Programmatic Advertising in the Automotive Industry
Updated: Jun 8, 2022
The COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on the worldwide automotive industry quickly and severely. Chinese parts shipments were disrupted, large-scale manufacturing disruptions also occurred across Europe, and assembly factories in the United States closed. The good news is that in 2022, the automotive industry is making a huge comeback. While the path to recovery is lengthy, auto marketers can use a programmatic strategy to help their campaigns succeed.
According to Google, converting an automotive consumer requires an average of 24 touchpoints. That's a huge amount, especially when 19 are distributed via digital media. This is why taking an omnichannel approach to automobile marketing, which includes both online and physical elements, can help you achieve greater results. However, this can be time-consuming and difficult, especially if you're attempting to assist a potential consumer through the complete experience across many channels. Fortunately, technology exists to automate the process, specifically programmatic advertising.
Programmatic advertising, which dates back to the first banner ad in 1994, is acquiring ad space using artificial intelligence software. RTB, or real-time bidding, is used to do this, which entails purchasing advertising at the same time a visitor loads a page. Both advertisers and publishers benefit from programmatic advertising because it improves accuracy and transparency.
With the way people currently browse for vehicles online, this technology presents a significant opportunity for automakers. Purchasers typically use search engines like Google to acquire the information they require, making it harder for auto dealers to target those specific buyers. Furthermore, because these terms typically have a high "commercial intent," finding a strategy to attract them is a strategy that has your best interest at heart.
You can capture this search data and provide the correct content to those potential purchasers via programmatic advertising. The initial step is normally to import all car inventory data into your preferred programmatic ad platform.
To understand how Programmatic Advertising works in the automotive sector, we must first examine a customer's buying cycle while purchasing a vehicle in today's digital age. It's ridiculous to expect buyers to see an advertisement for a new vehicle, click on it, and buy it straight away. Before a purchase can be made, a customer and a dealer must conduct extensive research and establish trust. Car consumers are more likely to believe what other customers have to say than what the manufacturer has to say. Reviews, comparisons, blogs, and forums are some of the most reliable sources. They want an unbiased view of why one vehicle is the better option.
Marketers can target customers who are "in the market" for a new car by using Programmatic Advertising. Consumers who are actively studying or comparing products and services across numerous publishers and partner sites can be reached using in-market audience targeting. A lot of different statistics must be evaluated to define someone as being in the market for a given product or service.
We evaluate clicks on connected advertising and subsequent conversions, site content, different pages they visit, and frequency of visits at 7Social. Our technology effectively categorizes consumers in this way, allowing your company to target the customers who are most interested in your offers.
The content of websites viewed, such as Cars.com, FindCars.com, and any vehicle manufacturer's website, are some of the criteria used to assess whether or not someone is "in the market" for a car. Clicks on associated advertising are calculated using the proximity and frequency of visits to such websites as just another criterion. When searching for new cars, it's also possible to target certain persons who have visited specific websites or who have visited certain websites on a frequent basis.
Large enterprises and successful businesses are increasingly focusing on programmatic advertising, but despite the fact that this technology is incredibly effective, measurable, and advanced, it does not have to be costly.
Programmatic Advertising Terms to Get You Started
RTB: Real-Time Bidding
The term RTB refers to real-time bidding. In the time it takes for your website to load, real-time bidding takes place. This means that thousands of corporations may be bidding behind the scenes using AI to have their ad displayed as a user loads a page. The buyer's ad is immediately shown on the publisher's website if the offer is accepted. This occurs on almost every website, mobile app, or game every time they are used, every day, all day. Without AI, none of this would be feasible.
DSP: Demand-Side Platform
Advertisers utilize the DSP, or Demand-Side Platform, to automate the bidding process for their adverts to appear on a website or mobile app. This method assists marketers in avoiding wasting time and effort on processes that can be automated. A DSP is beneficial because it allows marketers to track the effectiveness of their ads in real-time. If a campaign is functioning well, advertisers can spend more quickly in a DSP, while unsuccessful adverts can be eliminated.
DMP: Data Management Platform
Data Management Platform is the acronym for Data Management Platform. It's the software that gathers data from many sources to let the DSP target advertising more precisely. The information acquired by the DMP can range from client demographics to cookie ids. The DMP gathers this information and transmits it to the DSP, allowing for more precise ad placement in front of the customer.
DMPs begin by gathering raw data from online registration forms, website visits, or cookies. This data is collected from a variety of smart devices, including smartphones, tablets, PCs, and even smart TVs. The DMP will begin cleaning the data once it has been gathered, deleting any incorrect or missing information.
For example, it might examine the buying behaviors of men over 55 with a yearly salary of $55,000 to see what trends it can uncover. DSPs use DMPs in this way to precisely target adverts to potential clients.
SSP: Supply-Side Platform
Supply Side Platforms are software applications that automate the sale of advertising space. Instead of manually accepting or rejecting advertising on a case-by-case basis, this program automates the process so that it can happen instantly. Unlike DMPs, which are used by individuals who create and sell advertising, publishers use SSPs to link with DSPs to ensure that the ad space on their website is sold to relevant product and service suppliers.
Publishers have more control over their inventories with SSPs. Publishers may keep track of who is paying for their inventory by impression and adjust their ad requests accordingly. SSPs allow publishers to filter digital advertising depending on the advertiser, ad kind, target audience, and other criteria, as well as set varied rates for ad spots.