Brook e-communications company in the news

Brook company, IMN presents CRM & E-newsletter technologies at FADA congress

Newton, MA, and ChampionsGate, FL – As the lifetime value of the typical car-buying household approaches $350,000, dealers are realizing that a highly effective way for them to build and maintain profitable customer relationships is through lifestyle e-newsletters. David A. Fish, CEO of IMN (iMakeNews, Inc.), which provides the Loyalty Driver™ e-newsletter service for the auto industry, showed dealers how to use new e-newsletter technology to bring back “old-fashioned” customer loyalty through a presentation at the FADA (Florida Automobile Dealers Association) Dealer Congress in Orlando on May 26th.

The Congress is FADA’s annual meeting, a members-only event that brings together hundreds of Florida’s premier new franchised automobile dealers. Since 1920, FADA has been serving new car dealers throughout Florida with the intent of improving their operations and ensuring their contribution to Florida’s economy.

Mr. Fish’s presentation, “Driving Customer Loyalty and Sales with E-Newsletters,” was part of a panel discussion on “Internet in the Fast Lane” and was based on IMN’s experience with major dealerships from coast to coast. Those dealerships use Loyalty Driver—an outsourced, fully-managed e-newsletter service including content—for ongoing e-mail marketing that strengthens customer relationships and drives leads. The presentation covered such topics as:

1. The value of e-newsletters for auto dealers—E-newsletters with lifestyle as well as product content keep dealers top of mind with their most profitable and qualified pool of prospective buyers: their existing customers. Mr. Fish explained how dealers can use this recurring communication to build and maintain strong relationships, and to accelerate, detect and respond to purchase intent—in short, to keep customers engaged and know when to sell them.

2. How to use content to engage customers while driving sales—E-newsletters offer a vehicle for combining soft-sell articles with time-sensitive information and other special offers, and for following up with strong calls to action. Appealing content keeps dealers visible to their customers well before those customers decide to purchase another car. The ease of two-way communications (e.g., scheduling, feedback, surveys) engages customers and builds relationships.

3. How to analyze and take action on information and “buy signals” derived from the e-newsletter—Today’s e-newsletters include sophisticated analytical capabilities so that dealers can measure what customers are reading, what time-sensitive offers gain their attention, what prompts them to click through to a dealer website, etc. Dealers can track and act on these “buy signals.” Dealers also can use analytics to refine content in response to reader interests.

– Getting started—Ease of implementation via outsourcing; tips for expanding the dealer’s e-mail database.

– E-newsletter best practices and examples.

– Crystal ball—The future of dealers’ e-relationships with their customers.

Last year, IMN launched Loyalty Driver to help dealers engage and retain their customers through monthly e-newsletters filled with compelling lifestyle and product articles. In January 2005, IMN launched an additional feature of Loyalty Driver—a breakthrough online “Buy Signal” service. The new service alerts dealers in real time when a customer indicates purchase intent—giving them the chance to immediately respond, and to preempt customers from going to another dealer for the same vehicle. The service pushes real-time leads, with customer contact information, to designated dealership salespeople. Dealers can place “calls to action” within each e-newsletter article to prompt customers to request sales information or in other ways move the sales cycle forward. More information about Loyalty Driver and the “Buy Signal” service is available at http://loyaltydriver.imninc.com.

About IMN

IMN (iMakeNews, Inc.) of Newton, MA is a leading e-communications service provider. Originally focused on e-newsletters, IMN now delivers e-communications solutions that boost business performance and span e-newsletters, e-mail, mini-sites, weblogs, and robust tracking and analytics. IMN products are sold worldwide directly and through a host of reseller organizations. IMN has pioneered Informative Marketing™, a strategy for using online analytics to better understand customers and prospects, take action based on their responses to content, and improve the return on e-communications program investments. Founded in 1999 and funded by Brook Venture Funds, IMN services more than 1,000 accounts globally. The company’s approach to e-communications has been embraced by major corporations such as Shell Oil, Wachovia, CitiStreet, ING, and General Electric. For more information, please call 866-964-NEWS.

Journalists who would like more information should contact Dawn Ringel, Warner Communications, at 781-449-8456 or dawn@warnerpr.com.