Katie has hands on marketing experience and creating all-inclusive marketing campaigns for clients utilizing traditional media, new media, and event marketing. She has worked with media agencies and clients of various sizes, in all different industries. She has been on the sales side of operations as a salesperson and Sales Manager for a group of radio stations. Katie loves creating, building, and maintaining relationships with clients, media, and teaching, so being able to teach media to sales teams is the best of both worlds.
From textbooks to toilet paper, Amazon has grown into a global marketplace, a shopping reflex, and a digital giant. If I had a dollar for every time I saw something that someone else had and the person replied with a simple “Amazon”, I would be as rich as Jeff Bezos. What started out as an online bookstore has turned into a shopping empire and the world’s default shopping cart. It’s a one-stop shop for everything you need, and plenty that you didn’t know you needed.
Key takeaways from this post:
· Amazon is more than e-commerce – It has expanded into industries like automotive, offering vehicles, parts, financing, and accessories directly through its platform.
· Data is the real advantage – With Amazon Garage, browsing history, and purchase behavior, the platform gathers unmatched consumer insights that auto dealers can leverage.
· Multiple entry points for shoppers – Tools like Amazon Automotive, Amazon Auto, Amazon Showroom, and Amazon Garage give consumers tailored paths into the car-buying ecosystem.
· Advanced targeting opportunities – Dealers can reach audiences based on in-market behavior, current vehicle ownership, lookalike modeling, price sensitivity, and even service/repair needs.
· Changing how cars are sold – Amazon is transforming the automotive buying journey, allowing dealers to meet shoppers where they already are, online, at every stage of the funnel.
There is no doubt that Amazon is a huge convenience for consumers because you can pretty much buy anything you might need or want with the click of a button or the tap of a screen. Need new luggage? Amazon. Need dog food? Amazon. Need diapers? Amazon. As consumers, through all our search inquiries, browsing behavior, and purchases, Amazon has accumulated massive amounts of data about its users, and that is a marketing gold mine. Through behavioral targeting, product targeting, and custom audience matching, Amazon allows marketers to really drill down into their specific audience.
Amazon has several different branches like media and entertainment, Amazon Pharmacy, and technology and cloud, but another part of the retail and consumer side of things is being able to purchase a car. Yes, you can now purchase a car on Amazon through Amazon’s Auto platform.
Through various input points that are unique to Amazon, like Amazon Automotive, Amazon Auto, Amazon Shoppers, and Amazon Garage, Amazon gives shoppers multiple entryways into its ecosystem, each tailored to a specific need.
Amazon Automotive is where users search for information on cars, parts and accessories and by supplying data about what you’re looking for, you’re telling Amazon the details about what you drive.
Amazon Auto is where users can search for cars in their area for brands that Amazon has partnered with local dealers to let you browse, get financing, and complete most of the paperwork for new, used, and Certified Pre-Owned vehicles online before picking up the car at the dealership.
Amazon Showroom allows users to search for NEW cars in their area for brands that Amazon has partnered with.
In Amazon Garage, customers can enter their car model and year to see parts and accessories just for their vehicle and that information is added to their Amazon profile. For example, I recently purchased sunshades for my car, so Amazon now knows that I own a 2017 Ford Explorer, placing me into that category so that if a Chevrolet dealer wanted to target current Ford owners, I would have the potential to see their ad.
Being able to supply such a mass amount of detailed data for auto dealers is a great competitive advantage because they have amassed a treasure trove of behavioral targeting data, along with Nielsen data and Experian data. Amazon is now the largest online retailer of auto parts in the world where people do vehicle research and buy vehicles through Amazon Showroom.
Here are some examples of how you can target behaviorally with Amazon specifically for auto dealers:
In-Market: Reach Amazon audiences who are in-market for new or used vehicles using Amazon and third party data. Target ads to people by the exact make and model, or type of vehicle they are interested.
o In-Market for Toyota Tundra
o In-Market for used Jeep
o In-Market for Hybrid
Owners: Reach Amazon audiences who registered specific vehicles through
Amazon Garage. Targeting your ads to people by the make & model of the vehicle they currently own.
o Honda Odyssey Owners
o Harley Davidson Owners
o Ford Explorer Owners
Amazon Lookalike: Utilize Amazon predictive modeling to create vehicle-specific Lookalike audiences of people who might be interested in the types of vehicles you offer.
o Acura MDX - Lookalike
o Alfa Romeo Giulia - Lookalike
o Audi Q3 - Lookalike
o BMW Brand Segment - Lookalike
o Buick Enclave - Lookalike
o Buick Encore - Lookalike
o Buick Envision - Lookalike
o Buick SUVs - Lookalike
o Cadillac SUVs – Lookalike
o Ford Escape - Lookalike
o Ford F-150 - Lookalike
o Ford Ranger - Lookalike
o GM Pickups - Lookalike
o GMC Acadia - Lookalike
Service and Repair Categories:
o Automotive Parts and Accessories
o Automotive Replacement Parts
o Truck Accessories
o Vehicle Price, Age or Time from Purchase:
o Vehicle Age: 0-1 Years Old
o Vehicle Age: 2 Years Old
o Vehicle Age: 3 Years Old
o Vehicle Age: 4-5 Years Old
o Vehicle Age: 6-10 Years Old
o Vehicle Age: 11-15 Years Old
o Vehicle Age: 16-20 Years Old
o Vehicle Age: 21 Years or Older
o Vehicle Price: < $20K
o Vehicle Price: $20K to $30K
o Vehicle Price: $30K to $40K
o Vehicle Price: $40K to $50k
o Vehicle Price: $50K to $75K
o Vehicle Price: > $75K
Amazon has gone far beyond being just the place to grab last-minute household items. It’s now reshaping how industries like automotive connect with consumers. With its unmatched data, behavioral targeting, and growing retail ecosystem, Amazon gives auto dealers the ability to meet shoppers exactly where they are in their buying journey. From browsing parts in Amazon Garage to financing a new car through Amazon Auto, the platform has become an extension of the car-buying process itself. For marketers, that means the opportunity to leverage one of the world’s most powerful consumer data engines to reach the right audience, with the right message, at the right time.
In the end, Amazon isn’t just changing how we shop; it’s changing how we sell, and the automotive world is only scratching the surface of what’s possible.
