Why buy cars online in China? VW knows.

VW is leading the way in online car sales thanks to clever marketing

Last month, OATS reported that, to the surprise of many, popular microblogging service Weibo had taken more than 60,000 new car orders between August and September this year.

To most, buying a car on Twitter or Weibo might seem bizarre, however, VW’s clever marketing campaign helped normalize the procedure.

VW’s People’s Car Project, which fielded ideas on the future of automobiles from social media, attracted more than 14m visitors who submitted 260,000 ideas, and earned the German automaker more than 480,000 fans and followers.

The car company was successful in sharing content on up-and-coming platforms, including the messaging app WeChat, and was able to capture data across different devices and platforms through its digital CRM.

Users submitted detailed ideas for car designs that also revealed their consumer preferences. For example, many promoted “safety” as a key feature while others prioritised “speed” or “style”. This customer data was then used again during the online sales drive.

With a deeper understanding of consumer profiles, VW was able to move leads from “brand engagers” to “car-buying intenders”. As the brand had interacted with its future customers on a specific marketing platform, encouraging them to use the same platforms for actual purchase was a natural step.