Driving Success in 2025: A Look Back at Automotive Digital Advertising Trends from 2024

The past year has brought notable advancements in digital advertising, reshaping how dealerships approach their marketing strategies and interact with consumers. Reflecting  on the past year, the automotive industry witnessed a pivotal shift driven by automation, the rapid rise of streaming platforms, increasing reliance on first-party data, and a sharpened focus on conversion tracking. These trends laid the foundation for the changes we’re expecting to see in 2025 and beyond.

Automation, fueled by artificial intelligence and machine learning, has become an essential tool in campaign management, streamlining processes such as ad targeting and performance optimization. This technological advancement has not only improved efficiency but has the potential to significantly reduce costs. For dealerships, this means allocating resources more effectively and integrating personalization into advertising while achieving better outcomes than traditional advertising methods.

The growing popularity of streaming platforms has opened new opportunities for automotive advertisers to reach their audiences in innovative and of course, personalized ways. Solutions like Connected TV advertising enable dealerships to deliver tailored messages based on viewer interests, demographics, and behaviors.

The shift toward  has also become more pronounced, spurred by growing privacy concerns and the potential of a “cookieless future.” For dealerships, having a robust understanding of their customer data is no longer optional—it’s essential. By leveraging first-party data, dealerships can craft highly personalized campaigns that speak directly to their audience’s interests, behaviors, and purchase histories, resulting in more impactful messaging and better conversion rates.

2024 was a big year of changes for automotive digital advertising. The industry shifted toward more data-driven strategies, personalized experiences, and a greater focus on the customer journey. By building on these trends, dealerships can position themselves for success in 2025.

Reflections on 2024: Advertising Trends That Worked 

Building on the momentum from 2023, digital advertising in 2024 continued to evolve. These are the key trends that made an impact this year:

1. Dynamic Advertising’s Rise
   The use of   surged in 2024. These highly personalized ads effectively drive engagement and connect consumers with inventory tailored to their preferences. The precision of these campaigns translated into better performance and higher conversion rates, demonstrating the power of dynamic strategies.
2. Prioritizing First-Party Data
   Privacy concerns and cookie deprecation highlighted  the necessity of first-party data. 2024 solidified accurate and reliable audience data as a cornerstone of successful campaigns. Adpearance found that dealerships that leveraging their CRM systems and segmenting their audiences based on behaviors, interests, and purchase history saw an improvement in ad relevance and customer connections.
3. Adopting VDP Metrics
   As the limitations of traditional metrics like forms and calls became apparent, the industry shifted focus to engagement indicators such as time spent on Vehicle Detail Pages (VDPs).  This shift allows dealerships to better understand consumer interest and align their strategies, accordingly, providing a clearer path to sales.
4. Activating Inventory Strategically
   Strategic inventory marketing became a standout tactic in 2024. Dealerships targeted aging or discounted inventory with campaigns designed to move these vehicles off the lot faster. By focusing on real-time inventory needs, businesses maximize both ad spend efficiency and sales outcomes.

By learning from 2024’s successes, dealerships can better position themselves for the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead in 2025.

Looking Ahead: Predicting Top Digital Dealership Advertising Trends for 2025

As advertising continues to rapidly evolve, the following trends are poised to shape dealership strategies in 2025:

1. AI’s Expanding Role
   Artificial intelligence will go beyond basic automation to become a key player in improving ad performance. AI-driven tools will analyze vast datasets, such as browsing habits, demographic information, and purchase history, to identify the most effective targeting strategies. For example, AI can predict which vehicle models are likely to appeal to specific customer segments and automatically adjust ad creatives to highlight those vehicles. Dynamic ad capabilities are improving, allowing real-time updates to pricing, inventory availability, and promotional offers. AI is also providing deeper insights into market trends, enabling dealerships to anticipate seasonal demand, identify opportunities for cross-selling or upselling, and adjust campaigns before trends fully emerge.
2. Market Insights Integration
   Platforms like  Adpearance’s MarketAI revolutionize how dealerships align advertising strategies with inventory and market dynamics. By analyzing real-time data, MarketAI helps dealerships understand which vehicles are selling fastest and which are sitting on dealer lots. For example, imagine SUVs are moving quickly in one region, but sedans are sitting idle. In that case, MarketAI can automatically adjust advertising campaigns to feature SUVs prominently in high-demand areas while offering special promotions for sedans in slower markets. These automatic adjustments allow dealers to allocate budgets more strategically, ensuring that marketing dollars are spent where they will have the most significant impact on sales.
3. CTV and Omnichannel Expansion
   Connected TV (CTV) have been and will continue to grow as a dominant advertising channel in 2025, allowing dealerships to deliver highly targeted ads on platforms like Hulu, Roku, and YouTube TV, etc. Unlike traditional TV ads, CTV offers precise targeting options, such as geographic location, household income, and even vehicle ownership history. For instance, a family watching streaming content might see an ad for a minivan tailored to their preferences, followed by a retargeting ad on their mobile device promoting a special financing offer. Omnichannel strategies link these ads across platforms, ensuring customers see consistent messaging whether they’re watching TV, browsing social media, or checking their email. This integration creates a cohesive experience that reinforces automotive and dealer brand awareness and increases conversion rates.CTV
4. Elevating Customer Experiences Online
   As online car shopping becomes more common, ads increasingly replicate the personalized feel of an in-person showroom. Features like virtual showrooms, interactive vehicle configurators, and augmented reality test drives allow users to engage with vehicles directly from their devices. If a customer is browsing for an SUV they might see an ad that lets them customize the vehicle’s color, interior features, and accessories before directing them to the dealership’s website for more details. Additionally, data-driven personalization enable ads to recommend vehicles based on individual preferences, such as fuel efficiency, family-friendly features, or luxury upgrades, creating a more engaging and relevant user experience.
5. Evolving Privacy Standards
   With the ongoing deprecation of third-party cookies and stricter privacy regulations, dealerships rely heavily on first-party data collected through customer interactions. This includes data from service appointments, test drives, and online inquiries. Businesses need to invest in tools that organize and analyze this data to create highly targeted campaigns. When a dealership uses first-party data to identify customers nearing the end of their lease to target them with ads promoting lease renewal offers, predictive algorithms will fill gaps left by the loss of third-party cookies by analyzing historical patterns to forecast their needs. Additionally, partnerships with secure data-sharing platforms allow businesses to collaborate on advertising efforts while maintaining compliance with privacy laws.

These advancements will provide dealers and dealerships with the tools to refine their advertising efforts in 2025, strengthen customer connections, and compete with competitors.

Adpearance’s Vision for 2025

As the automotive industry continues to evolve, Adpearance remains dedicated to providing cutting-edge solutions that meet the needs of dealerships at every level. With a focus on innovation and results-driven strategies, Adpearance is set to make a significant impact in 2025.

Advancing MarketAI
Adpearance’s MarketAI platform is evolving to deliver even greater value to dealerships. Enhancements planned for 2025 include:

• Enhanced Predictive Analytics: Leveraging historical data and current market trends, MarketAI will offer more precise predictions on inventory performance, consumer buying behavior, and campaign ROI. This will help dealerships allocate resources to high-performing strategies and vehicles more effectively.
• Automated Campaign Adjustments: MarketAI will feature deeper automation capabilities, allowing dealerships to adjust ad spending, targeting, and creative elements in real time based on inventory levels and performance metrics. If a specific model is moving slowly, the platform can automatically create and launch targeted ads with discount offers or highlight unique selling points to boost interest.
• Expanded Integrations: Integrating MarketAI with more dealer management systems (DMS) and customer relationship management (CRM) tools, providing seamless access to dealership data, and enabling smarter, more cohesive advertising strategies.

Empowering Dealers with Tools
Smaller and mid-sized dealerships often face resource constraints that limit their ability to compete. Adpearance is focusing on creating tools that are powerful yet accessible to all:

• Simplified User Interfaces: Redesigned dashboards with intuitive navigation, ensuring that even those with minimal technical expertise can easily manage campaigns, track performance, and analyze results.
• Training and Support Programs: To help dealerships make the most of their tools, Adpearance is rolling out new training initiatives, including video tutorials, webinars, and one-on-one consulting sessions. These programs will empower dealerships to take full control of their digital advertising efforts.
• Scalable Solutions: Whether a dealership has a single location or operates across multiple regions, Adpearance’s tools will scale to meet their needs. This includes offering flexible pricing tiers and modular features to cater to businesses of all sizes.

Supporting Automotive Tier 2 Initiatives
Adpearance is increasing its commitment to Tier 2 advertising by providing more comprehensive solutions to regional dealership groups. This initiative aims to strengthen collaboration between manufacturers and dealerships, ensuring consistent messaging and branding across markets. Key efforts include:

• Localized Campaigns: Creating regional campaigns tailored to specific markets, such as promoting winter-ready vehicles in colder climates or offering special financing for popular models in high-demand areas.
• Collaborative Ad Spend Strategies: Helping dealerships pool resources to maximize reach and impact, enabling smaller dealerships to benefit from the scale of regional advertising efforts.
• Performance Tracking Across Networks: Developing tools that provide detailed reporting on how Tier 2 campaigns impact individual dealerships, giving regional groups the data needed to refine their strategies and allocate budgets more effectively.

Looking Forward
Adpearance’s successes in 2024—from improved technology to stronger partnerships with dealerships—are laying the foundation for even greater achievements in 2025. By focusing on innovation, accessibility, and results, we are poised to help dealerships thrive in a competitive market.

Are you ready to transform your dealership’s advertising strategy in 2025?
Contact us today for a free digital analysis and a customized plan to achieve your goals in the coming year.