The pandemic that struck the globe sent the world into a digital frenzy. This includes automotive marketing with added digital methods.
Today, more people rely on digital media for communication and advertising, which is why we see a shift in how advertising takes place in India. This country embraces a movement away from traditional advertising channels to the digital world. Those shopping for a car in this county are now more likely to find it in a virtual marketplace, adding to the digital experience.
Moving More Aspects of Car Purchases Online
Even though digital media isn’t new to the automotive industry, buying a vehicle moves mostly offline once the research is done. The pandemic caused many processes, including applying for financing, reviewing a vehicle history report, and performing a test drive, to online and virtual functions. Now that more aspects of the process are online, it’s easier for shoppers to receive the desired information through digital methods than through traditional dealership sales. This means a greater reach for sales teams that can offer more car sales online.
Relationships Built Through Digital Media
India isn’t the only country embracing a digital-first approach to automotive marketing, but they are one of the largest countries to do so. Because so many people rely on digital technology to connect with businesses, family members, friends, and neighbors, this is an excellent way for the marketing teams to build relationships that help dealerships connect with customers without in-person meetings. Some shoppers only ever visit the dealership or see the sales team when they’re ready to complete the purchase of their vehicle, which takes away much of the work and worry that used to be part of buying a car.
Digital Showrooms Are Becoming Much More Normal
Nearly all automakers are developing digital showrooms to make it much easier for customers to use virtual technology to build and select a car. The digital configurators we see offered allow shoppers to pick out the car, add the desired features, and create the color scheme chosen. With added upgrades, many shoppers can now receive a car loan and an offer for insurance for the vehicle while online as well. Many new customers prefer using online methods rather than in-person experiences.
Why is Digital Showrooms Popular?
The operational deficiencies during a typical showroom experience are not present in digital showrooms. Many of the added digital automotive marketing methods include advanced technology, including AR/VR experiences, AI-powered systems, and voice recognition technology. These systems allow for a 360-degree interactive experience with a vehicle making it possible for a customer to understand much more about a car than before.
The Touchpoints of Car Sales are Digitized
It was bound to happen, but COVID-19 pushed us hard and fast into a world where everything needs to be digitized. This includes the various touchpoints that occur during a car sales experience. The creation of contactless environments allows customers to select and purchase vehicles virtually. This happens using virtual tours, contactless home test drives, customer safety kids, and protocols for the car and the employee to ensure a clean environment.
Digital Experiences are No Longer a Novelty
Rather than continuing as a novelty in the automotive world, digital experiences are becoming normalized, and automotive marketing allows this to be the case. Some studies of the virtual experience versus a traditional car sales method enable marketing teams to understand many customers prefer the digital experience over an in-person test drive or sales experience.
India Embraces Influencers for Automotive Marketing
India embraces the use of social media for marketing and sales, including understanding the role of influencers in helping sell products. Influencers sell everything from electronics and automobiles to fashion and travel. Many companies turn to influences and their large audience of followers to bring customer views to the posts on social media. When a respected influencer supports a product, the visibility of that product increases significantly, which typically translates to more leads and more sales for the company.
Local Thinking is Still Important
The automotive industry still requires local sales. Dealerships can only go so far as to deliver a vehicle before running into an area where another dealer from the same brand is located. This means much automotive marketing still needs to offer a local approach. Add the digital methodology, and dealerships can reach their local audience through digital means. This is where SEO best practices come into play to generate search results for the digital advertising offered by a local team. The entire sales process might occur digitally, but the delivery of the vehicle is still a local requirement and must occur in the nearby area.
Digital Methods Increase Sales Everywhere
Even though digital marketing brings customers and dealers together through automotive marketing, dealers need to remember their audience. The added technology certainly increases the possibility of leads turning into sales with more convenience and direct communication using digital methods. These digital tools give dealers everything desired to increase sales and enjoy offering customers an easy and comfortable way to shop. Customers in India want the digital-first method for car sales. Many other countries are doing the same after the pandemic forced advanced digital automotive sales methods to be added around the world.
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