Digital Dealer Vegas 2022 was hands down one of the most session intense Digital Dealer’s I’ve attended! The expo hall seemed quiet when the sessions were running, and people were getting turned away at the door because the sessions were full! I don’t know about you, but I’ve never experienced that before! When thinking about why this was happening, I had a few thoughts I will share with you as I recap some key takeaways form the conference.

Social Is Going to a Whole New Level

One reason I think dealership personnel flocked to the sessions was to learn more about social media. One thing Covid taught us is that social media marketing is far from dead. In fact, it’s going to a whole new level. From Pinterest to TikTok to video ads, it’s all about being connected and being where your consumer is – which may in fact be Pinterest! Did you know that according to the statistics put out by Pinterest, 47% of all Pinterest users are 18+ and in market to buy a vehicle?

Here are a few other great social media stats we picked up:
 -Average user spends 2.5 hours on social media per day
 – 87% of Pinners are interested in connecting with local businesses
 – 75% of all moms in the US are on Pinterest
 
Analytics are Changing in a Big Way

It’s likely not news to you that Google Analytics is making a big change and in July 2023 the Google Analytics we know and have come to love and hate will be no longer! GA4 will be the new analytics and with that comes some major data changes. The main difference is that Google Analytics as it is now (Universal Analytics, or UA) is cookie based and GA4 will be based on user’s signals. Another way to look at it is that UA is session based – a user comes to website and tracks as a session and a cookie is placed on the user. GA4 will be event based – the user will trigger buying or conversion signals based on what they go to and what they do. GA4 will also be full cross-device capable meaning you can get signals from that user on their phone, desktop or tablet.

One other piece of this is, of course, the dreaded death of the cookie. Third party cookies will no longer work and for some this is a very scary move. If you’re unsure of how to use, track or set up the event base model of GA4 this could be a tough one for you. Google Chrome is also set to completely stop all cookies in 2024.

For the data nerds like myself, GA4 is pretty exciting. While the platform itself will take a little bit of getting used to as a totally different user experience than UA, the enhanced conversion tracking, signal attribution and server to server conversion set up could lead to an even better tracking model.

There is a lot to learn here, and I am not surprised that people were anxious to get all the information they could out of the conference! If you have an automotive digital marketing agency, they should be fully knowledgeable on the GA4 integration and should already be setting it up for you!

If you’d like to speak to one of our digital experts to make sure you’re ready to go when July rolls around (inevitably all too soon,) give us a call today at 877-958-4524 or contact us online.

Cover photo courtesy of DigitalDealer.com