Many industries have been disrupted in 2020 but none more so than the automotive industry. From the car buying experience to the way marketers are making the best of a sticky situation. With all of the changes afoot this year, and no way to predict consumer shopping behaviors, is there a solution on the market that can help make the unpredictable more predictable?

Using location intelligence to understand the new car buying experience may be the answer. Our location intelligence uses high-quality location signals from data providers to help you predict customer trends and shopping behaviors. In the new economy, this could be exactly what auto marketers have been looking for.

We’re living in a challenging time  and marketers in the automotive industry are hard-pressed to shape their marketing efforts around what can’t be predicted and hardly understood. Location intelligence can help you make data-driven marketing decisions and understand new car buying trends before they even become trends.

According to a recent Forbes article on the new car-buying experience, although the market is changing rapidly, “don’t look for car dealerships to disappear. People will still want to go to a dealership and kick the tires. And the data suggests that will still happen, too.” With Gravy Analytics location intelligence insights, Forbes wrote: “Foot-traffic at dealerships for major car brands saw its steepest decline on April 12, with a 76% decrease in daily visitors since February 2. But there was also a rebound in traffic at dealerships as of May 1, with a 35% increase since April 12.”

Location intelligence can help automotive marketers understand not only what their potential customers are shopping for but also how they are shopping for it. What new trends can we expect to see in this “new normal”? 

There are a lot of new car deals on the market incentivizing consumers to purchase 2019 models, 2020 models that didn’t sell because of the pandemic, and new release 2021’s. With all of the deals and discounts available, this is going to change who is shopping. Each customer has their own persona and this makes a blanket marketing strategy moot. Those shoppers who would have purchased a car earlier in the year are out shopping now, but their needs have changed, shaped by a year of unpredictability and surprises. How can you know who your customers are and what they want?

With location intelligence, you can get to know today’s car buyers and what exactly they are in the market for, helping you shape your target market and adjust your strategy accordingly. For example, let’s say you’re a marketing leader for a large auto brand and you’re trying to gauge when to launch that large marketing campaign for your latest car line. Your customers in the past have responded well to your marketing campaigns at this time of year. However, your customers are still adjusting to the new normal.  Is now a good time to spend marketing budget on the eco-friendly line or promote your luxury line instead? 

Using the insights gathered from location intelligence, you were able to understand that your target market wasn’t interested in either your luxury or eco-friendly lines; they wanted sedans. Without the right insights, you would have wasted valuable ad spend on a market that simply wasn’t interested.

By analyzing location-based insights, you can better understand your target market and what they are currently shopping for. With the right insights, you can access valuable information like consumer behavior patterns and market share, practically guaranteeing you a marketing win and money saved on advertising.

Make solid business decisions in a time of unpredictability and uncertainty. Answer the questions that keep you up at night like: 

• What do my customers want?
• What are my competitors doing differently?
• How can we keep up with these new trends?

With a solid location intelligence solution in place, you will have valuable customer insights right at your fingertips. Contact us for a free consultation today!