Gone are the good ‘ole days of a family finishing up a pizza on a Friday night, running to the living room, and plopping in front of the TV in anticipation of the much awaited TGIF lineup consisting of Full House, Family Matters, Step by Step, and Perfect Strangers (…I know, I’m really dating myself here).

In 2020, the scene most likely looks more like this … each family member grabbing a slice of their Door Dash pizza and venturing off to do their own thing – kids watching a new episode of the latest YouTube video series, parents scrolling on Instagram or Facebook, all while streaming Netflix in the background. And what does all this mean for automotive digital marketing? As we’ve always had to do, we must constantly adapt to the behaviors of our consumers, which means morphing the way we traditionally view TV and video marketing and converting it to the new way of life – OTT streaming services.

The Buzz Behind OTT

While the term “pre-roll” has been around for quite some time with the rise of You, Over-the-Top (OTT) media is much newer to the game. OTT delivers viewers desired content streamed through the internet, bypassing the traditional use of cable, Satellite, or broadcast media. These devices/services, which include Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and Apple TV (just to list a few), allow the viewer to choose what they want to watch, when they want to watch it.

What this means for Automotive Marketers

According to forbes.com, 61% of Americans own a Smart TV and 52% use OTT services. And for viewers ages 18-34, usage is at 65% and climbing. While some marketing professionals were completely freaked out by this at first, they soon came to understand the benefits of OTT advertising. We now have the ability to track consumers habits through these streaming services, which was never a possibility with traditional Cable TV. We know which households are watching what and can even drill down to each user within the household. While we used to just blanket our TV ads across all channels, we can now drill down a bit more like we’ve been doing online with display ads for years. Segmenting the market more granularly by geo and demographic and can even choose the shows/movies to advertise on.

….Now what?

Now that consumers can basically get whatever they want to watch, at whatever time they want to watch it, on whatever device they want to watch it on, we as marketers need to think a bit more outside the box rather than your traditional dealership TV commercial. While we’ve moved away (for the most part) from the super cheesy ads with dancing monkeys, rodeos, and cars driving in outer space…. OTT advertising still needs to be drilled down a bit. As automotive digital marketing advances, we now that we have the ability to target a consumer similarly to the way we target someone through digital media, we are able to track their behaviors and interests more than ever. And now that we can drill down to a specific customer more than we were able to with standard television ads, our marketing message should also be more targeted.

If you’re an Audi dealership looking to push your A3 sedan inventory, you might centralize your ad around that vehicle promotion and target females, ages 25-40, by running your ad on Hulu and streaming during the Bachelor or Grey’s Anatomy. The segments are truly endless when it comes to OTT advertising and while you might spend a bit more on creating multiple spots, you’re gaining value by getting your message in front of such a targeted audience. And let’s face it, consumers don’t want to be bothered with a long drawn out ad that’s prolonging their binge watching, so keep your message short and sweet. An approach we see getting the highest responses, are those dealerships that poke fun at the fact they’re delaying viewers from what they really want to watch. Thinking a little outside the box from the standard “salesy” commercials will capture the viewers attention and along with your other digital advertising efforts, will put your dealership at the forefront of their next vehicle purchasing decision.

2020 is the start of a new decade and although we’ve already creeped into February, it’s pretty obvious advertising for streaming services will cover a huge chunk of advertising dollars for years to come. As consumers continue to consume media through online platforms, pre-roll and OTT services, will be the direction to move your traditional advertising dollars.

For more information on how to effectively spend your advertising dollars on pre-roll and OTT services, give us a call today at 877-958-4524 or contact us today. Still assessing your advertising and partners for 2020? Download our 2020 checklist to see how your vendors stack up!

In 2020, mobile advertising is more important than ever. According to ZDnet.com, the average American now spends 5.4 hours per day browsing their phone at home and on the go. Smartphones have become the primary gateway to the world, and advertisers continue to develop clever ways to reach the masses where they spend most of their time.

Geofencing, or Geotracking as we call this advanced method at D2D, is an excellent, data-driven way to tap into the mobile marketplace with real time results. With the ability to precisely target down to a single plot of land, Geotracking is one of the most precise targeting methods of any advertising medium out there.

When designing a successful mobile advertising campaign, the key aspect to focus on is the right in the name: mobile. Users take their phones with them everywhere they go, and location data from their travels is collected by advertisers. This data is the major qualifier for Geotracking campaigns, as the places people frequent can tell advertisers a whole host of characteristics of the target audience.

For example, if someone is visiting a competitor’s car lot, chances are good that they’re in the market for a vehicle you sell. Geotracking enables you to have your advertisements show on their mobile devices while they are in your competitor’s showroom. With customers visiting an average of 1.5 dealerships before they make a purchase, your ad could very well influence them to add your dealership to their short list.

Serving ads is great when they’re on the lot, but what about when they leave? D2D’s Geotracking has that covered. Let’s say your ad is served to a potential customer on your competitor’s lot. They see the ad and decide to leave that lot to go home and consider their options. The Geotracking campaign has now latched on and created a unique identifier for that potential customer. This gives us the ability to a retarget them with advertisements even if they didn’t click on your ad on the initial impression.

To take it a step further, this unique identifier can determine when they’re home, at work, or anywhere else they frequently go and serve advertisements across all connected devices at those locations. This ensures that your message reaches them consistently while they’re in the purchase cycle wherever they go, and it all stems from a single visit to your competitor’s lot.

In addition to the cross-device retargeting benefits, the unique identifier associated with each ad recipient also allows us to track walk-ins to your lot. This means you can see in real time how your advertising is driving people to your showroom, which location they originally received the ad at, and determine how effective each location you’re targeting is at driving lot visits. This is an unprecedented look into the journey of the consumer, and an excellent way to measure ROI.

In 2020, when you hear mobile advertising when planning your automotive digital marketing strategy, you must think Geotracking. Geotracking maximizes the use of location data to get your advertisements in front of your competitors’ customers, makes sure your message stays in front of them throughout the entire purchase cycle, and has unmatched measurement and real time results to keep you up to date on your campaign’s effectiveness. If you want to find out more, contact our digital team today and set up a free consultation, or for tips to help in planning your 2020 strategy, head to your 2020 marketing strategy blog.