Why Car Dealerships Should Advertise on CTV: Enhanced Targeting, Attribution, and Optimization

New technological advancements have drastically changed the way people consume their content; Connected TV now monopolizes the television market, surpassing cable TV.

88% of American households have at least one CTV device, and 56% of all households in the U.S. have cut the cord (often called “cord-cutters”) and exclusively use streaming, eliminating the ability to reach them with traditional TV. With the majority of the television market found only through streaming services and Connected TV devices, it’s increasingly important for dealerships to reach consumers on the platforms they prefer.

Marketing budgets are a critical consideration for car dealerships, which often operate within competitive markets. Unlike traditional TV advertising, which caters primarily to OEM marketers with larger budgets, Connected TV advertising offers a cost-effective alternative that allows dealerships of all sizes to make the most of their allocated budgets. Dealerships can do much more for much less.

Buying linear TV inventory is typically quite expensive; channels require bulk inventory buys with costly minimums. With CTV, impressions are sold singularly, meaning a campaign can buy inventory per impression from an unlimited number of streaming channels and publishers. Marketers can operate effectively with smaller budgets since bulk impression purchases are no longer necessary. Plus, each impression is highly targeted, meaning it is not wasted on the uninterested individuals that coincide with bulk buying.

One of the standout features of Connected TV advertising is its exceptional targeting capabilities, enabled by its programmatic features. Highly predictive identification data can first identify all the individual people in their exact market, find them across any streaming platform, then follow them throughout their streaming activities while serving them ads.

Targeting options are unlimited for dealerships — from class type, segment type, fuel type, to new and used, CTV targeting will find a dealership’s exact audience. Luxury car dealerships, for example, can directly target individual households who are pre or in-market for a luxury car and reside in the dealership’s sales market.

Unlike linear TV advertising, CTV targeting directly reaches any and every audience. Advertisers aren’t limited to reaching one “assumed” endemic audience with their channel-wide media buy. CTV’s targeting capabilities will reach everyone in that audience across all apps and networks, not just the largest demographic the marketer could hit with one channel’s untargeted inventory.

Streaming inventory is (almost) endless, offering hundreds of ad-supported streaming platforms that viewers love (and watch for 2 hours a day!).

For EMG specifically, we have 200+ individual contracts with premium streaming platforms and publishers to give dealerships access to the top performing inventory, purchased directly from publishers to account for every single impression served. This includes hundreds of CTV and digital audio channels that dominate the streaming market — Hulu, Spotify, Disney+. Through our inventory curation and optimization, our pathways to delivery (via operating system → digital media player → and streaming platform) produce the highest engagement, completion, and conversion rates.

User engagement is a common challenge in digital advertising, with viewers frequently skipping or ignoring ads. Connected TV advertising’s non-skippable ad feature prevents users from overlooking dealership advertisements by demanding attention, unlike other digital platforms. CTV viewing unfolds in a “living room atmosphere” with a relaxed, leaned-back experience. Viewers become immersed in content on the big screen, experiencing fewer distractions and exhibiting reduced inclination to walk away from the ad, compared to other devices.

CTV’s high engagement presents an invaluable opportunity for dealerships to showcase their vehicles and promotions in a captivating manner. Whether it’s highlighting advanced safety technologies, showcasing luxurious interiors, or demonstrating exceptional performance, non-skippable Connected TV ads consumed in this “living room atmosphere” ensure that the message is delivered in its entirety, leaving a lasting impact on viewers.

Measuring the effectiveness of ad campaigns is paramount. Connected TV advertising offers car dealerships robust tools for tracking and analyzing the performance of their streaming campaign. Metrics such as physical dealership walk-ins, market share gain, and online leads provide valuable insights into how viewers are engaging with the ads.

Using the Household graph, CTV campaigns can track the ad impression from initial delivery on a CTV to a physical dealership walk-in. CTV measurement with EMG has one-to-one attribution, measuring deterministic conversions and crediting them to exact impressions, all so dealerships know exactly how their campaigns are impacting sales. It doesn’t get more granular than that.

With precise measurement, streaming specialists (like EMG) can communicate transparent results to dealerships and automotive marketers. This gives automotive marketers complete visibility into their CTV campaigns, providing a clear understanding of what is overperforming and underperforming.

With EMG specifically, we translate our raw data into user-friendly, understandable attribution metrics. We provide in-depth reporting on online and offline metrics that dealerships value –  Dealership Walk-ins, Cost per Walk-in, VDP Views, and a GMS iQ score (geographic market share), just to name a few. Additionally, EMG offers co-op reimbursement reporting accepted by every OEM, enabling dealers to leverage CTV and Audio advertising within those programs.

EMG provides personal optimization recommendations, identifying potential areas for improvement and helping dealerships adjust their campaigns in real time. By continuously refining their approach based on measurable results, dealerships can ensure that their advertising efforts drive the most engagement and sales.

In the rapidly evolving digital marketing ecosystem, Connected TV advertising stands out as a potent tool for car dealerships seeking to enhance their reach, engage with their target audience, and maximize their return on investment. By tapping into the world of cord-cutters, leveraging enhanced targeting capabilities, optimizing budget allocation, running on premium inventory, delivering to engaged audiences, and measuring and communicating results comprehensively, car dealerships can establish a powerful online presence and connect with potential customers in ways that were once unimaginable.

In the competitive landscape of automotive sales, Connected TV advertising emerges as an unparalleled performance channel for the automotive industry. Car dealerships that leverage Connected TV gain a competitive edge, effectively showcasing their vehicles, offers, and brand identity on the most engaging screen to highly predictive audiences.

With EMG, the automotive industry’s streaming possibilities are boundless. From access to curated “EMG Audiences” containing the top 0.2% of commercially available automotive audience segments, premium inventory access from private contracts with trusted publishers, to next generation measurement and reporting capabilities, dealerships always know the impact their streaming campaigns are having on generating true lift. There’s no better time to advertise on CTV than now.

See 8.5x higher performance with EMG’s automotive campaigns than the national performance average. Reach consumers where they love (and prefer) to watch: Connected TV. Launch your streaming campaign in minutes, right here.