The Need for a Holistic Automotive Marketing Strategy

The automobile industry must upgrade its marketing strategies to reach a wider client base, retain more clients, and improve brand loyalty.

FREMONT, CA: The automobile industry needs to refocus its marketing tactics following a pandemic-induced drop in sales. There are significant differences between marketing in this ever-changing industry and those in other industries. It is not feasible to approach automotive marketing with a unified approach since different segments, such as car dealerships, third-party dealers, and large car brands, each have specific needs.

The automotive industry must account for some of the challenges by upgrading its marketing initiatives. Some of the challenges are:

Current marketing efforts: Dealers and larger automotive organizations are in a state of disconnect. Vehicle manufacturers and dealership owners are therefore forced to compete with each other because of this lack of collaboration. Automobile manufacturers invest millions in marketing campaigns that, although intended to sell their vehicles, ultimately result in the customer going to a particular dealer.

Providing extra customer service in this manner benefits both the customer and the dealer, and it also benefits the referring dealer and the entire industry. Clients prefer a more comprehensive solution-focused entity to improve customer satisfaction, which directly impacts the brand. Dealerships and franchisees can benefit and support one another through proper attribution and tracking.

Brand loyalty: Customer loyalty plays a significant role in automotive marketing. Although there are occasional buyers who are brand-insistent, most people buying cars are looking for the best deal on a specific set of requirements across brands. Car buyers' needs, budgets, and brands vary from one purchase to another.

It is also different every time a customer buys a car. Prospective customers have likely already scouted different cars online, compare information on manufacturer websites, consumed advertisements, and engaged on social media before they step foot into a dealership.

Fragmented attribution tracking: A disjointed system of attribution tracking leaves dealerships and manufacturers in the dark about the source of their leads.

If the customer clicks through to the dealership's website from the manufacturers, the manufacturer will be able to track the digital thread. The link will break if they search for the dealership's website separately, so the manufacturer will not know which franchise was referred by them.