Urban Science’s recent online study revealed automotive marketers might not be capturing their audiences’ attention like they think they are – with 80% of in-market shoppers considering more than 1 brand and 42% of them looking at multiple vehicles, it’s hard to know exactly what type of advertisement or promotion is going to get them to bite. With automotive competition at an all-time high and every marketer fighting to drive engagement, it’s important to understand consumer shopping patterns. Our study explores in-market shopping behaviors and what’s driving their digital journey.
On average, most adult consumers are cross-brand shoppers – considering 3 or more vehicle brands.
The internet has made car research easier than before, giving consumers control over their shopping journey and a variety of options – all before a customer even steps into a dealership. To keep up, Marketers need not only the best planning tools, but the best data to power them.
In addition to our online study, our Urban Science data found that only 60% of car owners remain brand loyal when returning to market, indicating that 40% are defecting to another brand.
It’s increasingly more important for advertisers to look beyond their own backyards and include competitive sales in their measurement solutions. This allows them to learn where and how their media is fortifying their customer retention and preventing defection. Equally as important, competitive sales data also gives insight into where missed opportunity may exist to recalibrate marketing efforts during campaigns – not after. Understanding that more consumers are choosing to cross-shop than in the past, Marketers can create an informed messaging strategy. Everyone measures campaigns, but including a measurement solution that tracks impacts all the way to sale will help marketers identify how their campaign is converting and if they aren’t converting, help them to understand why. Creating a more complete view of the increasingly complex customer purchasing journey by connecting industry, cross-brand data to marketing efforts is key to effective measurement that will drive informed and optimized campaigns.
Capturing your consumers’ attention is the first step towards converting in-market consumers into buyers. Taking the time to examine shopping behaviors can help marketers create tailored messages – so while many people are considering 3 or more brands, they ultimately chose you. Implementing products like Planning APIs and Measurement solutions can help direct marketing initiatives – ensuring you’re seeing the bigger picture with industry data and then zeroing in on the right audience, tracking all the way to sale.
To learn more about data-driven planning and measurement strategies, reach out to cwmatter@urbanscience.com
