90% of shoppers depend on online research throughout their car-buying journey.
In this guide, we’ll share why influence marketing is essential for success in the digital-first era. We’ll also get into some trends shaping the automotive industry that’ll impact your influencer campaigns and some insider tips for successful collaborations. Let’s get started!
The great news is that there’s still plenty of room for your brand to get in on the action. The influencer marketing industry is growing year on year, and customers have never been more online, with 53.6% of the world using social media for 2 hours and 25 mins each day.
Let’s explore some reasons why working with a global influencer agency is no longer a nice-to-have but essential for success:
From picking models to putting a deposit down, buyers expect to be well informed and come card in hand. In fact, 87% of buyers use online platforms for product discovery. So, they want online capabilities to aid their car shopping. This desire goes hand-in-hand with influencer marketing, as brands can work with content creators to provide online education to drive trust and conversions.
With competition for shoppers’ attention online being fiercer than ever, it’s vital your brand has a way to stay top of mind with customers. That’s where influencer marketing comes in. It can help you share your brand’s mission, message, and products continually in fresh and authentic ways. In turn, you’ll spark interest among your target audience and push them further along your customer journey.
Influencers determine trends from car styles to engine specs. So, working with content creators could make your models the next best thing. Take the effect influencers and celebrities have had on SUVs. They’re now one of the most coveted styles on the market, thanks to influencers making them fashionable.
The familiarity between influencers and their fans means your brand can piggyback off an influencer’s stellar reputation when you work with them. You can also gain shoppers’ confidence and increase your brand’s standing in their eyes. Plus, as shoppers listen to influencers, you’ll be able to convert more leads and build long-lasting connections with your audience
Sustainability is making headway in many industries, and the automotive world is no different. From battery-powered to biodiesel-fuelled, brands are racing to fulfill consumer and governmental needs for alternatively fuelled vehicles. In fact, there could be as many as 230 million electric vehicles worldwide by 2030. Automotive brands must consider eco-friendly designs when producing collections to stay relevant and in touch with consumer wants and needs.
As consumers’ lives become more tech-driven, automotive brands try to keep up by helping drivers stay connected on the road. As a result, internet-enabled cars with dedicated apps and security features, and recording technology have become mainstays in cars. And, this trend is set to continue as consumers increase their digital use.
Designed to bring ease to consumers’ lives, driverless cars, a.k.a, autonomous vehicles, are gaining ground. While still in the testing phase, AI-driven cars could make up 40% of car sales by 2030. Since it’s such a new market, there will be plenty of untapped opportunities for brands who get in early and make their mark.
Shared transport like ride-sharing platforms and peer-to-peer car renting has gained popularity recently and could generate $1.5 trillion in additional cash by 2030. Shared transport will not only drive more efficient vehicle usage (which feeds into the sustainability movement). The shared transportation industry will also decrease shoppers’ costs and provide companies and people with alternative income sources.
In line with the sharing economy, shoppers are also looking for more bang for their buck in their car choices. Shoppers expect more bells and whistles like accessories added to their vehicle for free or discounted rates. More consumers are shopping around for deals before committing, which could spur more car brands to produce more affordable cars and offer competitive pricing.
With digital transformation taking hold in the automotive industry, shoppers have started to blend offline and online shopping. Consumers expect a seamless customer experience no matter where they go, whether they come to your brands through online marketplaces or physical showrooms. So, it’s crucial your brand is armed with the data, solutions, and marketing to make shopping frictionless to capitalize on potential sales wherever they land.
Cars are a significant investment for consumers. So, before shoppers sign on the dotted line, you can bet they’ve done their research and some. Allowing consumers to learn about and experience your brand through video is so powerful it can alter or solidify their impression of it. This fact is why one-third of car buyers said YouTube helped change or reinforce their perception of brands.
Also, 65% of shoppers cut down their car shortlist by watching a video, and four times more people prefer watching a video on a product than reading about it. So why not intercept buyers’ research stage by combining the power of video with social media influencer marketing like Facebook influencer marketing to help shoppers make an informed decision. Soon your brand can become a respected authority, and you can capitalize on consumers’ trust.
There’s no need to be shy when it comes to making your brand presence known on social media. 59% of buyers on Instagram say seeing vehicle adverts generated from an Instagram influencer agency is important to them.
Use influencer campaigns to assist buyers’ car hunts, covering each touchpoint in your buyer’s journey from introduction to post-sale care. Why? 87% of shoppers want to engage with businesses, and 63% of car buyers have shared vehicle-related content with their network.
When you consistently show up and add value to car buyers’ lives, your business will have a lasting impact. This approach could be the catalyst for them going from strangers to loyal customers.
Here are some ways you could use influencer campaigns at each buyers’ journey stage:
Be sure to segment your audiences to catch prospects’ attention in different niches to increase your campaigns’ resonance and conversion. For instance, if you sell a 4×4 with rails, you could target hikers, surfers, lovers, and camping enthusiasts.
Also, use social listening, feedback from customer reviews, comments, and polls to sharpen your social media campaigns or ensure they always resonate with the right audience.
Activated automobile enthusiasts and fintech influencers on TikTok and Instagram to create exciting content that drove them to Motoclub’s 3 NFT drops.
Influencers test drove the Honda Talon and captured content to share their experience driving the Talon with their audience across YouTube and Instagram. The content encouraged followers to get out side-by-side with friends and family to have real-life experiences, primarily to ride the Honda Talon.
Through #PartnersOfProgress, Nissan partnered with diverse LGBTQ+ influencers throughout the year to create content that told authentic stories of how tech helped propel them forward to educate and advocate.
Starring Billy Porter as the North Star Anchor influencer, five additional evergreen LGBTQ+ influencers, including Natalie Mercedes Negrotti, Jess Guilbeaux, Jaimie Wilson, Johnny Sibilly, and Tommy Lei, signed on for our #PartnersofProgress campaign.
Don’t feel like you have to go it alone. You can get expert help from an influencer marketing agency like Open Influence to craft campaigns that get results consistently. So don’t delay. Start researching how your brand can profit off influencer collaborations today. Soon your brand will have money-making influencer content to call its own.
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