Some BMW of North America dealers have seen conversion rates as high as 10% to recent prospect mailings created using a new system that's designed to build customer loyalty.
In June the German automaker launched Mail Builder, a service that helps dealers conduct their own direct marketing campaigns, says Brian Babcock, conquest specialist at the Woodcliff Lake, NJ company.
“I'm very happy with the amount of engagement we've had so far,” he says. Already a third of BMW's 339 dealers (or “centers”) have completed training for the program, and many more mailings are expected to go out this year.
BMW started Mail Builder so it could put out a consistent message, and because dealers were demanding assistance.
“Many of our centers had attempted direct marketing campaigns in the past but were unhappy with the process and results,” Babcock says. “Typical complaints were high costs, lack of support from providers, poor response and conversion rates and the inability to truly measure the mailings' effectiveness.
“To build a campaign, centers simply log on through our intranet, decide which vehicle they want to market, choose a template, create their offer, and size their mailing list.” More experienced users can do things like select images and customize phone numbers.
“We developed three different templates the centers could use for each model line — an oversized postcard, an invitation format (card-style with an envelope) and a tri-fold self-mailer,” he adds.
Mail Builder enables dealers to create mailings that promote leases and test drives, for example: “We allow them to customize offers based on their local needs.”
Regarding lists, BMW put a lot of work into creating and providing files “that were relevant whenever [our centers] had the need to conduct a campaign,” according to Babcock.
BMW handles such tasks as fulfillment and undeliverables. It also provides dealers campaign information like responses, purchases and lost sales. Each month, a BMW client service representative follows up with the dealer. These reps work on campaigns with dealer personnel, offer Mail Builder training, advise on best practices and review campaign performance.
The CSRs also let the centers know about new templates and business opportunities BMW has developed for dealers.
“Our whole approach to Mail Builder was from the relationship marketing perspective,” Babcock says. “We've had great success in ensuring the right message is conveyed to the right audience at the right time and wanted to pass this philosophy on to our retailers. Today's car buyers have a lot more information available to them about the buying process, competitors' vehicles and pricing than [what could be had] just a few years ago. They spend more time contemplating their purchase decision. Often we need to continue speaking with these consumers at multiple points in the consideration process.”
Looking ahead, BMW intends to offer its centers outside prospecting lists that will be automated and segmented by vehicle model.
“We anticipate adding templates for our certified pre-owned department and elements for BMW Financial Services,” Babcock notes. “Also, holiday cards and newsletters are being considered.”
In any case, it's likely BMW will keep Mail Builder as a direct mail program.
“We have several programs in place that provide e-mail marketing and relationship building opportunities,” he says. “If our centers start to show a desire for e-mail via Mail Builder, we'll certainly take a closer look to see if there's a business case and need for it. Our focus right now is to continue improving the [traditional] mail element, which I believe is second to none.”
