The road to a zero-friction future

Out of all the purchases we make in a lifetime, a car is among those most closely linked with our memories and our identities. We all have a vehicle that feels special to us — a car we associate with a time in our lives, past or present. Even years after selling or trading in our car, seeing the same make and model on the road transports us to a specific time and place — like when we graduated from college, moved across the country, got married, or had a baby. These memories are tied to particular vehicles not only due to time spent in them, but because they sparked our desire for those cars in the first place. In fact, studies have shown that life transitions are powerful signals that auto shoppers are looking for a new car.

Can the experience of buying a vehicle be as delightful as the years driving it? Thanks to technology, auto customers are having seamless product experiences in other parts of their lives, making any friction they have with auto brands all the more unexpected and frustrating. 

Of course, buying a car isn’t the same as buying a pair of shoes online. Vehicle shoppers take longer to consider this more significant purchase, comparing brands, models, and dealerships. And while the online experience plays an important role in the auto buying process, the offline interactions between the customer and the dealer still play a critical role in the final purchase decision. Connecting these online and offline shopping experiences presents unique difficulties for our industry.  

However, these challenges to reducing friction in the auto buyer’s journey also present some of the most exciting opportunities to differentiate your brand or store. Our vision at Facebook is to build a Zero Friction Future in partnership with the auto marketing community. Our aim is to show what it looks like when we use technology to revolutionize how auto connects with its customers, unlocking radically more efficient marketing. 

In today’s auto shopping experience, people labor to find their cars. But in a Zero Friction Future, people won’t have to seek out your brand or car anymore — instead, the perfect brand or vehicle will find them. 

By the time they start shopping, 73% already have such a strong opinion formed about which car brand to buy that they consider just 1-2 brands ¹. These numbers tell us that people are not actually beginning their shopping process with an open mind. Instead, auto brands must find people further upstream, before they begin their shopping process and in more personal, relevant ways. 

Consider that 75% of auto shoppers surveyed purchase a car due to a change in circumstances, such as graduating from college, moving to a new city, or having a baby. This likelihood increases to 89% for younger shoppers aged 18-34 ².

During these pivotal moments, people turn to Facebook’s platforms to share or seek information as they make decisions, build memories, and connect with family, friends, and their local communities. You can reach customers where they’re already spending their time, connecting them with the perfect car for their next life stage. 

Auto shopping has been known to be stressful, but in a Zero Friction Future it will be seamless. Making a confident choice among makes, models, features, and price points can be challenging, especially with more information at their fingertips than ever before. We’ve seen that 91% of customers surveyed change their minds on at least one purchase factor when looking for a vehicle ³. We’re also seeing a rise in “fair pricing” sites, indicating that people want to feel more confident about their decisions.

Yet in a Zero Friction Future, shopping can become seamless if you provide answers in the moment people seek information — or better yet, anticipate their needs in advance. 

The possibilities here are limitless. For example, by creating an automated experience on Messenger, Acura was able to guide customers to choose the interior and exterior colors, features, and packages they wanted in a TLX car and then book a test drive, all through their mobile devices. Sparking this one-on-one connection reduced friction for both Acura and the customer, speeding up the process of advancing buyers down the purchase funnel. 

We’re experimenting with many other ways to reduce friction in the shopping process, evolving our entire suite of automotive tools so that you can precisely meet your customers’ needs at the right moments. For example, our automotive inventory ads automatically pull from your catalog to show customers ads with the makes, models, and years that match their preferences. We’re even getting to the point where an augmented reality (AR) car shopping experience isn’t a far-fetched idea. Retailers use AR to ‘try on’ sunglasses, clothes and make-up today. Imagine using AR to give a customer greater confidence that your full-size SUV will fit in their garage.

Traditionally, vehicle purchase marks the end of the marketing process. But in a Zero Friction Future, purchase is the beginning, as technology enables better ownership experiences to drive loyalty.

In fact, 81% of customers surveyed want personal engagement from their vehicle brand, and they want to experience it through their phones. ⁴

Traditional marketing channels such as direct mail can be effective, but customer relationship management (CRM) tools and targeted ads will help you maintain a connection with customers at moments convenient to them, on the platforms they’re using throughout the day.

For example, agency TurnKey Marketing used their dealers’ CRM systems and retargeting to bring vehicle owners approaching service milestones back into the dealership.  Using the offline conversions feature in Facebook’s Business Manager platform, they tracked the number of closed repair orders that happened as a result of people seeing Facebook ads.  Collectively these dealers closed more than 1,800 service orders and saw a 2-3 times return on ad spend.

With its rich history, the auto industry is no stranger to overcoming challenges through innovation. And by helping brands create meaningful connections with the right people at the right time, we can help you safeguard the most important asset you have in an evolving landscape — your relationship with each customer. As you navigate down this road, we invite you to turn to Facebook for insights and tools to help guide the journey. Success awaits the auto manufacturers and dealers that blaze the trail to a Zero Friction Future. 

Sources:

1. Auto Consumer Study by Accenture (Facebook-commissioned online study of 1,003 respondents ages 18+, USA, November 2018)
2. Auto Consumer Journey Study by Accenture (Facebook-commissioned online study of _ respondents ages 18+, in US, CA, UK, FR, DE, BR, ID, IN, and AU Nov 2018–Feb 2019
3. GfK 2017 Auto Path to Purchase (commissioned by Facebook), digital tracking of 110 US participants 18+ who purchased of new or pre-owned car in the prior six months. Study includes local dealerships.
4. Auto Consumer Study by Accenture (Facebook-commissioned online study of 1,003 respondents ages 18+, USA, November 2018)