </span></a></sup>for non-game applications<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-fun_1-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamification#cite_note-fun-1"><span> </span></a></sup>. It also strives to encourage users to engage in desired behaviors.…<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-gd_2-0"></sup></p>
<p><b>Gamification</b> is the use of game play mechanics <sup id="cite_ref-msn_0-0" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamification#cite_note-msn-0"><span> </span></a></sup>for non-game applications<sup id="cite_ref-fun_1-0" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamification#cite_note-fun-1"><span> </span></a></sup>. It also strives to encourage users to engage in desired behaviors.<sup id="cite_ref-gd_2-0" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamification#cite_note-gd-2"></a></sup> Gamification works by making a customer experience more engaging,<sup id="cite_ref-vb_3-0" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamification#cite_note-vb-3"></a></sup> and by encouraging desired behaviors, taking advantage of humans' psychological predisposition to engage in gaming. The technique can encourage people to perform chores that they ordinarily consider boring, such as completing surveys, shopping, or reading web sites.</p>
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<p>One of the newest marketing trends on the horizon today is Gamification. This concept has been used in automotive for quite some time (think scratch-off's and wheel's of fortune). However, rarely has this been executed well, to do this you must first understand the behavior you wish to impact and the marketing plan supporting it. </p>
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