When shoppers visit your web site, are they greeted with an experience that is tailor-made to them?
You already know that in order to be successful, you need to arm yourself with dynamic web site design, strong search engine optimization campaigns and a slate of tools that will help you reach out to car shoppers. Take it to the next level by engaging in some behavioral targeting (also referred to as “behavioral marketing”).
Behavioral targeting is a marketing method that targets consumers based on their behavior on web sites. The technology behind behavioral targeting looks at what content your site’s visitors are viewing, tracks what they’re doing on your web site, and makes adjustments to the content to suit the shoppers’ interests.
A good example of behavioral targeting would be the ads that appear on the right side of Google’s search results pages. When you perform a search in Google, those ads are relevant to the search terms you used and your location.
Behavioral targeting has become an increasingly popular marketing technique in the last few years. In fact, eMarketer found reports showing that about 70% of Internet users are interested in seeing targeted online ads. Another study said that nearly half would rather have ads based on their activity on web sites in exchange for the ability to view free content.
A recent JupiterResearch report suggested that this type of marketing is often used by advertisers who have smaller, more focused inventories and want to target a specific group of people. That’s why behavioral targeting is an ideal marketing method for the automotive industry.
JupiterResearch also performed a case study with a major automotive manufacturer and their success with behavioral targeting. The company’s goal was to drive more qualified traffic to the web site so that they could reach out to people who were looking to buy specific makes and models of cars. They used behavioral data to target their online presence to these consumers and saw a significant increase in the click through rates of their online ads and, in turn, more traffic to their web site.
Behavioral targeting works extremely well at the dealership level because online car shoppers typically visit dealership web sites specifically to view available inventory, meaning you will be able to see which cars attract the most shoppers.
Since eMarketer’s reports said that online shoppers don’t mind being tracked as long as they’re getting something in return, the ideal way to start your behavioral targeting campaigns is to utilize a tool that will follow your site visitors’ activities and build a special certificate around the vehicles they most recently viewed.
This type of tool assigns a cookie to each shopper to track the user’s activity on your web site. The tool then automatically designs a special around the content the visitor recently viewed and makes a certificate appear when the shopper accesses another part of your site, such as the home page.
According to a study by ChoiceStream, 39% of online consumers are more likely to respond to a coupon that has been tailored to their interests than non-personalized ads. These customized coupons will grab your shoppers’ attention and make them more interactive with your site. In order to fully capture their interest, provide a form they can fill out in order to receive additional information.
Many marketers have accomplished their goals by utilizing behavioral targeting methods, and it has steadily become a more popular way to target consumers within the last few years.
Since its success tends to be stronger in more concentrated markets, it is a great marketing avenue to use at the local dealership level. By participating in behavioral targeting, you’ll receive more qualified leads from people who are further along in the vehicle purchase process.
