In a world where websites are becoming more app-like and apps are becoming more powerful, is it possible for these two digital channels to coexist?

The answer comes down to consumer behavior:

• People peruse websites, but they use apps.
• Websites provide information, while apps help accomplish tasks.
• Websites may have a larger audience, but apps have a more engaged audience.

These two marketing channels shouldn't compete for your customers' attention, they should complement each other.  

What is the best way to integrate your dealership website and your mobile app?

Tip #1: Redirect Mobile Website Traffic To Your App

Think of your mobile website as a gateway to your mobile app

Mobile apps are more robust, efficient and contain features and solutions the the mobile web simply doesn't. Think of your mobile website as a gateway to your app – it’s funneling people to the best experience your brand can provide on that medium. What is the fastest way to turn web shoppers into app users you ask, App Option Code. Maximize your website efficiency by taking all your current traffic and placing them on a sticky platform that entices repeat actions across the purchase funnel, while driving downloads at the same time. Create an optimized shopping experience on every device and turn your web traffic into car sales.  

Tip #2: Reproduce and Enhance Your Websites Best Features

People who download a company's app generally expect it to have a similar feel to the company's website while providing a mobile friendly interface with mobile specific capabilities. Everything your customer can do on your website, they can also do on your mobile app. Inventory, service scheduling, specials, loyalty programs, live chat and more are right at your customers finger tips, giving them a seamless way to shop, save and service their vehicle 24/7. Combine this with app specific functionality to gain even more advantages.  

Tip #3: Add App-Specific Functionality

Some of the largest advantages mobile apps have over the mobile web are location and messaging capabilities.

Location Targeting technology allows dealers to target shoppers based on their physical location and provide relevant messaging directly to their smartphone. This can be used in a variety of ways across all aspects of the automotive process both pre and post purchase.

Push notifications are the next wave of marketing messaging. With over 94% open rates and interactive CTA's, the ability to interact with your customer at the right time, place and with the right message has never been easier.

Actions to Outcomes Your dealership app is an actionable platform that allows you and your customers to interact with one another in a variety of ways pre and post purchase. Interacting with your customers directly on their device at precise moments inside and outside of the dealership allow you to capitalize on your shoppers mobile lifestyle.  

Tip #4: Create A Seamless Experience

No one likes a dead end, keep your customers on a platform that creates customer engagement, retention and drives traffic directly to your dealership. Making your dealership accessible through a wide variety of platforms and digital devices greatly increases your chance of engaging consumers. With 67% of people starting to shop on one device and continuing to another, the amount of people completing tasks through a mobile/digital format continues to grow. Making your dealership experience discoverable on all devices increases your chances of being in front of the consumer at the right stage in the purchasing funnel and at precise moments of decision.    

Use your website and app together to be more effective

Both platforms have their benefits, so use this to your advantage. In the end you want your customers to have the best experience possible, so give them what they want, when they want it and on the platform they prefer. Effectively using your dealer app and dealership website side by side is the best option to reach the entire market and convert shoppers into customers. In this increasingly digital age, having the most effective digital marketing strategy is essential to capturing and converting the mobile shopper.          

The new Google study reveals insight on the digital impact on in-store shopping. We all know that the growth of smartphones and access to online information has changed the way we shop in stores, but how is this actually affecting brick and mortar retail?

What they discovered:

Today's consumers are more informed than ever before. They want information throughout the shopping process, driving their use of smartphones and consumption of online information for shopping. Customers look for information at all times: before, during and after store visits, using a variety of online sources while constantly turning to their smartphones to fill the information gap.  

Mobile users constitute the most valuable customer segment because they are the most likely to convert. With mobile searching constantly on the rise, it is important to focus on this user segment and deliver what they need an want.

MYTH #1

Search results only send consumers to e-commerce sites

REALITY

Search results are a powerful way to drive consumers to stores

Online activity affects offline behavior, especially in regard to smartphones.

"In retail, you can't think about mobile phones as a threat, you have to think of them as a magnet that drives people into your stores" - Bridget Dolan.

Combining search with technologies including app-option code allow your dealership to drive downloads while creating a direct connection between your dealership and the consumer in the process. Providing the right information at the right time is essential to gaining business from customers both pre and post purchase and using tools including beacons allow you to interact with customers at precise moments of decision.  

MYTH #2

Once in-store shoppers begin looking at their smartphone, the store has lost their attention

REALITY

Stores can grab consumer's attention through search results and mobile sites and apps

Consumers look at competitors sites but a greater percentage look at search engine results and retailer sites and apps. The majority of customers now already know what they want before they enter the store, yet 2/3 of people surveyed said they couldn't find the details they needed while at the store. The key is to give them all the online information they need at their fingertips via your site, app and search campaigns to enable them to make a decision and buy in your store.  

MYTH #3

Online research has limited what consumers expect from stores, they really just go to stores to transact

REALITY

People visit stores for more than just transactions

Consumers still visit stores for more than just transactions, but they now expect more.

With auto shoppers only visiting 1.2 dealerships per purchase cycle the necessity for you to get them in YOUR showroom is essential to selling cars. One great way to drive customers back to your dealership is to offer shoppers personalized recommendations and offers.

RECAP

Though shopping habits have changed drastically, retailers haven't necessarily caught up in the ways they measure their marketing efforts and allocate their media spend. Most retailers don't yet understand the extent to which digital drives in-store transactions and how in-store visits affect online purchases. The result is that they're often viewing sales in silos and undervaluing the real impact of their digital spend on total sales. Consequently, they're making suboptimal decisions about their media mix.  

The bridge between digital traffic and foot traffic has become a competitive necessity in retail. The retailers who embrace these new realities—who connect with their customers seamlessly, no matter where those shoppers happen to be or how they want to buy—will be the retailers who win. It's those on-the-go connections that are the future of shopping.      

Sources:

https://think.storage.googleapis.com/docs/digital-impact-on-in-store-shopping_research-studies.pdf

https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/articles/3-new-realities-of-local-retail.html#utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=Think

https://blog.kissmetrics.com/surprising-mobile-ecommerce/

March 2015

AutoMotion’s comprehensive Location Targeting technology now includes beacon micro-targeting capabilities.

Minneapolis, MN – AutoMotion, the leader in mobile app technology for the automotive market, today announced integration of beacons into its Location Targeting technology.

The AutoMotion mobile app Location Targeting technology has revolutionized the way in which dealers communicate with their customers.  The technology allows dealers to target shoppers based on location and provide relevant messaging directly to the smartphone.  From the showroom to service, targeted messaging has resulted in tremendous customer engagement, permitting dealers to close more deals on the lot and bring cross-shopping customers back to the showroom.

New beacon integration with Location Targeting permits micro-targeting in the showroom.  Customers shopping on their smartphone are able to receive incentives, inventory updates, vehicle info, and more, automatically from their smartphone while on the showroom floor.

AutoMotion is unveiling the new technology at NADA booth 5227W.  Attendees can sample the new technology using their own smartphone to interactive with vehicles in the booth.

“Beacons add additional exciting abilities to our Location Targeting technology,” stated AutoMotion President Ben Anderson.  “Customers now have the ability to interact with a vehicle on the showroom floor using their smartphone. Beacons create a new wave of personalized interaction, giving dealers the ability to directly influence the customer’s automotive shopping experience.”

The AutoMotion Location Targeting technology utilizes GPS, Wifi-triangulation, BLE, and patented protocols to help dealers pinpoint the location of a shopper and deliver the most relevant messaging directly to their smartphone.  Learn more information on Location Targeting technology: http://bit.ly/HowToLocationTargeting

About AutoMotion

AutoMotion is the leader in mobile app technology for the automotive market. The AutoMotion platform delivers mobile marketing solutions for automotive dealers and OEM partners. The company’s technology permits mass distribution and management of large-scale mobile app campaigns for OEMs and large automotive retailers.

Visit AutoMotion at NADA Booth ► 5227W
http://www.automotiontv.com/
Phone: 612-353-4125
sales@automotionweb.com

It's the holiday season, that means one thing, you only have a few weeks left to hit your year end sales quotas. While this turns into a very stressful time for many dealerships, it doesn't have to be this way; so put away your Grinch costume and use that shiny little device (smartphones) all you customers have to turn your inventory into perfectly wrapped presents that constantly keep driving off your lot.

Everyone's Online

According to PunchTab 90% of consumers plan to shop online this holiday season,and with consumers spending more than 15 hours per week researching on their smartphones capturing capturing your customers pre-purchase is essential to ultimately gaining their business.  

You want to capture all these customers as they look for vehicles don't you?

Step 1: Simplify Their Search

Shoppers make store visits after searching, and if they find all the information they are looking for they are 75% more likely to visit the store.  

Take control of how your customers find AND shop your dealership.

A big reason many dealerships are moving twords mobile apps is to "lock" customers into their specific dealership and provide a research resource that deters shoppers from looking elsewhere.

Search, SEO rankings and re-targeting are all great methods to capture your customers but they also have one major disadvantage, they are broken links and require customers to keep searching and visiting your website.

While a dealership will essentially have a strong combination of all these methods the take away here is that digital is a powerful way to connect and capture your customers. The majority of customers start their journey with search, so being present in their path to purchase is essential to eventually getting that sale.    

Step 2: Occupy Their Time In Your Dealership

It's obvious customers are on their phones, but this doesn't have to be a bad thing. Make the best use out of their time and grab their attention using your mobile app and search results.

Turn your shoppers phone addiction into your very own sales associate.

Inform customers that your entire dealership can be accessed through their smartphone and pitch them benefits of your dealer app.

this creates a long list of benefits:

• Prevent Showrooming
• Create more engaged customers
• Speed up their vehicle decision processes
• Increase vehicle VDP views
• Strengthen your customer-dealership relationship
• Drive downloads and MRR rates

  "Put simply, retailers can use their online presence—website, apps, mobile ads and search results—to assist shoppers in-store. This includes the integration of local information in their online presence. Geo-targeting content and ads helps retailers connect with shoppers who may be in close proximity to their store or already there." - Google Think Insights

Step 3: Location Based Promotions

Hyper target your Black Friday promotions and marketing by using your customers exact Geo-location to your advantage.

Location targeting technology now allows dealers to send a targeted messages to mobile shoppers at precise moments in the car shopping process. The technology can identify when a potential customer is visiting a competing dealership, obtaining a service quote from a competing service center or cross shopping you inventory. The system can then automatically deliver a coupon or offer to that customer’s phone, incentivizing a visit back to the dealership.

Relying on direct mailers, commercials and radio ads can all be nerve-racking and hard to track the actual returns to your investments. Quit questioning your marketing and go directly to the source, their smartphone! Advertise directly on the device they use most. Actively marketing your customers in real-time maximizes your chance to capture and convert them, with tons of retails using Geo-location to best understand their customers shopping routes and habits why wouldn't your dealership do the same?  

In Review:

With the majority of your customers starting their journey online having a strong presence and digital method to capture them will drastically increase your in-store business. Mobile applications are taking over the retail space and capturing this huge customer base maximizes your opportunity to close the most sales possible. Once you have a customer in your store, capitalize on this! You talk about your inventory, service department, and unbeatable prices, why not roll all of this into an app that provides you and your customer countless benefits? Finally, actively market your customers directly on their digital device, use the vast amount of information you have to your advantage.   

By: Josh Knutson, AutoMotion Dealer App

 GM Releases Information On The Future Of Its Connected Car Strategy:

But The REAL Questions Are:

What does this mean for the future of in-car connectivity?

Why does this matter for my dealership?

Debrief ---------------

Mary Chan, General Motor’s President of the Global Connected Consumer sat down at CTIA Wireless last week where she acknowledged that GM’s connected car strategy will be dramatically different. “Instead of trying to bring every app and service to market itself, GM is leaning heavily on its new partners Apple and Google to bring core infotainment apps to the dash and relying on the smartphone to supply the connectivity for those apps” “Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are both user-interface layers that run on top of automakers’ own infotainment operating systems, essentially projecting a driver-optimized version of popular apps from the smartphone onto the dashboard screen.“

“GM is basically handing over development of any app that isn’t directly tied to the vehicle’s core driving capabilities over to Apple and Google.”

GM has chose this path for a variety of reasons:

• Developing car specific apps is very tedious and requires lots of unnecessary work

• Many apps require very little of the cars hardware to function

• Consumers can use their phones internet connectivity to power the app without having to subscribe to a separate connected car plan

  This could be a + or – for the automaker:

• Gain more users that will opt in to a free platform
• Gain the ability to offer a larger variety of apps in vehicles
• Loose revenue from subscription plans
• Loose control of their connected car platform to app companies

WHY THIS MATTERS FOR YOUR DEALERSHIP

By relying on the smartphone to supply the connectivity of the apps, this gives dealers with a dealer app already in place a big advantage. A dealer app on a consumers phone will be able to directly link to the consumer’s vehicle giving the dealership yet another direct marketing connection to the consumer.  

This May Open Pandora’s Box Of Advertising For Dealers To:

• Run advertisements directly on the digital dashboard
• Create another direct interaction point to the consumer
• Learn a consumers shopping habits
• Determine how a customer interacts with their vehicle
• Plug into a cars on-board connected car system to creating a SERVICE!!!

Picture this……

Scenario 1:

Your consumer steps into their vehicle, their _____ dealer app automatically syncs with their vehicle.

The app realizes that the vehicle is in need of an oil change and sends the customer your dealerships current oil change ad.

The consumer accepts the offer then the app routes the consumer to your dealership using the vehicles navigation system.

Scenario 2:

The dealer app analyzes the consumers shopping habits within the app and uses this information to market to the customer, subtly coaxing them into a vehicle purchase by using on screen advertising to psychologically keep the new car on the consumers top-of-mind.

Understanding the consumers shopping path allows the dealer to better segment purchasers into correct sections of the purchase funnel, allowing dealerships to use certain marketing methods to hit the customer at the correct place and time.

As apps continue to evolve, so too will the ability to market the connected consumer. This is just the tip of the mobile marketing iceberg, added customer vehicle insights will allow automotive marketing to take major turns in new directions giving your dealership new methods to interact with your customers on even higher levels.      

Original Release:

Minneapolis, MN – AutoMotion, the leader in mobile apps for automotive dealers, announces General Motors iMR approval for the AutoMotion Dealer App product.  All General Motors dealers can now use iMR funds with the leading mobile app solution to drive more sales and service revenue from customers on the go.  General Motors approved the AutoMotion platform as the first provider of mobile apps to eligible GM iMR (inMarketRetail) dealerships.

“We’re excited to work with General Motors and its dealer network,” Stated AutoMotion President Ben Anderson.  “Mobile is growing at an unprecedented pace and today’s customer is increasingly shopping using their smartphone or tablet device.  With hundreds of GM dealers already using the AutoMotion Dealer App product, we’re excited to help all GM dealers capture and convert their increasingly mobile customer base.”

The AutoMotion Dealer App gives customers instant access to the dealership through their mobile device.  Engage customers directly and convert an on-the-go prospect to a repeat customer using real-time inventory, service scheduling, incentives, vehicle research, and much more.  AutoMotion works directly with each dealership to design a custom mobile app experience for iPhone, iPad, Android, Android Tablet, and Windows 8 devices.

Exclusive Location Targeting technology delivers incentives to the customer’s smartphone based on location and timing.  Location Targeting identifies the right opportunity to display targeted offers and provides next step actions through the dealership app.  The technology achieves extremely high response rates by delivering incentives to customers at the moment of decision.

GM affiliated dealers looking to create a mobile app and take advantage of the iMR co-op program should visit http://www.automotiontv.com/dealer-app/ for additional details and scheduling of a personal demonstration.

About AutoMotion

AutoMotion is the leader in mobile app technology for the automotive market.  The AutoMotion platform delivers mobile marketing solutions for automotive dealers and OEM partners.  The company’s technology permits mass distribution and management of large-scale mobile app campaigns for OEMs and large automotive retailers.

Original Release: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2014/08/prweb12105408.htm

AutoTrader releases groundbreaking statistics on the future of the automotive shopping experience.

Millennials have the pedal to the mobile metal and are shaking up the automotive advertising, shopping and purchasing structure, as we know it.

Medium's Used ----------

• 95% use the internet to shop with 82% of their time spend shopping online, 51% being on 3rd party sites

• Visit an average 10.1 sites during their search

Traditional Media Is Dying ----------

• ONLY 7% used the newspaper to shop and just 12% used TV

• 67% said newspapers where not helpful and 49% stating TV was not a helpful resource either.

• The average buyer spends 19% of the online search at a dealer site and 13% with auto manufacturers’ sites, compared with 15% and 10%, respectively, for the millennial generation.

The Mobile Factor ----------

• 44% of millennials used more than one connected device to shop for cars

• By 2020 80% of millennials will use multiple devices to shop for cars

• Buyers are using personal computers less often, down 3 points since just last year to 88% in 2014, while both tablet and smartphone use are up 9 points in the last year, to 28% each.

Time Spend ----------

• 17.6 hours is now the average amount of time millennials spend car shopping which is 2 hours more than the industry average

"The key, Helms said, is for automotive sites to design sophisticated, easy-to-use tablet and smartphone apps."

Your Next Steps:

Re-Thinking Your Advertising Strategy:

• With the "Connected Generation" (millennials) in the wake to take over the automotive market, the time is now to adapt your marketing strategy.

Influence Them Online:

Meeting millennials on their devices is the name of the game. Smartphones, tablets and wearable's are now the main connection point between you and your customers. With traditional media having less and less effect on millennial's purchase decisions, connecting with them at strategic points before they enter the dealership is essential to making the sale.

Apps now control 86% of the total time consumers spend on mobile creating a digital presence for your dealership is needed to capture the millennial's eye. Millennials now know what they want, with 70% of them already knowing which make and model they want before they step foot in the dealership.  

  Full AutoTrader Infographic:

Sources:

http://www.automobilemag.com/features/news/1408-autotrader-survey-says-millennials-lead-the-car-buying-revolution/

http://www.automotiontv.com/navigating-mobile-marketing-a-car-dealership-guide-to-winning-smartphone-shoppers/    

Yesterday Google revealed “Android Auto” its latest play in the connected car game. The new android-based screen-casting feature connects your smartphone directly to your in-car infotainment system creating a unified in-car experience.

Smartphones are proving to be the center point from which in-car connected experience will emerge, by utilizing the technology and software on our digital devices many consumer and automotive advantage are created.

Up to Date and Constantly Connected:

With Android Auto residing on the users smartphone, app updates made on the phone will automatically correlate to the in-car system. This means the consumer will have the exact same experience with “Spotify” on their phone as they have in their car. The days of buying upgraded maps for your navigation system and choosing which music is good enough to make it on your in-car audio storage system are all but gone. The ability to update apps is also a plus for developers. Third parties are able to hook into the Android Auto SDK and update apps and integration allowing them to create custom car app experiences as well.    

Seamless, Simple:

Creating a seamless experience between devices is an essential part of the digital ecosystem. The consumer now expects their mobile experience to flow seamlessly between devices and Google has definitely taken notice. Google’s takeover of the digital dashboard is gaining speed now having over 40 partners and counting lined up for its “Open Automotive Alliance.” Having a similar infotainment system in a wide range of vehicles poses many questions for the future of automotive branding and differentiation but one thing is for sure, in-car connectivity is here and its evolving fast.

What This Means For My Dealership

Dealership apps are becoming more and more widespread in the market with each passing week. With the addition of Android Auto, providing a seamless connection between your dealership and your customers becomes even simpler. Having a mobile app present on a customers phone will provide you with a direct link to their in-car infotainment system, giving you a limitless amount of opportunities to connect with them.  

On Screen Marketing

• A consumers digital dashboard is yet another screen you can now use to advertise, market and provide dealership value.

• Sales, special offers and more are now able to be shown to the consumer in a format they are familiar with as well as a medium which requires very little cost on your end.

Suggestion Marketing

• Using technologies including Location Targeting will allow dealerships to interact with customers at precise moments utilizing in-car mediums to influence decision making.

• • Ex. A customer’s oil needs to be changed. Your dealership will be able to notify the customer via their in car screen as well as use the cars steering wheel vibration functionality to warm them, even automatically load Google maps to direct them back to you.

Voice Commands:

• Service scheduling, inventory updates and more are now just a voice command away

• Dealership search takes a new turn:
  • Voice search means the way in which your dealership comes up on mobile search will be more influential to creating in-vehicle driver actions moving forward.

Thoughts:

What ways do you see this new technology effecting your dealership directly?  

How will this effect the way you market your customers pre and post purchase?          

Images & Video:

http://www.cnet.com/news/google-unveils-android-auto-at-io-2014/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ht8yzpIV9M0#t=40

"This year is a tipping point," said Thilo Koslowski, a Gartner Inc. analyst who follows in-car technology. "There has been a lot of talk about apps in cars, but from 2014 forward, the revolution really happens." BMW AG is working on setting up an app store, modeled on Apple Inc. 's iTunes, to deliver automotive apps to its owners. The store is expected to launch in Europe later this year and in the U.S. in 2015.

For the car makers, electronics and communications capabilities are becoming key selling features, and for many buyers, especially the coveted younger consumers and first-time car buyers, they're more important than horsepower or handling.

"This is a big transition in the industry in the digital context" said Mathias Haller, chief architect of infotainment systems at Audi. Car makers can't afford to fall behind or take a wrong turn on dashboard technology. Ford Motor was an early leader with its Sync system, but later, more complex versions have proved buggy and frustrating to customers, and have hurt the company's standing in quality surveys.

Call it Carapps 2.0. For the past few years, new cars have had the technology—USB ports, microphones, Bluetooth—enabling drivers to make hands-free phone calls. And in some models it is possible to listen to podcasts or stream music from a smartphone. But the first generation of these interfaces were often clunky, distracting and potentially dangerous. Frustrated by confusing voice commands, drivers were forced to pick up their phones—and hope their thumb taps the right icon or swipes the screen the right way to select a song, look up an address, or enter a destination.That won't be the case soon.

Last month at the New York International Auto Show, Mercedes-Benz demonstrated a car equipped with an early version of an infotainment system that uses Apple's iOS extension for automobiles, CarPlay. It has the same look and feel as an iPhone—the icons that appear on the car's display are the same as the iPhone's icons. "If the driver has less to learn, then it makes it more safe," said Kal Mos, Mercedes's director of connected infotainment. Mr. Mos said the system could start appearing in Mercedes vehicles by year end.

The mobile technology providers and car makers remain wary of each other, but they also have a lot to gain if they can win over more consumer.

"It is an absolute arms race to put [smartphone technology] into every car," said Kanwalinder Singh, vice president of business development at Qualcomm Inc., whose computer chips are key components of smartphones and increasingly are turning up in automobiles. About 100 million cars sold each year world-wide, and right now only about 10% have some kind of built-in communications system, he says.

Safety experts are hoping new dashboard electronics that work more easily with smartphones eventually will lessen driver distraction. Adrian Lund, president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, said early studies suggest that the distraction problem at least isn't getting worse. While there are more things drivers can do with smartphones, it is becoming easier for them to do these things without taking their eyes off the road and hands off the wheel. "It looks like drivers are no more distracted by all this technology than they were before," Mr. Lund said. Apps for streaming music and navigation are only the start of what people will soon be able to do in their cars. Ford has shown its infotainment system running an app that places orders at the nearest Domino's Pizza outlet. Recently, auto makers have started allowing software developers to draw data from the car itself, like fuel economy. Developers imagine creating apps that track detailed gas mileage for every trip a car makes, or even lets groups of friends or family members view each other's results to see who drives most efficiently.

"Everything that has been showing up in smartphones is going to show up in cars," said Bryan Trussel, founder of Glympse, which makes an app that lets people track the location of friends they are meeting. BMW and other auto makers started embedding Glympse into new cars this year.



Author Neal E. Boudette

Image: https://ideas.sap.com/ConnectedCarContest2013

Quick, look over at your waiting room. What are over half the people doing? I’m willing to bet good money that the majority of them are on some type of digital device. With over 147 million Americans owning a smartphone and 71 million owning a tablet its no news to anyone that your shoppers are using mobile like never before.  

We Know Two Things

1. The average number of digital devices people posses is greatly increasing.
2. Mobile is changing the way consumers shop, search and interact with your dealership.

More Screens, More Shopping

The amount of people that now use a mobile to shop has greatly risen over the past year; this coupled with the huge increase in mobile advertising has caused the vast majority of businesses to utilize digital marketing strategies to connect with their consumers. Everything from social media, to push notifications and location targeting are all large segments of the modern marketing plan.  

• 90% of all media interactions are now screen based and

• 81% of people use screen sequentially to browse the internet

• 93% of people who use mobile to research move on to make a purchase

  Making your dealership accessible through a wide variety of platforms and digital devices greatly increases your chance of engaging consumers. With 67% of people starting to shop on one device and continuing to another, the amount of people completing tasks through a mobile/digital format continues to grow.  

One Task, Multiple Screens

People now use multiple screens to complete tasks. Flipping between different devices to satisfy needs is now the norm.

• Smartphone’s are the most common starting point for sequential activities

• 65% of information search and online shopping is started on a smart phone.

As media interactions move towards screen based models marketing strategies can no longer be viewed as Digital OR Traditional. Consumers are now faced with a vast array of content on a wide variety of platforms from OEM sites to dealership websites, to automotive dealer apps the choices are constantly expanding. Couple this with the large number of devices people now use, means being present on every screen and digital platform is essential to maintaining a strong mobile presence. 

To Do List:

Your dealership needs to understand all the methods people consumer media and create strategies that work with all channels. Consumers have different needs on different screens so adapting your goals and strategies to account for the differences of each device is necessary to cover the market. Making your dealership discoverable on all devices increases your chances of being in front of the consumer at the right stage in the purchasing funnel.

• Give customers an easy way to “pick up where they left off”

• Make search simple, be visible on all screens

• Cross device behavior requires conversion goal adjustment

• Align conventional and digital marketing with your digital channels

• Create a optimized shopping experience on every device

  By: Josh Knutson, AutoMotion