The auto revolution handbook part 2: Seize the moment for hyper-personalization

In part one of our auto revolution handbook, we took a deep dive into the existential threats facing the automotive industry: from autonomous and electric vehicles, to sustainability concerns, increased connectivity, and a hybrid digital/physical customer journey. When it comes to customer experience in the future of mobility, what worked in the past is simply no longer relevant.

So what’s next for auto and mobility brands? How can they not just respond to these challenges, but seize the opportunity to build customer experiences that safeguard their relevance in an ever-changing, digital, sustainable, and customer-first auto landscape?

Surviving a sectoral revolution isn’t straightforward. But by investing in and aligning data, content, teams, and technology around a hyper-personalized vision, brands can drive business results.

Hyper personalization is no longer optional

76% of customers are more likely to consider purchasing from brands that personalize their offering, and 78% are more likely to make repeat purchases from brands that undergo hyper-personalization.

When it comes to the auto sector, the business case is even more powerful. In a study, 76% of respondents said they thought a personalized experience was important on a car dealership site. It’s not just an online trend either: personalization of the in-car experience with smart solutions, tailor-made dashboards, and hardware is becoming a differentiator too, in particular, amongst premium car owners.

However, only 26% of auto buyers said dealership websites provide a fully personalized experience. A study showed that only 47% of digital dealership experiences proactively recommend products based on their customers’ data insights.

The auto industry is currently lagging behind the personalization curve. As users become accustomed to personalized healthcare, retail and entertainment, they will come expect it from their mobility experiences too.

Many firms regularly update their offering according to user needs - but hyper-personalization means continuously refining customer experience in a non-stop ‘listen and act’ feedback loop. This will be a key differentiator in the future customer experience.

The infrastructure to evolve

With customer journeys set to be highly volatile for years to come, auto brands are struggling to achieve personalization on the fly because they don’t have the infrastructure to piece together online and offline data sources, giving them a 360-degree view of their customers as they evolve.

Digital transformation roadmaps for mobility brands must place holistic customer profiles at their heart. Brands need the infrastructure and technology to give them a complete view of their customer: whether they’re a young person buying their first car, a couple looking to size-up to a family vehicle, or a fleet operator looking to purchase ten connected vehicles to offer within an ownership-as-a-service model.

Investing in solutions like Adobe Experience Platform allows companies to unify customer data from multiple streams - including in-person showroom interactions, research on a mobile device, online and in-store purchases. This provides the technological foundation to capture granular and diverse data in real time, extract insights from it, and instantly personalize communications so their auto customers receive the right message, at the right moment, and via the right channel to inspire trust and customer loyalty.

Case study: highly personalized community management

In a recent collaboration with a leading auto manufacturer, Netcentric supported an auto brand to level up its new community platform. The platform was designed to help car owners and brand fans connect and access the latest information about new cars and services. The aim of the project was to invest in converting one-time users into lifelong brand fans via highly-tailored community management and outreach experiences.

Netcentric’s team of experts established the key requirements and supported our client to migrate existing user profiles and user-generated content to a new platform. This unlocked an updated look and feel for end users that could be more closely tailored to their individual preferences. For the internal team, it brings convenient community management and streamlined content management thanks to the native integration with AEM 6.5 sites. It also includes “member-layers” of tiered access reflected in the platform’s user management, permissions, and personalized content structures.

The new community platform allows our auto client to be highly agile and deliver rapidly on the ever-increasing customer expectations they face from digital channels. Their community can access higher-performing, elevated UX with new functionalities including file sharing, personalized notifications about relevant offers, and activity stream features.