How to Effectively Use Audiences for Traditional and Online Marketing

The deprecation of third-party cookies is one of the biggest changes to the automotive digital marketing landscape in recent years. Third-party cookies have long been used to track users across the web, which allows advertisers to target them with relevant ads. However, privacy concerns have led to the deprecation of third-party cookies in major browsers, such as Google Chrome and Safari. This change will have a significant impact on automotive marketers, as it will make it more difficult to track users and target them with ads. However, there are several things that auto marketers can do to prepare for the cookieless future. Here are some marketing tips when the cookie deprecates: Focus on first-party data. First-party data is data that you collect directly from your customers, such as email addresses, contact information, and purchase history. This data is more valuable than third-party data, as it is more accurate and reliable. You can use first-party data to create targeted ad campaigns and personalize your marketing messages. Work with a third-party aggregator. Automotive marketers can tackle a cookie-less world by using other sources of consumer data insights. For instance, a third-party data aggregator, like Experian, has access to numerous sources, platforms, and websites. Beyond that, we have access to a vast range of specific consumer data insights, including vehicle ownership, registrations, vehicle history data, and lending data. We take all that information and help marketers segment audiences and predict what consumers will do next. Leverage Universal Identifiers. Universal Identifiers provide a shared identity to identity across the supply chain without syncing cookies. First-party data (such as CRM data) and offline data can be used to create Universal Identifiers. Use contextual targeting and audience modeling. Contextual targeting involves targeting ads based on the content that a user is viewing. Contextual targeting is a privacy-friendly way to target ads and it can be effective in reaching relevant audiences. Utilize Identity Graphs. An identity graph combines Personally Identifiable Information (PII) with non-PIIs like first-party cookies and publisher IDS. Identity graphs will allow cross-channel and cross-platform tracking and targeting. Experian’s Graph precisely connects digital identifiers such as MAIDS, IPs, cookies, universal IDs, and hashed emails to households providing marketers with a consolidated view of consumers’ digital IDs. The deprecation of third-party cookies will be a challenge for auto marketers, but it's also an opportunity to rethink marketing strategies and focus on building stronger relationships with customers. Here are some additional cookieless marketing tips: Start preparing now. Don't wait until the last minute to start preparing for the cookieless future. Start collecting first-party data from your customers now. Be transparent with your customers. Let your customers know what data you are collecting and how you are using it. Make sure that you have their consent to collect and use their data. Be creative with your marketing campaigns. There are several ways to reach your target audience without relying on cookies. Be creative with your marketing campaigns and experiment with different strategies. Sample audience segments include: Consumers in market Loan status In positive equity Driving a specific year/make/model 1000+ lifestyle events such as new baby, marriage, new home Geography, demographics, psychographics To take it to the next level, we can use predictive analytics to go beyond what cookie data could provide by predicting who is ready to purchase a vehicle. For example, an auto marketer may have used cookie data to find buyers who had shown interest in a hybrid sedan, but that’s where it ended. When combining audience segmentation with a predictive model, marketers can target and identify consumers in-market and most likely ready to purchase a specific model. In this way, the data-driven insights from a third-party data provider specializing in automotive insights can replace the cookie-driven approach and take it a significant step beyond. The cookieless future is coming, but marketers who are prepared will be able to succeed. By focusing on first-party data, contextual targeting, and partnerships, auto marketers can reach their target audiences and achieve marketing goals.  

A funnel describes marketing and sales opportunities because it is the widest at the top and narrowest at the bottom. This is an accurate representation because only a fraction of consumers who enter a sales funnel will become buyers. At the top of the funnel, you find consumers exploring and learning about purchase options. These consumers respond to awareness-based marketing regarding vehicle features or comparisons. They are not typically focused on pricing but rather just learning about options. In the middle of the funnel is where you find customers getting closer to a vehicle purchase. They are evaluating their options, including new versus used, and exploring specific units on consumer sites. These consumers have moved beyond general market awareness and vehicle feature interest and into evaluating what vehicle features meet their needs and what price range and financing options may best suit their budget. During this time, marketing and sales contacts with specific incentives or vehicles of interest-based marketing are effective. Nearing the lower funnel As you near the lower funnel, you will find consumers who are initiating the process with the intent to purchase. These consumers are visiting consumer shopping sites for used vehicle research as well as dealer websites. Used vehicle consumers are visiting Vehicle Detail Pages (VDPs) and viewing vehicle history reports. These lower funnel consumers are exploring trade-in values and trying to put together their vehicle sale and purchase plan. There are many ways lower funnel opportunities interact with the automotive ecosystem. With improvements in digital retailing even when just one small part of the sales process is initiated prior to the consumer visiting the brick-and-mortar store, dealers have an opportunity to capture these lower-funnel consumers. Some effective examples include quick “sell your trade” links or prequalification links on web pages that allow consumers to obtain trade values/trade offers and, in some cases, to get full prequalification for loans. Often these digital retailing features are able to track and communicate to dealers about these lower funnel and fully engaged consumers. Take advantage of lower funnel leads with digital retailing tools As online digital retailing steps become more commonplace, dealers will find themselves leveraging these leads for sales. Utilizing effective, consumer-friendly, and secure functions that allow consumers to access or work through the components of a sale will maximize engagement. Keeping consumers tied to your website during the process can keep them working with your dealership processes. To learn how Experian Automotive can help you gain lower funnel opportunities, contact Mike Costanzo.

In honor of all the marketers who frantically created and activated audiences for Cyber Five sales (Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday), this blog announcing a resource for automotive marketers on how to best activate their automotive audiences is timely! I realize the following spending stats are totals for consumer spending, not just automotive consumer spending, but these dollar amounts put advertising and media spending into perspective. Adobe Analytics reported that consumers spent $35.4 billion online over the Cyber Five period this year, breaking a record. Many marketing campaigns ran on various channels to reach that many consumers. Strategic campaign development is key to effective activation Marketers know all the hard work that goes on behind the scenes before media is activated. As automotive marketers, let’s recap what typically happens before activation even begins. It is common to begin by linking fragmented consumer data across channels, platforms, and devices into unified customer profiles for more effective cross-channel targeting. Using identity solutions helps marketers target the right consumers on the right channels. After unifying customer profiles, marketers often look at auto-specific market, vehicle, and consumer data insights to help gain a deeper understanding of market competition and opportunities, vehicle interest, and critical consumer information (demographics, psychographics, etc.) Next, many marketers leverage automotive, lifestyle, and predictive data to target specific consumer segments across all channels for true omnichannel marketing. Once this is complete, marketers can choose their audience, depending on what their goals are and which channels they are focusing on. Once all this pre-work is finished (and I over-simplified all the hard work behind these steps), marketers need to Activate their campaigns by selecting the best channels. Leverage various media partners and platforms At Experian Automotive, we believe marketers can improve their ability to reach their intended audience participants and measure their overall campaign results if they are strategic during Activation. Leveraging various media partners and platforms allow marketers to activate audiences more effectively and execute more strategic, measurable, multi-channel marketing campaigns. The key is to find a vast network of media destinations and onboarding capabilities that empowers you to activate audiences and connect with a single audience across channels delivering personalized, addressable experiences. To help auto marketers understand all the areas of Activation, we’ve written a resource, How to Activate Your Audience on the Most Strategic Channels, that you can download now. We’ve also written these other resources to help automotive marketers use data insights to develop more strategic, measurable marketing campaigns. They are all complimentary so feel free to download them too! Identity Solutions: Helping Marketers Deliver Personalized Communication for Life Audiences: Automotive Audience Choices are Key to Ever-Changing Strategies Customer Insights: Understand Your Customer Before Choosing Your Audience Measurement: Measuring Marketing Performance is Critical to Long-Term Succes