Drive AutomotiveMarketing Messaging2 0 1 6 - 1 7 A U T O M O T I V E S H O P P E R P R O F I L E

A W H I T E P A P E R P O W E R E D B Y

AudienceSCAN®

SalesFuel wondered what goes through vehicle buyers’ minds once they know they are going to shop for a new car or truck. We thought if we were wondering, then automotive dealers and their agents must be wondering too.

So we asked in our annual AudienceSCAN survey, and 2,564 American consumers 18 and older answered us. We also asked our friends at Clarivoy – a marketing technology firm in Columbus, Ohio that offers TV analytics and multi-touch sales attribution for the automotive industry – to weigh in. Here is a sneak peek into the mind of your local car buyer.

When it comes to transportation, the annual AudienceSCAN survey found 19.3% of U.S. adults intend to purchase new cars or trucks in the next 12 months. But...

27.3%

Want one of the new models

21%Have problems with

their current vehicles

20%Need an additional

vehicle for their families

8.3%Deals / incentives are too good to pass up

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What’s triggering their desire to purchase vehicles?

(Least Important)

Let it be a lesson to you that promotions and financial enticements don’t weigh that heavily in a consumer’s initial decision to break the bank and buy a new vehicle. Instead, SalesFuel recommends focusing your marketing tactics on enticing shoppers with reasons for getting a new model: better technology, reliability, increased safety features, slick body styles. The AudienceSCAN study found 13.7% of shoppers said wanting a safer vehicle triggered their desire to purchase a new car or truck.

Clarivoy believes OEM advertising most likely provides customers with that initial nudge to start their car buying process. This means that dealers should focus their advertising efforts on brand building so they are top of mind when a customer is ready to buy.

Buyers are hard to find, Clarivoy emphasizes. Because only roughly 4% of U.S. adults are in the market to purchase a new vehicle at any given time, dealers need strategies that allow them to consistently communicate to potential customers without incurring wasted CPM fees. A dealer should find a partner with targeting technologies that serve performance-based ads which reach customers when they are ready to buy.

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Make them take a second look at their old, worn-out, less sophisticated, outdated models.

13.7%

Want safer vehicles

Now, here’s more juicy stuff. SalesFuel figured you were dying to know how to differentiate dealers from their competitors. Curious about what makes a shopper stroll through a specific dealer’s lot? We asked:

A dealership’s reputation is everything! Knowing the majority of car/truck shoppers visit a dealership because of its reputation creates a giant opportunity for you to highlight customer experience in marketing campaigns. SalesFuel suggests you showcase actual feedback from new buyers and repeat customers. On the flip side, certain dealers probably need to clean up their reputations.

They should consider hiring a team to manage their reputation. And dealers shouldn’t waste too much of their ad budgets sponsoring charity events if only 5% of buyers are influenced by them. Instead, incorporate their charitable activities and support into their marketing messaging as part of their excellent reputation.

Clarivoy recommends: Reinforce OEM TV advertising with dealer ads that focus on differentiating your dealership from the competition. TV is still an extremely important part of a dealer’s advertising mix and even drives online engagement. Overall, Clarivoy sees an average of 7% lift in website traffic after a TV spot runs.

To this point, Clarivoy adds: Don’t rely strictly on social media to reinforce reputation. It’s very rare that we see any social media clicks in a buyer’s purchase path. This doesn’t mean, however, it wasn’t an influence on the buyer’s decision.

51.8%Selection of

Vehicles Available

43.1%Willingness to Deal

or Negotiate

33.3%Location Close

to Home or Work

5.3%Support of an

Important Cause or Charity

59%

Dealer Reputation

What factors are most important to you when choosing a dealership?

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(Least Important)

47.6%

I make a point of shopping where salespeople are helpful and friendly

33.3%I don’t mind paying

more for high quality

28.3%I’m willing to pay more for a vehicle with the

latest technology

10.4%I’m willing to pay more

for a vehicle with limited or special edition options

SalesFuel is glad you asked. Regarding personal vehicle shopping habits, survey respondents selected what they usually find to be true below.

Automotive shoppers definitely are evaluating how the salespeople they come into contact with are treating them. This is a great reminder that the basics – a smile and warmth – are pivotal to closing the sale. However, the AudienceSCAN survey also found that customer loyalty and personal experience in dealerships proved critical in a shopper’s decision of where to do her wheeling and dealing. Note that 10.6% of vehicle buyers are loyal to a particular auto dealership. If the model and price are right, 18.1% will buy from the same dealer they bought their last vehicles from.

Now here’s the BIG “but:” 16.5% would buy a different brand to avoid a dealership where they’ve had a bad experience. SalesFuel advises dealership owners to take some time to check in on their sales teams. Help set up a “secret shopper” program with every one of a dealer’s salespeople to make sure they’re giving the warm and fuzzies in a genuine way – every single time. Customer loyalty is bred by going the extra mile. Your marketing can emphasize how managers and sales staff are offering to find the vehicle a customer really wants, even when it’s not on their lot.

What are buyers thinking while they’re inside a dealership?

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(Least Important)

SalesFuel wanted to know what automotive categories are hot with consumers right now. Are your predictions in line with our results?

The ever-popular sedan still reigns king. Incorporate “sedan” and “4-door” into your keyword strategy for your auto dealerships. Clarivoy finds in their research that dealers need to purchase enough of the right keywords so their brand is visible to consumers starting their search, but keep in mind it doesn’t need to be No. 1 in the search.

On average, the difference in the click-through rate for a brand that is in the No. 1 search position versus the No. 3 position is negligible – but dealers will spend 39.2% more to clinch that No. 1 position. This is wasted effort, and possibly wasted money.

Which types of vehicles do you think yourdealer’s customers are considering for purchase?

4-Door Sedan38.2%

SUV30.5%

Hybrid or Electric Car20.9%

Diesel Powered Car / Truck

7.6%

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(Least Popular)

According to Clarivoy data, search ads with information about monthly payments have a 41.3% higher click-through rate than those that don’t. Let your local dealers know that spending more dollars on search ads related to monthly payments and gas MPG is a better investment than those highlighting features like convertibles.

Now that you’ve gotten inside your local auto buyer’s mind, be sure to include these insights in the development of your advertising and messaging strategies. There are thousands of ways for dealers to spend their marketing dollars, and a myriad of companies that claim to have a silver bullet to help dealers find the right formula.

General managers, marketing directors and dealer principals all want to know which marketing mediums are most effective at increasing sales, and which messages are actually generating a positive ROI.

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34%Toyota

31%Ford

28.5%Chevrolet

2%Maserati

45.4%Gas Mileage /Fuel Economy

53.5%Monthly Payment

37.4%Seating Comfort

3.5%Convertible Top

What else is important when choosing a vehicle?

(Least Important)

(Least Popular)

Dealers need insight into the customer purchase journey so they can optimize their marketing campaigns and generate more sales.

One of the methodologies gaining traction in the marketing and measurement space today is multi-touch sales attribution, Clarivoy says. Businesses have long used first or last-click measurement for attributing sales, but that view isn’t inclusive of a customer’s actual path to purchase.  

Multi-touch sales attribution platforms connect in-store purchases to consumer behavior across multiple devices and marketing channels. The technology connects a client’s sales data with a buyer’s online behavior and to offline ad exposures by pairing and weaving together the buyer’s purchase journey, Clarivoy explains. By tying these behaviors together, marketers gain a clear view of what their marketing efforts are really producing.

Leaders in the multi-touch sales attribution space, like Clarivoy, deliver “full-path attribution,” which means they isolate the influence of paid search, TV ads, display ads, email, direct mail, third party websites, organic search, social and brand website. The technology looks at all marketing activities so companies can answer questions like, “What impact, if any, did our paid search ads have?” Leading multi-touch sales attribution products analyze multiple sources at a very granular level.

Regardless of your current measurement tools, progressive marketers are using multi-touch sales attribution technology, a strategy which grants them remarkable insight into the path that led to a specific purchase. Armed with such clarity, marketers become more adaptive and agile, increasing their ROI and overall profitability, Clarivoy adds.

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Clarivoy is a marketing technology firm offering traditional and digital multi-touch sales attribution, audience enrichment tools, and advanced digital targeting. Their solutions reveal more about their clients’ customers, their advertising and their path to success so they can drive more sales.  Clarivoy’s proprietary technology grants marketers incomparable visibility into their customers and campaigns – across all channels, all devices – online and offline.  Clarivoy’s data points are based on aggregated client data.

From February 17 through March 14, 2016, SalesFuel surveyed an online consumer panel of 15,906 adults in a manner that is 95% representative of the adult population of the United States. 13,309 adults fully completed the AudienceSCAN survey. The margin of error for this study is +/- 0.85 percentage points. The margin of error in segments representing those with particular interests or attitudes will be higher. All online survey interviewees were screened to identify and verify user information, location and demographics and to delete all duplicate/multiple entries. The survey respondents were controlled by geographic region, age, race, income, marital status, presence of children in the household and gender to more accurately reflect the adult population of the United States.

SalesFuel provides more than 1,500 sales teams nationwide with “The Power to Sell Smarter” through its unique portfolio of sales tools, training and intelligence. This empowers sales teams to provide value-first to their accounts, stand out from their competition and attract a higher level of talent and clientele. Thought leadership is delivered free-of-charge through the firm’s many white papers and daily sales+management briefings at SalesFuel.com.

SalesFuel also produces the Media Sales Today e-publication, which is updated several times daily for media sales professionals across North America. AdMall is the most powerful consultative sales intelligence database available for local and digital advertising. More than 3,000 media properties nationwide arm their sales staffs with AdMall including: Television, cable , newspaper, online, direct response, out-of-home, radio, cinema, local search, and magazine. Additional information on AdMall and a free trial for qualified media companies can be found at AdMall.com.

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About the AudienceSCAN® Study

About SalesFuel®

About Clarivoy

AudienceSCAN®

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Copyright ©2016 SalesFuel, Inc. All Rights Reserved. AudienceSCAN and Media Sales Today are trademarks or registered trademarks of SalesFuel, Inc. SF081916