65% open rate and 64% CTR - Email marketing campaign for automotive retail

BACKGROUND

While Black Friday isn’t normally viewed as an event for the automotive industry, there are opportunities for various industries to actively participate in it. The goal of this campaign was to sell accessories for Volkswagen, SEAT, Škoda, Porsche and Audi through the exploitation of the well- known sales-driven Black Friday deals.

The overall campaign was carried out in two steps, the goals of which were to create engagement and personalization with the products being focused on.

APPROACH

Seeing as though there were no expectations for Black Friday campaigns in the auto industry, additional advanced client communication was a necessity for the marketing team, so an initial teaser email was created.

The initial teaser email was sent two days prior to Black Friday and targeted clients who had already bought cars from Porsche Inter Auto. The message boasted deals up to 50% off hundreds of items, and created a sense of urgency by informing customers of the limited-time offer, only available on Friday, Nov. 23 from midnight to 11:59 p.m. It also asked customers to choose their favorite products from a list containing a wide range of auto-related products. From the responses, the marketers were able to obtain a lifestyle and preferences-targeted database of 5.6% of the client base.

The main email communication was sent at midnight on Black Friday, beginning the 24-hour discount window. In order to make the mailing relevant to the customer’s preferences and create dynamic content, the above-the-fold area was personalized with the product category chosen by the customer in the teaser email. Customers who did not an express a preference were sent a general follow-up message.

THE RESULTS

The teaser email had an open rate of 26.36% and a CTR of 33.21%. This teaser helped the marketers create a database with declared preferences for 5.6% of the existing customers. It also identified customer interest in auto accessories, tuning and design products, and cleaning products.

The personalized Black Friday email sent to customers who expressed their preferences had a 64.45% open rate – a 76.81% increase from the average 36.58% open rate. It also boasted a CTR of 63.49% – a 241% increase from the average 18.61%. The email delivery to customers who did not express their preferences generated a smaller open rate of 14.75%. This campaign generated an approximate 2% conversion rate from the customers who clicked on the offers that were included in the email. 

source: Marketing Sherpa Email Awards 2014