It happens all the time. Your ad interests a car shopper enough to visit. They may click around, look at the inventory, check out a vehicle details page and then, without even a goodbye, they’re gone. They left and you have no idea who they are, how far away they are, or how to get in touch with them. It’s over.

Or is it?

Digital marketing surveys have shown that 85% of visitors to your website leave it in this manner. It’s not your fault, it is just the way it goes. In the past, we would just accept it and move on but, with today’s technology, we no longer have to. We can now identify 40 to 50% of lost prospects and reconnect with them by the next day. This is the genius of tracking pixel technology.

Have you ever been scrolling through Facebook and see an ad for something you were just talking about a few minutes ago? Creepy, huh? That is the work of a tracking pixel which is simply a line of code that collects user data and allows innovative marketers to target just the right people with ads for things they are actually interested it. That technology can also be used to identify website visitors that leave without submitting a lead so that they can be “retargeted” with ads or emails that remind them why they visited in the first place.

Now there is a much better chance that “the one that got away” becomes the one that buys a vehicle.

While many car shoppers still like to peruse the dealership lots and showrooms looking for their next new ride, more and more are opting for a more hands-off approach by doing it all online.

Recent studies have shown that over 90% of car shoppers do their research online before they buy. From reading reviews to calculating payments and finding the value of their trade-in, most everything can be done from the comfort of their own homes with the mobile device in their pockets. Even signing paperwork can be done without physical paper (big sigh of relief from the trees).

So what about the vehicle walk-around and a test drive? Surely car shoppers still like to feel the upholstery and step on that gas pedal, right? Not entirely. In the age of advancing technology and “social distancing”, more shoppers are becoming comfortable with a more virtual approach to kicking the tires. 360 degree view and virtual walk-around videos are becoming more accepted alternatives to the traditional test-drive. A 2019 Google survey found that 64% of new car shoppers are more willing to purchase a new vehicle without a test drive after having viewed these videos.

Regular car commercials just aren’t cutting it anymore. The flash/bang of commercial video isn’t as important to car shoppers as it used to be. It is fine for brand awareness, but once a consumer makes up his/her mind to shop for a vehicle, they want information. A recent Pixability survey found that the views and watch-time of longer information-driven video content eclipses that of more traditional manufacturer and dealership commercials. Simply put, car commercials are fine for brand recognition, but longer, more in-depth information videos are what active shoppers want to see before making the actual purchase. And if the purchase can be made entirely online - even better.

The future of car sales is “showroomless”… and the future is now.