When a consumer drives a new car off the forecourt it marks the beginning of one journey and the end of another. The path to purchase is a long and winding road. In all likelihood, today’s Connected Consumer will have consulted numerous sources of both paid and earned media. They will have had multiple interactions with the brand, both online and in the showroom. Only then will they make a final purchase decision. Each touchpoint will have had an impact on the final outcome. These moments matter, both to you and to your customers.
Consumers choose how they access information about your brand
Consumers have a vast array of possible information sources on which to base their purchase decision. They range from popular car shows and expert reviews to banner ads and social media. But they also have a choice about how, where and when they access information about your brand. Shopping for cars is now truly omnichannel. Consumers use many channels and devices to gather information along their purchase journey.
Your challenge is to understand how consumers engage with each of the channels, and to optimize your marketing across all devices.
Car shopping goes mobile
Ten years ago, the prospect of using a mobile device to shop for a car would have been unthinkable. Now, the smart phone is the shopper’s best friend – and the automotive sector is no exception to that rule. With online playing an increasingly important role, there is a clear need to optimize online marketing activities. These increase traffic to the touchpoints that drive purchase decisions. Marketers need to know which categories, websites, apps and content have the greatest influence over purchase decisions. Importantly, they need to understand how that varies by device.
Understanding the customer’s purchase journey
Our Crossmedia Link has been designed to help automotive clients understand the purchase journey. We track each and every touchpoint in the path to purchase to help you understand how, where and when consumers are encountering your brand, and most importantly, which interactions are converting into sales. This approach helps you understand your cross media exposure, optimize your media mix and realize the true value of incremental reach.
Create compelling campaigns
Integrating behavioral data from cross-media measurement, we can provide new insights into audience behavior, campaign efficiency and the customer journey.
Using these insights enables you to understand your consumers’ media consumption by device more effectively and create compelling campaigns that will engage with consumers at key touchpoints in their decision making process.
To share your thoughts, please email thomas.schmelzer@gfk.com.
