In the past, dealerships haven’t considered using their customer data as a source for advertising. That data was primarily used for sales follow-up calls or service inquiries.

That’s because third-party cookies (small pieces of text sent to your browser that remembers information about websites you visit on the internet) are becoming extinct. Privacy regulations and laws are driving digital giants to stop the use of them. Apple’s latest update allows users to opt out of ad tracking, Firefox and Safari have already stopped storing cookies, and Google will phase them out of Chrome by 2023.

The loss of cookies will make it more difficult to target people who previously visited dealership’s websites making digital ads less personalized.

The good news is that dealerships have a treasure of data of their own. Customers’ emails, addresses, phone numbers, details of their automobiles and more. This data is collected through CRM systems and dealership websites. It’s known as first-party data.

Social media companies can continue to track their user activity within their own platforms which helps to build an audience and allow for retargeting through advertising directly through the platform such as Facebook or Instagram. Social media is facing extreme challenges with the newly introduced privacy options as Apple user opt out of ad tracking, social platforms lose their ability to identify their user locations.

With the recent change in size regulation for First-Class postcards (from 6 X 4.25 to 6 X 9), dealers are beginning to revisit direct mail.

Data compilers can help to “fill in” missing data from dealers first-party data through a reverse append. You provide us with your data, name/address/city/state/zip and we can append phone numbers, email addresses, and run the data through cleansing software that will update records based on the National Change of Address Database, standardize the address information, and check the addresses for accuracy.

To learn more about reverse appends contact us today.