CASE STUDY: VMN

Vehicle Modifications Network (VMN) fabricates and sells DIY lift kits for the Toyota Hilux. Their focus on continuous product development and customer service has helped them grow steadily, and secured their reputation as the best Hilux lift kit manufacturer in Australia.

Since they started in 2009, VMN quickly secured a name for themselves in communities of 4WD enthusiasts both on- and offline. Since then, they’ve grown their business steadily – largely via word of mouth.

Although they were the first to market with a DIY Lift Kit, they were conscious of two new competitors hitting the scene. In a niche market like Hilux modification kits, competition can be deadly. VMN knew they needed to invest the revenue they were making into a marketing channel to ensure they secured all the business they could.

As Email Marketing has by far the largest return on investment, VMN selected us after evaluating a number of service providers to help them define and implement an email automation strategy.

DATA CAPTURE

In order to implement an effective email marketing strategy, we first had to find ways to grow VMN’s subscriber database.

We employed several different data capture strategies to ensure we were generating leads across the board. These included landing pages, general capture forms, website subscription banners and even a downloadable e-book.

We also created a ‘Lift Assessment Survey’: an online form potential customers could fill out to easily learn which kit from the extensive VMN product range would be the right fit for their needs. This worked to educate the client, simplify the shopping experience, and capture email data for highly targeted, automated follow up.

LIFECYCLE AUTOMATIONS

Once we were confident the subscriber base was growing steadily, we put several email automations in place to nurture these new (and existing) subscribers into first time customers, repeat customers, and ultimately brand advocates.

A few examples include:

Welcome Series:
The Welcome Series works to educate clients on the VMN product range and brand. It also contains a small discount incentive to encourage first purchase.

Abandoned Cart Series:
Subscribers who have placed any items in their cart, but exited the website before completing their purchase, are automatically added to an Abandoned Cart Series. This reminds them their products are still waiting, and incentivises them to return.

Post Purchase Series:
This automated series is designed to improve the after-sales experience for customers. By continuing to foster positive brand sentiments and offering valuable, relevant content – we greatly increase the chances of both repeat business and referrals.

In the period since we implemented our new data capture strategy, Vehicle Modifications Network have seen an enormous 97% rise in their email subscriptions.

Despite such a huge new rate of of subscriptions, the VMN team are spending less time nurturing their leads manually. The automated workflows are sending our highly relevant marketing materials automatically – leaving the team with more time to focus on other aspects of the business such as product development and manufacture. They also spend less time responding to general questions because the automations have already answered them.