Marketing and Data for Dealerships - A Breakdown

Dealers are becoming increasingly aware, maybe more so than they ever have before, of the significance of automotive segmenting, targeting, and positioning in order to achieve success in the automotive sales industry. Change is a constant in the automotive business, as seen by the fact that dealers all across the country continue to struggle with inventory shortages, declining customer loyalty, and growing levels of competition. When it comes to reaching out to prospects in the automobile industry in the aim of converting them into customers in the future, the incorporation of predictive analytics into marketing strategies makes all the difference. It is essential for dealerships of any size to be able to identify data-driven audiences throughout their customer loyalty, customer support, and customer acquisition portfolios. So jump on the wave of change with us and dive into the waters of this article!

Getting ready to make a comeback on the market

Through the use of predictive analytics, dealers are given the ability to simply plan and prioritize more advanced marketing initiatives. These campaigns are designed to engage and convert the dealers' top prospects through the use of targeted messaging and offers. When dealers use a data-driven approach to targeting and engaging audiences, they are better able to give individualized resources and messaging to customers, which in turn makes the "down the funnel" journey of each individual customer more streamlined and effective.

Even when there is a high level of demand from customers, dealerships should always put marketing at the top of their list of priorities. Maintaining open lines of communication with your target demographic is essential to winning new customers and proactively shielding loyal customers from the marketing efforts of rival companies. This is especially important in light of the fact that customers are more likely than they have ever been to switch dealers or brands.

It is essential to have a robust marketing plan that is driven by data if you wish to remain competitive, generate and sustain market demand, and protect the reputation of your dealership within the community it serves. The implementation of a data-driven marketing strategy at a dealership doesn't have to be as time-consuming or expensive as it was in the past thanks to the fast rise of digitization. Because there are going to be multiple new releases in 2023, it is essential for dealers to have their marketing activities ready now and prioritize them so that they can engage customers before the products are put back on the market.

To make your marketing efforts more effective, dealers should do a systematic analysis of what a successful marketing strategy at their dealership looks like. Keep in mind that the goal is to tailor your approach to each individual consumer. A poll conducted by Meta found that 81 percent of automobile purchasers in the United States would be interested in receiving customized messages on their mobile devices from the auto brand of their choice. The more your staff knows the desires, needs, and behavior of your audience, the more accurately they will be able to forecast what each individual consumer is most likely to do in the next step of their journey with your company. This will also be helpful in determining the particular messaging to which they are most likely to respond. In addition, the whole dealership, from the general manager to the service advisors, should be aware of their part in the process in order to assist your marketing efforts (and even the porters). Dealers may employ predictive analytics to successfully and efficiently engage audiences across platforms if they first consolidate customer data throughout the dealership as a means of connecting the dots between departments and unifying the approach taken by a team.

What exactly are audiences that are driven by data?

First-party data forms the foundation of the vast majority of data-driven marketing efforts. First-party data refers to the information that you get about your clients. This might include their purchase and maintenance histories, as well as the clicks and activities that they do while using your website. This is the information that is kept in things like your CRM, DMS, and any other sales platforms that your dealership uses to store any sort of customer data.

Dealers cannot afford to depend entirely on first-party data in a silo in today's hyper-competitive and fast paced market. One example of this is the use of separate stock mining systems. It is essential to precisely identify clients earlier in their journey to purchase, and it is important not to waste time cultivating leads who appear to be excellent prospects simply on the surface. Dealers need to delve deeper into the elements that are influencing a prospect's purchase decisions using intelligent and predictive insights in order to achieve this goal.

The incorporation of third-party insights from reliable data suppliers, such as S&P Global or CARFAX, enables dealers to enhance the data they have on their target customers by adding extra information (household demographics, financial information, etc.). This strategy helps dealerships portray a more accurate image of the options they have accessible to them. Building and targeting data-driven audiences gives dealers the ability to better understand and interact with their current customer bases, as well as the capability, when paired with the appropriate dealership marketing technology, to run effective conquest marketing campaigns.

At the dealership level, predictive analytics assist discover and analyze dealer prospects before they even reach out to the dealership. This affords dealerships the opportunity to proactively sell to customers in a manner that is highly customized. If dealers use this kind of proactive approach to marketing, they will be able to set the stage for a fantastic purchase experience from the very first time a buyer interacts with their business.

What Role Can Technology Play in Supporting the Success of Dealership Marketing? 

Dealers must ensure that they are continually engaging the appropriate consumers with the appropriate messaging to maintain their success throughout the year. A data-driven strategy is required of dealers if they are to optimize the return on investment (ROI) generated by their marketing efforts in the face of increasing levels of competition and lengthening client journeys. Because of advancements in technology, car dealerships are now able to harness customer data in order to forecast and automatically promote to prospective customers who are most likely to make a purchase. Finally, advanced marketing tools provide your team with the opportunity to increase the overall reach and frequency of marketing messages, which can be interpreted as an advertisement directed toward additional customers as part of the marketing activities that are performed at the top of the sales funnel by dealers. Dealers are able to connect with consumers wherever they are in the process of purchasing a product or service by utilizing predictive analytics to target and engage customers via the use of several channels of communication. It is essential to conduct constant monitoring of marketing strategies, as the automobile sector is expected to continue its expansion in the next years. In order to continue having success, it is essential to do this, particularly while assessing the audience-targeting methods.