Leads: We Drive Leads Here
App Install: the New Lead Form
“Leads are the lifeblood of the auto business” said ProMax COO Shane Born. This is an opinion shared by many dealers. For the longest time, these leads were a mix of dealer website, OEM, and 3rd party leads. As the customer’s communication preferences have moved to the smartphone, leads are changing their form as well. With the meteoric rise in popularity of mobile apps, new marketers consider the app install “the start of a valuable relationship.” This is a new subset/kind of lead, it is the app lead, or app install. Contact with the lead doesn’t happen via traditional channels, instead using mobile app communication channels such as push notifications, live chat, location targeting, and beacons.
App Installs are Low-funnel Leads
Similar to a dealer website lead, this app lead is owned by the dealership. Dealer apps are most commonly downloaded after a search has been narrowed to 2-3 dealers and the shopper is ready to take action with the dealership. App installs tend to be low-funnel leads – shoppers who are further down the purchase funnel and ready to make decision. In many industries, app installs are viewed as holding substantially higher value than traditional 3rd party and OEM leads.
Mobile: Preferred Communication Method
Changing customer preference is a possible reason for the adoption and success of performing dealer apps. According to AutoTrader’s Car Buyer of the Future study, 56% of car shoppers said they’d prefer to start the buying process online and 45% liked the idea of being anonymous to the dealer until they have a good deal locked in. This makes a mobile dealer app a possible solution for almost half of shoppers who would like to receive updates and incentives via Push Notifications and Location Targeting, but won’t give their contact information to dealers, becoming a website lead. If a dealer’s website traffic becomes website leads, leads captured from retargeting advertising, and a sea of unknown shoppers, giving them the option to become an app lead may be a way to capture leads and market to shoppers that would otherwise remain anonymous and unreachable.
Apps and Micro-moments
In addition to remaining anonymous if the shopper chooses, some say apps are better suited for the time frames in which people conduct research on smartphones. Matt Larson, explained, “Take the oft-quoted stat that most people check their phones 150 times a day. Pair it with another that says users spend 177 minutes on their phones per day, and you get a pretty fascinating reality: mobile sessions that average a mere one minute and 10 seconds long, dozens and dozens of times per day.” He continued, “We call these micro-moments. They’re the moments when you turn to a device—often your smartphone—to take action on whatever you need or want right now.”