Your customer email list is a rich resource for directly promoting your brand. Each email you send should offer timely, relevant and useful information about a specific topic related to buying, parts and accessories, service, trade-ins, local rides, or others likely to entice customers to read beyond the subject line.  Here are some tips…

• Schedule your campaign. Decide how frequently you’ll send out emails, and then stick with that schedule. I’ve subscribed to dozens of dealership newsletters, only to learn that they either stopped publishing them or never did.
• Create an email calendar. A lot of magazines have editorial calendars because they help with planning and assigning future projects, and this can work for you, too. Think about at least 3-6 topics you want to cover over the coming weeks or months, assign yourself or other team members as the authors, and give them or yourself enough time to get it done.
• Choose compelling subjects. A lot of dealer emails just scream ‘SALE!’ or ‘New Model!’ in one way or another, but what if I’m not in the market for another bike right now? Most of your customers probably aren’t. Formatting the email subject as a question helps spur readers to read on for the answer. For example, ‘What’s a good half-day ride?’ or ‘How often should you rotate your tires?’ or ‘How should you shop for a new helmet?’ or ‘What’s a good place to eat on Route 2?’ (BTW, questions like this give your authors some concrete encouragement to share what they know about a specific topic.)
• Set and enforce deadlines. Deadlines tell your authors when the work is due, and final deadlines a few days later give you time to make sure the language is clear and accurate before you send it out.  Sharing a calendar with deadlines gives everyone specific dates to plan for, and it helps avoid procrastination. After making the assignment, check in with the author periodically to make sure they’re making progress or see if they need help.
• Encourage everyone to contribute. Everyone on your team has ideas that can become an email, and.... 
• Don’t let people weasel out. Most motorsports people aren’t natural writers, so the idea of being assigned to write a coherent email can be daunting. If that’s the case, let them record their ideas and then have them transcribed, or assign another person to interview them. There shouldn’t be any excuses. Why can't they spend 15-20 minutes covering a topic? (Everyone takes a break, right?)
• Keep it short and pithy. We’re not writing a novel here. 2-4 paragraphs of 2-3 sentences each is more than enough. (This guideline also helps your team feel a bit easier about their assignments. 
• Include a Call to Action (CTA). Your email efforts are a marketing channel, so don’t forget to do a bit of marketing. For example, if the subject is choosing a helmet, the CTA might ask readers to stop by for in-person tryouts with your experienced team. If you’re announcing a shop ride (Subject: ‘Wanna Ride This Saturday?’) tell them you’ll have coffee and pastries in the shop before it’s KSU time.
• Stick with it. Email marketing, like all marketing, is a process, not an event. The brand you create needs continuous maintenance, so keep those emails coming. If you’ve chosen good topics and have gotten your team used to the process, it should be easy to keep going. The more you do, the better the results.
• Measure your success. Speaking of results, you can use Google Analytics or the built-in analytics tools where you host your website to watch how your email campaign is paying off in higher web traffic.