The world of Remarketing applied to the automotive industry

Published in Autojournal in December 2017

Sitting on a mountain of gold

The term remarketing has been known for many years in the Internet advertising and e-commerce industry, but very little in the automotive sector, especially among dealerships.

It's a simple concept, but a very powerful one when used properly. As a company, we accumulate thousands, if not millions, of data about our customers. We are able to learn about their interests, financial means, age clusters, email, and other information that allows us to do excellent segmentation. Unfortunately, it is often difficult to put this data to use due to the complexity and lack of centralization of data from management software. Dealerships that are able to centralize their data and leverage it well have a significant competitive advantage.

The first step in leveraging your web data is to measure and analyze the volume of monthly visits your site generates. As a dealer, your marketing budget spends a lot of money on various forms of advertising. It is important to quantify their impact and the volume of visits generated on your website. Here is a starting guide to get your remarketing campaigns off to a good start.

Build remarketing lists based on your web traffic

Google Adwords, Facebook and other media, offer you the possibility to deploy on your website codes (commonly called Pixels) to have the chance to capture users on your website using cookies. The language sounds technical and complicated? Actually, it's quite simple. By performing this action, you automatically get a list of all your visitors with the chance to deliver the message you want to them, a bit like a newsletter, but with more options and a wider distribution.

Segmentation makes remarketing from a website even more powerful. Every consumer is different. Some prefer sports cars, others SUVs or the compact car. A website is made up of pages that present specific content. Remarketing allows us to create target audiences (lists of users) who have visited a specific page or pages. So we can create a list for SUV enthusiasts or young families looking for a minivan.

Imagine knowing in real time that 150 Internet users have visited pages related to an SUV. You can immediately deliver them an advertisement presenting this model with a limited time promotion. Remarketing is not displayed on a specific site, but on all sites, applications, social networks and so on, visited by the user of your website. Another advantage is that you can control the frequency and duration (e.g.: 10 ads per day for 3 days for a promotion with expiration date). The possibilities are endless and the returns are excellent.

You also have a wide choice of ad formats to deliver your message. Images, animated banners, text and even videos! If you don't have any current promotions, you can simply create a video to increase a user's emotional level towards the model they have viewed on your website.

Remarketing to users who have not visited your website

Yes, it is possible! Google and Facebook offer you the possibility to create remarketing lists from data outside your website visit.

YouTube (Google)

Do you have a YouTube channel where you post video content related to your new and used car arrivals? Now you can remarket to a user who has viewed a specific video. Take the following scenario: You produce a 2-minute video that showcases your review of your new SUV. You post the video on YouTube and get 5000 views organically or via shares of your video on social networks. If your AdWords account and YouTube channel are well connected, you can now retarget those 5,000 users in the same way as with traditional site-based remarketing.

By email addresses or phone numbers (Google and Facebook)

Every day, you collect several email addresses and phone numbers of potential or current customers. Google and Facebook now allow you to create personalized audiences by offering to find these people on the Web using one of these two pieces of information. Powerful? Yes, but this method requires a few prerequisites. For Google, you need a minimum volume of 1000 Gmail addresses. For Facebook, the rules are more random, the social network seems to be able to find people regardless of their addresses. We have done several tests and they have generated excellent results.

This remarketing technique allows you to segment specific messages to people who have taken an action (e.g., made a purchase) at your dealership. You can create an audience that includes customers who have made a purchase and launch a remarketing campaign to promote your dealership's service. Again, the possibilities are enormous and the returns often very positive.

Other techniques

Technology/media companies like Google and Facebook are always coming up with new solutions. Facebook now offers to remarket based on people who have physically come to your dealership or who have viewed content you have posted on Facebook or Instagram (pages, videos, canvas, events). Google, on the other hand, offers to remarket to users who have downloaded your app (if you have one).

In conclusion, the possibilities are endless. There is an old saying that 50% of our marketing budget is lost. Remarketing is certainly not part of that 50%. In fact, when planning your next media buy, you should consider it as a starting point. Data is gold and too often people don't realize what they are sitting on.