Tag: Digital Marketing

Enhance Your Digital Marketing Strategy: Key Insights from the 2023 Car Buyer Journey 

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The automotive industry is constantly evolving. To keep up with the changing demands of the industry, the annual Cox Automotive Car Buyer Journey (CBJ) allows dealers and OEMs to stay informed about the state of car buyer satisfaction with the overall vehicle shopping and buying experience.  

The 14th annual Car Buyer Journey study was released earlier this year, based on nearly 3,000 respondents who purchased or leased vehicles in the previous year. It sheds light on two significant points: 1.) The industry is NORMALIZING, and 2.) Dealers and third-party aggregators are RESILIENT.  

While we all might define ‘normal’ differently, particularly because of inflation, record profits, inventory fluctuations, and rapid digitization, we may finally be transitioning from those not so ideal times into a more stable place. The CBJ findings mark a turning point. 

Let’s explore the top 5 takeaways from the study and how they can contribute to enhancing your digital marketing strategy.  

#1: Vehicle Ownership is Not Going Anywhere  

91% of consumers told us they intend to use their own vehicle as their primary mode of transportation in the future, up significantly from 2018 (77%). With ride sharing and vehicle subscription trending in the last 5-8 years, there were predictions that consumers were moving away from personal ownership. However, we’re seeing the opposite.   

With personal transportation needs rising due to personal safety concerns since the pandemic, we see personal vehicle ownership is here to stay.  

Fewer consumers agree that ownership is NOT necessary (down from 43% in 2018 to 35%). And, nearly all consumers tell us they intend to leverage their own vehicle as their primary mode of transportation in the future (91% vs. just 9% who plan to use an alternative).    

WHAT TO DO: It’s more important than ever to enhance the customer experience – with personal vehicle usage up and the desire to own more than one car. In fact, there was a 36% increase in the number of buyers motivated to own more than one car in their household from 2022 to 2023. Ask yourself: 

  • What re-targeting campaigns are in place to retain your existing customers?  
  • What advertising strategy do you have in place to attract new customers? 

Leverage your CRM and activate your first-party data. Reach out to consumers in their preferred method and follow up with past customers to ensure they know how much you appreciate their business.  

#2: Satisfaction with the Shopping Journey Increased  

Overall satisfaction with the shopping experience is higher for both new and used car buyers: 73% for new (70% in 2022), and 68% for used (58% in 2022). The increase was influenced by three factors: 

  1. Better vehicle selection. Fewer consumers felt that there was limited inventory to choose from—39% in 2023 compared to 56% in 2022. 
  1. Better prices. 49% of consumers said prices were higher than expected in 2023 compared to 54% in 2022. However, these numbers are still significantly higher than they were in 2021. This indicates that affordability is still a pain point and even more so among the price-sensitive used buyers.  
  1. More dealer outreach with good deals. There’s been a significant increase in the number of consumers who mentioned that a dealer contacted them with some appealing incentives or some type of deal – 17% compared to 14% in 2022 and 12% in 2021.   

WHAT TO DO: It’s no secret that as inventory rebounded, so did shopper satisfaction with the overall purchase journey – now, with incentives rolling back in, ensure you are getting the right message in front of the right customer at the right time and in the right way. 

This starts with taking an in-depth look at your digital marketing strategy and focusing on your:  

  • Website: Ensure your website showcases relevant information your shoppers want to see. You have a short window to grab their attention, so your website should be personalized, easy-to-navigate, and data-driven.  
  • Advertising: Ensure you are utilizing the correct channels to target your in-market shoppers and serve them the information they want to see. Dealer.com’s Machine Learning and Real-time Bidding platform can analyze prior ad performance, vehicle detail page engagement, and browsing trends in real-time to ensure your ads are served to the most relevant buyers in your market. 

#3: Improved Online Efficiency 

Shoppers spent 1 hour and 8 minutes less when shopping in 2023 (13:31) than 2022 (14:39) as the experience became more efficient. This time spent means you have a shorter window to influence shoppers during their journey, so you must be more strategic and targeted. Delivering personalized content during the entire purchase process to keep shoppers engaged is crucial.  

Third-party sites have been resilient throughout the pandemic and chip shortage – consumers find them to be trustworthy, reliable, and unbiased. We found in our data that buyers are 57% more likely to visit third-party sites exclusively without having to visit the OEM sites especially among used buyers. 

WHAT TO DO: Take the data and insights you receive from third-party sites such as Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book™ and ACTIVATE them. These insights can be used to personalize messaging to stand out as the one to do business with because you know the shoppers wants and needs and can provide them with the experience they’re seeking. 

#4: The Retailing Experience was Top Notch 

Overall satisfaction with the shopping journey surged in 2023 from 61% to 69%. With inventory levels returning to pre-pandemic levels, your buyers are back heavily shopping your vehicle inventory. Contributing factors include heightened vehicle availability, the return of incentives, and a continued shift toward a more digital process. 

Encouraging shoppers to submit an enhanced lead yields higher satisfaction than a basic lead. In fact, satisfaction with the dealership was 10% higher AND 21% more rated their experience as better than their last purchase in 2023. The more you know about your shoppers, the more you can provide a personalized experience, and in turn, shoppers will be more satisfied with their interactions. 

WHAT TO DO: Elevate customer satisfaction to new levels by promoting enhanced lead submissions from your shoppers. The more shopper information you have means you can foster a more personalized experience that ultimately results in higher satisfaction throughout the buying journey.  

#5: Digital Retailing Continues to be Highly Beneficial 

Buyers are moving toward an omnichannel experience—a mix of both in-person and online steps. The key is to have different ways to buy based on the shopper’s preference, then ensure that the deal carries forward no matter online or in-person. Seamlessness is the name of the game, and the modern dealers that make this the focus of their strategy are seeing some pretty big payoffs in both consumer satisfaction and driving profits. 

WHAT TO DO: There’s ongoing opportunity for improvement in dealmaking processes, particularly with the ongoing shift towards digital retailing. 81% of shoppers surveyed said digital retailing improved the overall buying experience. Consider mapping out the necessary steps for your dealership to embrace a more digital future, while addressing current gaps such as financing. This includes integrating digital retailing solutions seamlessly onto your website and providing comprehensive content to educate customers on utilizing the available tools effectively. 

Adapting to consumer behavior, regardless of economic challenges or industry shifts, is key to staying ahead. By aligning your dealership and digital marketing approach with the desires, needs, and preferences of today’s shoppers, you can provide a customer experience that not only attracts their attention but also leads to successful sales. 

Utilize these insights to elevate your digital marketing efforts and access our latest infographic for a bite-sized overview of the top five takeaways. 

Where Convenience Meets Choice: The Power of Flexibility 

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The online shopping landscape has changed. The era of flexible car buying options is here and dealerships must adapt to meet evolving consumer preferences.  

Across the internet, today’s online shopping experience allows consumers to effortlessly add groceries to their online carts and pick them up at the store or have them delivered. It’s all about choice and convenience, and increasingly they expect a similar flexible retailing experience when shopping for cars. 

As a first step, embracing an omnichannel strategy can help encourage consumers to rethink their car shopping journey. 

At Cox, we define omnichannel as not limiting the shopper to choosing an online or offline experience. A consumer can begin their deal online, take it offline, and even go back online again, moving freely between the two to complete their deal. 

According to the 2022 Cox Automotive Digitization of End-to-End Retail Study, 92% of shoppers say they will complete their next vehicle purchase entirely online or through a combination of online and in-store. 

We see trends toward omnichannel because consumers still want the choice to talk with a person at the dealership to learn some of the cars’ features, do a test drive, and understand their finance options. Regardless of where the purchase starts (online or in-store) or where a deal is completed, retailers need to make the process as efficient, streamlined and fluid as possible.  

Our products and solutions at Cox Automotive allow you to offer the flexibility car shoppers expect. Streamlining the online to offline experience will be key, and preparing your dealership should start today.  

Implementing Flexible Retailing Experiences 

Achieving an effective flexible retailing experience requires careful planning and strategic implementation. Here are some key strategies to consider: 

  1. Use digital and AI-powered tools that provide a single view of the customer, predict what they like based on their behaviors, and extend a personalized experience if they transition into the store.  
  1. Keep shoppers’ information safe and let them know you take their privacy seriously.  
  1. Make shoppers feel more confident by using digital tools in the store. This makes it easier to go over information they’ve already given online and make sure everything is correct. 
  1. Tell shoppers to review financing options on your website. They can pick extras and send in their financial details to get a good idea of the total cost, including fees and taxes.  

Source: Cox Automotive 2023 Digitization of Car Buying 

Ecommerce is an Essential Ingredient 

Looking at retail flexibility as a spectrum, shoppers range from wanting to do everything in-store to wanting to do everything online.  

True automotive ecommerce is a full end-to-end online experience from vehicle selection through to the purchase and even delivery (read this blog about where we think automotive ecommerce is today.) 

The combination of ecommerce—which offers true online checkout—and a flexible shopping experience has created a new model of retail that combines the best of both worlds. In the shift toward ecommerce, it is vital to adapt to online shoppers’ needs, and implementing a flexible retail strategy will increase your chances of success.  

Ecommerce, powered by technology, automation, and machine learning, allows a consumer to complete their transaction at their own pace and to provide the relevant information as needed, whether that’s within the next week or the next month. 

Dealers who are ready to implement ecommerce today are at the forefront of industry innovation, catering to changing preferences, creating a customer-centric shopping experience, businesses can unlock new potential in retail and gain a competitive edge. 

For dealerships who are looking to thrive by offering flexible shopping experiences, an omnichannel approach with the integration of true ecommerce is essential. By partnering with Cox Automotive, dealers can launch advanced functionality to elevate the car buying experience and stay ahead of the curve in a rapidly evolving market. 

TOP 5 TAKEAWAYS FROM THE 2023 CAR BUYER JOURNEY STUDY

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Cox Automotive has been conducting the Car Buyer Journey Study for the past 14 years to determine the key changes in consumer buying behavior. The study was conducted from August to September of 2023, with nearly 3,000 respondents who purchased or leased their vehicles within the previous year.

CLICK HERE to read our top 5 takeaways from the study and actions you can take to enhance your digital marketing strategy in 2024.

Progress, not Perfection. How to Take Your Advertising Up a Notch.  

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Author: Shane Unrein

Advertising SME Blog

Listen, I get it! Staying on top of all-things advertising can be a daunting task. This is a fast-moving space that seemingly evolves daily. From Google rolling out new campaign-types each quarter, like pMax+, to Meta offering verified business checkmarks that help customers feel confident they’re dealing with a legit brand, all these changes affect your advertising in very real ways. We constantly see new advertising capabilities surface that can help dealers reach their customers in what can feel like an endless space.  

However, taking your advertising to the next level does not have to be a massive, time-consuming evolution. It is worth remembering that there is no such thing as “perfection” in this sometimes-confusing space – that is an illusion – we aim for progress! 

Something I’ve learned in my years as Director of Advertising at Dealer.com is that many dealers are only on the cusp of what their advertising strategy can do. Excuse me for taking advantage of a few overused clichés, but there is almost certainly some low-hanging fruit that could mean more traffic on your website and your showroom floor. I’m not talking about reinventing the wheel here or buying a whole social media platform just to change the name to a single letter for the sake of headlines.   

A stale strategy is paramount to failure. But there are steps you can take to beef up your advertising strategy, small things that we can do today can have an impact. 

As we have known for decades, most organisms will grow to the size of their environment, reaching out towards the limits of their domain and then slowing their expansive growth at the edges, becoming rigid – a marketing campaign is no different. Like most successful species, innovative advertising strategies need to be elastic, have room to flex, and be ready to push your boundaries with a diversified media plan.   

Allocating just 8-12% of your monthly advertising budget to evolving your marketing and communications channels can reveal a lot about the topography of your space. You’ll get a better view of what works for you – and what doesn’t – and how much room you have to grow.  Try something new for 45 to 60 days, assess the results, and pivot accordingly.  Avenues that you wrote off a few years ago may prove fruitful, or perhaps a channel you hadn’t considered is now blowing up because of technological strides in targeting or audience capabilities.  

 

Ip targeting

While doing channel discovery testing (which is distinctly different than traditional A/B asset testing) it is important to note that what works for some advertisers doesn’t always work for everyone. And what worked in the past won’t always work in the future!  So many external factors affect the market and buzzy trends tend to capture industry headlines.  But continued and repeated channel testing can often lead to breakthroughs, even on a seasonal basis.  

Why are you not using data?       

In today’s ecosystem, the key to staying in front of high-value car shoppers is with first-party data and audience targeting is the keystone. First-party data allow you to: 

  • Predict Auto Shopper and Consumer Behaviors 
  • Gain Audience Insights 
  • Personalize Content and Advertisements 
  • Define and Map Out the Customer Journey 

First-party data also gives you valuable insights into audience demographics, product-interest engagement metrics, lease or financing options, and service specials, just to name a few. This data also informs us on what customer behaviors are prevalent within an individual’s web activity, which gives you the ability to not only understand more about your consumer but have a clearer picture of how you can effectively reach them at the right time.  These are insights that third-party cookies or purchased list data just can’t compete with. 

 

3rd party data

How many of you are using your own data?  

There are three areas that immediately come to mind when thinking about how to activate the first-party data that you probably already have at your dealership, information you’ve been collecting since the first day you opened your doors.  

Your CRM – This is direct access to your customers’ behavior and can help you with lead management and marketing. Your CRM can be a treasure trove of information on your customers that you can harness to get your message in front of the right people.  

Your Website – Uncover the pages that shoppers have visited on your website, what specific offerings or vehicles they’ve looked at, when they signed up for email specials or price alert notifications, or any of the other ways they’ve engaged with your site.  

Your Email Engagement Strategy – Your consumer emails give you insights into what your target audience engages with. You’d be shocked if I told you most dealers don’t focus on analyzing and activating these insights. You can have a clear picture of what that consumer is interested in so you can use it to tailor your marketing to them and create those critical personalized experiences.  

If you’re already advertising with Cox then you have access to our huge dataset, hyper IP targeting, and cookie-less household addresses. But setting aside just an hour per month to format and upload the info you already have, which we layer onto our own data, can help give a more accurate picture of your customer’s path to purchase, and that’s something we can really use! 

We live in a visual world, now more than ever. 

 

Gosling meme

You heard about Barbenheimer, right? 

Here’s a secret; every agency uses the same providers. Google, Facebook, Instagram, CTV/OTT, etc. are essentially the same platform no matter who is at the wheel. What sets agencies apart is their data – which we talked about above – and the ability to manage creative, especially when it comes to visual mediums like CTV/OTT and Display ads, and creative collaboration is a big part of any successful equation. Fresh, professional-looking creative can make or break the success of a campaign.   

One thing we’ve seen over the years is that, despite best intentions, visual assets often become an afterthought for many clients.  The focus of strategy discussions invariably drifts to campaign budget allocations, search ad copy, or keywords, but these things are slowly disappearing as our world increasingly becomes more bite-sized and visually oriented.  Google’s Performance Max campaign type relies heavily on custom static creative and video messaging, as does CTV/OTT, and Cox’s proprietary audience-targeted display and dynamic remarketing.   

Evergreen Visual Assets – In this new world, it has become imperative that dealers have evergreen assets that act as an anchor for these newer, visually engaging channels.  Crafting an overarching message about your business, that speaks to the customer not about individual products but branding of the buying process, must be the core of these campaigns.  From there, we can build on the message for more seasonal messaging that is more surgical in nature; monthly specials, limited-time deals, or rare inventory, to name just a handful. 

Whether you supply your own custom assets or have our Content and Creative teams build them out, it is important not to let this slip through the cracks. 

Build on momentum.  Finding what works for your business can be uniquely individual. We can analyze broad consumer data to get the broad strokes, but identifying what has worked for your dealership, in your market, is the key to unlocking the inertia within the data.  Using the Email Engagement Strategy above as an example, we can see what types of imagery and verbiage worked well to guide our digital strategy.  Did people respond to a specific deal or phrasing, did they respond to a specific product image or color, or is the market culture focused on a specific topic that is locally relevant?  

Our Barbie meme above show just how much outside “momentum” can affect outcomes. 

With a little coordination, the momentum you get from a well-crafted marketing blast, physical mailer, or even signage can all be reproduced in your digital campaigns, especially as the industry moves quickly towards a more-visual mindset. 

At the end of the day, though, the best way to find success is to test, fail, and test again.  And make no mistake, just because an idea isn’t a homerun this time doesn’t mean we can’t learn from it!  Frequent testing and refinement, combined with continually evolving audience data, is the new normal for digital advertising.  

Cox Automotive Channel Intelligence

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Channel Intelligence uses Cox Automotive’s vast consumer dataset to provide tailored recommendations for automotive advertising to targeted audiences.

How does Channel Intelligence work?

By analyzing consumer behaviors, our advanced machine-learning algorithm identifies the most effective advertising channels. This personalized approach optimizes channel performance, resulting in more leads and cost efficiencies. By reallocating advertising funds based on recommendations, businesses can maximize marketing efforts and achieve better results, reducing the need for ineffective strategies.

Interested in learning more? Have a look at our Channel Intelligence infographic:

Better Sales Start with Better Advertising

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When most dealers think about advertising, it’s either afterthought or treated as a siloed piece of a dealership marketing plan. And it’s often thought of as the last part of the marketing plan, when in fact it should be the first piece of consideration to really build out a full-proof, lead-generating, profit maximizing digital marketing plan.   

Advertising is:  

  1. One of the first touch points you can have with a customer  
  1. The entry point to your website  
  1. The first step into your digital retailing process   

In today’s automotive world, dealership websites must do more than navigate shoppers the car inventory. But here is the thing, having a good website on its own is only a partial solution to getting more quality leads and turning cars on the car lot – dealers must take a holistic approach to beef up their entire digital marketing strategy. Without effective advertising, they’re truly missing out. 

The Automotive Industry is Changing. Is Your Marketing Strategy Keeping Up?   

In today’s tumultuous world, in-market auto shoppers have new and different considerations during the shopping journey, such as fluctuating interest rates, inflation concerns, inventory shortages, and more.  To stay competitive, dealers must have new and different ways of grabbing their attention. A successful strategy should be firmly centered on meeting consumers where they are. No longer a linear path, consumers follow the purchase path in different ways, at different times, and take different steps in a different order. 

It’s no longer enough to rely on contextual targeting to capture the attention of the right buyer, right when they’re most impressionable. Broad contextual placements generate waste through low-value impressions and low engagement. On the other hand, audience targeting leverages the intelligence of behavioral data and serves your message to the shoppers who are most likely to buy. 

Modern Challenges Require Modern Solutions. 

There are many factors contributing to the need for dealers to focus on perfecting their advertising strategy:  

  • Consumers are spending more time online. 52% of buyers who reported limited inventory selection said they spent more time researching and shopping online as a result. This presents an opportunity to strategically target car shoppers with cars they want to see based on their shopping behaviors. With access to exclusive Cox Automotive dealers can leverage these insights to serve up the exact car consumers are looking for. 
  • The cookieless future is upon us. We’ve all heard it – third-party cookies are going away. Dealers must have access to first-party data that allows them to gain insights on their customers to effectively market and advertise to them. Will your dealership be ready? 
  • Digital retailing is the road forward. Advertising can be the entry point to your dealership digital retailing process. And because 70% of shoppers are more likely to buy from a dealer if they can start their deal online, it’s important to use targeted advertising to reach potential car buyers.  
  • A new way to buy ads across Google Ads inventory. Google PMax was created to help advertisers reach customers more effectively and drive better results through automation. These ads allow the dealers to promote their inventory to interested and relevant shoppers online by featuring them in the most desirable real estate on Google’s search results page.  

Dealer.com Advertising delivers data-driven intelligent advertising so dealers can own the moments that matter most for their customers. With the right data, the right partner, and the right innovations to bring it all together, Dealer.com Advertising helps reach the right consumer with the right message at precisely the right time in the buying process and service selection, providing a superior dealership experience. 

+28% More Advertising Leads 

And as dealers think about creating an effective Advertising strategy, the need three things: the right data, the right technology, and the right expertise.  

The Right Data: In the fast-approaching world without third-party cookies, dealers can use our Cox Automotive proprietary data to build audiences on each buyer’s intent and predict the make with 90% accuracy and exact model with 55% accuracy that those evaluators lowest in the funnel will purchase in the next 30 days.  

The Right Technology: Choose the channels that work best and adjust your strategy in real-time. With proprietary Advertising Management software, dealers can identify opportunities for growth and optimization, so they can shift with their market and maximize the impact of their advertising spend.  

The Right Expertise: With Dealer.com Advertising, dealers can achieve your advertising goals with the help of our highly trained Advertising Architects who specialize in every area of marketing strategy, understand how to leverage the largest first- party data source in the automotive industry, and help dealers get the most out of your advertising spend. 

With Dealer.com, you get a data-driven partner that delivers real results, powered by exclusive Cox Automotive data. 

+13% More Website Visits  

+25% More Vehicle Display Page Views 

Advertising is usually a siloed piece of a marketing plan, but it must be considered at the front end, not the back. If you are just worried about website reach and closing deals, you are too far down the funnel because it all starts with advertising.  

Want to learn more about beefing up your dealership advertising strategy? Download our guide for the effective practices being used by today’s top dealerships.  

From Digital Retailing to Ecommerce: Maximizing Every Digital Transaction

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Digital retailing is the way of the future for the automotive industry. If your dealership is not implementing digital retailing capabilities during some part of the consumer journey, you could be missing out on leads, and taking money from your own pocket. But not every customer wants the same things from their online experience—they all want options. Our research shows that customers don’t want to follow a prescribed sales process. In fact, 9 of 10 customers prefer a flexible, personalized car buying experience. 

However, as the consumer landscape continues shifting, consumers want to do more shopping online. This means dealers must expand their digital retailing offerings to ensure they are not missing out on potential sales. 89% of franchise dealers added at least one digital step in 2020.¹ So if your competition down the road is already adopting digital retailing tools, you’re already missing out. 

Whether you are selling cars fully online as the industry bridges towards an eCommerce future or somewhere in between, we have technology at Cox Automotive to help you create a seamless online shopping experience for your consumers.  

Digital Retailing VS Ecommerce  

There is often confusion when people think about digital retailing and eCommerce. While most people might think they are the same thing, they are different.  

Digital retailing helps guide the overall experience for your shopper and saves time for both you and the consumer. Your customers can easily navigate and engage with your website during different stages of their purchasing journey.   

The digital retailing process is mostly supported by a member of your dealership staff. For example, the consumer starts the deal online and can take it to a credit app submission, sometimes even a credit decision, but at that point dealership personnel will need to engage with the consumer to walk them through the deal. Digital retailing can help your dealership:  

  • Increase exposure and reach 
  • Give you the ability to turn vehicles quicker 
  • Increase acquisition and inventory capabilities 
  • Close deals faster – and more profitable deals
  • Improve customer satisfaction – and referrals

eCommerce involves a fully digital transaction where the consumer begins the deal online. But the main differentiator is that consumers can complete their purchase steps at their own pace while working through the deal all the way through a digital sign for the vehicle to actual delivery to their front door. This fully digital transaction heavily involves automated F&I automation, not dealership staff. In fact, most dealerships have a sole eCommerce team focused on end-to-end digital transactions.

Dealer.com Digital Retailing Capabilities  

When it comes to digital retailing, Kelley Blue Book® My Wallet is the first digital retailing touchpoint consumers can have with your Dealer.com site. Dealers can integrate Kelley Blue Book My Wallet, an intuitive tool designed to improve the shopping to buying journey and drive more quality connections between buyers and sellers, directly on your website. My Wallet gives dealers access to everything from down payment, trade-in, and financing information – the data needed to speed up the deal-making process and get more accurate leads. 

1.1 MILLION VISITORS HAVE SYNCED THEIR MY WALLET PROFILE ON DEALER.COM2 

80% of consumers think it is a good or great idea to buy entirely online.³ And with Accelerate My Deal, consumers can complete even more steps online, speeding up the deal for everyone. When shoppers enter their information into Kelley Blue Book® My Wallet it’s automatically transferred into the Accelerate My Deal experience. Accelerate My Deal leads on average close at a 48% higher close rate compared to other internet leads helping dealers get more highly qualified leads and boost their profits.⁴ My Wallet gives shoppers a personalized shopping journey and Accelerate My Deal moves the shopper from journey to purchase. To learn more about Accelerate My Deal, check out this guide.  

“Digital retailing tools maximize a dealership’s marketing strategy by offering a personalized shopping journey to car buyers who want choices on how they shop with dealerships. Over the past few years this digital transformation really gained momentum as consumers searched for more digital tools that help them shop from the comfort of their home by locating vehicles during our inventory shortage, or providing real-time interest rates which dictate what they can afford. The results of the last few years support the fact that you want a multi-channel approach to be competitive, you can attract a broader range of consumers by offering more ways to start their purchase – and you need to have the right tools for your sales team to create the most convenient way to purchase no matter where your customer started. What I would underscore here is that innovative “tools” are part of the formula, but to avoid restarting the customer you need well-trained people and processes to execute and drive the right outcomes.” Brett Pomerantz, Sr. Director – Enterprise Solutions, Cox Automotive 

DID YOU KNOW 70% OF SHOPPERS ARE MORE LIKELY TO BUY FROM A DEALER IF THEY CAN START THE PROCESS ONLINE? ⁵ 

The new age of automotive retail is here, and consumers desire a streamlined, digital experience. So, to help you meet them where they are, it’s important to take a look at where you are.

Whether you are slow to adopt digital retailing or at full-force adoption, there’s still advantages. And step by step you can shift to the ecommerce future that’s already staring down dealers and pushing them in that direction.  

¹ 2020 Digitization of End-to-End Retail-Study 

² 1.1 million visitors sync their My Wallet profile 

³ 2022 Car Buying Journey Study  

⁴ Cox Automotive Product Analytics. Accelerate My Deal Lead to Close Analysis using VinSolutions sales data. Data from Jan 2020-Nov 2020. Analysis performed January 2021 

⁵ 2021 Car Buying Journey Study 

Dealer.com is Helping Dealers switch to Google Analytics 4

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Ready to switch over to GA4? Click here to get started.

Like most dealers, you are probably eagerly anticipating July 1 – the day Google will be sunsetting its current product, Google Universal Analytics. After July 1, dealers with a Google Analytics account will no longer be processing new data.

As a founding member of the Automotive Standards Council (ASC), Cox Automotive is committed to helping dealers every step of the way, by ensuring that you have completed the pre-work necessary to ensure a seamless transition come July.

Your Site, Your Data, Your Google Analytics, Our FREE Support!

It’s your site and your Google Analytics data, but that doesn’t mean you have to go at it alone. With our dedicated Google Analytics support team, Dealer.com is ready to assist with your support needs, as well as ongoing maintenance, free of charge. If you haven’t set up your GA4 dashboard yet, let us know and we’ll help you get up and running.

We offer two ways to transition:

  1. Our self-service option allows you to customize set-up on your own.
  2. Our dedicated Google Analytics support team can provide complete assistance.1

What You Get with Dealer.com

Now that Google Analytics 4 is finally here, Dealer.com has implemented a host of new features and enhanced event tracking. We offer two service levels allowing for quick expansion and full customization of your Google Analytics deployment.

  1. Self-Service through Google Tag Manager
    Receive a pre-configured Google Tag Manager file, ready to import into your own Google Tag Manager Instance, as well as an instructional guide for further expanding and customizing the data captured by GA4. Think of this as a scalable tagging blueprint, robust enough to stand on its own, or a jumping off point for more extensive tagging.

  2. Full-Service Google Analytics
    Let our Google Analytics experts design a tailor-made solution just for you. Our in-house team can handle everything from custom website tagging to configuring your reporting suite.  Additional services include a detailed needs assessment to align your tagging strategy with your unique measurement goals. Upon execution of the Statement of Work you will have direct access to our project management team who will ensure we remain on-track to execute against the contract.

After all of the buzz, the transition to GA4 is here. Whether you take charge of your own transition, want a dedicated partner to take the lead for you, or just need a little assistance along the way, Dealer.com and Cox Automotive are here to make this transition as smooth as possible.

Check out this quick reference guide for a snapshot on all things Dealer.com and GA4.

Click here to get started.

Footnote:

1. Please note: we expect an influx of requests during this initial transition period. We will address client needs as quickly as we can, however due to high request volume you may experience a delay before our dedicated support team is able to assist.

Step by Step: How Car Consumers are Reshaping the Road Forward

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Having a digital presence as well as online capabilities is something every auto dealer needs in order to do business in today’s times. However, it’s not just a Field of Dreams scenario – if you build it, they will come. Today’s consumers have specific wants, needs and preferences in how they can purchase cars, and it’s reshaping the process for consumers, dealers and the industry alike on a whole.

In order to plan for the road forward, successful dealers know mid-year is the perfect time to take a look at both their current business and marketing strategies, as well as map out how they plan to step into and bridge into the eCommerce future that is already knocking on their front door.  

To do this, it’s important to understand where consumers are, where they’re heading, and what your business should be moving toward for the road forward.

Consumer needs and preferences are reshaping the purchase process

When thinking about today’s consumer, it’s important to remember there’s been an evolution in the way they research, shop, and purchase cars. Especially over the last few years. In-market auto shoppers have new and different considerations during the shopping journey, and you must have new and different ways of strategizing and running your business than you did in years past.

A successful strategy should be firmly centered on meeting consumers where they are. No longer a linear path, consumers follow the purchase path in different ways, at different times, and take different steps in a different order.

But by focusing on personalization and offering a frictionless purchase path that both aligns with their needs while simultaneously overcoming their pain points, you’ll still arrive at the end goal of making the sale and giving your customer the experience, they desire. Staying in front of them, no matter where they’re at in the process, is key.

With so many different types of shoppers that your dealership comes across online, it’s important to take a step back and do a deeper dive into who those customers are, what their pain points are, and how you can offer solutions to not only capture their attention, but also gain their trust and business.

Cox Automotive’s recent Car Buyer Journey Study identified five (5) segments of consumers, and the two (2) categories that they fall in – one shrinking in the market and one growing.

Growing Segments:

Comprised of two different segments, the growing category includes Efficient Independents and Guided Innovators. Efficient Independents comprise roughly 18% of today’s market, and they’re mostly Gen X’s (1965-1980) and Millennials (1981-1996). The largest sector is the Guided Innovator. They make up a quarter of in-market auto shoppers. They’re the youngest – being comprised mostly of Gen Z (1997-2012) and Millennials.

Both growing segments prefer to buy online – with 75% of them saying within the next 5 years they would buy entirely online and currently complete 10 out of 13 purchase process steps online.

Shrinking Segments: It’s also important to note that the three (3) other segments found in the shrinking category are more likely to still buy in-person, however they still take some steps online during the purchase process. The Researchers, Traditionalists and Resisters prefer a process they are familiar with and that’s worked for them previously, that’s very straightforward and simple. These shoppers typically only complete 4 out of 13 shopping steps online.


So, what are the opportunities here for you? We can see how consumers want to do business online, but it’s important to remember it’s still new for them. Focus on educating them and bringing them along the purchase path with you. Your business and marketing strategy should be dialed into those growing segments. They’re online, and in our “Amazon world” they’re open to or moving toward buying high ticket items online, like cars, predominately online both now as well as in the very near future.

Advantages to stair stepping your digital retailing tools into eCommerce

Not every in-market auto shopper wants the same things from their online experience, but one thing they all do want is options. Our research shows that consumers don’t want to follow a prescribed sales process. In fact, 9 of 10 consumers prefer a flexible, personalized car buying experience.

With a complete full service-connected digital retailing experience, like that provided by Cox Automotive, you can give them just that.

Unlike digital retailing, eCommerce directs customers to complete the purchase through an online store.

When it comes to promoting and marketing digital retailing and eCommerce, there are several different strategies that businesses can use.

Digital Retailing Strategy:

It’s important to focus on creating a user-friendly experience for customers when it comes to digital retailing. This includes optimizing your website or mobile app for search engines, ensuring that customer service is top-notch, and using targeted advertising to reach potential customers. You also want to give shoppers the tools to explore the information they are comfortable researching or calculating on their own (inventory, trade-in values, financing terms/payments, F&I products) and make it easy for them to move and bridge the process to the dealership when they’re ready. Being able to easily pick up where they left off will increase their confidence, satisfaction and willingness to do business with you.

eCommerce Strategy:

Businesses should focus on creating a visually appealing online store that’s easy to navigate as they shift toward the full eCommerce experience. Other strategies to consider include using social media to reach customers, running targeted ads, and optimizing content for SEO. Additionally, businesses should consider using customer relationship management (CRM) software to store customer data and track customer activity. Everything from the car, to add-ons, to financing, to delivery and so on should be connected and seamlessly lead into each other.

Overall, digital retailing and eCommerce are two very different forms of retailing. However, both can be successful if dealerships take the time to properly promote, market, and educate the consumer on them and how their business integrates them. By taking advantage of strategies such as SEO optimization, targeted advertising, and actively using the many features of CRM software, dealerships can maximize their chances of success for their business in both digital retailing and eCommerce.

Is automotive eCommerce the way of the future?

Automotive eCommerce is becoming more and more popular as a way of retailing because it’s all about convenience. With eCommerce, customers have access to a much wider selection of vehicles and access new markets than they normally would. Additionally, they can browse through different models and features at their own pace and make informed decisions before making a purchase.

Today’s consumers both want and expect a flexible, personalized car buying experience on their timeline. And eCommerce provides exactly that.

What can you do now to prepare for the automotive eCommerce revolution?

In the beginning as you work step-by-step from having a few digital retailing solutions toward being fully eCommerce enabled, it’s essential to have a strong online presence. This may sound easy, but it involves more than you may think, and it’s built brick by brick, step by step.

Sure, this strategy includes setting up a high functioning easy-to-navigate website, creating a social media presence, and using SEO and PPC, but it also includes building strategies around integrating eCommerce technology into your business plan and timeline as it is adopted within your business and how you’ll market it. When you plan for the shift, it will make it easier for you to track customer preferences and trends if you make it possible for your customers to browse and buy vehicles directly from your site.

For the road forward

The automotive industry is on the cusp of a revolution, and working toward stair stepping your digital retailing into eCommerce is at the forefront of this change. By creating an online presence and integrating eCommerce technology into your business model, then supporting it with a thought-out marketing and consumer educational plan, you can ensure that you’re prepared for the future of the automotive industry.

Reshaping is and will continue to happen to the auto purchase process. And as times and consumer preferences change, so must your business plans and strategy. When you leverage the power of mixing, matching and modernizing your digital retailing toward full eCommerce capabilities, you’ll not only reach more customers and streamline operations, but you’ll also have the ability to unlock the potential for your business’s future success.

Want to hear all the ways to fully activate your first party data to plan for a more successful road forward? Catch the replay of a unique webinar opportunity with Automotive News hosted by Jade Terreberry and Noah Lee. They share examples of actions you should take now, and outline strategies successful dealerships and OEMs are implementing to make the most of your marketing efforts and dollars.

Access the on-demand replay.

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You can expect your Digital Storefront Performance Manager to work with your team to show you the dos and don’ts of digital marketing and retailing, the strategies that drive sales, and the winning formulas that have worked with other dealers. With Dealer.com, you get  

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