Automotive / Auto Repair, Collision & Maintenance
Tire shop marketing for the job that is next due
Tire shop marketing from MBI is targeted direct mail for a tire dealer: rotation, oil-change and annual-inspection service-reminder postcards and coupons, and the seasonal-maintenance offer that follows the turn of the season, designed, printed and mailed to the drivers around the shop by one team, with data, print and delivery in-house since 1989.
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What is tire shop marketing?
The short answer
Tire shop marketing at MBI is targeted direct mail for a tire dealer. Two campaigns carry it: a service-reminder postcard for the rotation, oil change or annual inspection that is next due, and a seasonal-maintenance offer dated to the turn of the season. MBI builds the audience, prints the card and mails it.
The two campaigns. This vertical's campaigns are documented as a tire rotation, oil-change or annual-inspection service-reminder postcard, and an automotive-service seasonal-maintenance direct-mail offer.
Postcard · Direct Mail
Direct mail
How does tire shop direct mail reach the drivers around a shop?
The short answer
Tire shop direct mail is targeted rather than blanketed. MBI builds an audience of drivers around the shop, then designs, prints and mails the card to that list. Three pieces carry the work for a tire dealer: targeted service reminders, coupons and seasonal maintenance postcards, each naming the job it asks for.
The documented pieces. Automotive repair direct-mail sources explicitly include tire dealers and document targeted service reminders, coupons and seasonal maintenance postcards.
USPS Domestic Mail Manual 602.5 provides that each address, except for mail bearing an alternative address format, in a mailing at commercial First-Class Mail presorted or automation prices or USPS Marketing Mail prices is subject to the Move Update standard, and that each address and associated addressee used on the mailpieces in a mailing must be updated within 95 days before the mailing date with one of the USPS-approved methods, including Address Change Service and NCOALink.
USPS Domestic Mail Manual 602.5
Postcard · Direct Mail
Targeted
Printing
Which tire shop postcards come off MBI's presses?
The short answer
Postcards and coupons are the two printed formats a tire shop mails. MBI prints both on commercial and variable-data presses, and data, print and delivery have been in-house since 1989. Card-price mail has to sit inside the Postal Service's height, length, thickness and aspect-ratio standards, so the format is settled before the run rather than after it.
The formats. Tire-shop campaigns are printed as postcards and coupons, and the research lists no third format.
In house. MBI runs commercial and variable-data printing in house.
The FTC's advertising guidance for small business states that advertising must be truthful and non-deceptive, that advertisers must have evidence to back up their claims, and that where a product is advertised as free or at low cost in conjunction with the purchase of another item the ad should clearly and conspicuously disclose the terms and conditions of the offer, with the most important information near the advertised price.
FTC, Advertising FAQ’s: A Guide for Small Business
USPS Domestic Mail Manual 201.1.2.1 sets card-price physical standards at not less than 3-1/2 inches high, 5 inches long and 0.007 inch thick, with a card more than 4-1/4 inches high or 6 inches long required to be at least 0.009 inch thick; at not more than 4-1/4 inches high, 6 inches long or 0.016 inch thick for each stamped card or each half of a double postcard; and at not more than 6 inches high, 9 inches long or 0.016 inch thick for each postcard. 201.1.1.1 sets letter-size mailpieces at not more than 11-1/2 inches long, 6-1/8 inches high or 1/4 inch thick, and 201.3.7 requires an aspect ratio (length divided by height) of 1.3 to 2.5 inclusive.
USPS Domestic Mail Manual 201
Postcard · Direct Mail
Checklist · Printing
Rotation reminders
What does a tire rotation reminder postcard say?
The short answer
A rotation reminder postcard is built around one job: the tire rotation that is next due. The card names that job plainly and asks the driver to book it at this shop. The same card shape carries an oil change or the annual inspection, which are the other two jobs the reminder campaign names.
The three jobs. This vertical's campaigns are documented as a tire rotation, oil-change or annual-inspection service-reminder postcard, and an automotive-service seasonal-maintenance direct-mail offer.
The one job
Seasonal offer
When does a tire shop mail its seasonal-maintenance offer?
The short answer
The seasonal-maintenance offer is dated to the turn of the season rather than to a fixed week. MBI designs the automotive-service seasonal mailer, prints it and schedules the drop for that turn, so the offer is in a driver's hands for the season it is written about, with the print run planned back from the mail date.
One team. MBI has been producing and mailing direct mail since 1989, with data, print and delivery all in-house, which is why one team answers for the whole campaign.
Mailer · Direct Mail
Questions
Questions a tire shop asks before it mails
Searched for tire store marketing, tire dealer marketing or tire shop advertising? Same work, same answers.
What kind of mail does a tire dealer send?
Targeted service reminders, coupons and seasonal maintenance postcards. Those three pieces are what MBI plans for a tire dealer, and the list, the card, the printing and the mailing are handled by one in-house team.
Is a tire rotation reminder different from an oil-change reminder?
Same card, different job. The reminder postcard MBI plans for a tire dealer covers a tire rotation, an oil change or the annual inspection, and each drop names the one job it is asking for. Nothing on the card claims to know a particular vehicle's due date.
When does the seasonal-maintenance card go out for a tire shop?
At the turn of the season it is written for. The campaign is an automotive-service seasonal-maintenance direct-mail offer, so MBI schedules the drop against that turn rather than a fixed week in the calendar, and the print run is planned back from the mail date.
How is a tire shop postcard campaign priced?
Producing the card and mailing it are the two costs; format, quantity, list and postage move them. A tire shop mails a postcard or a coupon, so the piece and the audience are settled first and the mailing is quoted from there. What moves the number is set out on /capabilities/direct-mail/direct-mail-cost.
What has to appear on a tire coupon before it mails?
The FTC's guidance for small business says advertising must be truthful and non-deceptive and that advertisers must have evidence for their claims. Where something is advertised as free or at low cost with the purchase of another item, the ad should clearly and conspicuously disclose the terms and conditions of the offer.
How current does the address file have to be before a tire shop mails?
USPS requires each address in a mailing at commercial First-Class Mail presorted or automation prices, or at USPS Marketing Mail prices, to be updated within 95 days before the mailing date, using Address Change Service, NCOALink or another approved method. A tire shop's reminder programme mails repeatedly, so the file is updated each time.
What size can a tire shop postcard be?
A tire shop's postcard is specified against the USPS commercial card-price standard: a postcard must be no more than 6 inches high, no more than 9 inches long and no thicker than 0.016 inch. A card more than 4-1/4 inches high or 6 inches long must be at least 0.009 inch thick.
Get started
Start a tire shop campaign.
Say which of the two campaigns it is, and the area around the shop it should reach. It goes to a real member of the MBI team, not a queue.