Making the most of automotive market insight data

If you’re looking to combat the current ‘slow down’ in the used car market with 1 in 5 consumers deferring their next vehicle purchase then you really need to be considering how you will set about conquesting business from your competitors through H2 and beyond.

So, how do you find that ‘edge’ and capitalise on it? For me it’s by making the most of the insight data available through your AutoTrader portal. You’re paying for this insight as part of your monthly fees, so use it – what possible reason could you have for not using it?

Hitting your own volume targets in a depressed market is not easy but by using the analytics tools available in the AutoTrader portal, tools such as Performance Rating, Key Metrics, Market Health and Price Indicator and acting on the insights they provide will give you every opportunity to outperform your competitors in relation to lead and sales volumes.

Now you may ask why I am promoting Auto Trader UK? First and foremost I’m not being sponsored to post this – the answer is quite simple – at Imperial Cars we used all of this insight to deliver a lower cost per lead and cost per sale from our AutoTrader spend than many of our peers. Not only did this mean we were able to conquest customers from our peers but it also meant that we were confident that AutoTrader was delivering the required volume of quality, highly committed leads at an acceptable cost.

I constantly hear that vehicle retailers are unhappy with the amount they spend with AutoTrader, however can these retailers truly say they are optimising this marketing channel. Are they pricing competitively day in, day out? Are their adverts of the required quality? Are they buying the right stock and advertising this stock in the right locations? Are they tracking their advert performance and reacting to a drop in performance rating instantly? In my experience often they’re not and this is the reason they’re not seeing AutoTrader as a cost effective marketing channel.

Work it right, act on the insight and you’ll be amazed at the difference it can make and the best part of this is that it’s unlikely to cost you any more than you’re spending now!