Cars.com takes influencer marketing to a different level

Cars.com celebrates its 25th year with a major re-design (its first ever), brand campaigns and a media mix that includes influencer marketing networks. This is to boost brand awareness and stay at the top of the minds of car shoppers. Earlier the auto industry went in the direction of digital media buying and performance marketing – this was during the time they struggled under supply chain issues.

Influencer marketing networks are platforms or marketplaces that provide access to pre-vetted influencers. These are a support system that makes things easier for both brands and agencies when it comes to working with influencers. The platform has several sharp influencer discovery tools for brands and agencies. Some offer huge databases of potential influencers that are searchable using clever algorithms.

Influencers are vetted first and then added to the platform. Some of these networks also offer other services such as relationship management, campaign management, influencer marketplaces, third party analytics, and influencer content amplification.

Cars.com has partnered with networks like Influential and Izea with an aim to help circulate and amplify their editorial content more widely and also bring in new voices. The avenues of content creation include written editorial content, short-form videos and other types. The idea is that content from cars.com as well as other influencers are used to promote the brand and its expertise.

Cars.com has scaled back its performance marketing spends and has also reduced its media spend over the course of the year. It spent more than $103.5 million on media last year, slightly up from the $95 million spent in 2021.

According to Digiday+ Research, brands are investing more in influencer marketing than they were a year ago.

There is no doubt that influencers and the creator economy are a part of the media strategy of brands. Now as this trend matures, brands and marketers are starting to look for relationships that are long term with influencers by signing up for agency-of-record relationships with influencer marketing agencies.

It is a natural progression almost!

The goal of influencer marketing is to increase the awareness of a brand and sales, of course, in a thoughtful organic way. But finding the right influencer is a task. You need to set your goals for this whole campaign exercise. Then you need to find the influencers that fit your goals and your brand. They need to be both effective and trustworthy. You get them to do a campaign and then you track its performance.

This whole process is simplified when an influencer network is in the picture. It connects brands with the right influencers. It collaborates on the content, manages, tracks and monetizes the whole exercise, making it a great part of the marketing strategy of a brand.

Finding the right influencer network is important. The right one will connect your brand to trustworthy, pre-vetted influencers. The software helps you save time as it is very easy to use and highly intuitive. It recommends influencers and you accept bids from only those you want to work with. It takes off a lot of the manual effort involved and streamlines the whole process. The dashboard gives you all the information you need to stay on top of things. The easy influencer discovery tools make it really easy for brands and agencies to sift through huge databases of potential influencers.

Some of these networks also offer other useful services that include influencer marketplaces, third party analytics, and influencer content amplification.

All in all, this is a great path for brands to take. But even if the software does all the spadework for you, it is ultimately up to brands to come up with a really smart marketing strategy that includes content that will truly resonate with the target audiences that they hope to attract.

And regardless of software and influencers and the whole nine yards, it ultimately depends on the smart strategy that sets everything in motion. And that is where the true pivot lies.