The Power of Sales Attribution

Sales Attribution

Attribution – Sales Solutions

A car buyer’s path to purchase, could be compared to a basketball game. The ball is handled by multiple players before one of them scores.  Of course, if you’re the coach, you are interested in the performance of the player who made the basket, but also how all the players worked together to move the ball down the court. Developing a strategy to help the team keep scoring, means understanding the “whole” team dynamic, how they all worked together to make it happen, so it can be duplicated, repeatedly.

Similarly, capturing the ways that auto shoppers interact with the entire mix of your marketing channels before the purchase allows you to determine what works, what was influential, the team dynamic, so to speak.  The good news is, with all of advertising channels available it means there are more ways than ever to reach potential consumers. 

Inside of all the opportunities however, the challenge is a much more complicated analysis in determining what marketing elements have the most efficacy.

Optimizing Digital Marketing - Transparent Results from Investment Actions

The power of sales attribution is that it allows you to see the entire journey to purchase with concise clarity.  The buyer’s behavior can be measured by precise indicators including web inquiries, online chats, and phone calls all tracked back to the dealership’s website.  Online analytics can detail which page provoked the lead and exactly how a buyer arrived on a specific page. 

Comprehensive data reveals the key pieces involved in the purchase decision that were the most influential. Because sales attribution provides an accurate measure of all dollars spent against sales, the increase in ROI and speed of closing sales can be significant.  Surprisingly though, a recent study revealed, 68 percent of dealerships aren’t effectively using, or failing to use, any type of marketing attribution to measure their marketing results.

“Purchase analysis reports provide auto dealers and OEMs the evidence they need for improved business decisions, “said Brad Korner, General Manager - Cox Automotive Rates & Incentives, “Armed with this information, dealers and OEM representatives can determine, monthly, exactly what is performing well and identify areas where they need to improve.”

Studies support the idea that consumers expect and respond better to messaging that is customized to them. Fortunately, the emergence of innovative business intelligence tools has pushed customization and automation to new levels.  Process tools such as customizable interactive dashboards have the capability to fully integrate with your CRM.  By way of combining analysis of online activity and multi-channel attribution, dealers have access to indispensable data of customers’ intent and patterns - delivering measurable results far beyond those of traditional metrics.

Sales attribution is a powerful solution that gives full, transparent data tracking, so you can attribute each dollar spent to a tangible outcome.  In addition to understanding where your marketing dollars are best applied across your audience, you gain deeper insight into buyer demographics and preferences and how to better target like-minded consumers.

Digital Trends Disrupting Automotive Retail

Products and services are consumed far differently today than ever before.  The exponential rise of digital influence and consumer use has forced companies to rethink the way they conduct business, and that rings at the core of the auto industry.

Research shows 93% of all drivers looking to purchase a new vehicle are using a digital device to examine buying preferences, and 62% initiate the process online, before ever entering a dealer showroom. 

With digital services expanding customers’ options tenfold, an increased focus on customer experience and online engagement has become a major component of the auto buying sales cycle.  To capitalize in a marketplace where digital is driving auto shopping, it is necessary to adapt to the newest trends of interaction to be competitive and sustainable.

The King of Digital Interaction

Mobile devices dominate all digital interaction resulting in an entirely new faction of connected customers.  They consume at their convenience, on multiple platforms on the device of their choice.  Sited in a Google study, “…71% of digital interactions occurred on mobile”, while “…58% of auto buyers say that in the future their smartphone is likely to be the only device they use for vehicle research.”

It is important to note that means more than just having a mobile responsive site. Mobile apps, video content, and social media are all important touch points for targeting mobile buyers.

Meet the 3 V’s – VIN, Video & Virtual

VIN Specific Campaigns

Dealers are seeing fewer and fewer shoppers landing in their showrooms until the final stage of car buying.  In large part that’s due to all the technology everyone has at their fingertips. Consumers are doing their research and typically have already determined exactly what vehicle they are going to buy and how much they’re going to pay.  Fortunately, by way of adjusting your digital strategy and connecting your inventory to ad words, you can put the exact car the buyer wants in front of them, digitally, and make your dealership doors the ones they walk through, ready to buy,

With VIN specific Facebook and dynamic display remarketing, you can target purchase-ready car shoppers with vehicle-specific digital ads.  Working with your data management system, VIN specific search campaigns match your inventory with an auto shoppers exact criteria.  The ad uses information relevant to a specific make, model, trim, color, price, etc.  When the ad is clicked on it takes the potential buyer to the exact vehicle detail page of that car on your website.

Spoon feeding shoppers with advertising that is relevant, they have already searched for organically, is making an impact.  Dealers using VIN specific ads are showing a consistently higher increase in click through rates.  These signals indicate completely data driven and hyper-personalized ads are an influential way to leverage data.

Video

Dealers and OEM’s looking to accommodate the savvy connected customer, can be disruptive by investing in interactive, state-of-the-art digital experiences.  Services that are more relevant and better able to deliver a unique experience to the consumer, carry weight. Both video and virtual reality (VR) lend themselves to “stay with you” impressions.

Data, reported by Google, shows that vehicle research and purchase decisions are becoming increasingly influenced by video. More than half of auto shoppers watch at least 30 minutes of videos as part of their research.  Live streaming video sharing dominates social media and is being watched 3x longer than prerecorded videos.  YouTube is one of the most persuasive video sharing tools - 69% of vehicle shoppers who used YouTube said they were more influenced by it than TV, newspapers, and magazines. 

Virtual Reality

Virtual Reality (VR) is going to shift the car buying game.  Dealers and OEM’s know staying competitive means investing today in the future shopping and buying experience.  VR is still innovative in the auto space, but it is gaining momentum.  According to Digi-Capital, the augmented/virtual reality forecasted revenue is to hit $120 billion by 2020.  The Car Infortainment Systems and developing apps for them is also a growing market which is projected to exceed $35 billion by 2020.

Skip D'Amico, Cadillac's global manager of digital innovation, told the Car Connection, “Automotive consumers want more, more options of exploring their choices and they want to do it on their time, on their terms.”

VR technology allows dealers to provide demonstrations that take the user into a virtual world, offering an unparalleled level of engagement on the vehicle they’re researching. Wearing a VR headset, prospective buyers can configure their individual dream car and explore details from an extremely realistic perspective, selecting from different models and equipment variants. 

Emerging digital trends that utilize progressive technology underscore the need for OEMs and dealers to focus beyond traditional in-showroom sales.  Instead, implement advanced dynamic digital strategies and processes into marketing plans that will deliver to today’s more sophisticated consumers.