Microsoft’s acquisition of DriveOff.com means the car seller can fatten its database and bolster e-mail promotions
DriveOff.com views being acquired as an opportunity.
For one thing, efforts to expand a fledgling e-mail marketing program that generates automobile sales for DriveOff.com Inc. can accelerate now that Microsoft Corp.’s purchase of the Web site company was completed last month.
The Web site (www.driveoff .com), developed by Denver-based Navidec Inc., will be integrated into Microsoft’s larger Web site (www.carpoint.com) as part of Microsoft’s MSN network.
Both Web sites generate retail traffic for dealerships, but CarPoint merely creates sales leads for consumers to bring to dealerships. DriveOff actually sells cars directly to consumers who bring paperwork to dealers to sign, then pick up their new vehicles.
Online, DriveOff’s customers key in their ZIP code, vehicle model and desired optional equipment on the Web site. DriveOff then sends them binding price quotes and customized financing terms for leases or auto loans. Paperwork normally prepared by a dealership is mailed overnight by DriveOff after buyers make a $250 deposit.
Microsoft plans to allow DriveOff to operate as a subsidiary of its CarPoint venture. “We expect to see the initial signs of the integration begin in early fall,” says Andy Mountain, spokesman for DriveOff. “It’s not something we want to rush into. The Web sites will be gradually integrated.”
DriveOff will gain access to CarPoint’s huge database, though, which it can mine to entice new customers for itself. DriveOff will target e-mail campaigns to CarPoint’s customers in an effort to drive Web site traffic and auto sales.
A steady stream of new names from the CarPoint Web site will enhance DriveOff’s recent efforts to build and exploit an in-house list. About 6 million consumers per month click through CarPoint after depositing their e-mail addresses. These will enable DriveOff to grow from doing pilot e-mail tests to executing full-fledged campaigns, Mountain says.
CarPoint is significantly larger than DriveOff, but marketing executives won’t elaborate on how much. CarPoint generates 125,000 sales leads per month for 3,700 car dealers, resulting in $650 million in monthly sales.
After DriveOff entered the market in the first quarter, it sold about 100 vehicles per month – and sales have been doubling each month, according to Mountain.
Still, declining response rates from rented lists hindered the growth of DriveOff’s customer base. Earlier this year, response rates peaked close to 20%, but recently have fallen to around 5%, says Rachel Stevens, DriveOff’s online marketing manager.
Web site registration lists don’t deliver well either. They are becoming overused as competition among companies promoting cars online heats up, Stevens adds. The quality and authenticity of some opt-in names have waned, resulting in more complaints about spam, she adds.
Along with its reliance on CarPoint’s resources, DriveOff will take a more proactive strategy toward developing its customer file. Although the company will still rent some outside lists, DriveOff will also try to garner names through sweepstakes and contests advertised on a variety of Web sites. And it will bolster its own Web site registration list through 5,000 links it has established with other sites.
Other recent list-building activities have included running banner ad campaigns on general-interest sites like Yahoo! and E superscript *Trade Securities Inc., as well as on more targeted auto-related sites such as CarBuyingTips .com. The car seller is also trying out business magazine Web sites for high-level executives who fit a technology-savvy profile.
In preparation for the integration with CarPoint in the coming months, DriveOff is designing a series of test campaigns to use against its newly fattened house list. The tests will involve using incentives such as coupons for $100 worth of gasoline to new car buyers.
“Once we’re able to optimize the message,” says Stevens, “we’ll push the message out to a whole group of test segments.”
Network
