In-market data gives you information on local consumers who have made an action, like expressed interest in buying a vehicle. This data is crucial to helping you reach the right person at the right time.
Auto dealerships are trying to pull customers from the same pool of target audience data for car advertising as their local competitors, which is no easy task. The 2019 Cox Automotive Car Buyer Journey report shows that car buyers care more about the car and the deal they’re getting, versus the brand of the car or the dealership where they buy.
It’s more important than ever for dealers to get their offers in front of car shoppers who are ready to seal the deal on a new model before competitors do. Alongside tactics like geofencing and traditional marketing methods, the gathering, analyzing, and applying of in-market data could be the one secret weapon for any dealership.
An overview of in-market data of your target audience for car advertising
In-market data is a crucial piece of any dealership’s marketing strategy. This data is often based on historical trends and propensity models, which is essentially just guesswork, but in today’s ever changing data-centric competitive landscape this should include some more powerful information about customers who have made some kind of action, based on criteria the dealer has already set up, that indicates they’re getting ready to make a purchase.
Criteria that informs in-market data should include:
- Location
- Dealership listed
- Visits to car-buying websites such as Autotrader, Kelley Blue Book, or Cars.com
The data that the dealer collects when they take this action for example the dealerships they visited and their current location will then help them get their message in front of this in-market buyer to lead them toward the sale.
However, it’s difficult to make accurate predictions in the automotive realm. A car purchase is often a major life step for consumers, so they don’t take this decision lightly. The same Cox report indicates that buyers visit more than one dealership before making a purchase (an average of 2.5 dealerships for new-car buyers).
The key point to remember with in-market data is that it’s no longer solely about demographics or target audience it’s about customers who have made an action that leads the dealer to believe they’re ready to buy. This is when the in-market strategy kicks in and they can connect with willing customers who are looking for answers, encouragement, and a simple way to get to the finish line.
In-market data at work for automotive marketers
Once you know the criteria for your target audience for car advertising to use to gather in-market data, it’s time to get started. A cross-channel approach including mobile targeting, social media, direct mail, and email marketing is best for getting your message in front of the right person across outlets.
And you’re smart to center your efforts around digital. Data from Google shows that 95% of car buyers use the digital realm as a source of information when they’re shopping, and twice as many modern consumers begin their research online instead of at a dealer. And, among digital sources, mobile searches make up 60% of auto searches.
What you really need to focus on here is targeting the person behind the user ID, and not just a device.
To adequately use the in-market data you have, you need to connect with your customers across their digital channels. But what you really need to focus on here is targeting the person behind the user ID, and not just a device.
BDEX’s in-market data to build your target audience for car advertising
Find your idea target audience for car advertising is difficult. Where should you begin? With the right in-market data you need to give you a competitive edge, you can better reach people who are ready to buy a new vehicle. BDEX makes that human connectivity possible.
In the automotive marketing realm, dealerships reuse the same customer data, making it almost impossible to know if they’re reaching the right people and if what they’re putting in front of customers is affecting their decision-making.
Instead of just guessing, BDEX allows auto dealerships to know who they’re reaching and whether or not it’s the right moment. Only with real-time data that indicates a customer is ready to buy can they dealers stay competitive.
The data BDEX gathers to help car dealers do this includes identity, behavioral, and geofenced data, providing a continuous feed of data that helps validate leads and fill their sales funnel. The BDEX Omnisource IQ DaaS solution allows auto dealers to identify consumers in their sales funnel based on their own predefined criteria.
BDEX has over a trillion data points in the BDEX Data Exchange Platform (DXP), and more than 1.4 billion emails, 800 million linked mobile IDs and emails, more than 300 million linked emails and postal records, and more than 5,500 data categories on every U.S. consumer.
In the competitive world of automotive marketing, you just can’t afford to be uncertain. Contact BDEX today to learn how our data can ensure you’re reaching the right people at the right time with the message they need to hear.
