The Auto industry and online advertising

Over the years, the auto industry has dramatically shifted ad budgets from print and TV advertising to online advertising. Online ad spending within the auto industry which was US $ 1.4 Billion in 2005 rose to $ 2.7 billion in 2007.

I remember having read somewhere that the auto buying process begins and often ends on the internet. General Motors which has an annual ad budget of US $ 3 billion spends 50% + on online advertising.

Online auto advertising isn’t only about banner advertising – it encompasses gaming, search, mobile and a broad array of interactive applications.

Much like property advertising, the prospective buyer will look for cars in dealerships which are local to him. Hence a search string like ‘ used cars in Reading’ would be a keyword worth purchasing for Car dealerships in Reading.

Some buyers are, however willing to go that extra mile to get a good deal on a really good car. Hence a search string like ‘Cheap used Nissan cars’ will throw up a wide array of results and hence will be as sought after keyword.

A number of websites offer free online advertising to potential sellers. Benefits of such free online advertising are –

That it’s free J - This really is the case; the advertiser really doesn’t pay anything to advertise

Search – The prospective buyer can search for the car he/she is interested in by entering the relevant details like make model etc

Space – Such advertising usually allows fairly large amount of space to advertise. This is obviously in contrast with print/TV advertising where both space and time are limited

Provide additional information – By logging into your account you could manage your account effectively by providing website links and any other relevant details

www – Given the high accessibility of the internet, a car dealer can get customers from far flung areas

Apart from buying/selling cars, car valuation services are also available online. Enter the search string ‘ what is the value of my car’ in Google and you’ll get a whole host of car valuation websites.

Much like the property market, the only reason one goes to the dealership is to test drive the car. The internet provides complete information in every respect. The prospective buyer can, therefore, spend a few days on web research before visiting a few dealerships to view, test drive and select a car!