This webinar, originally presented by C-4 Analytics on the Digital Dealer platform, marks a definitive shift in automotive media strategy. As C-4 V.P. Rob Stoesser and Head of Media, Caroline Allie discuss, the old line between "digital" and "traditional" is obsolete. It’s simply online and offline, and streaming media is the bridge that integrates them all.
The core message is that streaming media is not an add-on tactic; it's a vital, high-funnel channel where your audience already is. With 79% of U.S. households having at least one connected TV, and over a trillion songs streamed annually, dealers must fully embrace this medium to avoid losing valuable eyeballs to competitors.
To maximize your investment, your streaming strategy must abandon old buying habits and adopt the sophistication of digital:
Targeting is King: Unlike traditional TV or radio—which often rely on broad DMA buys—streaming allows for hyper-targeting. You should be targeting in-market buyers first, layering on demographic and geographic data, and then adding contextual programming if appropriate.
The Unconflicted Advantage: To be successful, you must work with an unconflicted partner. A vendor who is helping your rivals cannot strategically guide you to win market share, as it would mean taking sales from another one of their clients.
Cost Efficiency: Streaming media can be up to 40% less expensive than linear TV in some markets, providing a massive opportunity to gain market share at a lower cost before the industry fully rationalizes.
A successful strategy uses streaming media to nurture a customer through the entire buying journey, from high-funnel awareness to final conversion.
The Message Matrix: Streaming allows for incredible creative flexibility. You can "chapter" your message throughout a consumer's viewing or listening experience, telling a continuous brand story rather than delivering a single, isolated commercial.
Attribution & Retargeting: Streaming media enables cross-device targeting. For example, a customer who hears your audio ad on Spotify can be retargeted with a display ad on their mobile device or a direct conversion message on their desktop, creating a seamless and measurable path to purchase.
Video vs. Audio: Both channels offer huge scale. Streaming audio, on platforms like Spotify and Pandora, has seen massive growth and provides countless opportunities for cost-effective, targeted ads. Streaming video (OTT/CTV) offers the high impact of the big screen with the precision of digital data.
By integrating streaming media, you are making your marketing more relevant, more flexible, and more measurable, ensuring you are capturing and moving customers along their journey before your competition even knows they are in the market.
For a deeper dive into these topics and to hear directly from Rob Stoesser, Vice President of OEM, and Caroline Allie, AVP of Media Strategy, watch the full webinar below.