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Recent studies have shown that being present and available for consumers as they conduct their initial online searches is a crucial factor in order to drive customers to your website, or through your doors. A prime example of this is the automotive industry. To win the sale of a car, these early “micro-moments” must be won by the dealer, first. This is a lesson from which all businesses can learn.
Today consumers rely more and more on digital (especially mobile) to assist them through their car shopping journey. By searching, they can get real-time advice from others, find the best deals and research what purchase would be right for them. This has been evidenced by the fact that one-third of all adults in the United States views car content on popular video-sharing sites, like YouTube, at least once per month.
By interacting digitally, these shoppers are influenced by what they find; possibly even more so than being face-to-face with a sales attendant on the lot! Video is a great medium for being present in the early micro-moments. In fact, 69% of those who turn to video-share sites before buying a car are profoundly affected by what they see. That’s better numbers than television, radio or the newspaper!
These micro-moments are critical to sell cars. Especially in light of the fact that automobiles aren’t bought online, and the customer must actually go to the lot to make the purchase. The dealership they will end up going to depends on the results of their search, and which one is present for them in the first critical moments. It’s not just the car industry that must be present when needed; that applies to all businesses.
It’s critical that brand marketers are there for the initial research phase, but it’s just as important to display the right content, in the proper format. Once shoppers narrow down their searches, the next step is to determine whether or not the item selected will fit their style of living. They want to know about the options that are offered. They tend to turn to image search to determine what the answer is to the “is-it-right-for-me” question. To further that line of thought, searches for pictures of specific automobiles is up by 37% year over year, and 80% of those searches are happening on mobile!
If your goal is to be one of the few dealerships, stores or websites that a consumer visits, then it’s time to invest in mobile so that you can catch those ever-so-critical micro-moments.
