McKean said his dealership has used Our Town America's services to great effect over the past 14 months, sending coupons for 10 percent off service costs, free oil changes and no-cost alignments to new residents in the region.
Our Town America typically charges its clients only for the coupons it sends to new residents. A franchisee who serves the area including Lake Norman Infiniti said the price varies depending on possible options, but generally comes to approximately $1 per household. That includes not just the mailing, but also social-media postings and follow-up such as surveys.
"For what we're paying, this is by far the best return rate we've gotten," McKean said.
New-mover marketing has proved particularly effective for the dealership thanks to the region's rapid population growth. The population of Cornelius, a suburb of Charlotte, surged to an estimated 28,092 people in 2015 from less than one-tenth that number, just 2,581, in 1990, according to the census bureau. The Charlotte metropolitan area has grown 9.2 percent since 2010 to an estimated 2.4 million people in 2015.
McKean said new-mover marketing not only has brought customers in for the first time but has brought them back. "We're really starting to see customers return, which is important," he said.
Michael Plummer, CEO of Our Town America in Pinellas Park, Fla., said new-mover marketing can benefit any business by bringing in new customers and hooking them early, helping them to build loyalty.
That's especially true for auto dealers, Plummer said. He said coupons for auto dealers and repair shops rank among the most desired of any of the packages Our Town America sends to new residents, with free oil changes and car washes ranking among the most popular offers.
Response rates for auto retailers average around 12 percent per month, Plummer said. That relatively high rate is because new-mover marketing is a targeted program, he said. While other forms of marketing are more broad-based, Our Town America's new-mover marketing allows businesses to target a specific, highly receptive audience in a given area.
"Other programs are a shotgun approach," he said. "We're a rifle."