Used smart cars presented a better national selling rate, but the buying curve was in decline, due partly to the German market being cheaper than the Romanian one for acquiring used smart cars. In addition, a general mistrust in the quality of used smart cars was gaining momentum in Romania. 

Many drivers considered that smart cars weren’t viable options for second-hand purchases. Being a city car, they presumed that many of those available on the second-hand market were actually extensively distressed with tired engines and rapid failure of gearboxes.

With a sober prospect over new smart car sales, Autoklass Pipera had to increase used sales, despite the national preference for foreign markets and general mistrust in the quality of used smart cars. The company was, after all, a prestigious giant – Mercedes Benz in Romania. Offering style, security, and trust – efficient assets to counterbalance the aforementioned threats.

The Autoklass Pipera showroom was completely redesigned and aligned with the Mercedes brand identity line, signaling luxury, sophistication and no compromise on quality. A solid reputation was reinforced through all means, from image to services to employee etiquette.

However, once in a while, the company had to manage minor image crises as the Romanian press published different personal negative stories detailing common faults in the used cars that they sold. The real challenge was to create change while displaying no change.  

The prestige and status of Autoklass Pipera was an asset that needed to be leveraged. They stand for security and quality and aspiration. However, their main focus was not on used smart cars. After analyzing the user journey and website visitor behaviors, somewhat chaotic results were shown. The “shop window” approach for the landing page created a “museum tour without a guide”. 

Visitors passed through different sections with little engagement for checked items, and they ended up on various websites for additional information. Their routes showed they left the website before they could find the information to make a decision.

In short, people were deciding to buy a car during different phases of their search and the Autoklass Pipera website was just one of the stops they made. A strategic move was required to gain more control over the website’s navigation to guide the visitor towards used smart cars and allow the buyer to consider buying a car before leaving the site.

The main objective was to create a ‘fenced garden’. That implied a strategy to attract prequalified visitors to the Autoklass Pipera website with a strong interest in used smart cars. Then, the landing page itself needed a spider-web approach, so that the first buying decision happened without any delay. 

Two primary responses were considered significant to develop the strategy further:

1. The danger of used smart cars fading into shadows, as the public’s interest seemed to diminish, had to be addressed. Also, the general mistrust in used smart cars had to be circumvented. Autoklass Pipera had the assets for positioning itself as a prestigious provider of completely functional driven smart cars, transferring its capital of trust over the products. Although there were risks associated with buying used smart cars on the national market, Autoklass Pipera offered one of the most secure and qualitative options a possible buyer could hoped for. 
2. Once that public awareness was raised and Autoklass Pipera secured its position as a professional, trustworthy provider of used smart cars, the website, which was the public interface of the company, had to offer a user experience focused on unique benefits of used smart cars and initiate dialogue before the visitor’s interest dropped. 

• Granular research was conducted to identify the most interested possible buyers of used smart cars and to analyze their digital blueprint. The first layer of targeting was developed on Google Search methodology. A portfolio of tens of keywords and phrases like “price smart for two”, “smart second-hand,” and “used smart cars” was designed to track those who actively search information related to the company’s offer.
• A digital marketing campaign was then created with Google Display and Facebook Ads, which was further refined in targeting potential buyers according to geographic location and demographic criteria while considering precise grids of interests and affinities. Based on the YouTube Display, users who watched specific videos were prompted with optimized banners designed to attract them to the company website. 

• During this phase, attention was focused on creating awareness over the company’s offer amidst those who are prequalified to valorize it. They were not only the most probable pool of buyers but also the most probable network of people who would ignite dialogue over the topic and, by doing so, organically extend the public knowledge on the offer.

After the properly targeted audience was exposed to the campaign and the public dialogue erupted, a new phase began. This time, the attention was directed over the digital patterns of action and interaction of those who have reasons to take action, but they don’t. 

Analyzing the digital routes of those who checked the website but failed to make their mind and left it without interaction provided valuable information for two core planned actions: how to improve the landing page in order not only to increase traffic but also to convert it into action, and how to find the hesitant audience again and provide it with a second chance opportunity to make a move from intent to action.

We, therefore, developed the retargeting process for four channels: YouTube, Facebook, Google Display, and Google Search. On the one hand, the intensity of exposure to information was crucial for accepting specific information. On the other hand, optimized re-exposure to information was the highway for increasing the conversion rate of interest into action.

Awareness was grabbed via digital publicity campaigns, but the website’s landing page had to act as a spider-web, well-crafted to boost traffic and designed with the intent to guide the audience towards the offer and facilitate the first step of engagement. While respecting all identity standards for smart cars the company sold, a refined, breathable layout based on white space and black colors was developed.

1. Greeting the Visitors: Straight to the Subject and Dialogue Made Easy

The first and foremost objective was to make space for direct communication of the offer and avoid its burial in the overall web architecture. Hence, the communication was prompted directly with the invitation to discover the benefits of buying used smart cars from the company. Elegant, simple, but complete integration of information was crucial to create a clean and efficient landing page that stood out. An opening banner was created to visually attract attention over the offer, while the first section accommodated a sharp presentation of benefits and a simple but visually bold call to action with a friendly tone of voice. Promoted simultaneously as the offer, the benefits, and the simple survey to contact the company, users’ focus was firmly directed while the gateway for engagement made the possibility of action more salient and barrier-free. 

2. Optimization for Boosting Traffic: Perfect Balance of Content Provision to Reach the Point of Just Enough Information for Pre-Qualified Users to Make a Decision

Buying a car, especially a used smart car, is no spontaneous decision. When users reach the company’s offer page, they need just enough information to help them make their minds. Too little information and they’ll slide on another web page. Too much information and they’ll go again with the mental process of considering advantages, risks, and options, postponing the decision. It is a delicate balance that must be reached in content provision, based on users’ behaviors, to ensure that a website becomes their final destination. 

To boost the traffic on the company’s page for the offer and to attune it with the digital social behaviors of the targeted audience, we created diversified content split into textual, visual, and video bricks. Textual information was simplified, synthesized, and carefully placed to facilitate retention. All content was created to reinforce the trust in the quality of used smart cars without prompting visitors with the general red flags they were accustomed to.

Facts are the most honest and straightforward arguments, so every piece of content was directly crafted to communicate quality, security, and professionalism. We strongly discarded the option to make a case for used smart cars with an apologetic tone of voice to gain trust across a distrustful market. By fine-grained targeting, we ensured the proper audience, one who can perceive the value of these products, so no reconversion of opinions was needed. Moreover, the company itself was a prestigious actor on the market, so facts that directly communicate quality were considered to complement its established identity.  

Moving further, we created a dynamic route of navigation through the interplay between textual and visual or video content. Attention was focused on creating the best navigation path for the final, desired behavior. A carefully designed layout that complements the content was meant to assure users’ state of flux on the page. The state of flux is the perfectly focused state of mind while doing something. Facilitating the state of flux implies providing a user with sufficient information and diversity to hook their curiosity but ensuring that they will not become tired until the end of the journey. It is mandatory for a user to preserve a sufficient amount of mental excitation when they are done with the provided content to be asked for more. This is the moment when interest is converted into action, and the user is most probably prone to initiate dialogue and get in contact for an offer. 

3. No Exit Allowed: A Page That Keeps You In

One of the most strategic decisions made during ideating the landing page concerned closing the gates for escape. Because buying a car is a long time-analyzed action, we had to encourage users to make up their minds. Considering other providers or other models provided by Autoklass Pipera were the main behaviors that inhibited the conversion rate. We allowed absolutely no links on the offer’s landing page so that no exit was available to continue the journey. After visiting the page, the only way a user could continue their journey was to initiate dialogue and contact the company for more details. 

4. Many Entrances, Same Feeling: Optimizing the Landing Page for All Devices

We optimized the landing page for all kinds of screens and devices, no matter the size. That allowed the coalescence of mobile audiences with desktop audiences, and technology-related barriers debunked the moment of decision.