Mobile Ads and The Automotive Industry

In their September SMART report, Millennial Media (mobile advertising company) shared some insights on how the automotive industry is using mobile ads to reach potential buyers. Mobile is also changing the in-car experience for drivers, with voice activated systems, Bluetooth connections, and touchscreen consoles, being estimated that by 2025 every car shipped will be a connected car. But until then, automotive advertisers are firstly concentrating on using mobile advertising to drive clients to their lots.

The In-Market Auto audience is comprised of mobile users who are actively engaging with automotive mobile websites and apps, and are visiting car showrooms and dealership lots. The main categories of people engaging with mobile automotive ads are: in-market auto buyers (looking for best offers), soccer fans, parents and expectant parents (looking for a car that suits their new needs), single and dating, insurance shoppers, avid readers, students, investment minded and casual gamers.

Car Manufacturers represent about 72% of all automotive advertisers, followed by dealerships with 16%, auto repair / services 7%, online car listing companies with 5%.

After clicking on ads, users are drove usually to a mobile search where they can search for various car models and gain insights on each model. Other post-click actions include: option to locate a store and view the map, interactive ways to customize a car or watching entertaining or informative videos.

Automotive advertisers are also making use of location-targeted campaigns, targeted at mobile users in a certain city or around a certain radius, such as around a dealership lot. Driving Showroom Visits and Brand Awareness are the main goals targeted by campaigns. Car Manufacturers that are looking to raise Brand Awareness of new product models and features are using dynamic and rich media ad features, like picking the model and customizing the vehicle’s color and other options. In order to drive traffic to their lots, dealers also make use of videos that show at the end “Store locator” button or the distance to the nearest dealership.

Mobile app stores will reach 102 billion downloads in 2013, up from 64 billion in 2012, according to recent estimate from Gartner, so it’s clear that every industry needs to pay attention to this channel. For examples of apps from the automotive industry, checkout this article.