Stop Reaching Every Car Shopper the Same Way

While both may be potential car buyers, they are at different points in the process.

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Early-stage shoppers are beginning to entertain the idea of a new vehicle. They may be browsing vehicle types, reading reviews, or looking at a few models without having narrowed their options very far. In-market shoppers are much closer to a purchase. Their research has become more specific, with activity around particular makes and models, pricing, inventory, financing, or dealerships.

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Those differences give marketers useful information for deciding who belongs in each audience and what message makes sense for them. A campaign designed to introduce a vehicle to someone who is still exploring has a different job from one aimed at someone who may be ready to visit a dealership.

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Start with the kind of shopper the campaign needs to reach

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Before marketers build an audience, they should be clear about what the campaign is expected to accomplish.

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A dealership looking for buyers who may purchase soon has a different audience need from one trying to introduce a newly released model or build consideration among people whose purchase may still be months away.

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For an early-stage campaign, browsing different vehicle types or models may be enough to suggest that a potential customer is beginning to consider a new vehicle. Someone comparing SUVs, reading about electric vehicles, or exploring different vehicle categories may be worth reaching even if there is little evidence yet of a near-term purchase.

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An in-market campaign calls for stronger intent. Research around a specific make or model, searches for local inventory, price comparisons or dealership research can provide a clearer indication that someone has moved closer to buying.

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A dealership trying to generate appointments this month may place more emphasis on in-market shoppers. A manufacturer or dealer group introducing a vehicle could have a good reason to reach people much earlier, while they are still deciding which models deserve consideration.

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Defining the campaign goal first gives marketers a clearer basis for deciding which kind of shopper belongs in the audience for each campaign.

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Turn the strategy into a targetable audience

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Once marketers know which type of shopper they want to reach, they need data that can turn that definition into a targetable audience.

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A dealership’s own data can identify people who have already interacted with the business, including past customers, leads, and website visitors. Prospecting requires looking beyond that existing pool. Audience data providers can help marketers build lists based on factors such as geography, demographics, vehicle interests, and shopping behavior.

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The marketer’s job is to decide which of those criteria actually belong in the audience. Someone looking for buyers in the early stages may need a wider pool of prospects, while a campaign focused on near-term buyers can place more emphasis on signals of current purchase intent.

Site Impact can help marketers build prospect lists around those criteria, but the audience definition needs to start with what the campaign is trying to accomplish.

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Targeting can become more specific as the purchase gets closer

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Early in the buying process, shoppers often have not narrowed their search very far.

Someone exploring midsize SUVs may still be considering several brands, price ranges, and feature combinations. That person may not know which dealership they would visit or even whether the next vehicle will be an SUV.

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Marketers should avoid narrowing the audience too aggressively when the shopper is still considering several vehicle types, brands, or models.

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As shoppers move closer to purchase, their activity can provide more detail. Someone repeatedly researching the same model, comparing prices and looking at local inventory gives marketers a more specific basis for targeting.

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That can extend to conquesting as well. A shopper researching a competing vehicle may be worth reaching if the dealership sells a credible alternative and there is still time to influence the decision.

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More specificity is useful when the shopper’s behavior supports it. Adding filters simply because the data is available can shrink an audience without making it better suited to the campaign.

The goal is to use the information available at that stage of the buying process rather than assume every automotive shopper can be defined with the same level of precision.

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The message should fit what the shopper is ready to do

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Accurate targeting only solves part of the problem.

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A marketer can identify the right type of shopper and still waste the opportunity with a message that asks for too much or offers too little for that point in the buying process.

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An early-stage shopper may still be deciding what kind of vehicle fits. Information about features, vehicle categories, ownership considerations or differences between models can help that person continue narrowing the field. A hard push toward an appointment may be premature.

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Someone repeatedly checking a specific model and researching nearby dealerships is further along. General awareness messaging may provide little new information at that point. Current inventory, pricing, financing options, trade-in information or a reason to visit can be more relevant.

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The marketing does not need to anticipate every possible action a buyer could take, but it should consider the available signals and aim at what the buyer is ready to consider next.

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Know when a shopper has moved closer to purchase

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As some early-stage shoppers get closer to buying, they should move into the second audience. Someone who occasionally browses automotive content may remain in an early-stage audience for some time. But as those searches become more specific, how they are being marketed to should also change.

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Repeated activity around a particular make or model can be one indication. Looking at current prices or available inventory can add another. Research into nearby dealerships or financing can further suggest that the purchase is becoming more immediate.

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Recency matters as well.

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General automotive research from several weeks ago does not carry the same meaning as several purchase-oriented actions over the past few days. Marketers should consider both how specific the activity has become and how recently it occurred when deciding whether someone still belongs in an early-stage audience.

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The transition out of the early stage should not depend on one isolated action. A single visit to a model page may mean very little. A combination of recent behaviors can provide a stronger basis for changing how that shopper is targeted.

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Marketers should decide which signals or combinations of signals qualify someone for the in-market audience before the campaign begins. That gives the team a repeatable way to move shoppers from broader consideration messaging toward communications designed for people closer to purchase.

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The same principle works in reverse. If intent signals become stale, the marketer may have less reason to continue treating that person as an immediate buyer.

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Putting the strategy into practice with Site Impact

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Automotive targeting becomes much more useful when “car shopper” is the starting point rather than the entire audience definition. Marketers should know whether a campaign is intended to reach people beginning their search or people much closer to choosing a vehicle and dealership, which signals place someone in that group, and what would indicate that the shopper has moved further along. Messaging can then follow the same logic.

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Site Impact’s Identity Graph includes in-market automotive selects that can be combined with make and model, fuel type, and geography. A dealer group introducing a new hybrid could build a broader early-stage audience around fuel type and region. A dealership trying to fill appointments this month could focus on in-market shoppers within driving distance. A conquesting campaign could target shoppers interested in a competing model the dealership offers a credible alternative to.

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Site Impact’s Email Enhanced solution puts that audience to work by combining email marketing with digital media, so the same shoppers can be reached in the inbox and across the web. That combination works at both stages. Early-stage shoppers can get information about vehicle categories and features, while in-market shoppers can get inventory, pricing, and reasons to visit.

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For marketers who prefer to activate the audience themselves, the same selects are available as hashed emails for matching through a DSP, as postal files for direct mail, and in other formats depending on the media plan.