Automotive marketers are constantly looking for new ways to break down some of the most frustrating barriers to buying a car. Reducing consumer friction is vital, and location data can help tackle this problem, as it provides insights about consumer behaviors, competitive intelligence, and market trends.
Here are four key takeaways for automotive marketers using location data:
1. Gain Visibility into Campaigns Through Location Data
In 2018, we commissioned a study with 451 Research on automotive marketers and found that just under half (45%) of automotive respondents cited lack of data or visibility into campaigns as a key challenge in executing on their priorities. This suggests there is a strong need for insights into performance, in order to have an edge over competitors.
Fortunately, location data can provide these insights by enabling marketers to understand which aspects of their marketing and promotion actually drive real-world behaviors, like store or dealership visits.
For example, an auto marketer can use footfall attribution to understand whether a certain addressable TV campaign actually drove consumers to their dealership or not, and then refine that campaign accordingly.
2. Analyze Consumer Behavior Using Footfall Trends
Location data can also help marketers glean critical insights about their target consumers. Our study found that 61% of automotive marketers are likely to use location data to analyze customer behavior at dealerships. Without understanding exactly who your buyers are, you can’t sell cars to them, which is why understanding customer behavior is a top priority.
It’s essential to be aware of how long consumers spend in your dealership, where they go before or after, and what you can do to reel them into your dealership. By measuring these footfall trends, automotive marketers can use location data to win over customers and beat the competition.
3. Establish Brand Loyalty and Activate Audiences
A majority of automotive respondents (55%) cited brand loyalty as a key metric for their marketing departments, higher than any other KPI. For purchases that are as personal, expensive, and long-term as a car, understanding how to influence brand loyalty is essential.
Location intelligence not only gives insight into how consumer brand loyalty differs within a vertical, but it can also reveal directly actionable audiences marketers can target within a campaign. In this way, marketers can activate audiences based on loyalty levels to build a more targeted strategy against specific competitors.
4. Apply Location Intelligence to Marketing Strategies
Finally, while automotive marketers may be tempted to apply location intelligence to a range of problems, they would be better off starting with a single application and expanding gradually. Demonstrable results could make it easier for marketers to pull in resources to support programs that use data in more contexts.
Location data can drastically change marketing strategies and executions for automotive marketers sealing the deal in car sales. By focusing on one single aspect, marketers can successfully see improvement in that area before applying the value of location data to other sectors of their company.
To learn how to further use location intelligence, download the full 451 Research report or book a demo.
