In 2021, the automotive industry is going through a massive transformation. While many established brands are struggling to adapt to changing consumer demands and an uncertain economic environment, new entrants are boldly stepping in to fill the void.

The impact of COVID-19 has severely tested the industry’s ability to meet the ever-evolving needs of customers. Gas stations and garages have closed down, making it difficult for car owners to do their regular fill-ups. Demand for alternative fuel vehicles has exponentially increased, and many car manufacturers have rushed to fulfill the demand.

With new brands entering the market and old ones reassessing their strategy, the demand for traffic online has soared.

Why Are Online Marketers Turning to Digital Marketing in Droves?

When it comes to marketing, new approaches and modes of thinking are emerging to stay ahead of the competition and connect with customers where they are- even if that means virtual reality, text messaging or an app.

Traditional, old-school marketing methods such as billboard ads, radio spots and TV commercials are still relevant, but they’re just not cutting it anymore. With customers increasingly demanding convenience, brands need to evolve with them and develop new ways to reach people.

That’s why when the pandemic hit, and customers had to stay home and be quarantined, digital marketing became all the more relevant.

What is Digital Marketing?

Put yourself in your customer’s shoes for a second- if you’re reading this, you’re almost certainly someone who owns a business or a brand, and you want to grow your business as much as possible.

With customers remaining indoors, digital marketing became all the more critical for businesses to promote their products and services and gain market share.

So what exactly is digital marketing? Simply put, it’s the use of digital technologies (mostly online) to promote your product or service.

What are the essentials of a digital marketing strategy?

Like any good business plan, a solid digital marketing strategy should include a mission statement: identifying the targeted audience, the products they value and need, the research that goes into selecting these products, and the type of content (for example, web pages, emails, etc.) that will be used to reach this audience.

In addition to a mission statement, your digital marketing strategy should have a clear set of goals and an action plan to achieve these goals. If you’re reading this, I assume you’re already working on this aspect of your business, so it’s time to bring it all together and make it work for you.

What are the advantages of a digital marketing strategy?

If you think about it, there are a lot of advantages to developing a digital marketing strategy. First, it provides the advantage of being able to test out different marketing messages and find the one that works best for your product or service.

In addition to being able to test out different messages, you can use analytics to determine the effects of your marketing campaigns, and determine which methods of marketing are delivering the best results. 

How can a digital marketing strategy be useful to car manufacturers?

Being able to assess the effectiveness of different marketing campaigns is critical for any business, but especially for car manufacturers. Historically, they’ve had to rely on word of mouth to generate interest in new cars, and display ads to generate sales. During the pandemic, these methods were effectively shut down, so car manufacturers had to find alternative ways to market their products.

Digital marketing provides a whole other level of assessment – you can track the success of different campaigns quite easily, and identify the effect of different mediums (such as SEO vs. paid ads). This type of information is invaluable to a car manufacturer who wants to know where to focus their limited resources- and how to allocate them effectively.

In conclusion, the automotive industry is undergoing major changes. The ways we buy and interact with cars is shifting, and traditional methods of marketing are no longer effective.

What’s important now is adapting to these changes and utilizing the new digital marketing tools available to reach new audiences and gain more customers.