Data Will Fuel What’s Ahead For The Auto Industry
Originally published on CMO.com
The automotive industry has seen a seismic shift as new technology and massive amounts of data flood this evolving landscape. Changing consumer behaviors, increased demands for connectivity, trends toward alternate types of mobility, and the convergence of the online and offline world have put the automotive consumer firmly at the center of car brands’ strategies.
It goes without saying that auto companies must be more committed than ever to understanding today’s consumers on a one-to-one level, including what drives them, what motivates them, and what they are looking for in their next vehicle. Developing an understanding of consumers at such a personalized level requires numerous data sets and analytical capabilities to develop a rich, omnichannel customer view.
In KPMG’s “Global Automotive Executive Survey 2017,” automotive executives were on the same page about the value of data. According to the research, “84% of executives absolutely or partly agree that data is the fuel for the future business model of auto companies.”
Consumers produce mountains of data every day–information about who they are, their intent to purchase, and more.
Examples of third-party data include:
• Demographic data: Information such as households with new children (might upgrade to a larger vehicle), teenage drivers (might purchase a first car), or lifestyle attributes, such as environmentalism or an interest in the outdoors (hybrids or four-wheel drive), can take targeted marketing to the next step. Income, marital status, occupation, hobbies, lifestyle, and age are other examples of demographics that can be used to create targeted marketing messages to which consumers are most apt to relate.
• VIN marketing data: Information on vehicles and their owners, such as make, model, and year, or data such as engine size, fuel type, drive train, engine block, and engine cylinders.
• Trigger data: Consumers who might be in-market for a new vehicle based on life events, such as new movers, new teen drivers, newly married, or newly retired.
• In-market indicators: Consumers who have shown active intent to purchase, such as consumers who have recently visited a dealer location within the past 24 hours.
