Digital Dealer - May 2019 - 37

actions and activities, investments and adjustments, that
take place in your business.
A fully completed data layer
operates in the background
gathering information in a
format that can ultimately
be explored and understood
by marketers and business
operators. Think of the layer
as a traffic control point that
every marketing activity,
CRM event, and really all
actions must pass through,
technologically speaking,
before going in or out. While
it seems like creating a data
layer should be built into
the technologies we use,
the truth is that even in the
best enterprises around the
world they're a patchwork
of different solutions. What
they all have in common
is a core data repository
platform, often taking the
form of a data or customer
management platform. Suffice it to say that it requires
a lot of effort to make sure
all your data-from vendors
and otherwise-are flowing
through your layer. We can
begin here by focusing on
the customer piece.

WHY YOUR DATA
LAYER MATTERS MORE
THAN EVER IN TODAY'S
CUSTOMER JOURNEY

Fifteen years ago,
customers averaged two
touchpoints on the path to
sale. Now, they average
almost six. For car shoppers, the average number
of touchpoints is 24, 19 of
them digital. That's why it's
more important than ever
to be able to connect these
touchpoints to a data layer,
and the first step is to understand what they are. See

how customers are interacting with your Google ads,
your Facebook posts, your
videos, your VDPs, your
conversion tools, your nurture emails, as well as over
the phone and in person.
Understanding your
customer journey means not
only tracking how campaigns perform individually
but also how they fit into the
context of the customers'
path to sale. So if shoppers typically convert on a
trade-in tool after viewing
particular index pages, and
those conversions tend to be
qualified, that tells you those
index pages are valuable.
Or, if your VDPs get a lot
of views from people who arrive through a Facebook Ad,
but then those VDPs have
a high bounce rate, that's
important information. And
using our example above,
knowing where ad clicks fit
into the overall journey can
tell you whether your ad
dollars are well-spent, or if
you just need to make your
dealership address more
prominent on your website.
When you have a functioning data layer you'll be able
to gain these insights and
act on them, and in some
cases, you can even have
your system react to the
data accordingly in real-time.

CONNECTED DATA
MEANS PERSONALIZED
EXPERIENCES

Most importantly, connecting your customer profiles
means you can personalize
with greater success: when
you have the data you need
about what your customers
are doing, you can guide
them to their next step. For

example, most websites
are able to personalize to
the degree that a shopper
spending a lot of time on
one of your VDPs is shown
a special offer on that vehicle. But with truly connected
systems, you can go much
further. For example, if this
shopper does convert on
this special offer, you can
offer them an opportunity
to book a test drive right
away. Prompting a customer
to engage a second time,
when it's a step that actually
makes sense for where
they are in their process
is not intrusive- it's helpful
and time-saving. Another
example: when your data
and systems are actually
connected, a shopper who
has visited your showroom
can be shown the correct
retargeting ads and nurture
emails after they go home.
Someone who made a
purchase and visits your
website should be provided
a different experience than
other shoppers- there's
no reason to show an offer
on a new vehicle, which
unfortunately happens when
profiles are disconnected.
Getting messaging right
across channels can be
the difference between a
customer who feels helped
and moves forward, and one
who feels bombarded with
irrelevant information and
heads to the competitor.
MAXIMIZING ROI DUE
TO CONNECTED DATA

Understanding the role of
every marketing effort, and
using that data to provide a
better customer experience,
lead to better ROI for a few
reasons. First of all, marD I G I TA L D E A L E R . C O M

keting spend is used with
better accuracy, distributed
strategically among campaigns that actually pay off.
Second, a better experience
for customers, one that
responds to and assists
them every step of the way,
encourages them to buy
with you, and stay with you.
70% of customers look for
companies with seamless,
connected processes. And
companies that actually
engage customers successfully across their many
touchpoints see an 89%
customer retention rate. In
today's automotive market,
when loyalty is such a struggle, this kind of personalized
connection with customers
powered by a data-based
unified customer profile can
make a huge difference.
Building a data-layer is the
next step to digital marketing
domination. A dealership
that invests in this process
can stay ahead of the
personalization curve, and
maximize its success.
Sources:
1
https://expandedramblings.com/index.
php/salesforce-statistics/
2
https://www.v12data.com/
blog/25-amazing-omnichannel-statistics-every-marketer-should-know/
3
https://oppmax.com/blog/digital-marketing-stats-every-auto-dealer-know/
4
https://www.salesforce.com/research/
customer-expectations/

AHARON HORWITZ is an
entrepreneur committed
to building and developing
marketing technology to
help the modern dealership
improve efficiency while
increasing sales. As CEO
of AutoLeadStar, Aharon
leads a team passionate
about connectivity, scalability,
and personalized customer
experience.

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37
https://expandedramblings.com/index.php/salesforce-statistics/ https://www.v12data.com/blog/25-amazing-omnichannel-statistics-every-marketer-should-know/ https://oppmax.com/blog/digital-marketing-stats-every-auto-dealer-know/ https://www.salesforce.com/research/customer-expectations/ http://www.DIGITALDEALER.COM
Digital Dealer - May 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Digital Dealer - May 2019
