New tools for placing and measuring online automotive ads are coming to market for dealers and automakers, many of which are also gearing up for increased online advertising next year.
Inventory Leads, Email Manager
New enhancements from Autobytel are one example. The company has expanded its New Car Leads Program to include inventory-based leads using Vast.com, an automotive search and advertising platform. The system enables dealers' inventory to be automatically listed across the Vast.com network, which includes automotive sites such as AOL Autos, Overstock Cars, and AutoMedia.
Because the VIN number is included in each inventory-based consumer lead transmitted to Autobytel dealers, the system will provide specific information about which individual vehicles consumers are considering. The program is pay-for-performance, and dealers will only pay for the leads that they get.
At the end of September, Autobytel also relaunched its Email Manager program, which features real-time "Dealer Alerts" sent as soon as a consumer clicks on any of the links in an email.
Measuring ROI
Brand.net entered the automotive category in October of last year, providing manufacturers with new tools to capture their ad strategies' returns on investment. ActivityLink, launched in May 2009 in partnership with comScore, measures an online campaign's affect on online customer behavior including search activity, site visits and time spent.
Online Growing in Influence
Auto manufacturers are scrambling to revamp their online ad placement and measurement strategies as evidence mounts that consumers are increasingly turning to the web for help buying cars - even more so than to traditional or social media, according to the Fall 2009 Ad-ology Media Influence on Consumer Choice survey.
The survey found that manufacturer websites influenced nearly half of recent purchasers. Search results and online video are also influential, and nearly twice as many males as females report influence from online video. Traditional media is still influential for automotive sales, Ad-ology reported, with newspapers the most influential traditional media overall, particularly with older demographics, Asians, and African Americans.
Social media has the most effect on buyers under the age of 54, females, and higher-income consumers. Auto purchasers who use Twitter say social networks influenced their purchase more than users of other social networks.
Local Ad Spend to Grow
Such dynamics are likely fueling what is expected to be a 14% increase in online local ad spending by US auto manufacturers next year, writes MarketingCharts. New-and used-car dealers will increase their ad spend online by 8.6%, according to a Borrell Associates report. The total effect will result in an 11.4% increase in new-vehicle online ad spending next year.
The report also noted that online ad spend will likely surpass all other media for new-vehicle advertising next year, driven by email, social networking and especially streaming audio and video campaigns, which will grow significantly. "The web is having a profound effect on automotive advertising," the report said.
