Digital Marketing Strategy - A return to a traditional KPI

The C-19 pandemic will undoubtedly increase the speed of selling vehicles online in the automotive sector, with the full transaction or part transactions being completed online as consumers demand contactless sales.

The sector will start to see the integration of Ecommerce KPIs, basket abandon rate, add-ons etc.; however, we will see a return of a more traditional and key KPI that the majority of dealers/operators require and understand: the volume of leads generated and the Cost per Lead (CPL).

In recent years, the key focus has been centred around a Velocity trading strategy where the key KPI is the VDP (Vehicle detail page) which as we know delivers, and consists of the formulas of more VDPs viewed equals more sales. The more VDPs viewed the higher the stock turn, so selling the vehicle quicker; this strategy not only generates leads but also is the key driver to showroom footfall.

As part of the strategy, predictive modelling tools have helped identify the all-important in-market consumers who are likely to begin a communication with the dealer (a lead), or a physical visit to the dealership, which has enabled marketers to effectively manage marketing spend through sales influence and attribution modelling.

So how will this change? Simply, consumers will not be able to just turn up at dealerships - they will need to book an appointment. This in turn will increase lead volumes into the dealership; however, more importantly this takes away the grey area that dealers do not like: that consumers viewed a car on a website then just turned up.

So the traditional KPIs of lead volumes and CPL become the key metrics to measure a marketing channel’s performance and will allow dealers with less sophisticated systems to clearly understand how the majority of their marketing spend is performing. Ultimately, this will begin to hold the marketing channels to account. 

Ian Godbold

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