Situation
The automotive industry, and automakers in particular, are a pillar of TV advertising, spending billions each year and racking up ad impressions en masse. But as we all know, 2020 has been an exceptionally strange year: After the coronavirus pandemic hit the U.S., marketers across all industries had to quickly pivot and revise strategies to reach consumers who were largely staying at home.
We put together a report examining business outcomes for the automotive industry to help craft TV advertising strategies going forward. It has performance insights and key recommendations to inform your decisions, with a focus on lift measurement* and conversion rates across three time periods: Q4 2019 (the last “normal” quarter before the coronavirus hit), Q3 2020 and October 2020.
Key Takeaways
- In Q4 2019, automotive brands had an average lift of 21.17% and an average conversion rate of 0.133%. Various niche cable networks plus a few sports ones filled the top ten rankings for lift and conversion rates for the automotive category.
- In Q3 2020, automotive brands had an average lift of 19.12% and an average conversion rate of 0.242%. General entertainment channels populated the top ten rankings for both lift and conversion rates.
- In October 2020, automotive brands had an average lift of 19.05% and an average conversion rate of 0.197%. General entertainment channels populated the top ten rankings for both lift and conversion rates and additionally, two Spanish-language networks were in the top ten for lift.
Why It Matters
Consumers are constantly bombarded by advertising to the point that determining the impact of one ad versus another has become incredibly complex. For most brands, TV is the biggest investment in the media mix, so quantifying the value is critical. But with all the noise, how can you give TV ads the credit they deserve? That’s where lift analysis comes in.
*Lift measurements estimate the causal impact of TV advertising on consumer behavior and help quantify the business value driven by TV advertising. The relative comparison of lift estimates (e.g., across networks), tells us where advertising is more or less effective.
This free report shares insight on which networks performed well for the automotive industry last holiday season, as well as which ones are delivering results in recent months.