Harley-Davidson E-zines Go Their Own Way
Most Harley-Davidson bike owners are probably too busy to sit down and read much. But there is one thing they’re likely to scan when it comes in: the e-mail newsletter sent by their local dealer.
Where else can they learn about new models, the doings of their local H.O.G. chapters, local rides for charity and how to maintain their bikes?
E-zines are now sent by 80 Harley dealers—almost half of the national roster—according to Jordan Ayan, CEO of SubscriberMail, the newsletter program’s operator. The average circulation is 1,500, but some go as high as 10,000.
This is different from most programs of its type in that it has no involvement with Harley corporate. Dealers pay their own way.
Harley uses SubscriberMail’s system for sending e-mail programs for marketing partners. Patented last July, it recently was licensed to software firm ExactTarget.
Some of the e-zines are monthly, others weekly.
Ayan launched the Harley program six years ago, starting with a core of roughly 10 dealers he knew from prior work. The goal was to help them stay in touch with their customers.
“Some had been doing newsletters,” he says. “But it was an onerous process to get content in there. Some were going out with typos.”
Ayan came up with a soup-to-nuts process allowing dealers to assemble a customized newsletter containing professional content and promotions in about 10 minutes. There are some 20 templates to choose from, including those geared to Christmas, St. Patrick’s Day and other holidays.
The system seems user-friendly based on a demonstration by Ayan. The dealer clicks on boxes to add stories and images provided by SubscriberMail, then customizes the newsletter by adding his own material.
SubscriberMail offers hundreds of articles, ranging from “The Importance of Torque” to “Tires Are More Than Black Doughnuts.” They are written by freelance motorcycle writers.
However, a random scan of several dealer e-zines show that some don’t run any articles: A recent issue of Motor City Harley-Davidson highlights the 2006 MotorClothes Spring Collection. It also has a reader-generated feature titled “My Favorite Road Trip.”
Others highlight rides for charity and other events.
“Some are very locally customized newsletters, with not a lot of article content,” Ayan admits.
The program comes with back-end analytics, including open rates, clickthroughs, and e-mail addresses of people who linked to some content.
Dealers also can tailor their lists. For a mailing highlighting H.O.G. memberships, the dealer might suppress the names of existing members, Ayan explains.
Most participating dealers highlight their newsletters on their home pages, providing a link for subscriptions. All the e-zines are 100% opt-in, Ayan says.
And how is it working from a sales standpoint? Ayan doesn’t know, but he has one metric by which to judge.
“We don’t have much attrition,” he says.
