AUTOMOTIVE REPORT 2015 ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX
Table of contents 03 Key insights 04 Automotive digital ad spending is seasonal and increases into the end of the year 05 Product and search ad 06 Display ad 07 Automotive site share of traffic acquisition channels by site type 08 Visitor growth by site type 09 Visitor traffic seasonality by site type 10 Visit frequency by site type 11 Auto manufacturer site 12 Visitor traffic seasonality by site type 13 Mobile share 14 Completion rates 15 Top five most buzzed about new models 16 Share of top five most buzzed about new models 17 German manufacturer are ruling the social roost when it comes to followers 18 Make and models 2015 and 2016 19 Methodology 2
Key insights Report covers digital interaction topics specific to Auto Manufacturer sites, Auto Dealer sites, and Auto Parts sites: Marketers in the automotive industry should consider investing more in display ads: Car manufacturers are finding success in display ads - 16% of overall site traffic is coming from them. In general, automotive ad spend increased 25% over the course of 2014. Even with display ad CTR s increasing 154% over '14, CPC s have decreased by 14%. Mobile is becoming increasingly relevant for the industry: Prospective car buyers are using smartphones more than ever before to custom build their dream car. Smartphone use of the popular Build & Price tool has increased 100% YoY with almost half of all car configurator app launches following through to completion. Chevy leads most buzzed models on social media: Representing 2 of the top 5 buzzed models, Chevy leads with its Camaro and Malibu models capturing 22% and 5% of social media buzz share, respectively. Other top models are the Toyota Tacoma, Audi TT, and Nissan Maxima. German car manufacturers have the largest social following: Followed by the Japanese and Americans, German car manufacturers own a much larger social following than any other country with over 80 million followers across Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Youtube. 3
Automotive digital ad spending is seasonal and increases into the end of the year Automotive ad spend is a seasonal event that ramps up at the back half of the year. Spring Cleaning drives auto parts retailers to increase their ad spending during the spring months. Automotive ad spend increased 25% from Jan 2014 through Dec 2014. 4
AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY AD CTR AND CPC Product and search ad Automotive marketers need to know when different ads are the most effective. Product ads became very effective during the last two months of 2014. Search and Display ad CTR s increased in a fairly linear fashion over the course of 2014. 5
AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY AD CTR AND CPC Display ad To remain competitive, marketers need to be aware of when they are getting the highest optimization from their advertising efforts and which ad formats to cycle in and out of. Auto advertising Display ad CTR s were up 154% throughout 2014, while CPC s were down 14%. 6
Automotive site share of traffic acquisition channels by site type A major driver of visitors to automotive sites is search derived traffic followed by direct traffic. Auto manufacturer sites are heavily reliant on display traffic compared to other auto site types with share of display traffic on those sites 2x higher than dealer sites and 6x higher than auto parts sites. Auto parts sites are the most reliant on search derived traffic to come to their sites. Auto parts sites also rely on email as a generator of traffic more than other site types, while dealer site have the highest dependency on social channels to refer traffic. 7
INCREASED AD SPEND Visitor growth by site type Dealer and manufacturer site traffic has grown over the last 2.5 years, interestingly traffic to these sites has correlated seasonality. Dealer and manufacturer site traffic takes a dip in Q2, but grows throughout the year. 8
INCREASED AD SPEND Visitor traffic seasonality by site type Auto parts site traffic peaks in Q2 and declines throughout the year after that point. 9
Visit frequency by site type Visit frequency generally rises throughout the year for manufacturer, dealership, and parts sites with Q4 having the highest visit frequency for all three site types. 10
VISITOR ENGAGEMENT BY SITE TYPE Auto manufacturer site Although automotive sites have been growing the number of visitors over the last 2.5 years, visitor engagement to manufacturer and auto parts sites has been declining during that same time. Auto manufacturer sites and auto parts sites have seen a decline in engagement consistently over the last 2.5 years. Manufacturer sites engagement: -10% average change from Q1 2013 through Q2 2015. 11
VISITOR ENGAGEMENT BY SITE TYPE Auto parts and dealer sites Auto dealer sites engagement rates have fluctuated over the last 2.5 years. Auto parts sites engagement: -19% average change from Q1 2013 through Q2 2015. Auto dealer sites engagement: 5% average change from `Q1 2013 through Q2 2015. 12
MANUFACTURER SITE BEHAVIOR (BUILD AND PRICE) Mobile share The build and price (B&P) feature is predominately a desktop centric behavior, but increased smartphone screen sizes are helping mobile become more relevant in this process. Share of smartphone B&P starts increased 100% YoY. 13
MANUFACTURER SITE BEHAVIOR (BUILD AND PRICE) Completion rates Using the build and price tool on manufacturer sites helps automotive marketers increase brand loyalty and drive more unit sales. Marketers should focus on creating a mobile solution that is optimized to the specific device to increase the number of touch points consumers can use to interact with their brand. Average completion rate of B&P feature was 48%. 14
TOP 5 SOCIAL BUZZING MODELS Top five most buzzed about new models Out of the top 5 most mentioned vehicles Camaro takes a commanding lead with just over 70K, averaging nearly 3x s more mentions than the second place Toyota Tacoma. 15
TOP 5 SOCIAL BUZZING MODELS Share of top five most buzzed about new models Out of the 42 vehicles that we are tracking in Adobe Social, the Camaro takes home 22% of the Buzz. 16
German manufacturer are ruling the social roost when it comes to followers Looking across the social landscape, Mercedes has the largest Social Following, while Kia and Scion scape the bottom of the barrel. 17
Make and models 2015 and 2016 When looking at mentions by the class of the vehicle, Sports cars maintain their place as those that want to be seen, and heard on Social Media. Van owners, well they don t really want the world to know what they are driving, nor do that want anyone to know that they are considering driving one. 18
ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX Methodology This report is based on consumer website interactions from 2013, 2014, and 2015. It consists of the aggregated and anonymous data from sites gathered from Adobe Analytics, Adobe Media Optimizer, and Adobe Social. Sample information includes: 22.8 billion total site visits 36.4 billion ad impressions 500 thousand social mentions Visit our website: adobe.ly/digitalindex Read our blog: adobe.ly/digitalindex Follow us: @adobeindex Ask a question or make a suggestion: digindex@adobe.com 19