The auto industry is ready to revive in 2021, and while it’s a long road to recovery, auto marketers can prime their campaigns for success through a programmatic approach. The Asia Pacific automotive sector represents both an opportunity and complexity for auto brands and dealers, but relevantly targeting the right prospective auto buyers ensures increased outreach efficiency and likelihood of buyers.

Covid devastated car sales across the globe, affecting each of the APAC regions significantly. In India alone, the auto industry suffered losses of more than Rs 2,300 crore daily during the prolonged lockdown. But with the economy now reviving, both new model launches and ad spends in the auto segment are seeing spikes compared to pre-Covid months, proving automakers and marketers are ready to bounce back at full force.

The ad spend in Asia-Pacific is expected to grow 6 per cent in 2021, with auto manufacturers and dealers poised to spend more to get more. But spending more doesn’t always guarantee efficiency. Let’s look at some ways auto marketers can benefit from programmatic audiences for auto buyers.

Targeting SUV Upgraders

Kia and Hyundai have been enjoying great performance with SUV sales in India. A brand like Hyundai can use programmatic audiences to target potential SUV buyers more effectively by narrowing down the signals that indicate a potential need for SUVs, such as:

• audiences with interests in camping/outdoor brands
• families with interests in sports programs
• audiences with affinities towards rival SUV brands (Kia, etc)

The target segment need not be only affluent buyers but can reflect people of all incomes, just those with a higher likelihood of wanting to buy an SUV.

Reaching Pre-owned Car Buyers

The pre-owned market has also been trending up. In 2019-2020, the used market saw an increase of 35%, showing that not just the wealthy are upgrading their vehicles. For used car dealers looking to target thrifty buyers, target the fans of affordable brands to reach relevant bargain shoppers. Or target those with affinities towards 2-wheelers and 3-wheelers who might be looking to upgrade.

An EV Future?

Electric vehicles are growing in popularity, with Tesla seeing a big future in India. With many automakers now making EVs of their own, targeting brands like Tesla can help them gain a competitive advantage before Tesla ramps up their presence in the region. Or for automakers who don’t have EVs but want to reach those types of people, programmatic audiences can assist in finding likely electric vehicle buyers to convert.

Our audiences leverage social media insights to provide auto marketers with the most relevant audiences attainable. With the industry poised to make a big comeback this year, now is the time to capture those most likely to buy. See how our vast access to social insights can help put you in the driver seat of your campaigns. Get in touch with us at audiences@affinityanswers.com and discover how our deep insights can impact your automotive marketing ROI and outreach. View our audience segments to discover new opportunities in targeting.