Guest Speaker Michele Rempel of Westvyne
Coffee With ILLBA, the free online educational programming regularly provided by the Illinois Limousine & Bus Association, returned on June 17 with a seminar devoted to email marketing. ILLBA Executive Director Paula DeBiasi welcomed guest speaker Michele Rempel of digital marketing company Westvyne to address the attendees.
DeBiasi—who is in her 10th year as executive director—kicked off the webinar by welcoming the group and introducing the board members in attendance. Since “operators are concerned about things being slow,” she felt that it was an appropriate time for Rempel to share some business-attracting strategies.
ILLBA Executive Director Paula DeBiasi
Drawing from 15 years of experience in digital marketing, Rempel’s presentation covered a spectrum of tactics that operators can use to generate business, particularly since email marketing has an ROI four times higher than social media and keeps your brand top-of-mind. Email frequency and timing was the first strategy covered, with Rempel stating that even sending mail once or twice a month is effective, particularly when sent mid-week and mid-morning.
Rempel is an advocate for using AI to generate ideas for email marketing and cited ChatGPT as a valuable tool. The software can be used to further develop your messaging and can develop topics. Furthermore, Rempel covered building and managing your email list and stressed that email is a permission-based marketing platform. It’s vital to include an “unsubscribe” button or option in all transmissions.
“Don’t get offended by unsubscribes,” said DeBiasi, pointing out that just because a client may choose not to receive your messages doesn’t necessarily mean that won’t do business with you.
Other topics discussed included choosing an appropriate email platform (MailerLite was recommended as the easiest to use) and email design and aesthetics (all mail should be designed for mobile use). After concluding her 45-minute session, Rempel fielded a few questions for the members and guests.
The association has made all of their Coffee With ILLBA sessions available for viewing at their YouTube channel.
The next ILLBA meeting will be a breakfast meeting in July, with location and date to be announced. DeBiasi said that there are plans to potentially stream the meeting live.
Visit illba.org for more information.
[06.23.25]
