Data is everywhere online today, and though it can be difficult to measure, it’s believed that more than 2.5 quintillion bytes are generated per day. Modern technology has created an abundance of information, but many auto dealership marketing strategies are still struggling to understand how to really leverage it.
If you’re an auto dealership wondering how to get more from your website and make the most of all the metrics you collect, it might be time to delve into what it really means to aggregate the most important data and then interpret them in a way that generates more vehicle sales. We’ll look at how different techniques can unleash the true power of automotive website data.
Cross-Device Tracking for Automotive: Understanding Behavior Across Different Devices
The average American has more than 10 connected devices. And even if they use only a few on a regular basis, the ability to understand more about how they flow from one to another and what they do on each device can be a huge benefit for dealerships.
For instance, maybe some people would never sign up for anything on their phone because it’s too much hassle to type everything on such a small keyboard. Or maybe they love to browse available vehicles in the morning on their tablet. Catering to their habits isn’t just more effective for you, it’s more convenient for the customer too.
Traditionally, it’s been difficult to connect these devices, but identity resolution is becoming more of a possibility today. This means not only connecting behavior to devices but all the devices to the person who’s actually behind it all. If you’re only relying on anonymous data, it means that you’re almost as likely to target a bot as you are an in-market auto shopper.
Identity resolution refers to using first-party cookie data in addition to third-party data and offline data. Moving away from the traditional single-source version of data collection can be complicated, expensive, and time-consuming. Outsourcing this task or partnering with an agency can be a way to not only conserve your budget but also save yourself a lot of aggravation.
Cross-Channel Tracking: The Benefit of Blended Information
If your customers are setting up a profile on your platform, that’s undeniably a good sign for you. You can use that information to better understand what they’re looking for, how they expect to be treated, and what you can do to improve your communication with them.
However, while there are certainly benefits to the direct data from your website, you’re only getting a small fraction of information if that’s all you’re relying on. If you’re not collecting data and behavior from other sources your customers are engaging with during their car shopping process, you’re only seeing a portion of what you need to know.
Car buyers are researching the make, model, and year of their preferred vehicle on multiple websites and different channels long before they step outside their house to the dealership. Cross-channel tracking lets you attribute various touchpoints of all the different channels your customers use to interact with your brand. It’s essential for dealers, as it provides more information on how they can reach out and get in touch with potential clients across various mediums. It shows you the buyer’s true online shopping behavior, which can lead to a great deal of insight for a dealership.
Being prepared and adaptable is important
As you might expect, there’s a lot to be said about people’s privacy and data today. More and more people are turning their attention to how and why information is collected and what rights the users have to protect themselves from unsolicited marketing. Staying compliant may mean having to say farewell to your third-party data sooner rather than later.
One way auto dealerships can extract the most value from potential buyers is to partner with experts who are already preparing for what is to come. This may mean making a slow, gradual shift towards reliance on 1st-party-data instead of 3rd-party-data. It will also mean revamping the technology and tools you use to adapt to the ever-changing ad-tech landscape in the automotive world.
Do you want to learn how to renovate your ad-tech for the post-cookie world of advertising?
