Auto and Retail Industries of India have been relying on traditional print advertising for decades, but with the recent rapid increase in technology users, advertisers had to grow the level of digital advertising to meet the customer’s expectations.
“Digital in India is poised to grow 30% Year-over-Year through next year, while traditional media like print will continue to grow although at a much slower rate of 2% YoY. that will essentially put digital on par with a print by the end of 2019.” Groupm India, 2019
Digital Advertising has started playing an important role in the customers’ purchase journey. But this doesn’t mean that digital has completely occupied the place of traditional media, yet there is still a majority of offline buyers.
Role of Digital Advertising in the path of buyers
A recent study says that offline customers are more likely to make their research before making a purchase.
80% of car buyers use online videos as a research destination – second only to search at 89%” – Google
Videos play a significant role in helping buyers know about the choices available, choose what they want, and gain information about the product they are about to buy. In this way, Digital marketing has silently started playing its role being the research destination before offline dealerships.
As per a survey by Volkswagen,
“After shifting to digital, Volkswagen saw a 12% increase in overall inquires at a 54% lower investment than print.”
With improved technologies brands can now measure how much online Google Ads influence offline performance.
For instance; a leading brand, Volkswagen India, put down a test to know the effectiveness of Digital promotion on offline dealerships, to know the live performance Volkswagen India partnered with Nielsen to categorize and control markets in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
They also made use of many new formats including Bumper Ads for better visibility of their Ads on every device. They also created new offers and dealerships in cities and suburbs. Display Ads through Display & Video 360 were made and used to drive calls and walk-ins to all dealers of Tamil Nadu.
The results put them into a shock with a 12% increase in overall inquiries at a 54% less investment when compared to prints.
“The numbers prove that digital has the potential to drive sales at a hyper-local level,” said Steffen Knapp, director at Volkswagen Passenger Cars. “While print continues to be an important tool for a mass marketing strategy, we believe our customers are technologically advanced and well-informed about their purchases. Over the next few years, Volkswagen will see a transformation in its sales process driven by progressive digitalization and connectivity within its universe.” – Google
The Omni-channel Approaches in the Digital Retail Journey
As digital has started playing a major role in the user’s purchase journey, the retail industry has aimed to reach consumers who browse and buy across channels.
“We’ve seen a 50% increase in searches for “stores near me,” signaling that online searches for stores have become an integral part of the modern shopping experience.” – Google
HomeCentre wanted to increase walk-ins with an improved ROAS, so they moved the spent to digital. The company ran several campaigns through search Ads and several bumper Ads on YouTube as well. They also used remarketing strategy in Display Network.
As a result, the company saw a 19% increase in offline sales and a 20% increase in online sales with the same amount spent on prints. This encouraged HomeCentre to set up campaigns across India, resulting in 5X increased digital spending.
Key points to look into before implementing Digital Strategy
Like we already discussed digital marketing has been playing a good role in promoting products and services digitally worldwide. But ensure that you follow these before implementing a digital strategy;
Know your Audience
Customers are looking for valuable information, so it is your due responsibility to provide valid and helpful information that guides customers throughout the purchase journey.
Make it Simple
Planning is more important when you transition your Ads from traditional print to digital. The Plan should be based on how to make the audience spend time on digital platforms.
Test and Compute
As you are advertising digitally, it is easy to measure which works and which doesn’t. So it is important that you constantly test, monitor and optimize your campaigns accordingly.
When you make use of these key points before digitalizing, you can understand and become the biggest competitive differentiator for brands and marketers.
Reference
- https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/intl/en-apac/country/india/how-digital-changing-game-indias-auto-and-retail-industries/
- https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/intl/en-apac/ad-channel/search/year-search-report-india/
- https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/7159363?hl=en
- https://marketingplatform.google.com/about/display-video-360/
- https://support.google.com/dcm/answer/6022164?hl=en
- https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/2497941?hl=en
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XZAECM61R0
