Automotive industry is constantly changing and evolving, almost
daily. Likewise automotive marketing trends also develop at a very
rapid pace. As a specialist automotive marketing agency, it is our job
to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to these latest
advancements to ensure we continue to drive profitable business for
our clients.
You may recall that we published an article this time last year on the top
automotive marketing trends to watch.
The areas covered are still very relevant today so you may want to head
over and take a look to make sure your business or brand is capitalising on
them. You can read it here. Since that article, a myriad of exciting new
marketing tactics and channels have started to emerge and show
exceptional growth.
Here’s WDA’s top 10 Automotive Marketing Trends to watch this year:
10. Podcasts
The rise in smart speakers such as the Amazon Echo and Google Home
has again meant that voice searches have soared throughout last year –
fuelling the ever-increasing popularity of podcasts around the world.
In the UK alone, there are 7.1 million regular listeners to podcasts – that’s 1
in 8 people. A staggering 24% increase year on year, and we are expecting
this number to rise considerably throughout 2020. Due to this explosion, we
are predicting a large rise in podcast advertising this year and a surge in
the number of new podcast launches. Research shows that podcasts
generate around four times better brand recall than scroll, pop-up and
static ads and that podcast advertising spend is set to effectively double to
$1.6bn by 2022.
9. TikTok
Global Social phenomenon TikTok is currently smashing it with Generation
Z, who make up the majority of its audience base. As one of the fastest
growing social media platforms in the world, TikTok allows users to quickly
and easily produce and share short videos with music, filters and effects. If
your target customer falls within the Gen Z’ers age bracket then TikTok
could be the perfect platform to engage with them.
Automotive videos can be found by hashtag, and the platform recently
updated its user interface to include a ‘discover’ feature similar to
Instagram’s ‘explore’ page. This hosts a wide variety of topics, including an
‘auto’ one – which we will certainly be keeping an eye on as we believe this
feature will attract a wider audience to the app. TikTok’s new self-serve ad
platform is currently in development, but some businesses have access to
this in beta so watch this space.
8. AI
Artificial Intelligence (AI) marketing is a data-driven approach that has
taken the digital world by storm and will continue to do so throughout 2020
and beyond. AI marketing relies on concepts like machine learning to
anticipate the audiences next move, enabling brands to produce highly
personalised consumer experiences and improve the customer journey.
Through the use of AI, you can gain a deeper understanding of what your
customers are thinking, saying, and feeling about your brand, all in real-
time. This allows you to build out detailed consumer profiles, which in turn
gives you the intelligence to deliver the right message to the right person at
the right time – and to quickly modify that message to maximise
effectiveness.
7. Augmented Reality
Unlike Virtual Reality (VR) which effectively shuts out the physical world
and allows a fully immersive experience, Augmented Reality (AR) adds
digital elements to a live view often by using the camera on a smartphone
(a good example being the fun filters built into social apps such as
Snapchat and Instagram).
Within the automotive industry, some forward thinking manufacturers such
as Jeep and BMW already offer AR dealership experiences in which
customers can utilise apps to explore virtual versions of cars to their
precise specifications. Some even utilise data based on the customer’s pre-
visit activity to further tailor and optimise their showroom experience.
The opportunities for marketers are endless. For now, the novelty and
entertainment factor alone means that brands can use AR to attract and
engage their audiences in new and exciting ways creating differentiation
and stand-out from the competition. Equally exciting are the possibilities AR
presents to e-commerce brands, by allowing the user to virtually try out and
compare products and access all the information they need to help them
make a purchase decision.
Whilst AR is not yet a mainstream, its presence is accelerating fast. The
global AR market is currently worth around $27bn. Statistica predicts this
will grow to $209bn by 2022. To put this in perspective, the global
smartphone market is worth around $431bn.
6. Programmatic Advertising
If you want to target your audience on a granular level and use ad budget
smarter, programmatic advertising could be the way forward for your
automotive brand.
Programmatic advertising is an automated process of buying and selling ad
space online. With the use of cookies and AI, you can target users based
on their geographical area, demographics, interests and how they’ve
previously interacted with your website (retargeting). Programmatic uses
machine learning to understand the goals you set over time and the
performance of your campaigns to automatically optimise them for optimal
performance.
5. Conversational Marketing
Conversational marketing is a feedback-orientated approach used to
increase engagement with your brand, develop customer loyalty and grow
your customer base, thus driving revenue for your business. Real-time
messaging should be designed specifically around the needs of your
customers, allowing them to pick up where they left off, at a time that suits
them.
Chatbots are a great way of being able to provide 24/7 support to your
customers and prospects, providing answers to frequently asked questions
based on the data you collect. Living in a world where life is fast-paced and
people need to know answers now, the implementation of chatbots and
conversational marketing is an absolute must for all brands within the
automotive sector.
4. Social Messaging
Using Social messaging effectively for networking and generating leads is
still greatly underutilised. WhatsApp, for example, has 1.5 billion users
worldwide. Through WhatsApp Business you can connect with your
audience in a simple, reliable way – engaging and building frictionless
conversational experiences that not only enhance customer experience
and loyalty but also generates new business.
Instagram has also hit the ground running this year by revealing they have
started developing and testing DM’s for the desktop version of their
platform. This feature will be a welcome tool for businesses. Last year,
Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO, said future plans include users
from Facebook, WhatsApp andInstagram being able to message each
other regardless of which platform they are using.
