Regardless of business objective
In a recent McKinsey report, the authors confirm that leading car dealers around the world continue experimenting with new sales and marketing solutions.
Regardless of specific business objectives like dealership branding, increased sales, faster sales, or reduced discounts – the fundamental precondition is always that all cars are presented in the most attractive, informative, and engaging way.
Multichannel or omnichannel?
One obvious keyword in the ongoing search for more efficient sales and marketing is “omnichannel”. Because now nearly all car buyers seek information and communicate via several channels and media. Unlike regular multichannel marketing, omnichannel marketing aims to keep information aligned and updated throughout the buying journey.
A study performed by ACA found that the average car-buying journey lasts between 5 and 12 weeks and comprises the following main phases:
- Up to 95% of buyers start out with an online search.
- Then comes the shortlisting phase, where reviews and opinions are also available online.
- 2-4 weeks before the final choice most buyers would contact one or several dealers for more information and a test drive.
- Then they negotiate and close the deal.
All together this normally adds up to around 20 digital and physical “touchpoints” (Source: Autoxloo). But the process is only one aspect of the omnichannel buying experience. Says Phyron’s CEO Johan Sundstrand:
“The real game-changer is HOW you present the cars along that omnichannel buying journey. Car dealers around the world are well aware that customers would respond better to online video than still pictures but every vehicle is unique and traditional video production is both slow and expensive.”
In contrast, the automated Phyron solution can be easily scaled to fit inventories of a thousand cars or more, continuously updated in real-time according to incoming and outgoing vehicles. The cost is minimal and it doesn’t affect the dealer’s existing IT system. It can be up and running within a few weeks. Johan Sundstrand again:
Regardless of business objectives
“The dealer sets the objectives. We simply improve the odds to reach them, by making all cars more widely visible and easier to buy. The dealers can use the customized videos everywhere: in their online showrooms, in sales campaigns, classified, social media, and individual customer dialogues. And on terminals in their physical showrooms too. So each buyer can explore more relevant cars in more detail, even when the sales staff is occupied with other customers. Automated video simply makes life easier for everybody involved.”