How to find and grow parts and accessories customers online: part 3

Posted by Insignia Group on Dec 17, 2013 8:30:00 AM

In the first two posts of our three-part series, we discussed best practices around SEO and PPC Advertising.  In today's final installment, we'll take a look at email marketing and social media.

Email Marketing

Other than directly emailing your company, there are two ways that a consumer will end up communicating with your company via email:

  1. They agree to receive updates from you during the checkout process.
  2. They subscribe to your newsletter or blog because they enjoy the content you produce.

It's important to understand that these customers are at different parts of the buying funnel, and are likely to respond to marketing messages differently. Therefore, you must segment and target your audience, (aka the people on your email list), to get the best results.

Variables that you might segment your email list by include:

-        How often they open your email

-        How often they click through to your site

-        Any answers they have provided as part of a survey

-        What they have purchased in the past

-        How frequently they share your content through social media (when possible)

Approach customers appropriately for their position in the marketing funnel. You should include a "call-to-action" in your emails, but it shouldn't be the central reason a customer would want to open your email.

Social Media 

Social media is a big buzzword lately and in some ways, it has been emphasized too much. However, it is an extremely powerful tool for customer retention and word of mouth. Here are a few ways to take advantage of it:

-        Use social networks (especially Twitter) to find and get in touch with influential people online to correspond with for exposure and SEO benefit

-        Most people use social networks to entertain themselves, not to seek out auto parts to buy, so meet this need by sharing entertaining videos of street races, helpful how-tos, and so on.

-        The second most common reason people use social networks is to communicate or express themselves. Give your audience a platform for this. Ask them questions about their cars and keep a conversation going.

Hopefully, this short review of Internet marketing tools has given you some ideas for promoting your online auto parts or accessories business. Feel free to comment below with questions or ideas.

Author Jason Lancaster is the President of Spork Marketing, a company that specializes in marketing auto parts online. For more information and marketing ideas, be sure to follow Jason on Google+.

For more information on growing your accessory profit center, contact Insignia and start selling today!

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Topics: Customer Retention, Increase Profits, Marketing