Data Intelligence For Automotive Industry

Author: Bryan Scott(Amarjit)

Data intelligence is the cornerstone of every successful marketing and outreach campaign. No matter the industry, businesses are fast tapping into the power of data intelligence to reach prospects. Consumers today have come to expect messages tailored specifically for them, on platforms they prefer, and at a time that is convenient for them. And businesses must deliver. Data intelligence is the special ingredient that goes into achieving this level of hyper-targeted marketing.

In the automotive sector, competition has always been cut-throat. Especially in the wake of falling sales post the pandemic, brands have no choice but to cut costs. Naturally, marketing campaigns must be strategic and cost-efficient. When it comes to reaching the right prospects, auto companies are starting to recognize the importance of data intelligence. Here is how auto brands are tapping into the power of data.

Data Solution Providers

Traditionally, most customer data that auto companies used for decision-making were internal. It was obtained from CRM platforms, billing systems, shipping databases, and customer service centers. While data collected from these sources can be a good place to start, auto companies can no longer rely solely on internal data to devise their marketing strategies.

To use data intelligence to their advantage and gain an edge over competitors, auto companies must commission third-party data solution providers. Companies like Lake B2B dig through enormous volumes of contact data to aggregate the most relevant information to deliver highly specialized data intelligence.

Data solution providers focus on collecting certain types of data that an auto company would typically need to devise an effective marketing strategy. Demographic data includes information about the customer’s age, marital status, occupation, income, hobbies, and lifestyle, etc. This is why it holds enormous potential. Say, a potential customer is expecting children. They are more likely to be looking to purchase a bigger, more family-friendly car that is low on maintenance. If a prospect is passionate about the environment, they may be interested in an electric car or a hybrid. This information can be used to create targeted marketing messages to which customers can easily relate and respond.

Dealerships may also need to identify and track individual cars that they sold or serviced, even after they are sold to a new owner. This way, the dealer can contact the new owner with service offers and acquire a new customer. This also saves time and resources that would otherwise go to waste by sending vehicle specific information to consumers that do not own the car anymore.

Email Marketing

Email marketing generates more leads for car dealerships than any other channel; direct mail, organic search, TV, and radio all put together do not generate as many leads. But email marketing can produce the desired effect only when data intelligence and analytics are used to segment mailing lists. With email segmentation, marketers can cut through the clutter and provide personalized offers and communications for a particular group or segment of consumers.

Segmentation can be done based on demographics such as age, marital status, income, hobbies, lifestyle, etc. or various other criteria. For example, all customers who have children going to school should be grouped into one segment. For these customers, larger, low maintenance, and family-friendly vehicles would be ideal. If such customers receive an email containing offers and information about a sports car, they may be annoyed and lose faith in the brand.

Direct Mail Marketing

With more attention being paid to digital advertising and social media channels, the old-fashioned direct physical mail is losing ground. But data intelligence has brought direct mail marketing back from the grave. It has given dealerships and auto companies new ways to tailor offers for individual customers and meet their distinct needs.

The dealership’s internal data can be appended with specialized data obtained from a third-party data solution provider such as Lake B2B. This gives marketers a holistic view of the customer and helps them design targeted and personalized offers. What car does the customer own presently? How long have they had it? How many times have they taken it to the shop? Based on their activity on social media, what type of car are they interested in buying next? If marketers have the answers to such questions, they can create a message that the customer is likely to respond to and send it to them via direct mail.

Direct mail marketing is not a standalone measure. It produces the desired impact only when implemented as part of a multichannel campaign. It is important to integrate direct mail with email and social media marketing. After receiving direct mail, the customer may retain the piece for future reference, or they may visit the brand’s website for more information if they are interested. Therefore, before the piece is sent out, marketers should work on the company web site and optimize it for mobile as well.

Digital Marketing

Customers today are armed with data and their opinions are informed by the content they consume on social media. They come to the dealer well-informed, challenging the traditional dynamic between dealer and customer where the customer believed everything the dealer said. Millennial customers tend to avoid car dealerships altogether. They are more likely to use social media in the car buying process as well. Auto companies that embrace data intelligence can use social media to extract actionable intelligence that was previously untapped.

Digital advertising has become much more refined and sophisticated because of data intelligence. Auto brands can target consumers by various criteria and use platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube to deliver fine-tuned ads that engage and cater to a particular group of customers.

All the information marketers need is out there – who the customer is, the type of vehicle(s) they drive, what they want to buy, where they live, which communication channels they prefer, and what kind of messages are most likely to convince them to buy. It is time for marketers in the automotive industry to act on this information and to make data the guiding light for their strategies and campaigns.