Author: BWild

A recent study has revealed that 70 percent of car shoppers using YouTube are influenced by what they see.

A new report has now been issued that provides insight into trends with regards to mobile marketing and video advertising and the impact this is having on the decisions being made by car buyers.

The report is based on YouTube data, Google search data and results from the 2015 Google/TSN Auto Shopper Study.

It also included the data produced as a result of a Milward Brown Digital commissioned study conducted by Google based on the auto shopping consumer sales funnel. Overall, this revealed that digital and mobile marketing played a considerable role in influencing the decisions made by car buyers as 70 percent of people who use YouTube had been influenced by video content when they made their auto purchasing choices.

The report provided a number of important pieces of insight into online and mobile marketing trends in car buying.

Among the highlights of the report were the following:

• 70 percent of people who use YouTube in the vehicle purchasing process said that the video content they saw had an impact on the choices they decided to make.
• The average car buyer made only two visits to dealerships before making their decision.
• 60 percent of vehicle buyers start the shopping process without knowing which car they actually intended to buy.
• Mobile searches taking place from within the actual dealership lots had risen by 46 percent over the 12 months prior to the study.

Though this data aligned with the predictions that have been made within the auto industry with regards to the influence of mobile advertising, search and video content, it is interesting to see the speed at which consumers are adopting digital methods of informing themselves and are reducing the number of visits they are actually making to a dealership before deciding on the vehicle and purchasing method they intend to use.

What is now being found is that many of the most important influences on consumers come from micro moments when mobile marketing has the greatest influence. It is at those moments that shoppers take out their mobile devices in order to learn an additional piece of information instead of going to a salesperson directly.

Apple may be working with banks to develop a person-to-person payment service

Apple is reportedly in discussions with banks in the United States to develop a new payment service that would serve as a person-to-person platform. Such a system could further strengthen Apple’s position in the mobile payments space, where it has already established a strong foothold. While Apple may be in negotiations with banks, it is as yet unclear whether or not these organizations will be working with the company to develop this sort of person-to-person system.

Consumers are becoming more active in the mobile payments field

Many consumers in the United States are beginning to embrace mobile payments, but these consumers represent a relatively small portion of the country’s mobile audience. Should Apple acquire support from banks for this new initiative, it would be in a better position to compete with other organizations that have become involved in mobile payments. Apple Pay, which was launched a relatively short time ago, has managed to find some success, but still lags behind other payment systems in terms of adoption among consumers.

Demand for person-to-person money transfer services is rising quickly

As consumers become more involved in mobile payments, the demand for money transferring services is on the rise. Consumers want to be able to send money to their friends and family, a service that is featured in some payment systems that have already been well established. If Apple moves forward with its plans, its new mobile payments service is likely to be similar to PayPal’s Venmo platform, which has acquires strong support from a wide range of consumers.

How Apple will continue to generate revenue from mobile payments is uncertain

One of the concerns regarding the new service is how Apple will generate revenue through it. Apple Pay issues fees associated with every transaction being made, and these fees are imposed on retailers as a way to make the platform profitable. The new service may introduce fees on person-to-person money transfers, but Apple has offered any specific details concerning this. The company has not yet highlighted ways it could generate revenue through the service.