Outsell, which offers an AI-driven marketing automation platform for the automotive industry, announced recently with agency partner DSplus, that it was named the winner of the 2018 WebAward Automobile Standard of Excellence Award for the 2018 Toyota CH-R Launch Campaign. Outsell’s technology platform behind the Toyota CH-R campaign was also named a finalist for the Digiday Technology Awards in the category Best Marketing Automation platform. This is the seventh award this year that Outsell and DSplus have won for the co-created Toyota CH-R launch campaign.
“Thank you Digiday and Web Marketing Association for the recognition and I want to also congratulate the teams at Outsell and DSplus,” said Michael Wethington, president and CEO, Outsell. “The CH-R campaign proves that individualized communications can make a measurable impact on sales and overall customer engagement. Toyota knew it had to amp up its marketing to rise above the noise and this campaign clearly demonstrates that timely and relevant digital marketing can effectively attract customers and have an impact on the bottom line.”
The 2018 Toyota CH-R Launch Campaign
DSplus and Outsell devised a multi-step, individualized cross-tier marketing campaign that was central to the launch, and provided dealers with templates and directions, which meant very little work for the dealers. For several months prior to the launch, each dealer sent teaser emails regarding CH-R in order to gather behavioral data and measure interest in the new 2018 model. The subsequent launch campaign consisted of three main elements. First, a targeted initial trigger email to spread awareness and send traffic to a second element – a custom Toyota CH-R microsite. Next, consumers were encouraged to schedule a test drive and browse local dealers’ inventory via the exclusive microsite. The third launch element was a targeted follow-up drip email to consumers who engaged in the initial email and microsite. Each email was individualized to the consumer’s past behavior and stated interests.
The overall goals were to drum up excitement, create new dialog with interested consumers and close the deal on a new Toyota CH-R. The results were impressive: more than 200,000 consumers interacted with the CH-R launch emails and microsite, moving thousands of CH-Rs off the lot for participating dealers, resulting in close to a million in sales. To view examples of the award-winning campaign emails and microsite, visit 2018 Toyota CH-R Launch Campaign.
Outsell provided the technology behind the campaign, a marketing automation platform driven by artificial intelligence that increases customer engagement and drives more revenue by transforming how dealers engage with customers and prospects throughout their individual lifecycles.