60% of automotive searches come from a mobile device. Just like many industries today, buying an item like a car happens at multiple moments in time based on where the consumer is in their decision-making process. With an always-connected phone in the consumer’s pocket, and the advancement of digital advertising and analytics tools, we can understand at what point a buyer is researching, comparing, and shopping. This allows us as marketers to be very specific with our messaging, and the data is showing that more personalization means higher close rates and more revenue.
Car shopping begins online
Almost always beginning with an online search (95%), car consumers are much more educated going in to the buying process. Based on their searches, which websites they visit, and questions they post to social media, we can get an understanding of WHO the customer is vs. just where they are. This unlocks new advertising and marketing strategies that rely on psychographics instead of only demographic information.
Adam Stewart, VP of Consumer Goods at Google shaared that BMW’s Mini wanted to reach adults who were in the market for a premium vehicle and had expressed interest in their brand. Mini leveraged people who were either in their CRM system or had visited the Mini website and then used machine learning to determine when its messaging appeared based on a person’s device, time of day, previous online searches, and other signals. This created much more relevant messaging to interested car shoppers, increasing their conversions by 3X and lowering their cost-per-acquisition by up to 75%.
Ease of use leads to better personalization
A key component of personalization for digital advertising isn’t just using the buyer’s name in an email, it is largely based on providing ease of use and handing control over to the buyer. How can you improve the experience of your customers by taking complication or unnecessary steps out of the process? According to auto network DrivingSales, 56% of shoppers would buy more cars if the process was easier and auto sales could rise about 25% if the retail experience improves.
Instead of blasting ads or emails out to a general group of people in a target zip code, try thinking about adding 360-degree views of your products, videos explaining the details or benefits, responding to online reviews, or adding a chatbox to your website to help answer questions in real-time prior to launching ads. These are tactics that are working for the auto world because they provide help along the buyer’s journey, not an interruption to it. In fact, Foureyes sales intelligence platform reported that out of 430MM website visits tracked, 68% of buyers came back to the website after they called, chatted, or filled out a form.
Get help with building your personalization strategy
With an abundance of ways a consumer can get to your business today, personalization seems nearly impossible without help. At Morgan & Co., we specialize in providing in-depth understanding of audiences to build effective advertising campaigns. If you are an auto dealership or business in need of increasing sales, contact us for a no-obligation consultation.
