Demographic and Geographic Targeting

These approaches target consumers based on age, gender, income, and location to tailor advertising efforts. For example, if you’re a car dealer near a college in a city and want to launch an online advertising campaign, this targeted approach becomes particularly relevant. By honing in on specific criteria, like male and female adult students aged 18-24 within a 10-mile radius of your dealership, you can tailor your advertising to reach the audience most likely to engage with your offerings.

Behavioral Targeting and Psychographic Targeting

Behavioral targeting is a marketing technique that uses data collection and analysis to understand consumers’ online behavior. By tracking activities like website visits, clicks, and time spent on specific pages, advertisers can create personalized ad experiences. These tailored ads are designed to resonate with users based on their interests and past behavior, making them more likely to engage with the content and increase conversion. Car dealerships can use it by installing tracking pixels on their websites to monitor visitor actions, such as which car models are viewed or how long someone stays on a used car page. This data is then used to segment the audience into different categories, like “interested in sedans” or “looking for SUVs.” Dealers can then serve retargeted ads featuring relevant cars to these segmented groups on social media platforms or search engines to encourage them to revisit the website and purchase.

Car dealerships can also consider Psychographic Targeting, which targets consumers based on lifestyles, social class, or personality characteristics. To do so, a car dealership must first gather customer attitudes and lifestyle data. This could be done through customer surveys distributed via social media or through more in-depth conversations during test drives or showroom visits. Questions might focus on the importance of fuel efficiency, luxury, or technology features to the potential buyer.

Once the dealership has a solid understanding of different customer psychographics, it can create specific marketing campaigns to appeal to these groups.

Contextual Targeting

Contextual targeting can be particularly effective for selling cars. Dealerships can place car inventory ads on websites specializing in automotive reviews, car comparisons, and maintenance advice. This aligns the ad content with what the reader is already interested in, thereby increasing the likelihood of engagement.

In traditional media, a dealership could advertise in local newspapers under sections dedicated to automotive sales or lifestyle sections where people might be looking for budget-friendly options. Using contextual targeting ensures the dealerships that their cars are advertised to a highly relevant audience, regardless of the platform.

Event-triggered and Seasonal Marketing

Event-triggered marketing involves sending targeted communications or offers based on specific customer actions or life events. For example, car dealerships can employ lead capture forms and interactive questionnaires on their website or in-person during test drive visits to gather information like customers’ birthdays. With this data, dealers can send personalized advertisements or special offers to these customers on or around their birthdays. This adds a personal touch to marketing efforts and increases the likelihood of customer engagement and sales.

Also, adding a seasonal marketing strategy can complement this approach effectively. Seasonal marketing capitalizes on various times of the year when the season might influence consumer behavior. For instance, a car dealership could have a “Summer Road Trip” promotion, offering special deals on used SUVs or minivans equipped with all the amenities for long journeys. During winter, they might also push for sales of cars with all-wheel drive or winter safety features like winter tires.

By combining event-triggered marketing with seasonal promotions, dealerships can offer highly targeted, timely incentives that resonate with customers at different stages of their lives or during specific times of the year, thereby maximizing the opportunities for selling cars.

Conclusion

Employing targeting approaches such as demographic, geographic, behavioral, psychographic, event-triggered, and seasonal, dealerships can craft more precise and relevant advertising campaigns. Not only does this increase customer engagement, but it also elevates the likelihood of conversion, thereby boosting revenue.

About the Author

Sean Toussi is the CEO and co-founder of Glo3D.com, a leading digital marketing and AI technology provider for the automotive industry. With extensive experience in emerging technologies, automotive retail, and digital transformation, Sean is widely recognized for his expertise in dealership innovation and retail modernization. His insights have been featured in outlets such as Forbes, Digital Dealer Magazine, and UCD Magazine.

Sean is a frequent speaker at major automotive industry events, including NADA, NIADA, and NIAA, where he shares practical strategies on AI adoption, customer experience, and the future of car dealerships. Passionate about advancing the automotive ecosystem, he helps dealerships and industry leaders leverage technology to increase efficiency, improve customer engagement, and drive sustainable growth.