Consumer Purchase Intent During an Uncharted Holiday Season

Strategies to Maximize Sales and Capture Rebounding Consumer Confidence

This session, a partnership between C-4 Analytics (Caroline Allie, Head of Media Strategy) and Google (Mehr Grewal, Agency Development Manager), discusses key strategies for capitalizing on consumer purchase intent during Q4. Despite 2020 being an unprecedented and challenging year, the data shows that decisions made today will set you up for success in the coming months, particularly during the pivotal holiday sales period.

Automotive Sales Trends: History and Forecast

While the automotive industry was the second most impacted, a strong recovery is underway. Historically, looking back at the 2009 recession, Q4 was the first quarter to show a positive impact, and similar robust sales are expected this year.

• Pivotal Q4 Forecast: December is expected to be the number one selling month of the year, with the last week of December historically being the number one selling week.

• Buying Timeline Holds: Even with the crisis, a majority (59%) of surveyed in-market shoppers say their timeline for purchasing a car has not changed since August 2020.

• 71% Are Searching Now: A significant majority of people in market to purchase a vehicle by year-end are actively searching now, highlighting the urgency to engage.

The New Customer Journey: Digital Touchpoints

The pandemic has accelerated the importance of digital touchpoints, shifting the most critical moments of the customer journey online.

Key Digital Channels: Search on Google, brand websites, and online videos (YouTube) remain the top three points of engagement for auto purchasers.

Winning Strategies for Q4

Success in Q4 requires an aggressive, multi-channel approach that combines intent-based search with powerful visual awareness campaigns.

1. Combine Search and Awareness Plays

• Bread and Butter Search: Maintaining full budget for search campaigns is the most important step, as it captures intent-based searches.

• Video for Purchase Influence: Consumers are increasingly viewing online digital video, which is significantly influencing their purchase intent year over year.

• Hyper-Targeted Video: C-4 Analytics offers a cost-efficient video solution (upwards of 40% less than broadcast in some markets) that layers in-market audience data for a hyper-targeted, one-to-one conversation with auto intenders.

2. Leverage Google's Visual Tools

• Discovery Campaigns: This is Google’s solution for reaching social media-style audiences. It allows you to reach up to 3 billion customers across Google feeds (Discover, YouTube home feed, and Gmail ads) with a highly visual, personalized ad experience.

• Video Builder Solution: C-4 has developed a solution to efficiently produce incentive-based videos (new, used, service) that are updated monthly to match specials. These disruptive videos can be used across paid, owned, and earned channels to capture early researchers.

3. Focus on Incentives and Payments

Consumers are ready to upgrade vehicles and are looking for a good deal. You must surround the consumer with compelling incentives.

• Hammer Home Incentives: Focus on hammering home incentives, payments, and special OEM offers (paid, owned, and earned).

• Audience-First Narrative: Use audience targeting to be so tactical and pinpointed with the exact type of customer you want (e.g., in-market for luxury, or custom affinity audiences).

Watch the Full Webinar

For a deeper dive into these topics and to hear directly from Caroline Allie, Head of Media Strategy at C-4 Analytics, and Mehr Grewal, Agency Development Manager at Google, watch the full webinar below.