Car classifieds such as AutoTrader have traditionally been seen in newspapers and magazines. However, in recent years, the likes of AutoTrader and a growing number of automotive classified publishers have moved online. Car classifieds have had to adapt and evolve with the majority of buyers resorting to the internet first when researching products and services.
Moving online has allowed car websites to keep up to date with available automotive inventory. The ease with which a car can be removed from a website once it has been sold has been a game-changer for the industry, reducing the amount of time spent on people requesting information about cars they have seen in traditional car classifieds that are no longer available.
Like any other online classifieds website, car classifieds are a popular area for advertisers to showcase their offerings. There are a lot of brands that want to advertise on automotive websites to reach this highly targeted audience, therefore there is a large volume of requests for placements that car websites have to manage.
Car classifieds must perform technical audits and understand what technologies will help them to improve their offering to advertisers as they move away from more traditional backgrounds. To decrease the amount of time a publisher has to spend dealing with each advertiser, auto classifieds websites have had to incorporate new technology to manage demand for bookings and ad optimizations.
Benefits of self-serve advertising platforms for Car Classifieds Publishers
Less involvement for the publisher
When a publisher uses self-service software, they don’t have to be as involved in the advertising booking process. Allowing the publisher time to concentrate on other aspects of their company and working on their strategy to grow their business in other revenue streams.
Streamline ad sales processes
The publisher can automate procedures such as putting orders through and generating invoices using a self-service ad management platform. The publisher’s manual labor necessary to work with advertisers on their campaigns is considerably reduced as a result of this.
Increased Sales
When advertisers manage ad space bookings themselves, publishers may keep an eye on the booking calendar and offer discounts on advertisements that aren’t selling, guaranteeing that no ad space goes unsold and improving ad sales for the automobile classified publisher.
Stand Out From The Crowd
Having a self-serve offering available helps make car classifieds publishers more attractive to advertisers. Brands are looking for an easy, guided process from booking their campaign right through to invoicing, which is why providing a self-serve option is helping publishers stand out from the crowd right now while other car classifieds publishers jump onboard the self-serve trend.
Benefits of self-serve platforms for Advertisers
More Control For Advertiser
Advertisers are embracing self-service platforms and enjoy selecting the exact ad spaces they want to book. With live booking calendars, they have a clear view of what is available and can select the ad spaces they want quickly from the click of a button. Offering complete control on their ad placements.
Quicker Turnaround
As advertisers are managing their own ad bookings, there is a shorter turnaround time to get a campaign live. There is reduced communication between the publisher and advertiser when booking ad places, meaning the advertiser can select a date for a campaign and get working on their ad creatives. This is beneficial to advertisers that may have an idea for a campaign and want to capitalize on it quickly.
Self-Sufficient Advertiser
With self-service advertising platforms, advertisers are completely self-sufficient and can optimize campaigns from one centralized campaign hub. This reduces the reliance on working with publishers to improve campaigns and provide reporting to the advertiser. Instead, the advertiser can view the data right in front of them and make changes to their campaigns in real-time, leading to more successful campaigns as there is no time delay in communications with the publisher.
User-Friendly
The self-serve platform is user-friendly for the advertiser. It doesn’t take long for them to get their head around the intuitive self-serve technology design. The advertiser can face few technical difficulties as the platform has been built with them in mind, to be as easy as possible to access and navigate.
Conclusion
The online classifieds industry is evolving like many other industries with the growth of digital transformation over the last few years. There don’t appear to be many drawbacks to the new way of advertising on car classifieds sites and the positives seem to be present for both publisher and advertisers making the implementation of self-serve platforms for online classifieds seamless with the support of all parties involved. Without a doubt, as technology advances, the car classifieds business will need to keep up with consumer trends to remain as popular as ever with advertisers.
