Situational Marketing

Automotive Marketing: New Ways To Sell Cars

Auto dealers are the best natural marketers on the planet, but the variety of options available has made it more difficult to manage your customer messaging.  Today's car buyers are more sophisticated, more knowledgeable, and more demanding of their time, so how do you reach them?

Blast Companies does so by sending them messages they want to hear, on the devices they want to use.  As consumers, we don't mind getting messages from car dealers, as long as they are relevant and targeted.  Certainly if I'm in the market for a vehicle, I want to know if new ones come in, or if there's a special sale this weekend.  Managed correctly, the automotive dealer can reach out to customers in a manner that will help them sell more cars.

Now here's the pitch:  Automotive marketing companies and dealerships can benefit from Blast Company messaging solutions by automating contact with their customer base.  Blast Companies broadcast messaging applications and marketing services enable automotive marketing companies a means to create and send personalized voice broadcast, e-mail, IVR or SMS Text messages simultaneously to hundreds or thousands of recipients fast. These services can be used as a stand alone campaign or in conjunction with other efforts such as direct mail or live agent follow up. The opportunities are endless!

Just a few automotive applications for consideration:

Scheduled Service Reminders
Most dealers will mail customers notices when their vehicle is due for a major mileage-based service appointment, for example 10,000 mile new car check up, tire rotations, front end alignment, critical fluid and filter replacements (transmission/differential). Given today's busy lifestyle, these mailed reminders can be overlooked due to mailbox clutter with even the most loyal customers.  Overlaying mailing of such notices with a friendly recorded personlaized voice broadcast will spur your customers to take action faster.  Not only will more customers take action, but the response will be more immediate, as opposed to a mail-only approach.  So for greater sales, use the mail-call approach!

Up Next, Sweet Home Alabama, By Steve L.

All too often, we fail to look at our products through the eyes of the consumer.  E-mail, Voice Broadcast, and IVR are tools for communication.  Our job is to send a message and deliver it quickly, cheaply, and without flaw.

So what happens when we pull off the blinders and start having fun with our technology.  The best (and the worst) emerges.  In this case, both.

Aaron Wellman writes about an IceBreaker promotion that decides to let its hair down, toss back that Margarita, and grab a mike.  IceBreaker used their IVR (Interaction voice recording) to allow consumers to create karaoke ringtones.

after checking online to see if you’re a winner, [it] calls your mobile phone and connects you to an IVR that lets you record a Karaoke that can be used as a ringtone.

It's a great use of the technology, and also a smart way to engage an audience. And it's fun to watch, especially if you like train wrecks (I've been to a lot of karaoke sessions - stick to your ranges, folks).

The original article came from a story by Kelly Hill in RCR Wireless News