Attribution in Automotive: Q&A with PureCars

The automotive industry is going through a period of change. Where people used to research and purchase in the dealership, now the research is taking place on smartphones. In this Q&A, Sam Mylrea (pictured below), CEO, PureCars, explains how this transition is affecting the state of attribution in the industry.

RetailTechNews: Can you explain what PureCars does?

Sam Mylrea: PureCars is the most advanced automotive ad tech platform on the market that utilises the dealer's merchandising data, market supply/demand, and audience data to drive high probably buyers from online to the dealer’s showroom. Two years ago, dealers just began to understand that customers were researching online before stepping foot into the dealership; today, it’s common practice. With this information, PureCars uses their extensive data to help marketers go beyond the last click to determine which touchpoints along the buyer journey need the most attention.

How does the state of attribution in the automotive industry compare to attribution in other sectors?

Attribution is an important part of any marketers’ wheelhouse, no matter what industry you are in, but at the end of the day, we want (and need) to help dealers sell more cars. Attribution helps dealers decide where they should be putting most of their ad spend in order to make that happen. Every day that a car sits on a dealer’s lot is costing them up to hundreds in interest. This just adds a sense of urgency to the importance of attribution in the automotive industry, compared to others.

The automotive industry also has the luxury of harbouring tremendous amounts of data. Buying a car is the second-largest purchase consumers make, after buying a home, leaving a detailed trail of data and behavioural information that we want to empower our dealers with. From how they merchandise, price, stock, market and, ultimately, sell their inventory – we have data that can improve each key component of the buyer journey.

What can auto brands and dealerships be doing to improve their attribution models?

Attribution is essential to maintaining any marketer's budget. But, at the end of the day, attribution is just another data set; and if dealers aren’t making that data actionable, they are way behind their competitors. Marketers need to think beyond basic attribution and find an easy, actionable, and insightful way to make use of all that data. They should be focusing on which advertising channel, touchpoint, or ad is performing best using the appropriate technology. It’s about going beyond the last click to determine which touchpoints along the buyer journey need the most attention; but they can’t do it by looking at data sets alone.

With the vast majority of cars bought at the dealership, how can other points along the path to purchase show their value?

Omnichannel marketing is key when deciding which touchpoints along the path to purchase dealers should focus on. The path to purchasing a vehicle for the average consumer is about 60 days and involves 24 different touchpoints, 19 of which are digital. This gives each car buyer ample time to leave breadcrumbs of helpful information through their research and decision-making. Along the way, PureCars knows it’s essential to deliver the right message, on the right device, and on the right media channel.

How do attribution and analytics affect revenue models?

PureCars houses one of the largest automotive data sets in the industry. This allows PureCars to create the best ad unit based on the customer’s inventory, leading to better consumer targeting and increased ROI.  

At the end of day, the goal of our technology is to help dealers increase revenue across their variable and fixed operations by serving the right ad, on the right channel, to the most ideal audience, on their path to purchase.  This content was originally published in RetailTechNews.