According to McKinsey, 71% of consumers expect personalization, and companies that deliver on this can drive 40% more revenue growth. For automotive brands, this translates to using data to address specific preferences — whether it’s showcasing a vehicle’s off-road capabilities or emphasizing its fuel efficiency.

But personalization is more than targeting buyers. It’s about knowing both who those buyers are and who they are not. Consumers today are following news patterns within your brand and navigating to and from your competitors. Understanding the consumer journey requires foundational data — including third-party data fused with first-party data — and the capabilities to measure behavior across the purchase funnel. By leveraging such insights, brands can craft hyper-relevant campaigns that stand out in a crowded digital ecosystem.

In the data-driven world of automotive marketing, relevance is paramount, yet the abundance of data can make it difficult to discover meaningful insights. According to Invoca, 87% of marketers say data is their company’s most underutilized asset, while a HubSpot survey found only 44% of marketers say the data they have about their target audiences is high quality.

The solution lies in connecting data to real people, regardless of any preconceived notions of your potential buyers and competitors. For example, a brand may assume its primary competition is another SUV manufacturer, only to discover that crossover buyers are also considering minivans or electric vehicles. It’s important to know and understand the many facets of audiences and look further than face value.

For automotive marketers, achieving this level of precision requires access to quality and diverse data, understanding the nuanced consumer journey and mobilizing the insights into their existing customers and those who purchase from competitors. Understanding and addressing these dynamics can help refine messaging and optimize strategies to ensure campaigns resonate with the right audience.

While first-party data is the gold standard, relying on it as the sole source limits a brand’s ability to capture the full picture. Comprehensive market insights are essential to understanding not just who’s buying but who isn’t — and why.

Brands that measure impact in context and evaluate their media effectiveness against market-level benchmarks — rather than internal metrics alone — can make more informed decisions and unlock greater return on investment.

Consumer research teams devote a lot of time developing buyer personas, which are useful, but throughout the past five years we’ve learned that automotive shopping doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Trends are essentially thrown out the window, and the best way to get your automotive brand ahead is to look at real-time market insights and adjust strategies and budgets accordingly.

For instance, a non-luxury brand that previously pulled in luxury shoppers, noticed strong defection patterns toward luxury brands. The brand used this insight and leaned into more personalized, creative messaging to highlight in-vehicle features and were able to improve its ROAS/general efficiency with crossover shoppers who want the look and feel of luxury without the price tag. Now, the brand is actively targeting luxury shoppers with this messaging and finding that sweet spot for on-brand conversions. To be truly data-driven, brands need to let the data show what you didn’t know — and then let it drive the strategy.