Marketing is an ever-evolving buzzword that we hear all the time. However, the focus of marketing is often lost in the conversation. Car rental operations (of course, not all of them) are notorious for losing focus on what matters… customers!

Time to face facts!

Those facts? That traditional means of advertising are not guaranteed ways to target your intended audience! Even worse they can become a drain on your operation’s financial resources. Radio ads can cost in the $10,000 range if you want the most people listening, and even a local television ad can cost up to $1,500, just for production!

The Better Option..Email Marketing

Instead of purchasing ads that are expensive, outdated, and not very personal, it may be time to consider an email marketing campaign for your car rental operation.

Email marketing allows your business a personal means of communication with your existing and potential customers.

Unlike traditional advertisements, most email marketing platforms allows for senders to create an email that is personable, which makes it harder to ignore than any ad they’d normally see.

For example, you can customize an email to include a customers name in the subject heading as well as in the body of the email. That just doesn’t work in a radio, tv, or print ad…

Yeah… but does it work?

We all skim through emails everyday, so what’s to say that your marketing efforts will be just another victim of the junk folder?

Fear not, as the travel and transportation industry enjoys a comfortable 20% email opening rate. Recipients only unsubscribe from email lists at 0.24%. The bounce rate, both hard (0.51%) and soft (0.69%) does not equal the 2% threshold which business are advised to stay under.

Even if they don’t read them the first or second time, they are more likely to open an email from your operation than they are to unsubscribe completely.

Make The Change..

Next time your operation is offering a sale or discount, instead of running to the traditional means of advertisement – implement an email marketing campaign.

There are plenty of services for email campaigns such as Constant Contact and Mailchimp. These services offer cost-effective ways to market your business, as well as analytics that allow you to gauge the success of your campaigns and what changes you can make.

Have you already started an email marketing campaign? Let me know how it is going in the comment section below!