In your dealership’s digital marketing strategy, the email open rate is a key metric that provides valuable details—it shows that your customers have received and interacted with your store’s communications, helping you identify what resonates with your target audience so you can adjust your messaging for better engagement and eventual conversion.

If your emails are getting ignored, however, you risk losing touch with your established and prospective customers, preventing further business connections such as test-drives and service visits, and potentially hurting your brand authenticity. To increase email open rates—and future click-through rates and conversions—optimize your email communications with these five digital marketing strategies.

Shift Your Email Open Rate Out of Neutral with These Strategies

1. Draft Compelling Subject Lines

The subject line of your email communication is the first part your recipients see, so make sure it compels them to open. Keep your subject lines clear, concise, and engaging, without using spammy language (such as “Save” and “Now”) or all caps. Some of the best subject lines utilize:

• Curiosity. Spark intrigue by asking a question or hinting at valuable content: “Is your model ready for road trip season?” or “Discover the difference in drives with proper tires”
• Urgency. Create a sense of timeliness with limited-time offers or expiring deals: “Important reminder to see us for your brake service” or “You won’t want to miss these sweet offers”
• Personalization. Use the recipient’s name or interests to grab attention: “Jackson, see what’s in store this season” or “Spring specials on your next 2024 Outback are in bloom”

2. Segment and Personalize Each Email

To create deeper connections with your email recipients, you need to demonstrate that you know their specific wants and needs better than the competition. A key digital marketing strategy to help ensure this is by using list segmentation and customer personalization.

Rather than blasting your entire email list with the same generic messaging, segment your customer contacts so that each receives the targeted marketing emails that are more likely to engage them. Group your email list based on factors such as demographics, purchase history, or expressed interest. This allows you send tailored content that resonates with specific audiences, making them more likely to open. Some of the customer groups you might consider include:

• Customers who purchased or leased from you within the past year, but have not yet visited for service
• Customers who may be due for a mileage-based service, such as brakes or tires
• Sales prospects who have previously shown interest but have not engaged recently
• Former service customers who have not engaged with your store in over a year

3. Optimize Timing and Frequency

Is there an ideal time of day or number of emails for your dealership to send to your customers to boost email open rates? It depends on the goal of your digital marketing plan—but it can be optimized with the right data.

Timing. Consider sending emails outside peak business hours on weekdays or on weekends when people have more leisure time. Analyze your past data to see when your target audience typically opens emails and adjust your sending schedule accordingly.

Frequency. Increasing email volume and targeting a larger audience will boost traffic, while reducing email volume and targeting a selected audience will increase open rates. By testing both tactics, you can determine which email frequency your target audience responds to best, and which drives the most interest.

4. Add Value to Build Trust

While coupons can have a great impact on customer retention, going beyond a sales pitch or service push helps show your customers that your dealership is trustworthy by offering valuable content that educates, entertains, or solves problems for your audience. This might include car care tips and maintenance guides, exclusive early access to deals and promotions, and personalized recommendations based on past interests.

By implementing a dealership email newsletter, you can generate higher email open rates, click-through rates, and conversions. To ensure your e-newsletter is effective, include sales and service offers specific to each individual customer as well as dealership news, employee spotlights, community involvement, and other engaging content to connect with your recipients.

5. Keep Your Email Lists Up-to-Date

Putting time and resources into a digital marketing strategy to increase email open rates loses its potency if your email list contains outdated information. By checking your email lists for accuracy, this will improve your marketing efforts and help reduce spam complaints and bounce rates, enhancing your sender reputation.

To keep your email lists clean and fully leverage your customer data:

• Regularly check your older email lists for stale contact info
• Identify the causes of ongoing bouncebacks
• Follow up with non-responders
• Engage new subscribers immediately

Increase Email Open Rates with Engaging Content

Understanding how to increase your open email rates is critical to improving your digital marketing strategy, customer engagement, and return on investment. With the right combination of intriguing content, individual customer personalization, and ideal sending schedules, you can stay connected with your customers and drive more sales and service.

If you’re interested in data-driven technology that can help you kick off a professional, one-to-one email newsletter for your store, we can help. Affinitiv Newsletter helps you make profitable connections, sending customer-personalized content in a customizable layout with an in-depth overview of performance so you can continue to improve your results.

Contact us today and discover how Newsletter can help your dealership increase email open rates to expand your reach and boost ROI.