2017 was a mixed year for car manufacturers. Ford recently announced a jump in sales of 27% in December 2017. Hyundai and Kia, on the other hand, both missed their global sales target by a substantial margin. European and American car manufacturers are showing similarly mixed results.
2018 will be an even more challenging year for the automotive industry. New innovations start to hit the market and the overall demand for smarter cars is on the rise, but car manufacturers need to get more creative with their marketing strategies to succeed.
Better Loyalty Programs
While attempts to create loyalty programs have been made in the past, most of the programs in this industry are still limited to the dealership or area-level programs. 2018 will be the year where car manufacturers focus more on brand loyalty and formulate great loyalty programs for their customers.
Loyalty programs are relatively easy to develop. Dealerships, for example, can benefit from third-party solutions such as 89 Degrees customer loyalty programs to keep their customers loyal and happy. The small rewards given to customers will keep them coming back for an extended period.
On a bigger scale, car manufacturers have plenty of opportunities to boost brand loyalty. The introduction of reward systems for loyal customers – particularly for purchases such as service and spare parts – will be something we see quite often this year.
Improved Digital Marketing
Digital marketing is not something that car manufacturers use dominantly. Most car manufacturers still focus on local strategies to reach a highly targeted group of potential customers. Today, however, digital marketing offers the same advanced targeting as conventional marketing instruments.
There is another reason why car companies will focus more on digital marketing this year, and that reason is Tesla. Tesla has been doing a great job online, creating awareness for their products while building a solid online presence.
Tesla realizes how digital marketing is important for branding purposes rather than for generating sales. This understanding is spreading fast, with companies such as Nissan and Toyota taking their online presence more seriously.
Aiming for Higher Conversion
It is difficult to negate the fact that traditional marketing is the go-to strategy for car companies. Advertising and big-budget marketing campaigns that focus on local or regional audience are considered very effective.
That said, not all companies can still afford to spend the majority of their marketing budget on these approaches. 2018 will be the year of conversion; it is only a matter of time before automotive companies start to shift further towards reducing user acquisition cost and improving conversion with their marketing campaigns.
Don’t forget that there are new markets to explore too. Asian markets are growing rapidly and becoming more lucrative, which means specific strategies and approaches for these markets will also dominate automotive marketing campaigns in 2018. Car companies will aim for higher Return on Investment (ROI) in these markets too.
The challenges of 2018 are there to be solved. Judging from how well most companies did in 2017, we will definitely see some interesting marketing campaigns from the best car companies this year.