Points of view | Insights

• Be visible and create preference in the eyes of consumers
  • Telling a story and arousing emotion
  • Animate social networks and engage your community
  • Be the reference on search engines and specialized sites
• Provide the best possible experience and drive conversion online and in the dealership
  • Offer a personalized experience with relevant content on the site
  • Encourage drive-to-store
  • Offer an enhanced experience and leverage technological innovations
• Accompany and anticipate needs

Indeed, 64% of automotive customers do not have any precise idea of the model or brand before buying and over-inform themselves online before going to the dealership, inquiring about 3 or 4 car brands maximum. This percentage even increases among 18-34 year olds (78%), while among the over-55s, this percentage tends to decrease (42%). 

The media and digital technology play a major role in the choice of consumers. Both social and general visibility impact brand consideration among millennials: the most visible brands are also on the list of “considered brands” if they were to buy a new car. They use videos, comparisons, customer reviews, media sites, specialized press, etc. in their choice. Online videos influence 64% of the purchase decision.

During this phase, the experience in the dealership plays an important role, at 59%. On average, a buyer visits a dealership 2.2 times in 2019, compared to 4.7 times in 2009: traveling less, the expectations of their visits are much higher. On average, a buyer tests their vehicle 1.3 times, compared to 4 times in 2012. Recommendations from friends and family also remain important as they influence the act of purchase at 36%.

Digital investments are on the rise. Display in particular is generating more and more traffic (18% of users of an automotive website*). However, sources such as display are not very engaging and natural traffic shows better conversions.
For example, natural acquisition sources increase the probability of completing a contact form on an automotive site by 50%.

It is therefore necessary to find a combination of media that allows for greater efficiency. Last click attribution models will demonstrate the effectiveness of the “Search” or “Direct” channels in terms of conversion. The impact of other channels should not be neglected: television in particular increases the effectiveness of other media by 25%.

Television still remains the medium with the strongest effect on attention and memorization for the majority of French people… 55% of French people consider that TV is the medium that captures their attention the most. Also, 56% believe that TV is the medium that broadcasts the advertisements they remember the best.
TV remains an opportunity: more than 80% of viewers use a second screen in front of their TV program. Viewers can potentially search for additional information on the site in real time. Following their search for information, these viewers can be targeted.

Content dynamization, with its multiple possibilities, allows for better performance and a better experience. It is also a response to the industrialization of personalization: the cumbersome creation processes and long delays are avoided.
Dynamic media content can be adapted according to profile (e.g. language, currency, etc.), context (e.g. location), marketing (e.g. current offer), etc.
It can be about adapting the visual (vehicle, color…) according to the interest on a particular version of the vehicle, or adapting the CTA (Call-To-Action) according to a prospect or lead campaign (Discover the vehicle for a prospect vs. Take an appointment for a lead).

The content of the site must be adapted according to the type of user. Different strategies and product algorithms can be applied: affinity, previously seen, most popular, mix. For example, on the home page, the user returning to the site is exposed to a banner showing a particular model, taking into account the number of pages viewed on that vehicle. This results in better click-through rates.

It’s also about displaying the right information at the right time. Content can be adapted to geolocation and weather. Depending on the weather, the products displayed will vary. The user can also be prompted to go to the nearest dealer based on his current location and engagement.

Other actions can be considered to keep the user engaged. For example, the user could be retained on the site by a retention pop-in. Knowing that only 1% of visitors to an automotive site fill out a contact form, if the user has not completed a form and is about to leave the site, a pop-in encouraging them to finish it could appear.

Also, the other contact channels must be activated in case of abandonment. Let’s imagine a user who leaves the site and hasn’t finished his configuration: an email will be sent to him less than 24 hours later, then 2 days later to remind him of his current configuration…

It is difficult today, in the automotive industry, to know precisely and distinguish between the online needs of users looking for professional vehicles and the needs of individuals. Indeed, the automotive B2B structures its knowledge essentially according to the offline market. Users looking for professional vehicles can use the generic site to get information.

However, it is necessary to propose an adapted content as the needs are so different. It is therefore necessary to know more specifically their needs in order to reconcile online and offline knowledge.

In order to better understand the users and their needs, it would be necessary to set up A/B tests with a choice to be made according to the user’s profile (B2B, private lease, etc.). The collected data would allow to have precise information on the purchase path, the vehicles, the versions searched and configured…