TOMA PART 2: HOW TO GET A CUSTOMER NEWSLETTER FOR YOUR SHOP THAT GETS READ!

This is part 2 of an article I posted earlier. To read part one and learn more about how to get a customer newsletter for your shop that gets read, click here!

 

Encompass a Wide Range of Interests

 

What do your customers care about?  Maybe it’s seasonal items, like winterizing their house for less.  Maybe you’re in San Diego and there isn’t a winter but your customers care about ten great inexpensive vacation destinations.

What about back-to-school supplies for less?  Christmas shopping on a budget?  Ten great ways to celebrate Memorial Day on the cheap?

Most people like to save money, as you can see.  But there’s more.

The history of Valentine’s Day.  The best recipe for pork tenderloin.  The best weight loss tips from WebMD.com.

Once you get away from automotive articles, the sky’s the limit.  Just keep it interesting, change up topics for every issue, and people will look forward to what you’ve found!

Getting them to read it is one thing, of course.  How do you get them to hold onto it?

Deliver Fun

 

What makes you hold onto the newspaper past breakfast?

Once you’ve read the news, the paper is useless…but still a lot of people don’t toss it in the recycling until later.  Why?

They give you a reason to hang onto it.  The answers to the crossword and jumble don’t come until the next day. You can use the same trick.  Give them a reason to look forward to getting and holding on to it.

Crosswords.  Sudoku.  Comics.  Recipes.  Coupons.  Contests.  All of a sudden, your newsletter went from trash fodder to fridge magnet material. Which means your logo, your phone number, and your voice as a community expert also just made it to the fridge magnet as well.

Top Of Mind Awareness means getting read and remembered, and getting read and remembered starts with delivering fun.  But there’s a caveat…

It Must Be Consistent!

 

You have to commit to doing this CONSISTENTLY.  Not just regularly, because one out of every three months won’t cut it.  In our shop, we send a print newsletter on the 1st and a different email newsletter on the 15th.

If you don’t send out that newsletter consistently, what’s the point in looking forward to crossword answers? What’s their reason to look forward to it if they don’t know when it’s coming?

Most importantly, how can you create Top Of Mind Awareness when you’re not in front of their eyeballs consistently?

Which is why there’s absolutely no shame in paying somebody for a customer newsletter.  I encourage you to use this blog (click here to read part one) as a shopping list when looking for a company to do your newsletter for you.

At the very least, it should deter you from having your 12-year-old nephew do it for you.

My suggestion?  Find somebody who actually knows the automotive industry and who can speak the automotive language in a way that your customers will understand and respond to.  Find somebody who has professional designs that don’t look amateurish OR overly slick.

Search for a company who can put together a wide array of articles and a whole lot of fun so that the newsletter GETS READ.

If you’re ready to tackle this in-house, I salute you.  It’s tough to do well consistently, but it IS doable (and WORTH DOING).

And if you want the guys who do the newsletter for our shop, and who help us increase visits from our best customers, give the Automated Marketing Group a call at 866-520-3030.

No matter what, I highly recommend you make it a part of your marketing budget.

It may not blow your doors off their hinges, but more visits each year from your best customers can make a big difference in your shop.

This blog is also posted on Motor Age!