“The reality is that both online and offline media provide businesses with the ability to bring people and information together; as long as there are consumers who consume traditional media, businesses need to be as evolved and engaging offline as they are online.”

Dealers ‘must understand the customer’s buying journey’

Jessica Wilkie, business director at marketing agency Partners Andrews Aldridge says a consumer can be triggered at any moment depending on their particular stage in the buying process so advises dealers to consider a number of factors when planning marketing activity.

“Firstly, establishing the objective for activity and confirming the role of each channel in delivering on that objective. Secondly, but more importantly, where and how will our customer consume the media channels we use?

“In truth, our customer is channel-agnostic, they do not think in terms of press, TV, radio or online experience. They have a set of behaviours and actions that are driven by a need or decision process. They travel on a journey to a final action and their journey is not linear, it is not rooted in time or in a physical place or a specific device or platform.

“This means all channels will have some level of relevance at certain points in time on the journey and need to be planned accordingly. The key for dealers is to understand the journey and the information needs at each stage. Ultimately, whether the experience is in digital or traditional channels it should be seamless, consistent, inspiring, drive action and reward.”