Bauer Media releases new research

New research from Sophus3 in partnership with Bauer Media and Autovia has identified the importance of publishing brands in the car-buying journey with a large share of car-buyers visiting ‘premium’ publishers to make decisions on car they would like to purchase.

Bauer Media says the new report analysed consumer data from automotive brands Parkers, CAR, Auto Express and carbuyer and found that publishers see an increased share of in-journey visits as customers move towards transaction. By contrast, car brands see more in-journey visits at the transaction stage once the decision has been made.

In fact, the average publisher brand saw more than four times the traffic of a car brand website with the test group of four UK premium publishers generating more pre-journey and in-journey audiences than all 22 car brands combined, added Bauer Media. In total, the extra traffic to the four publishers represents an annual total more than five million visits that car brands do not see in digital.

Looking at consumers who are contemplating electric vehicles (EV), these findings are even more apparent, added Bauer Media. Decisions on whether they purchase an EV or non-EV is much more likely to be made on a premium publisher site than car brand site, playing an important role during the transition between the ‘engaged’ and ‘ready to transact’ stages of the car-buying journey.

Patrick Fuller, head of insight at Sophus 3 said “The Sophus3 eDataXchange platform pools data from multiple brands to reveal how car buyers use digital to make their choice. In this study, we analysed 90 million digital interactions across 22 car brand websites and a leading group of UK premium publishers. Our rigorous analysis highlights the pivotal role of premium publisher sites in attracting new customers and enabling their purchasing decisions, opening up opportunities for car brands to optimise their digital marketing strategies and better engage potential buyers.”

Jim Burton, digital commercial director – Cars, Bauer Media UK said: “This third-party independent research shows once more that audiences that visit premium auto publishing titles are more engaged, a fact that has been evident for years with our Parkers and Car brands. With consumer decisions clearly being made between the ‘engaged’ and ‘intent’ stages, car brands should consider advertising with premium publishing brands through these key stages. This is where they can create impact with car buyer they may otherwise not see, as by the time these consumers reach the car brand or franchised dealer website, independent research shows they have already made their decision.”