1. What are your top 5 analytics tools and why do you use them?

   • Google Analytics: I use Google Analytics on a weekly and sometimes daily basis. In Google Analytics, I track our current digital campaigns (organic, paid, and other channels) and the visitors’ behaviors on our website. I optimize our campaigns based on the data I get from our Google Analytics. I also use the data for data analysis. We can learn a lot from our Google Analytics. It’s like a history book.

   • Google Data Studio: Create digital reports and use it as a digital dashboard. I import data from different platforms (Google Ads, Search Console, Analytics, Excel files, YouTube Analytics) and it’s my live dashboard. Every time I want to see our performance, I check our Google Data studio. I also have the app on my phone to check it when needed. I personally love the platform for its automatic reporting and ease of use.

   • SEMRUSH: Track our Search Engine optimization performance. I use SEMRUSH for competitive analysis and use it to see the effects of Google Algorithm update on our websites.

   • Google Ads: Monitor and optimize our ad campaigns on a weekly basis.
   • Lead Management System Dashboard – I use our lead management system dashboard to see our performance in different channels.

2. What is the biggest data analytics challenge you see automotive dealerships face?

   Most of the dealers are not making decisions based on their data and most of the decisions are HiPPO-led (highest paid person’s opinion) decisions. In this era, strategies should be based on data and numbers. One other challenge is gathering all the info for our customer’s journey. The auto industry is changing rapidly and data mining is key these days.

3. How do you determine which KPIs or metrics are most useful to your digital marketing?

   When it comes to KPIs & metrics I choose them based on different platforms and see what are the objectives that we are trying to achieve. Sometimes I check number of impressions and CPAs and sometimes I check the vehicle detail page views and search engine results page views and cost per lead or conversion.

4. What are five key metrics you recommend marketing professionals measure for their digital marketing campaigns?

   I would recommend the following metrics for the automotive industry. I think vehicle details page, search engine results page, engagements, cost per conversion/lead/click, and solid clicks are the most important and I feel industry by industry have different metrics to measure.

5. What are some trends you see in the digital analytics space in the next decade?

   Machine Learning and AI: this is the first important trend that you can’t dismiss now and I am a true believer. I feel that machine learning and AI can improve all the processes in different industries.

   Speech and text recognition: Nowadays with voice search and AI, so many things are possible and I would like to see where this trend will go.

   Cloud Analytics: Have access to Data and Analytics everywhere and you can access your dashboard anywhere anytime.

6. What are some digital marketing trends you see in the automotive space in the next five to ten years?

   Digital Retailing: With digital retailing, the process is going to be shorter and the experience is much greater than before.

   Personalization: I haven’t really seen that in auto Industry to the extent that you would see it anywhere else but I am sure with the help of AI and Machine Learning, the industry will evolve greatly. With personalization, we can get the right message to the right audience for the best experience digitally online and physically in dealerships.

Saman Saadat Sanei is the Digital Marketing Strategist at Brian Jessel BMW. He has over eight years of digital marketing and data analytics experience and has extensive experience in both client and agency sides.