Marketing in the Automotive Industry
Marketing in the Automotive Industry
Marketing is a very broad industry to get into, with roles suited to a number of different skill sets. Within the automotive industry, by getting the marketing right, you are able to increase the number of cars sold and add to the success of the company.
Below we’ve outlined some of the main roles you could be expected to fulfil if you’re looking to get into marketing within the automotive industry.
Marketing Managers
The marketing manager is in charge of the marketing activities of a business. Depending on the particular brand the activities they will have to manage will vary. We’ve covered some of the more popular digital ones below.
It is the manager’s job to make sure all parties produce the work needed to have a successful campaign and report on the progress to stakeholders within the business. They will have to set budgets and liaise with external agencies, all whilst keeping their team happy and motivated. A marketing manager is the point of contact for all members of the team to create simple and complex advertising campaigns.
If you were a marketing manager in the automotive industry, you would be expected to create campaigns to target groups of people that have an interest in the car you’re selling. Beginning with in depth market research, you’d then devise the best way to reach these people and with a message that reflects your brand’s values. With the message set, you’d coordinate your team of specialists to deliver it to their specific channel. You’ll monitor the results, adjust where needed, and report on the successes and failures, taking learnings for the next campaign.
The average salary for a marketing manager in the UK is £35,541.
SEO
A person who works in Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is tasked with bringing more revenue to a company through their website. In particular, through organic search, this means through search engines like Google and Bing. A person searches with these websites and is shown a list of companies that they then choose to click on. An SEO’s job is to make sure their company shows up in this list and the person searching clicks on their website.
This is a very varied role, ranging from extremely technical website coding to creative copywriting and web design. An SEO doesn’t have to know about all of these elements in depth, but needs to be capable of understanding them enough to work with experts that can fulfil the tasks they cannot.
There are three main elements to SEO, which people do specialise in individually, but having a knowledge of it all is important to be competent in this field.
An SEO within the automotive industry would research relevant content that the target client base is interested in. They would then create articles and informative web pages that would appeal to the target audience, utilising both technical and off-site SEO to support their efforts.
The average salary for an SEO in England is £23,864.
PPC
PPC or Pay Per Click, aims to draw potential customers to a website through the use of sponsored advertisements. Advertisers pay a fee every time one of their ads is clicked, hence the name Pay Per Click. It’s one of the most popular forms of advertising and involves a highly analytical mind, alongside a creative spark.
The basic premise is that a PPC marketer will make bids on how much they are willing to pay every time someone clicks their ad. The bid has to be high enough to get a placement that people will see, but it can’t be so high that it doesn’t make sense financially. For example, if you pay £1.40 for a click, but that results in a sale of £50, a profit is likely made.
The creative element comes into play by utilising effective design and writing skills to create ads that will entice users to click and come to your website. As a PPC in the automotive industry, you might research areas that target customers are looking online and place adverts there. You’d also research relevant keywords and make sure you are bidding on effective ones that drive qualified leads to your site.
The average salary for a PPC executive in England is £26,944.
Influencer
Influencer marketing is the newest form of marketing on this list. It’s all about identifying, researching, engaging and supporting people on social media who are respected by your customer base. These people drive conversation and engagement around a subject, or niche area. Using their influence, you encourage the people who follow this person to buy from your company, or increase your brand awareness to a set of people with similar values to your company.
Similar to the other areas of marketing mentioned above, there is a combination of creativity and analytic processes required to be successful in this field. You have to understand the metrics involved within your campaign and what numbers need to be met to make the work a success. You also have to be creative with the messaging you are trying to get out to the wider audience.
How could this look within the automotive industry? If you’re marketing a vehicle, it could be defining what the key selling points are of the vehicle and finding an influencer who is an expert in this field. If they are willing to work with you, it’s time to get creative about how you’d like your message to be conveyed.
This article was written by Check-a-Salary, a platform dedicated to providing insight on earnings for every position in the UK.
