Direct Mail Proves it can Move Metal

 

Here’s some good news for auto industry execs and

 

their marketing partners: Consumers respond aggressively

 

to direct mail when they’re in a car-buying mood.

 

52% of direct mail readers planning to buy a new

 

car read automotive direct mail. But more important, 73

 

percent of those readers surveyed respond to those

 

mailings by turning to other media and/or heading

 

to dealership showrooms, according to research by

 

Vertis, a Baltimore-based marketing services firm.

 

SHOPPERS VISIT WEB, DEALERSHIPS

 

35% of adults who have responded to automotive

 

direct mail by visiting a company’s Web site are planning

 

to purchase a new vehicle within the next 12 months;

 

26% of those who plan to make a purchase visited

 

a dealership in person.

 

“Automotive marketers who use direct mail notice

 

results when targeting the right audience at opportune

 

times,” says Jim Litwin, vice president of market

 

insights for Vertis.

 

Vertis’ Customer Focus® 2005 Automotive Direct

 

Marketing study revealed the following findings for

 

those who had read automotive direct mail:

 

37% of men and

 

39% of women visited a dealership;

 

23% of men and

 

13% of women were driven to a sender’s Web site.

 

Direct helps drive car buyers into action

 

AGE MATTERS

 

A consumer’s age is also a factor in how they respond to

 

the automotive marketing they receive in the mail:

 

Of the younger baby boomers (born between 1956 and

 

1964) surveyed who read automotive direct mail,

 

46% said they visited a dealership; 38% of Generation

 

Y (born between 1977 and 1994) took the trip.

 

32% of Generation Y readers of automotive

 

mail and 24% of Gen X (born between 1965 and

 

1976) respondents visited a sender’s Web site.

 

14% of Generation Y and 7% of younger baby

 

boomers who read the direct mail replied to the offerings

 

from an auto company via mail.

 

“The numbers show that a targeted medium like direct

 

mail is an effective way to talk to car buyers,” says

 

Scott Marden, Vertis director of marketing research.

 

“Direct mail plays a key part in closing purchases by

 

driving consumers to dealerships.