In 2020, we set out to create more value for our customers. More specifically, we wanted to create more value in our newest product: DealerServiceHub.
DealerServiceHub is a Service Lead Conversion Platform that engages and converts automotive marketing traffic. We measured value primarily using one metric: Total Appointment Volume. More appointment conversions, more appointment volume, more repair orders. To our dealer partners, more appointments = more value (you get gist). Further, when the number of appointments goes up, all the other associated metrics (like Customer Pay, Warranty Pay, Reactivated Customers, new customers, etc.) see a major boost. This made it very easy to narrow our focus and figure out ways to drive more appointment volume.
To create the greatest impact for our dealer partners, we decided to utilize email as the primary messaging channel and implement a two-prong strategy.
Year-over-year, DataClover’s automated marketing strategies and design changes increased the average volume of digitally converted service appointments by ~66 per dealer or 320% annual growth. That is incredible.
The above chart showcases the impact of the sum of all changes rolled out in 2020 to the DataClover email product. DataClover’s email product actually consists of two individual products: ( 1 ) Cadence and ( 2 ) Blast emails. The core cadence product is a series of consumer and vehicle lifecycle triggers that recur at different frequencies using automation. The second product provides support for on-demand, seasonally relevent, blast emails throughout the year. Both play significant roles in driving leads into the DataClover Marketing Automation Funnel.
Referring back to the above chart, one can see the total impact of changes made to the email product more than doubled the average appointment leads generated from email content.
To improve the core cadence, the marketing team focused on the addition of new email content triggers. Over 50+ additional recurring email content triggers were added. Once enabled these triggers work to engage or reactivate specific audiences and promote different content throughout the year.
As seen below, the addition of new content was immensely impactful in growing the Average Appointment Volume per Dealer on our Digital Lead Conversion Platform.
The impact on appointment volume is apparent, such that the addition of new content triggers in 2020 resulted in an increase in appointment volume from email year over increasing from 19 to 51 average appointments per dealer or 166% annual growth and 32 more appointments per quarter converted through a digital website.
As mentioned previously, DataClover’s core email product supports lifecycle cadence intervals as well as seasonally relevent “blast” campaigns. In an effort to improve blast campaigns, we spent a significant amount of time connecting our blast emails to our website product. These product advancements made it easier to update the content of an email template, serve it to a customer, and have that customer see the same information on a dealer service website.
If we look at custom email blasts the results track similarly to the advancements made in the core email cadence product. Through better supporting blast emails by making them more connected to the end-destination service websites, we improved the average converted service appointments by 84%. Avg. Appointments from email blasts increased from 21 (Q1 2020) to 42 (Q1 2021).
The collective product enhancements deployed to DataClover’s email automation product improved year-over-year appointment conversions by over 320%. The advancements made by the product and marketing teams in the last year are a strong predictor of what’s to come. Automation is crucial to the success of any email platform. The implementation of automation creates a continuous lead engine that drives customers back to into the marketing funnel and into the dealership for service. As a marketer, there is is only one thing that makes me more happy than a successful campaign and that is a successful campaign strategy that can be automated (with the growth to prove it!).
For more information check out our recent articles:
Getting consumers to enter your sales funnel is the first step to convincing them to service with your dealership. This is why top of funnel keywords are so important. When setting up a Paid-Per-Click, you will want to target keywords that show they are researching service, or have a problem with their vehicle that may indicate service is required.
1. What is my online serivce appointment conversion rate?
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Reach out and we’ll show you how. It’s easier than you think.