Free white paper also shows dealer reputation can make or break the sale

SalesFuel® announces new auto purchase intent data for 2016–2017 from its 7th annual AudienceSCAN study of nearly 16,000 online consumers 18+ in the United States. The new study reveals 19.3% of adults online  plan on purchasing a new car or truck in the next year.

SalesFuel’s research shows auto sellers they need to take a fresh, new look at their advertising methods to get buyers to come in and buy. It’s contained in a new white paper entitled “Drive Automotive Marketing Messaging – 2016–17 Automotive Shopper Profile.”

It’s crucial to understand everything you can about your target audience before you can motivate them to take action. It’s important to go beyond demographics to reveal vital information about your client’s best customers – those who are most likely to buy.

But how can sellers capture and captivate the attention of these buyers? The new data shows it’s not enough to just look at the dry metrics of auto selling in formulating the next advertising strategy. Drilling down into the minds of buyers is what makes sales more successful. “The Automotive category is very sophisticated when it comes to using technology and data but the results of this survey indicate room for improvement in both areas.  An increased focus on strengthening dealership reputation score and using psychographic data to better address the needs of the automotive buyer are more effective in motivating potential buyers to take action”, says Stacey Sedbrook, Vice President of Strategy and Business Development. Sedbrook advises a priority should be to pay attention to “purchase intent” of the consumer—their thoughts, emotions and behaviors that influence not only if, when and what they buy, but if they want to buy it from YOUR dealership.

Key this year? The reasons buyers say they want to buy a vehicle.

The Top 3:

• 3% want one of the new models
• 21% have problems with their current vehicles
• 20% need an additional vehicle for their families

Bottom 1:

• 3% deals/​incentives are too good to pass up

Let it be a lesson to you that promotions don’t weigh that heavily in consumer decisions to break the bank and buy a new vehicle. Instead, focus your marketing tactics on enticing shoppers with reasons for getting a new model: better technology, increased safety features, slick body styles. Make them take a second look at their old, worn-​out, less sophisticated, outdated current models.

SalesFuel’s white paper shows customer service level desires and expectations, along with consumer behavioral reaction to a bad experience. For example, the research shows the most important factors in choosing a dealership is reputation, with 59% indicating it is THE most important factor. “(But) don’t rely strictly on social media to reinforce reputation. It’s very rare that we see any social media clicks in a buyer’s purchase path. This doesn’t mean, however, it wasn’t an influence on the buyer’s decision.”, says Steve White, CEO of Clarivoy. Clarivoy is a marketing technology firm specializing in unified, unbiased business intelligence.

The report simliarly identifies the LEAST effective thing for dealers to spend money on to build community goodwill and reputation. Readers will also find out what models and brands buyers are desiring most in the coming months.

You can download the white paper by visiting the “Insights” tab at SalesFuel​.com or by clicking here.