How we evolved, optimised and drove conversion on an automotive web platform - in a time of pandemic
In the year that Mazda marked its 100th birthday, 2020 posed unique and unforeseeable challenges, in what should have been a time for celebration of its heritage and design. With lockdowns forcing a total closure of dealerships for several months, Mazda’s web platform rapidly became the central hub for customer engagement and lead conversion.
Candyspace set about increasing on-site engagement, implementing new seamless and data-driven user journeys and optimising sign-ups.
Success could no longer be measured by the usual test drive bookings, but by conversions on tools such as ‘find a dealer’ and ‘finance calculator’ and by increased engagement to line up potential car buyers ready to get back in the driving seat at the end of the lockdown.
BUSINESS NEED
Keep customers engaged, and informed - and increase lead conversion
CUSTOMER DEMAND
Simple, clear comparison of models and price, book a test drive
Website conversions
HERE ARE THE RESULTS
55%
Increase in finance calculator conversions
46%
Increase in 'book a test drive' form completion
39%
Increase in dealer locator conversion
Finding the sweetspot
Candyspace’s strategy was to focus on the sweetspot where Mazda’s business needs met customer demands in this unique situation. This involved:
Implementing seamless and data-driven user journeys, optimising sign-up and increasing on-site engagement
Working throughout lockdown to improve content, optimise CTAs and reorder modules to highlight the most engaging content
Ensuring site performance was maximised and reduce any drop-off
Candyspace worked throughout the year to ensure content on the Mazda.co.uk site was constantly updated, reflecting restrictions but also keeping customers engaged and informed, and changing the customer journey to encourage users into the virtual showroom. The aim was to provide interesting and interactive content and help them make the decision to buy a Mazda as soon as they were allowed to visit a dealership, maximising sales for Mazda after each lockdown.
Engaging, interactive content was key. Candyspace built modules to showcase Mazda’s 360 degrees image galleries and focused on Mazda’s heritage – the 100th anniversary pages were designed to build brand engagement and highlight the value of years of expertise. Constantly changing, updating and revising content and imagery helped keep the site fresh and encouraged repeat visitors, consistently providing new elements to engage the interest of customers locked up in their homes, dreaming of their next car purchase.
Candyspace are a joy. The success of the digital brand campaign is testament to their creativity, and focus on results.
Accelerating results for Mazda
Working in uncharted territory, Candyspace monitored user behaviour closely, and reacted in real time to changing customer trends. This paid dividends, and comparing January 2020 (pre-lockdown) to December 2020 we saw a:
35% increase in customers completing the ‘find a dealer’ locator
55% increase in finance calculator completions
36% reduction in bounce rate
28.6% increase in unique page views
For Mazda’s most important purchase indicator, there was a 46% increase in completion of ‘book a test drive’ forms in June-August in 2020 compared to the same period in 2019.
For our new Interactive 360 degrees modules:
62% of visitors during the lockdown were return visitors, showing the page held long-term interest for Mazda fans
Users spent 3 x as much time on these pages compared to the site average
For our new heritage 100th Anniversary content:
Surprisingly, most popular with the 25-34 year age group, showing it kept the younger customer base interested in Mazda’s heritage, building brand loyalty
Performance:
36% decrease in time to interactive and a 30% decrease in page load time meant performance was significantly improved, helping to retain site visitors
Overall, the prevalence of returning users to the homepage (up by 13.8%) and the increased session duration of 5.4% showed users were engaged with the content and found the information they were looking for, while unable to visit showrooms across the country.
This was a challenging year, requiring innovative solutions and continuous activity. Candyspace worked with Mazda UK to maintain high levels of user engagement, resulting in spikes in test drives of over 40% after each lockdown and increased conversions across the site (as detailed above), keeping valuable customers with us on the journey, while they waited to get back in the driving seat.
