Summary:
- Banners earn 6% of all homepage clicks
- 2nd Position banners only earn ¼ of that 6% of clicks
- Reunion recommends no more than 3 banners
To get all of the insights from our primary research, please continue reading.
Homepage banners.
They’re often a primary way dealerships communicate specials and deals to car shoppers. While these efforts are commendable, many general managers and dealer principals try to create — or task their agency partner with creating — a baker’s dozen each month.
Are you one of them?
If so, we understand. Compelling reasons often drive this decision:
- You have specials and sales to advertise
- You’ll host events worth promoting
- The homepage offers visibility
- Banners can be personalized
Even with all of those advantages — from visibility to discounts — that you might think are driving people to your lot, are these banners on your homepage as potent as you (and we) think?
Dealership Homepage Banner Effectiveness by the Numbers
Over a scheduled period of time, Nicki Betterbid, one of our automotive marketing consultants, looked at the homepage banner analytics of 24 clients who were on the same industry-leading website hosting platform. Here’s what she found:
Car shoppers clicked on …
- Navigation: 49.36%
- Inventory Search Widget: 29.73%
- Homepage Banners / Videos: 5.99%
So, when searchers landed on our clients’ homepage, about .05 (or 1 in 20) of them clicked on the homepage banners. It’s true. That one person in twenty does have buying potential, so she dove a little deeper into the numbers.
Nissan Client Test
As demonstrated in a snapshot of the actual analytics, the second banner barely received 1/4th of the total clicks during April and May.
Kia Client Test
For one of our Kia clients, you can see similar analytics for all banner clicks:
- April: 15% of clicks on 2nd banner
- May: Less than 25% on the 2nd banner
Results for All 24 Automotive Dealership Client Banner Clicks
Here are the averages of overall banner clicks:
- 1st Position Banner: 45.51%
- 2nd Position Banner: 25.27%
- 3rd Position Banner: 14.37%
- 4th Position Banner: 9.42%
Here is the percentage of all homepage clicks each banner represents:
- 1st Position Banner: 2.7%
- 2nd Position Banner: 1.5%
- 3rd Position Banner: .86%
- 4th Position Banner: .56%
Homepage Banner Recommendations
Based on this information, Reunion Marketing has concluded that automotive dealerships would benefit from no more than three homepage banners.
There is a proven drop in car shopper clicks even beyond the first banner; however, we know, based on our work with dozens of dealerships, that you need to manage more than a single special or event during a given month.
Should you have any questions about this recommendation or homepage banner strategy in general, please leave your remarks in the comments section below.
If you would like to get insights about your current digital strategy, including homepage banners, we invite you to sign up for a free digital analysis.