After a brief break, the Industry Spotlight series has returned, and we're pleased to feature new automotive research as its first topic of 2010.
As the US Hispanic population continues to grow, it's important to understand how to reach Hispanic consumers online. From an industry perspective, we were curious to see how this consumer group used the online channel to shop for a new vehicle. To find out, we partnered with Compete, Inc. to develop the Hispanic Auto Buy Flow Study.
Compete looked at vehicle registration data for new-vehicle purchases between 2008-2009 and matched this information to clickstream data, providing insight into engagement and internet visitation patterns prior to a vehicle purchase. Additionally, Compete surveyed panelists to understand the reasoning behind the Internet visitation patterns of Hispanic automotive consumers. Here's what we found:
1. Most visit auto sites: 92% of Hispanic new-vehicle buyers visited an automaker site or a 3rd Party site (such as Edmunds.com or Cars.com) prior to their vehicle purchase, compared to 84% of the general Internet population, representing a major opportunity for automakers, 3rd Party sites, and Dealers.
2. They're more engaged: A greater proportion of Hispanic purchasers used key purchase indicators such as Build Your Own, Offers, and Locate a Dealer, than the General Internet Population. Utilize keyword specific URLs in your search campaigns to guide these consumers directly where they're looking to go.
3. Paid Search is important: One-third of all Hispanic traffic to automaker sites and 3rd Party sites comes from Paid Search.
4. They're using Search for a variety of reasons: Hispanic auto consumers are heading to a search engine with a purpose. Create campaigns around each of the purposes outlined here:
In addition to search insights, we learned how the Hispanic population is using sources such as online video. We found that two-thirds of online Hispanic auto shoppers are watching online videos. When it comes to automotive video content, they're looking to actually see the vehicles they're interested in and to get a feel for how the vehicle drives. This is a great opportunity for dealers to showcase the vehicles they have on their lots through a video vehicle walk-around.
With this information on online visitation patters of Hispanic vehicle buyers, we hope you'll be able to reach these consumers with more targeted messages via your online campaigns.
