Key Giveaway in the News

Many of the mailers doing the best right now feature keys. As most of you know they are for attention getting purposes and don't actually do anything at the sale as the Marketvision kiosk tells customers what they've won. Just wanted to share this story of a man who tried the key in the winning vehicles engine and actually STARTED the car. Check out the story and use it as a reminder to let the kiosk notify the winner, not the KEY :)

Click here to read the news story.

PS: Yes, this was a Tri Auto mailer.

Schedule This Week

Just wanted to make clients and future clients aware the I'm out of the office this week. We'll be working on events with sale dates the second full week of October early & mid week, and sales the week of the third full week of October late this week. If you need something please contact one of the other two Divas: Katy Peat-Account Exec kpeat@triauto.com 317-644-5779 Ashley Beck-Account Development Spec. abeck@triauto.com 317-644-5771

Meet me on Facebook

So I've blogged on Facebook for over a year and how dealers should and could be using it for business....and guess what-I just got my own page up and running!? Now that I've taken my own advice, I'm inviting you to connect with me. Shoot me an email or give me a call if you'd like info on how to build your friend list immediately and how to connect with your current & past clients. There are some nifty, easy little tricks on there that don't take long at all. In the meantime-become friends with Stephanie At TriAuto here.

The Current State of Automotive Direct Mail

We just released our Marketvision stats from the last year, along with updated numbers from the past three months. I just wanted to share some of the data as you plan for your Fall mail campaigns. Top Performers (and this one has recently changed so take note regular clients!)

• 9.5x14 postcard with key- avg response: 2.12%, highest response: 7.72%
• 11x17 half fold with key- avg response: 1.67%, highest response: 8.39%
• 8 page magazine-avg response 2.11%, highest response: 2.94%

Slipping Performers

• 11x17 tri fold-avg response: .52%
• 8.5x11 in 9x12 envelope-avg response: .59%

Other items to note

• 100# high gloss paper out performs any other stock on event mailers 3 to 1
• Personal websites or PURLS are producing buyers-50% say they are in the market to buy in the next 90 days, 89% are in the market to buy in the next year

New products to watch

• Personalized Credit Card Mailers
• Jumbo Dealership Newsletters
• Text Messaging
• Saturation Email Campaigns
• Special Finance Mailers-the new generation

Hope this helps regardless of your mail vendor. The ability to help us and dealers see what's working and what not is only half the power of Marketvision-the other half is realized when we analyze data from your individual sales and put it to work for you as well.

Mailing to Credit Score Lists

The credit score list had become a relic around here until about a month ago. As lenders begin to (slightly) loosen up so does the subprime market. However, credit score lists don't have to be the only way to target these people, here are a few other ideas.

Credit Score Lists

Expense: $$$

Pros: targeting specific scores, weeding out too low scores, ability to make a firm offer of credit on the mailer

Cons: expense, reliability of data (lists are always 2-4 wks old by the time mail hits the home), disclaimer hell-legal fine print required with this list can sometimes take up half the mailer

Income Lists

Expense: $$

Pros: ability to target income ranges for credit purposes, more mail for your dollar, fewer legal hoops with disclaimers and piece restrictions

Cons: data is self reported so is not always highly reliable

Saturation List with Average Income

Expense: $

Pros: very inexpensive/a lot more mail for your money, the typical mail responder is in the credit bracket most dealers would target, you could get in the occasional prime customer as well,

can still address most customers by name (instead of "current resident"), no legal restrictions or disclaimers regarding the list needed

Cons: income information is an average by neighborhood (could be large variances)

In most cases I recommend sticking with the targeted saturation lists. The difference in price can be staggering and the traffic that comes in can be "filtered" by the content of the mailer. That being said, list selection is very unique to each campaign, dealership & market. Please discuss what's best for your specific mailer with your mail specialists (...and yes, the Diva is accepting new clients).

Happy Friday!

Clunkers Hangover

I'm so tired of blogging on Clunkers! Here's where we are: August is over & hopefully closed out at most dealerships. Many had a heck of a ride full of long nights, lots of deals & tons of traffic. Others didn't participate much in the actual government program but took full advantage of the buzz created throughout the industry the past few weeks. Now, traffic is starting to slow and dealers are "getting back to normal."

Is "normal" still good enough for you?

A dealer told me yesterday he supposed they were "still basking in the glory of last month." I should have told him "snap out of it!" but I didn't :) The bottom line is direct mail is working right now. I don't know if it's because a lot of dealers slowed down on it the past year, or if it's just that the products have changed a lot recently, whatever it is the days of a 1-2% response are very much here again.

Don't let the momentum die in your showroom or with your sales force-it's time to restart our engines and get things going again. Here are just a few of the products that are doing it for us at Tri-Auto right now.

• USED CAR Clunkers themes (or "cash for Junkers")
• Jumbo Postcards with keys or credit cards
• Half Fold 11x17 with keys or credit cards
• Mini 8 page magazines
• Buyback letters to year/make/model lists or your database
• Email blasts
• Service Mailers (making a comeback!)

If you're unsure of what direction to go in, give me a call and we can talk through some ideas.

PS: In case you actually had to ask...the picture of the cheeseburger is in reference to the title of the post today. In lieu of using Tri Auto direct mail to cure your hangover, head to McDonald's.