Updated: November 21, 2016

68% of skin and body care influencers over a six-month period were men.*

This statistic from the Mobile Purchasers & Influencers Report by Google and Ipsos MediaCT is just one example of the gaps between demographics and consumer intent. Lisa Gevelber, Google’s VP of Marketing, references this and similar instances in “Why Consumer Intent Is More Powerful Than Demographics,” a December 2015 Think with Google report. In addition, Google’s own research found that marketers relying solely on demographic data “risk missing more than 70% of potential mobile shoppers.”

For many in the automotive industry:

This should be a wake-up call.

Demographic data has been the bread-and-butter of automotive marketing for years: income level, children, education, and more. Don’t get us wrong—all of this data still has a role in your marketing, and it’s why we partner with a number of authoritative third-party data providers.

But if you’re using demographic data as the sole basis for your marketing and advertising activities, you’re missing out on the opportunity to connect with customers during their exact moment of need—what Google calls “micro-moments.”

During these moments, consumers are looking to make a decision, whether it’s where to go for an oil change or where to purchase their next new vehicle. And by understanding consumer intent, you can increase the likelihood of your dealership meeting those customer’s needs when it matters most.

The data behind consumer intent

The challenge for dealers is in fostering the level of consumer engagement required to understand and predict consumer intent. After all, when your messaging is generic and only focused on your dealership’s goals, you’re missing the mark with customers who don’t have a current automotive need.

That’s why 3 Birds’ software and solutions incorporate informative, non-promotional content alongside our clients’ regular marketing to stoke your pipeline while stepping off the monthly hamster wheel.

And it’s this same content that we use to help you identify and predict consumer intent.

Your dealership's best customers engage 290 times more than others on average, according to 3 Birds data. Our engagement reports not only indicate who’s more likely to buy, but also what their interests are.

Are they engaging with the newest model reviews? Always checking out the latest family-focused content? By matching customer clicks to your CRM and DMS data, you can develop predictive models and targeted follow-up plans to win over customers that demographic data alone would miss.

Demographic data can play a role in your marketing strategy, but if you aren't considering consumer intent data then you could be missing a huge pocket of opportunity. The fully managed 3 Birds marketing and analytics platform helps you understand and predict intent so you can deliver an optimized message to each customer every time. Contact us to learn more. 

*Mobile Purchasers & Influencers Report. Google / Ipsos MediaCT, Ipsos Online Omnibus, August 2015, N=5025 Online smartphone users 18+, skin & body care influencers in past 6 months