Hummer’s 2006 Superbowl commercial was witty, creative, and a strapping way to reinforce that the car is ‘little monster’. Gennady Barsky, a market analyst, believes that digital marketing and advertising has an important role in rousing the crowds.

Even a not-so successful digital marketing campaign manages to attract a steady number of patrons and consumers. Chevrolet’s video campaign went slightly unnoticed on TV, but managed to gain 120 million YouTube views, thanks to the gravity-defying stunts. Chevrolet even released a quiz app that awarded participants with a new Chevy Sonic. The app had 130,000 simultaneous users and garnered 700,000 downloads in a span of two weeks.

The auto industry needs digital marketing more than ever. Influx of industry-stirring cars like Tesla’s Roadster has radically increased the competition. Auto companies need to be a step ahead in the rat race, and digital marketing is the best weapon to facilitate that progression.

Perhaps the biggest reason why the auto industry needs digital marketing is the need to connect to clients. Before buying a certain product, customers research the product extensively to compare tech specs, price, models, USPs, and ease of use.

A single negative review and the customer might think twice about buying the product, warns Gennady Barsky. This makes it necessary for auto companies to ride the digital roadways and pick up customers with content marketing and online stores. Mobile apps will also help make purchases online.

Auto companies have to launch viral advertisement campaigns to create a hype about the car they’re launching. Following the video ad campaigns, the actual effort starts with simple content marketing in bits, through graphics, infographics, reviews, and micro blogs.

According to Gennady Barsky, this ensures that Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is implemented, which helps the auto company to trend in searches related to the auto company and its products.

A good SEO strategy boosts the website to the top of the search engine, hence inviting more traffic.  The website traffic in turn helps sell more cars. When you educate potential clients with verifiable and educational content, you project yourself as a top-of-the-industry leader and innovator. Viewing your company as a thought leader in the sector will make the consumers push away your competitors.

To really do all the above, auto companies need a strong digital marketing team filled with creative people in the field of writing, graphics, direction, social media, software engineering, and of course, marketing.

Social media presence is most important of all. For starters, auto companies should have branded pages on popular social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. In fact BMW has the most gaze-trapping account speckled with panoramic views featuring fancy and elegant cars.

The final step of the ladder is Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO). When you have all the cogs and wheels in place, it’s time to check how the machine is working. CRO runs tests on how the customers are responding to the SEO optimized links and sites.

The result assists auto companies in analyzing what part of a digital marketing strategy is not working. If a temporary modification to the site and strategy yields more traffic, then that change is made permanent.

Automotive companies need a strong and integrated approach towards digital marketing and advertising as it’s necessary for the automotive industry to grow, explains Gennady Barsky. While digital marketing is a formidable weapon, it can also prove to be a splinter in the finger. The recent alleged racist advertisement featured by clothing-retail mogul H&M caused a huge uproar and even provoked violence.

Before adopting a certain digital marketing strategy or riding on a trend, auto companies need to make certain that the said tactic won’t pull trouble. It takes a lifetime to build a reputation, but to lose it, a few moments.