AUTOMOTIVE MARKETING TRENDS CONTINUED
Customers now have a choice to complete their journey in multiple ways.
In our last article about automotive marketing trends and how the past year impacts our immediate future, we talked about how the Covid pandemic has accelerated the use of digital marketing and sales channels within the Automotive industry. In essence the customer journey and the way we communicate with customers is changing. Whereas in the past, the entire customer journey would have been through the dealership; we can now expect the customer to take a more flexible approach. They can now complete the stages of their journey in multiple ways, whether via the dealership, manufacturer, or new competitors. To retain the customer throughout our sales process requires us to offer the best experience.
Physically, the dealership network has been refining its art for decades. In this article we look at more of the many digital tools that were making an impact in 2021.
All marketing requires content, and the ‘quality’ of the content is fundamental to its success. However, online and offline culture has seen an overall trend towards shorter and shorter forms of content giving overviews of topics alongside the choice for the consumer to investigate further. This ‘bite-sized’ content is perfect for the customer consuming content on the go, whether it be working, travelling, or even doing the housework. Podcasts, short form video content like Instagram Reels, Tik Tok, Snapchat spotlight and YouTube Shorts are clickable and easy to access or ignore.
‘Quality’ in content does not necessarily mean high production costs; instead think relevance to audience and channel. This can include the repurposing of existing content in different ways to specifically target each channel. Alternatively, it could be a simple standalone piece of media created specifically to one channel.
Content is vital but coming a close second is user experience. Content will get someone’s attention; a good user experience will keep it. Often businesses focus on the amount of traffic being generated, what is more important is working with converting traffic to achieve better and quicker results for visitors. Indeed, Google sees user experience as so important it is a key part of their search engine ranking measures. In Google’s words:
“The page experience signal measures aspects of how users perceive the experience of interacting with a web page. Optimizing for these factors makes the web more delightful for users across all web browsers and surfaces, and helps sites evolve towards user expectations on mobile. We believe this will contribute to business success on the web as users grow more engaged and can transact with less friction.”
Of course, technology helps by coming up with new ways to drive a good customer experience. The pandemic saw a surge in automotive virtual events, at the time we were encouraged to stay inside, and major event venues were closed. Well attended automotive shows jumped online to find new ways of reaching their audience. As technology continues to be developed and improved, we can expect major events and shows to take a hybrid approach (in-person and online), before during and after an event. Similarly, a parallel can be drawn between real and virtual showrooms.
Augmented Reality (AR) was another trend for 2021, it is not a new technology, most people have heard of it or come across it by now. However, it is a tool that can be used to enhance the customer experience. A handful of dealerships around the globe have adopted this approach and offer AR experiences to customers who visit them or alternatively to those who cannot. There are 3 billion devices across the world currently AR-enabled, so we can expect the demand to grow as it becomes more accessible.
Why is looking at marketing trends important you might ask? An analysis of tools used in the past can provide critical insights about the landscape of the Automotive industry and how trends may evolve over the year ahead, helping you forecast an effective approach. Ultimately, all of this is about the customer journey and experience from marketing and through the sales process. Customers are looking for options that enhance their experience to become the one that they want. This can be enhanced by technology, but content is enabled by your people, be it a film or a customer conversation. Any approach must include both the development of tools and people.