Mon, 01/27/2014 – 15:18 by A new
study from Cars.com and location analytics provider Placed offers some very interesting insights into how car buyers are using smartphones both before and during visits to dealer lots as part of their research process. I wrote
generally about the study this past weekend.
At the highest level the report shows that a large majority of new car buyers are activly using smartphones. Indeed many more smartphones than PCs are being used in the process now.
Among the many interesting findings in the report, which is based partly on survey data and partly on behavioral observation, is the fact that smartphone owners are doing almost exactly the same things on dealer lots that they’re doing in retail stores: price comparisons, looking up reviews and so on.
Below is the hierarchy of research activities happening on dealer lots, according to the study:
For purposes of this post, I want to focus in on a particular aspect of the study: the role of mobile advertising in influencing these shoppers.
The Cars-Placed report found that 52% of what I’m calling auto-showroomers left the lot they were on to visit another dealer (within 24 hours) based on information discovered on the smartphone. That’s a very high percentage; and for 33% of these people mobile ads were a key factor.
Below is the hierarchy of sites and mobile apps used by these auto-showroomers on dealers lots. Vertical sites and apps such as Cars.com and AutoTrader lead the way with 56% of users consluting one or more of these sites. That’s followed by carmaker sites, dealer sites, search engines and consumer review websites. Although it’s close the mobile web was preferred by a small margin over apps.
It’s striking though not surprising that search engines were used by only a minority of these car buyers. Vertical and specialized sites offer more immediate access to information and a better overall experience than Google on a mobile device.
The sites list above is a potential guide for mobile advertising by dealers and automakers. And very likely that’s one of the objectives of the report: to suggest where marketers in the automotive space should be spending their mobile ad dollars. However if the data are sound then the implied advertising recommendations are reasonable. Selected mobile ad networks (specializing in location) should probably also be included.
In all smartphone-enabled car buyers are doing more research than others, including on the dealer lot. I would expect sophsiticated auto dealers and even OEMs to start incorporating geofencing and conquesting into their mobile ad strategies and tactics — if they aren’t already.
