The automotive industry is on the rise! With an expanding middle class and a growing number of young working professionals, the demand for vehicles is expected to increase as well. This is an incredible opportunity for automotive brands not only to close a deal but also to forge lifetime brand loyalty. Traditionally, advertisers have relied on offline methods and conventional display ads. However, what if we told you that there was a different and potentially more effective way to reach lucrative Indian automotive markets? Discover native advertising, an important addition to your campaign strategy in India, and learn how you can use it to yield your desired outcomes.
Introduction to Native Advertising in the Automotive Sector
Native advertising is becoming increasingly important to players in the automotive sector. Even global brands like Toyota are now relying on native advertising to improve awareness and traffic; in fact, we supported them through this process. There are other online and offline modes of promoting offers and educating the audience. However, with native ads, you’re given an even bigger space to explore and discover how you can improve campaign outcomes.
What Are Native Ads?
Native ads are forms of advertising that deviate from traditional display ads. Traditional advertising separates itself from its host environment. With native ads, it does the opposite — blending in to stand out. Native advertising is a response to the waning effectiveness of traditional digital methods, giving you a way to effectively reach your target audience again. The automotive sector can benefit greatly from this. Since a vehicle is a high-consideration purchase, you need native ads to be able to cost-effectively gather and nurture leads.
The Importance of Native Ads in the Indian Automotive Market
Automobiles attract a highly diverse market, a large part of which is only becoming more digitally immersed. Using native advertising to reach the Indian market, you can:
- Improve understanding of the various offers: Regardless of a user’s knowledge about automotive vehicles, you need to communicate what each vehicle offers.
- Strengthen the brand through relevant messaging: Your native ad content in India helps sell while also creating real value for users, which improves brand perception.
- Get better returns on your ad budget: Native advertising is less prone to banner blindness, which increases the base of leads that you can convert.
Native ads aren’t just an alternative to traditional display ads. They’re an opportunity to accomplish more using the same resources.
Current Trends in Indian Automotive Advertising
Having a digitally savvy audience means that digital native advertising will be even more influential. We’re seeing a lot of cross-marketing using online and offline methods as well. While there will still be a need for physical showrooms, the top and middle of the funnel will take place primarily online. So, native advertising will have an important role in bringing interested audiences to the brand and in educating them about the various brand offers.
Benefits of Native Ads for the Automotive Industry
Using native advertising for the Indian market can benefit an automotive brand in the following ways.
- Boost brand awareness and product launches: Native ads can be used practically everywhere, providing you with multiple avenues to introduce the brand and any new offer.
- Drive higher engagement and lead generation: As it’s less prone to banner blindness, native advertising is more likely to engage users with its content and convert them into leads.
- Seamlessly integrate various automotive content: Native ads for Indian automotive audiences can be placed practically everywhere and still blend in. Platforms for reviews, videos and blogs are just some of the places that can host your ads.
Your native ad can be placed in most places where content is created. However, to enjoy these benefits, you need to have a good strategy.
How to Implement Native Ads for Automotive Success
No matter which industry you want to use native advertising in, the general process is consistent. You need to have a deep understanding of your audience to create compelling content and publish it on the most effective platforms. But how should you do it specifically for the automotive industry in India? That’s what we’ll tackle in the next subsections.
Understanding Your Audience
Anyone could be a potential customer. So, who are you targeting for this specific native ad campaign?
- First-time car buyers: They’re looking for something affordable and reliable. They may not know a lot about cars, so focusing on educational content may be beneficial.
- Luxury buyers: They want high-end models and are interested in the latest features that the industry offers.
- EV enthusiasts: They are looking for sustainable features like zero-emission and energy efficiency.
The more you know about your audience, the easier it will be for you to create relevant content later on.
Vehicle-Based Audience Segments
People have been driving cars for generations, and there are pre-established markets based on the kind of vehicle. So, it’s important to tailor ads based on automotive segments:
- SUVs may attract families and those who need a lot of storage;
- Sedans gather a lot of interest from small families and urban professionals who want practical solutions;
- Electric vehicles largely attract the environmentally conscious and tech enthusiasts;
- Two-wheelers tend to appeal a lot to budget-conscious markets that want to get around quickly.
Crafting Compelling Content
When creating native ad content for your campaign, always place yourself in the position of your target market. They’re overexposed to ads, so you need to stand out and keep their attention. Here are a few ways that you can do so.
- Engage in storytelling: Transform a vehicle’s specs into an experience through effective storytelling.
- Use testimonials: Those interested in buying a car will want to hear about the experience of others who already bought from the brand.
- Focus on media: Images and videos will have a lot of impact on whether a user will click on or engage with a native ad.
Consider collaborating with influencers as well. The right influencers can amplify your message and improve your credibility.
Choosing the Right Platforms
Selecting the platform for you is absolutely necessary. Even if you have a sizable budget, you can’t just launch your campaign everywhere! You need to focus on platforms that will have the most impact on your native automotive campaign, ensuring the best use of your funds. Selecting the right platform involves taking these factors into consideration:
- The funds available for the campaign;
- Suitability of ad formats to your desired content;
- Targeting options;
- Campaign objectives.
We suggest ranking the platforms you’re looking into based on these four factors. From there, go for the top options.
| Pros | Cons | |
|---|---|---|
| Automotive portals | Great for reaching people already looking for information about vehicles - Higher potential engagement rate | Not great for top-of-the-funnel - High competition among other automotive brands |
| Social media | Sophisticated audience targeting capabilities - Supports more engaging ad formats | Audience may not be ready to buy - Visibility is affected by algorithm changes |
| Publisher networks | Can use diverse ad content - Access to different audiences | Less control over ad placement - Visibility may be affected by ad blockers |
Case Study: MGID’s Success with Native Ads in the Automotive Sector
We’re proud to say that we have gained the trust of multiple clients in the automotive sector. With native advertising and our growing expertise in the area, we’ve helped them achieve their KPIs. One of these clients is a global automobile manufacturing company that produces cars, sports utility vehicles, trucks and buses. For this particular campaign, they wanted to focus on identifying the most suitable target market for their trucks and utility vehicles. There were four particular models that they wanted to promote.
Background
As one of the most recognised names in native advertising, MGID has already helped many businesses and advertisers reach and exceed their advertising goals. It is our mission to help our clients access new and better ways of reaching their target audience, boosting brand recognition and ultimately converting leads into paying clients. Our strategies have been modified to take into account existing data and industry standards and have worked well for automotive brands. In one of those campaigns, the target audience included business owners as well as decision-makers in logistics, transportation, manufacturing and agricultural companies.
Strategy and Implementation
Since the primary goal of this campaign was to identify which segments of the target audience would be interested in the various truck models, we began by first casting a wide net. There was a significant focus on tier 2 and 3 cities, where most businesses produce goods rather than provide services. We used separate copy and landing pages for each of the 4 promoted models. On the landing page, we provided more information about the specific model, plus an enquiry form for gathering leads. These were written both in English and Hinglish to reach the greatest number of people.
Results and Outcomes
Through the campaign, we helped identify interest for each of the four truck models. Most importantly, we gathered leads at an effective cost per action (CPA) of around 1,000 INR. The cost per click (CPC) was only 4.50 INR for desktop and 3 INR for mobile. This campaign is proof that while there are tested strategies in Indian native advertising, there can still be value in going against the grain. For example, trying to cover the entire Indian market might have been the wrong move for most campaigns. However, in this case, it created two important benefits: deepening the understanding of the target market and generating leads for the client’s trucks. Always go back to how you can make the best use of your resources to create the most value through the campaign.
Future of Native Advertising in the Indian Automotive Market
The digital world has changed vastly in the past few years. If technologies keep developing at this pace, we can expect virtual spaces to continue to evolve. And at every step of this evolution, we believe that native advertising will take a progressively bigger role. The level of flexibility that this mode of advertising provides will allow you to reach various segments of the market no matter where they are in the ever-expanding World Wide Web. Preparing for the future starts now. Your job is to use the right tools to achieve long-term benefits from your understanding of emerging trends.
Emerging Trends
From evolving purchasing behaviours and developing technologies, we expect to see these trends become permanent considerations in implementing native advertising for the Indian automotive industry.
- Omnichannel marketing: In India, native advertising will become an increasingly important touchpoint for gathering leads that you want to bring to the showroom.
- Shoppable content: This lets users browse various vehicles through native ads, explore their features and more.
- Dominance of video ads: Users prefer more immersive media formats, which creates more captivating storytelling.
And like the rest of the native advertising industry, personalisation will be crucial in delivering the right message to the right audience.
Long-Term Benefits
By considering these trends when formulating a native advertising strategy in India, an automotive brand and its sales representatives will enjoy these perks:
- Better customer engagement: Indian native advertising will break through the barrier that prevents traditional display ads from making the same impact.
- Increased cross-platform reach: Since native advertising can be seamlessly integrated practically everywhere, you can continue to make the automotive brand’s presence known without being a nuisance.
- Improved credibility: Analytics allow you to deliver highly personalised ad content, communicating the perfect message for every audience segment.
All these factors result in brand loyalty and better automotive sales. Assuming great product quality and after-sales services, the retention rate should be high as well.
Preparing for the Future
The discussed benefits are a result of continuous efforts to improve your Indian native advertising strategy for an automotive brand. To maintain relevance throughout developments in the industry, focus on the following:
- Programmatic advertising: MGID already uses this to provide contextually relevant content so that the ad presented to the user is relevant.
- Localised content: Users are going to be buying cars within their area. So, it only makes sense that the ads speak to the specific locale you want to focus on.
- Systematic data collection: Your success heavily relies on your ability to pick out your perfect audience from the crowd. This is made possible by collecting large amounts of data, allowing you to determine who your audience is and where they are.
Use Native Ads for Automotive Advertising Today
For individual consumers, vehicles aren’t just a bunch of specs. They’re an experience, an asset and a status symbol. That’s why just plastering a picture of a car won’t work anymore. To engage various target markets in India, automotive brands need to incorporate native advertising. By doing so, you’ll have a wide base that you can nurture and convert into buyers. But where do you start? The right approach and platforms will depend on your audience and your desired outcome. If you want an expertly done campaign, register on MGID. Our native advertising specialists will love being part of your next success!
