You don’t have to be a parenting expert to know that most families drive an SUV. They have high safety ratings, there’s more room for car seats and prams, and they’re generally seen as a reliable choice. So why are automotive brands underserving one of their biggest customers when it comes to the most popular car type?
Look at any SUV page on a website which sells cars and you’ll see a big focus on promoting off-road capabilities. How many families do you know who’re frequently driving up mountains and wading through rivers? I’d guess most families use their cars for nursery trips, school drop-offs, commuting and the like – not scaling any mountains.
Why don’t websites cater to these needs? Why doesn’t the content speak the language of families? Here’s an example – the first piece of content on AutoTrader’s SUV page.
Even though AutoTrader acknowledges SUVs are ‘family-focused’ vehicles, one of the highlighted benefits is that they ‘will clamber over almost anything you can throw at them’. I hope no families have to clamber over anything while driving – that doesn’t sound very safe to me.
This continues. ‘SUVs have more ground clearance than other cars’. Would many parents even know what that means? The key benefits are described as ‘added practicality’ and ‘a sense of safety and security on the road’, but you could say that about many vehicles. Where are the incentives here which truly speak to families?
But it’s not just one website with this problem – this is an industry challenge that all automotive brands face.
41% of drivers search online for their next car compared to 21% who would go to a dealership
Original research conducted by UpShift polled 390 female drivers to find out how they search for cars. Two in five (41%) said they research car or finance information online, including YouTube, whereas one in five (21%) would visit a car showroom or dealership.
With so many more drivers searching online, we need to ensure the content they find really speaks to them and supports their decisions.
When looking at families specifically, we found even more evidence to suggest parents, particularly mothers, are more likely to search online rather than visit a dealership because they don’t find it very enjoyable. We asked focus groups of parents to tell us more about their experience at dealerships and the answers from mothers were particularly interesting (although, if you’re a woman, probably unsurprising).
‘Less pushy salespeople’ is the number one thing women would change about the car buying experience
The mothers we spoke to generally had the same feelings towards dealerships – it wasn’t positive. Here are just some examples of what we heard:
- ‘I got mansplained everything.’
- ‘I do more research online, so I don’t go in blind.’
- ‘I hate car shopping. Hate it.’
- ‘I walked out of a dealership. Really pushy sales [people].’
- ‘Male-dominated environment and pushy.’
- ‘The salesman barely spoke to me – spoke to my [male] partner.’
Not great. What’s more, additional insights from UpShift’s survey of 390 female drivers showed ‘less pushy salespeople’ is the number one thing they would change to improve the car buying experience.
Dealerships are already challenged by their ‘pushy’ perception – throw in big brands dominating Google search, new comparison sites and aggressive pricing from competitors and it seems impossible for dealerships to win online.
Fortunately, there is plenty that dealerships can do to turn this around. Simply put, know your audience and tailor your content and website messaging so you get better-quality leads from customers who trust you.
Not all automotive brands get this right, but it does make a huge opportunity for the likes of Arnold Clark, Stratstone, Evans Halshaw and more.
Car dealerships ranked by how much traffic they get from family-centric customers
We analysed the amount of organic traffic car dealerships generate each year from family-centric customers. This includes any traffic from keywords relating to ‘suvs’ and several models popular with families, like the Kia Sportage, Renault Scenic and Volvo XC40.
After researching the top UK car dealerships, Arnold Clark stands out overall, receiving over 400,000 visits per year from users searching family-related queries. The site ranks in top traffic-driving positions for keywords like ‘used kia sportage’ (6.3k searches per month) and ‘volvo XC40 for sale’ (4.8k searches per month). It also receives more than double the traffic of its closest competitor, Stratstone.
However, when looking at the potential traffic these dealerships could be making based on the same keyword analysis for AutoTrader, we can see there is a huge opportunity. AutoTrader receives almost 6 million visits per year for family-related keywords, and while it’s unlikely other brands could outrank the UK’s biggest digital automotive marketplace for every one of those queries, they certainly can take back some of that traffic.
Even dealerships at the top of the list like Arnold Clark who are getting most of the traffic could make improvements to content and messaging to greater appeal to family customers, resulting in more high-quality leads. Here are some examples from those key traffic-driving pages mentioned earlier.
I’m going to guess for these examples, Arnold Clark ranks well because of its strong brand, which is highly important to be successful in Search. There’s definitely potential for dealerships to catch up and overtake – here’s how.
5 top tips for dealerships who want to improve their content for the family audience
1.SPEAK TO CUSTOMERS. This one must be in capital letters because it’s so important. It’s an incredibly simple and effective yet underused marketing tactic to pick up the phone and ask your customers their opinions of your site’s messaging. Incentivise them with a £20 Amazon voucher or similar and you’ll get a ton of insights that make you stand out in a sea of generic content.
2. Use images and video which resonate with families. Many sites use the same stock photos or images from Cap HPI. But these lack that personal feeling and can seem too corporate and cold. Real-life images are also perfect for bringing concepts to life. For example, on Evans Halshaw’s new Renault Scenic page, the content says, ‘Boot space is perfect for a family getaway. The 545 litres available provides plenty of room to transport big suitcases.’ But the image beside the text doesn’t show the boot, or anything inside it to show how practical it is for families.
3. Write helpful guides and car reviews (which aren’t just a copy of everyone else’s). In recent years, Google has placed a big focus on E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness) and advises websites to create ‘helpful, reliable, people-first content’. As we know many drivers are doing their research online, we should support that part of the journey – something Listers could definitely consider to bring in more traffic. The site doesn’t rank well for any family guides or ‘best’ content, so adding some unique, up-to-date listicles of the best family SUVs, hatchbacks, electric vehicles, etc. as well as informational guides on travel, pets, car seats, etc. would help this.
4. Tailor electric car pages to show the content families care about. As electric vehicles (EVs) are a significant focus for many automotive brands, it’s important to get the details right. For example, Group 1 Auto’s used Skoda Enyaq page uses the same top features as its petrol and diesel vehicles. You can see there’s a highlighted icon to show litres, but obviously EVs are measured by kilowatt-hours of battery capacity. This looks confusing and could be off-putting to customers. It would be better to use the space with a useful selling point, particularly one that speaks to families – does it have Isofix fittings or child safety locks?
5. Check if you have any content at all! Vertu Motors is missing a lot of helpful content across key landing pages, like its used Volvo XC40 page. It ranks on page two and up for a lot of used model terms, but this could hugely improve if customers and search engines could read more useful information about the car. Listing only deals suggests you’re only focused on the commercial side – that ‘pushy’ experience – and doesn’t get inspire customers to purchase from you.
If you want to improve your visibility online and get more leads from family customers, get in touch with the automotive marketing experts at UpShift.
Get In Touch
required information