By Nuan Openshaw-Dion, vice president operations, Dealer Marketing for Dealer.com
Personalization is at the core of the way we shop and buy. Whether consumers are online shopping for groceries or for cars, they want a convenient, streamlined experience that works for them and happens on their terms.
That means dealers must adapt and meet the customers wherever they are in their buying journey with relevance and personalization. A shopper who is exposed to personalized content during their visit views more VDPs, submits more lead forms and is more likely to start their deal online.1
Dealers must ensure that engagement is backed by rich data and tailored insights—powered by the right partnership with the right marketing experts to attract and retain the right customer. Personalization, intuitive search, aggregated research, and buyer reviews are all part of this new wave of digital marketing for the modern dealer-buyer experience.
Working with specialized, integrated marketing partners (especially under one roof) is a key driver to converting early-stage shoppers to loyal customers. These partners understand how to balance dealers’ needs to meet challenging, competitive sales goals with consumers’ needs for an intuitive, high-quality experience at every touchpoint.
A strong partnership between a dealership and their automotive digital marketing partner should do three things—elevate a dealer’s performance through cohesive activity across channels, eliminate the burden of juggling multiple vendors (and a barrage of viewpoints), and maximize their time spent on targeted digital campaigns delivered to the right consumer.
I’ve seen that the most successful dealers are choosing partners that have the right combination of people and technology across core expertise: automotive digital marketing, data analytics, and customer experience. As the only complete digital marketing provider for the automotive retail industry, Dealer.com has more than 20 years of experience understanding and shaping strategies amidst shifting market dynamics, shopping behaviors, and industry standards. Â
With vast amounts of data available around car-buying trends and shopper behavior, it’s imperative to look at customers not just quantitatively but also qualitatively. In each moment there is the right next step to take, and this is where the power of Cox Automotive data comes into play. Cox Automotive’s vast data network, which touches two out of every three car buyers in the U.S.,2 provides deep insights on when to deliver the right message to the right consumer.
Personalization is critical to the car shopping, buying, and ownership journey. That experience should be immersive, valuable, memorable, and relevant to a consumer. Working with a dedicated auto dealer marketing partner that sees and affects the total process—and that shares the goal of delivering a premium consumer experience—differentiates between dealers barely catching up to those trying to catch their breath.Â
A version of this article originally appeared in CBT News.
Sources:
- Dealer.com Study January 2020 – June 30, 2020
- 2020 Cox Automotive Car Buyer Journey Study